Facebook, Oculus Rift and the Future of Virtual Reality

When Facebook bought out Oculus VR last month, many techies and gamers were understandably upset. It wasn't just the case of another corporation buying out a small company, Oculus VR was regarded by many as an important step in the direction of the whole next generation of consumer technology. The seven-years-ago equivalent would be like hearing that Apple had sold the iPhone to Google, but more than that, Oculus Rift had actually been crowdfunded, being one of the most significant and successful projects in the history of Kickstarter. Understandably, those that had funded the Rift felt betrayal not only as consumers, but on a personal level.

The Oculus guys made a cool two billion off the deal. You could give more than half of that to the IRS and still have more than enough money left over for the core Rift team to live very well for the rest of their lives, so it's hard to fault them as individuals for taking the money. The deal also allows the Oculus team to keep working on the OR projects that they had been developing, with financing from Facebook, who claim that they will continue to put VR gaming at the forefront. So while Facebook's ownership of Oculus Rift may trouble some, we may want to wait and see whether or not the OR mission statement actually changes.
Before we worry that this is the end of the dream, let's look at some of the basic facts of consumer-grade VR right now:

• No Set Price Range

The consumer version of the Oculus Rift has yet to ship, while the developer kit version runs $350. That's not a bad price for the most immersive VR experience available, it's in the range of a new video game console. However, it may well be that Facebook's financial might will allow the Rift to be produced and sold at a very low price. If we're looking at $100, $150 virtual reality, then Facebook's influence on the Rift, not to mention their power as a marketing force, may actually speed the proliferation of VR.

• Nobody Owns a Copyright on VR

The Oculus Rift itself is a copyrighted concept. The idea of strapping two lightweight TV's to your face is not. To worry that Facebook are going to single-handedly ruin virtual reality for everyone seems foolish when any garage start-up out there can develop their own competing VR technology to offer an alternative to the Facebook-owned OR.

• VR is Too Big to Ignore

Finally, the sheer headline factor to this story only helps to prove that the Oculus Rift has already made its mark. Whether or not it winds up being the VR unit that you find in every home, it has piqued the public's interest, and it would be crazy to assume that everyone from Sony to the smallest tech developers aren't taking notice. It's even said that Valve's new headset tech outshines the Rift.
"The tech world is largely about ideas that are too big to copyright," said Jason Hope, entrepreneur (http://sens.org/outreach/outreach-blog/release-internet-entrepreneur-jason-hope-pledges-half-million-dollars-sens) "and whether or not Facebook's Oculus Rift remains true to the original vision sold to its Kickstarter funders, it's not the end of the new era of VR."
The Oculus Rift has already birthed some fascinating projects, and it's doubtful that Facebook wants to change the open source nature of the project, as, love them or hate them, Facebook are pioneers of the user-generated era of web content.
The disappointment that many feel over Facebook's buyout of Oculus may have more to do with philosophical concerns than practical ones. The professional ethics of crowdfunding your project on Kickstarter before selling out to a major corporation for two billion dollars are up for debate, certainly, but it's hardly a nail in the coffin of the virtual reality dream. Even if Facebook decides to fill your eyeballs with advertising as soon as you strap the OR on, the Rift is far from the only option for virtual reality as we move into the next era of consumer tech.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source 

About Author:  Melissa Williams is a philanthropy and business writer.  As a native Texan, she began her career as a fundraiser for a non-profit organization.  Lured by the mountains and trail running, she relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona and works as a consultant for non-profit organizations.  She enjoys writing about philanthropy and entrepreneurs. 

The screen size could determine the price of your movie in the future

Most of the time, DVDs cost, more or less, about the same price. However, it is illogical that watching a movie on TV costs the same as watching it on smartphones. After all, on our smartphones, the experience is somewhat limited in terms of audio and visual quality.

Well, maybe the price of your movie could be based on the media its displayed with in the future. Or at least that's the vision of the CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg:
 
"A movie screen will be $15. A 75-inch TV will be $4. A smartphone will be $1.99"


Although this seems pretty logical, this model may be difficult to implement because of the difficulties a security system might encounter recognizing the exact screen size: who's to say that a user won't play a $ 1.99 film on a big screen TV?
 
That said, it is an interesting idea and Katzenberg is convinced that this pricing model will eventually be a standard in the industry. Until then, would you pay less to watch a movie on a smartphone?

Source: The Verge

What did Burger King get for its fiftieth birthday!

Burger King has revolutionized the world of hamburger with a handsfree kit called Hands Free Whopper.

Burger King should satisfy all those who do not have time to eat. With the kit, you can now enjoy your burger while continuing your activities on the Internet, in the office, on the subway ... proposed by the fast food concept is fairly simple, you put the hands-free around your neck. The burger fits in the slot provided for this purpose and the height is normally perfect. Your sandwich will be right in front of your mouth, so it is ready to be tasted. You can then perform a second activity while eating.

Burger King has decided to invent this product for its 50 years. The conflicting views on the Internet, some find this a stupid accessory, others are very interested and eager to try it. Users also noted that the company is trying by all means to create a buzz for the crowd in its facilities. For the famous hands-free kit, it will go to the island of Puerto Rico, Burger King will only sell this place the Hands Free Whopper.
 
McDonald's fries and-door

This is not the first time such a handsfree born. The rival of Burger King had proposed a fried-door car. It was distributed in Japan and is easily fixed on the dashboard. You could drive while eating, you can now do the same with a burger. It will be around your neck, it must pay attention to bad jokes. The sandwich could quickly be IN your face.

And finally, there is no better way to display my objection than this scene from "Modern Times" where the Tramp(Charlie Chaplin) tries out an automated lunch feeder, for which the owner of the factory reluctantly agrees to a demonstration, in hopes of cutting the costs of needless "break time".

Codename Haswell: Official launch and test of the Core i7-4770K

Intel chose today, a Saturday to launch its new generation of processors, known as Haswell. And since Haswell is the fourth generation of processors using the name code "i",  it will be marketed with references: Core ix-4000.  
 
Not the entire range will be launched today, we can only approach the performance of desktop processors. Our case concerns therefore the Core i7-4770K, the top of the range Haswell. Is the new architecture really faster? Is the 22nm engraving better controlled? smaller consumption? better overclocking? And what about the graphics performance, expected to be up to 3 times higher compared to Ivy Bridge?

To get your answers check this post on the TechSpot reviewing the Core i7-4770K.

A smart ball for the next football season!

Technology in sport mainly revolves around one aspect, optimizing performance. Sometimes so obscure and sometimes in a rather simple way. Adidas is an excellent example with its miCoach device. They persist and sign with a new ultra-connected football.

The new Adidas smart ball comes with its own application and show you a myriad of information.The speed of the ball, the number of rotations, the distance, and  the direction, to name a few.

All these movements are examined under a microscope with a variety of sensors, the official specs have not yet been disclosed. But what we're sure of is, that it is able to transmit these information in real-time.

Adidas has been working on such products for a long time, and FIFA has selected one of these devices in 2014. Therefor, the amount of data at the next football season will be ridiculously large.



Source : Engadget.

Samsung announces 5G

Samsung Electronics has successfully tested a mobile network to the  5G standard _ that will hit the market in 2020 at the earliest_ for ultra high transmission speeds.

The South Korean giant has announced that it managed to transmit data at a speed of 1 Gbps over a distance of two kilometers between two terminals while current 4G networks transmit at 75 Mbps, and download movies in a second.

"Users will benefit from a wide range of services such as 3D movies and playing games and streaming (live) content in ultra high definition (UHD)," Samsung stated in a report.

The new technology uses extremely high frequency bands (EHF) but still doesn't comply with any recognized international bodies telecom standard.

Source : AFP.

Make every screen 3D-compatible with a simple plastic film

A team of researchers from Temasek Polytechnic and the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) has developed a new screen filter. It's not only a protector, but this filter allows you to view in 3D format without recourse to the famous glasses.

This plastic filter has been called revolutionary. Install it, simply to see with the naked eye 3D content on the screen of a phone. In fact, this screen protector is designed from the nanoimprint technology specially developed for this purpose. Boasting a thickness of less than 0.1 mm, this innovative accessory enables viewing in landscape and portrait mode. Meanwhile, the team is developing applications for iOS and Androidfor users to read 3D content. Even 2D images can be converted into 3D with a compatible application. Game developers will also have their share with the software development kit that transforms games into 3D.
 

5 privacy issues you probably didn't know about

1. Apple's IPhone is secretly tracking your movements and storing your data, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Learn more..
2. Facebook's app automatically tries to activate your GPS whenever it is launched. There's no setting or option to disable this.
3. Gmail reads your email. Google never said that it  reads our mail, however, it publicly acknowledges that it "processes personal information" via cookies and on its servers, so it can provide "our products and services to users," as well as to keep its service running well. Learn more..
4. Facebook Home: Facebook latest "innovation", is trying to be the gateway to your virtual world. It's a layer between the OS and the apps, it is the gateway to any data exchange. Which means, that Facebook will possess every bit of data passing through. The problem is that Facebook is going to use all this data not to improve our lives but to target better marketing and advertising messages at us.
5. Over than 24% of online time is spent on social networks. And a major social network site, according to Neilsen, will experience one major breach, which will expose a terrific amount of personal data.

IBM unveils "the smallest movie" of the story: "A Boy and His atom"

Scientists from IBM presented Wednesday "the world's smallest movie", a revolutionary work done with a very powerful microscope that shows the expanded atoms in movement.

This short film, which lasts about 1 minute and 30 seconds, is titled "A Boy and His atom." It tells the story of a little character who plays with an atom and follows his movements, dancing and jumping, a way to explain science in an educational manner.

"To shoot, position and shape the atoms to create an original animated film is an accurate and completely new science," said Andreas Heinrich, IBM Research scientist.

"At IBM we do not just read books on science, we create them. This movie is a fun way to share the world at the atomic scale" he added.

To make this movies, atoms were moved using a microscope developed some years ago by IBM, an invention that earned the Nobel Prize for its designers.

The unit does not look like a traditional microscope, since it weighs two tons and operates at a temperature of -268 ° C. It can enlarge objects placed on its plate 100 million times.

The device uses a very fine needle on a copper surface, to attract or repel the atoms and molecules to a specific location.

The movie has been certified by the Guinness Book of Records as "the world's smallest animation," according to IBM.

Enjoy it: