Kinect hacking at a whole new level: Here are the finalists for the Kinect Accelerator

Kinect hacking at a whole new level: Here are the finalists for the Kinect Accelerator:

Today, Microsoft is announcing eleven finalists in the ultimate Kinect hacking showdown: a spot in a TechStars-backed accelerator just for Kinect-based ideas.
Kinect hacks have been something we’ve been keeping an eye on for a while, and it turns out Microsoft has been equally interested. The spring class for the new accelerator brings in talent from around the globe, with participants from France, Argentina, Germany, Canada, and a few cities across the United States, as well.
“We were greatly impressed by the quality and breadth of applications we received, and are excited to share more about the finalists and the program in the coming weeks,” a company rep writes on the site.
The founders are already convening at Microsoft’s huge Seattle campus to get ready for an intensive program that includes a $20,000 investment to kick off development, an Xbox development kit, a Kinect for Windows sensor plus the accompanying SDK, and office space and training. The accelerator will end with a de rigeur Demo Day in front of press and investors in just three months’ time.
So, who are the lucky eleven? Microsoft received nearly 500 applications from folks in 63 countries. Their ideas spanned nearly 20 unique verticals, from healthcare and education to retail and entertainment. Here’s who made the cut:

• Kimetric (stealth mode), Buenos Aires
• Zebcare (stealth mode), Boston
• Ubi, Munich: a plug-and-play gesture control solution that can turn any existing display into a 3D touchscreen
• Freak’n Genius, Seattle: lets anyone animate in real time using the Kinect
• GestSure, Ontario: gestural, touchless interfaces for the operating room
• Ikkos, Seattle: a training system for learning movement patterns very quickly and accurately using the magic of neuroplasticity
• Jintronix, Montreal: a virtual reality hardware/software system designed to enhance rehabilitation for patients suffering from a wide variety of motor-control deficiencies
• Manctl, Lyon: an ultra low-cost 3D scanner based on Kinect
• NConnex, Hadley, Mass.: Kinect-based applications on Windows platform in domains such as e-commerce, smart home, healthcare, elder-care and education
• Styku, Los Angeles: body scanning application for virtual fitting rooms using Microsoft’s Kinect and Asus’ Xtion devices
• Voxon, New York City: a true volumetric 3D display for artists, cinematographers, game designers, and tinkerers

We’ll be keeping an eye on these companies and their Kinect-based products over the summer, so stay tuned.
Top image courtesy of Kiselev Andrey Valerevich, Shutterstock

Filed under: dev

Compound Photonics sues Syndiant over 4 patents

Compound Photonics sues Syndiant over 4 patents:
Compound Photonics filed a lawsuit against Syndiant claiming it used 4 of its patents regarding microdisplays used in projection devices without authorization. The patents in dispute are:
#5,963,289 (Asymmetrical Scribe and Separation Method of Manufacturing Liquid Crystal Devices on Silicon Wafers) teaches an improved method of manufacturing LCoS devices, in which the scribing and separating process involve asymmetric or offset scribing to reduce the amount of non-functional area of a silicon substrate.

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Research In Motion is dead

Research In Motion is dead:

I saw from the inside and outside how RIM transformed the mobile landscape, and how the company even battled its own inner demons throughout the years. Here are my thoughts on the company’s worst quarter in five years:
RIM grew incredibly fast. It grew faster than the company knew how to manage, and RIM slowly — and then quickly — slipped as a result. This is the company that used to make users choose between a device with Wi-Fi and no GPS, or GPS and no Wi-Fi, just to have two products on the market instead of one. This is the company that refused to take the consumer market seriously for a number of years. This is the company that couldn’t see the future when it was right in front of them.
One of my high-level Research In Motion sources who I’ve known for a number of years wrote an open letter to the company a few months ago that I published on BGR. Looking back at it now, here are some of the most intriguing and timely quotes:

• Let’s obsess about what is best for the end user. We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice — the end user doesn’t care.
• We need some heavy hitters at RIM when it comes to software management. Teams still aren’t talking together properly, no one is making or can make critical decisions, all the while everyone is working crazy hours and still far behind.
• The public’s questions about dual-CEOs are warranted. The partnership is not broken, but on the ground level, it is not efficient. Maybe we need our Eric Schmidt reign period.
• Just because someone may have been a loyal RIM employee for 7 years, it doesn’t mean they are the best Manager / Director / VP for that role. It’s time to change the culture to deliver or move on and get out.
• Strategy is often in the things you decide not to do.

What’s so interesting is that RIM has actually started to implement most of what the open letter said the company should do. The company isn’t releasing BlackBerry 10 until it’s happy with it, the end user has been more of a focus, the company has gotten rid of a number of executives, and the dual-CEO structure is gone. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. RIM has a fundamental problem with what the company can offer, and what the company can do best.
RIM CEO Thorsten Heins even stated yesterday during the company’s earnings call that RIM’s best-in-class enterprise integration, security and push email are no longer a huge selling point for the company. Really? It took five years to figure that out?
The enterprise loves the BlackBerry Bold 9900′s keyboard, but most BlackBerry customers want a full-touch smartphone and RIM’s all-touch smartphones are poor excuses for a phone. In fact, an iPhone 3GS or prepaid Android smartphone is a much better option for the majority of people in the market for a low or mid-range smartphone compared to a BlackBerry Torch. RIM’s average selling prices have taken a nosedive since the company’s products can’t compete on features, only price, though competitors like Huawei and others have seized this opportunity to introduce lower-priced Android smartphones.
Something I have been told from another senior source at Research In Motion is that the company is considering ditching their system access fees for all carriers. This amounts to more than $1 billion in revenue each quarter for RIM, but the company thinks it might be a way to drive BlackBerry 7 sales before BlackBerry 10 finally hits the market. It would be a radical move that could help the company sell more units in the short term, but would get them nowhere in the long term. In fact, all it would really do is buy the company time to try and get BlackBerry 10 out of the door, or buy time while it explores other options for the company’s future.
I spoke with the same inside source who wrote the open letter to RIM we published last summer, and here is what this person had to say: “RIM only has one hope. Ditch the QNX bullshit experiment that will be the exact definition of a 1.0 operating system — it can not compete.” The source went on to say, “Take on Windows Phone and negotiate with Microsoft. You need BBM on Windows Phone, get a royalty fee from all the others. Then build out the BES story with Exchange — beef that up, now there’s an interesting and unique value proposition.”
BGR exclusively reported in January that Research In Motion was pushing for a sale of a part (or entire) company to Samsung. Those talks were real. RIM has talked with a bunch of companies about licensing its software and OS, licensing BlackBerry Messenger, licensing the company’s network infrastructure, and even selling different parts of RIM flat out.
The RIM we know, is dead. The company has 12 to 15 months until it’s either acquired, or broken into pieces and sold for parts. I’m not even sure why the company still plans to launch BlackBerry 10 smartphones at this point.

Kinect and a pico projector bring singer’s face to life

Kinect and a pico projector bring singer’s face to life:
Depicted in the video above is one of the more interesting uses of Microsoft Kinect that I have seen recently. Created by visual artist Francisco Zamorano for New York musician Olga Bell, the music video makes use of Microsoft’s hottest motion control peripheral to create images that react to the facial movements and sounds created by [...]

Flurry's analytics: Apple's App Store revenue still leading, but Amazon Appstore close behind

Flurry's analytics: Apple's App Store revenue still leading, but Amazon Appstore close behind:

Not like we haven't seen this dog-and-pony show before, but Flurry's latest round of analytics -- which measured revenue of 11 million daily active users from mid-January through the end of February 2012 -- shows Amazon's Appstore pulling in a shocking amount of revenue given the short life that it has lived. Apple's strength in sales has been well documented, but the latest report shows that for every $1 generated in the iTunes App Store, $0.89 is being spent in the Amazon Appstore. Looking more broadly, the numbers show that just $0.23 are generated in the Google Play halls for every $1 spent in the App Store, but that's hardly a new phenomenon; the ease of sideloading (amongst other factors) has raised complaints from Android developers for years now. Flurry's conclusion is that Google's core strength simply isn't in running a store -- something it's about to do once more with Android slates -- while both Apple and Amazon excel in doing just that. Curiously, Windows Phone and BlackBerry were left off of this report, but we're hoping to see those cats thrown in the next 'go round. After all, RIM sure seems certain that its developers are making out just fine.

Flurry's analytics: Apple's App Store revenue still leading, but Amazon Appstore close behind originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Epson MegaPlex MG-850HD Projector turns your iOS device into a portable home movie theater

Review: Epson MegaPlex MG-850HD Projector turns your iOS device into a portable home movie theater:
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Seeing Epson’s MegaPlex iOS device projector at tradeshows and in still pictures doesn’t do it justice.  Set up in a small, awkward booth and surrounded by bright lights, the projector doesn’t usually inspire a second look.  It wasn’t until I got a private screening at Macworld that I really saw what this thing could do.
The MegaPlex MG-850HD is an incredibly bright, 2800 lumen 720P projector with some mighty 10 watt stereo speakers built-in.  But it adds something that you won’t find in many other high end consumer projectors: a 30-pin iOS device dock.  The dock will accomodate anything from an iPod touch, iPhone or even any iPad.

Amazon has the MegaPlex MG-850HD for $612, Buy.com has it for $620. 

This thing is a Portable. Home. Movie Theater – and I mean that in every sense of the word “portable.”  At under 8 pounds and with a sturdy handle, it is easy to pack up and take it to the parents’ house or move it from the basement to the bedroom.  Because your iOS device is usually the “brains” of this thing and it just starts working immediately upon plugging in, it takes only seconds to set up.  You can be watching your iTunes, Hulu, or Netflix videos in under a minute after choosing a destination.
Similar to most high end projectors, this one has manual movable feet to adjust projection angles as well as focus, zoom and horizontal keystone. The Megaplex does auto-vertical keystone and iris controls making setting it up at angles surprisingly easy.
This thing has some range as well.  With the early spring weather this year, we turned an evening birthday party into an impromptu outdoor movie showing on the backside of our house (with a sheet over a window).  The Megaplex is rated for an over 25-foot diagonal screen and I can attest that it looks fantastic even before it is fully dark outside.
However, with the release of the new iPad and 1080P Apple TV, something even better happened…

No, this thing doesn’t do 1080P, so there is no additional benefit from having 1080P devices – though I have to say watching bright 10-foot 720P movies on my wall usually beats my 46″ 1080P display pretty handily.
But my old Apple TV with its 720P Airplay went up for grabs, and connecting this to the Megaplex makes everything easier and more portable.  Now, the Apple TV 720P is permanently connected via HDMI and those few seconds that it took to plop down the iOS device are now used to beam video to the Apple TV over Wifi.
There are a few problems with this set up of course.  Apps like Hulu and Netflix don’t let me use Airplay for “some reason.”  Also, it is a pain to set up the Apple TV if we are outside of our home wifi network and we usually just end up plopping down the iOS device.
One other nit-pick I have with the MegaPlex is that the VGA/USB ports are behind a strange rubber housing that is hard to find and replace.  The easy solution to Mac/PC connectivity is buying an inexpensive Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter, which works great.  The MegaPlex becomes either a 1280×800 extra display or a mirrored one for your Mac.  If you have a more recent Mac/Cable, the audio will go through Mini DisplayPort as well.

The 10-watt speakers are much better than I thought they’d be.  They easily fill a bedroom or living room with treble but used outside, we were left wishing for a little more noise.  You certainly will be better off adding some bass in the form of a subwoofer in either scenario.  However, keeping the weight and size down probably made more sense than making this a truly portable outdoor theater.
That’s one other thing.  When this thing is not being used as a projector, it makes a nice (albeit large/expensive) charging speaker dock for iOS devices.
The remote is also very intuitive and helps out a lot to control the iOS device, rather than reaching behind the projector to control the iOS device.
As with all non-LED projectors, this one gets hot and has a fan that turns into a portable heater after a half hour or so.  I haven’t seen a 2800 lumen projector that behaves any differently.
Conclusion:
At just over $600 currently (though it is listed at $799), this is an inexpensive 720P 2800 Lumen projector, even though it is on the high end of devices you’ll find today.  However, when you add the excellent speakers, the significant portability, and the iOS device dock, the Epson MegaPlex MG-850HD Projector becomes a “got to have” bargain for those who want to really put what’s on their iOS device on display.
For those who don’t want the clutter of a permanent HDTV screen, this also makes a solid HDTV replacement, though you’ll want to get some better speakers and clean wall space.
Amazon has it for $612, Buy.com has it for $620

















Projection System: Epson 3LCD, 3-chip technology
Projection Method: Front / rear
Product Color: Black
Driving Method: Epson Poly-silicon TFT Active Matrix, 0.59-inch wide panel without MLA
Pixel Number: 1,024,000 dots (1280 x 800) x 3
White Light Output: 2800 lumens¹ (ISO 21118 Standard)
Color Light Ouput: 2800 lumens¹
Aspect Ratio: Native 16:10 widescreen
Native Resolution: WXGA (1280 x 800)
Resize: 16:9, 4:3
Lamp Type: E-TORL™ 200 W UHE
Lamp Life: Up to 5000 hours²
Throw Ratio Range: 1.30 — 1.56 (wide/tele)
Size (projected distance): 33″ – 320″
Keystone Correction:

• Horizontal ±30 degrees (slide bar)
• Vertical: ±30 degrees

Contrast Ratio: Up to 3,000:1
Color Reproduction: Full-color (16.77 million colors )

Has AT&T sold out of its pre-order stock of the Nokia Lumia 900?

Has AT&T sold out of its pre-order stock of the Nokia Lumia 900?: According to a source for WMPoweruser, AT&T has already sold all of its pre-order inventory for the Nokia Lumia 900 in about a day; what this means for orders placed after the launch date of April 8th is unknown at the moment...