3d illusion arts: Walyou

Walyou

X-Men Themed Lego Set Is Mind-blowing
HP to Launch Business Videoconferencing Chromebox This Spring
Nintendo Reportedly Basing Next Console on iOS
Google Now Launcher Rears its Head
HTC Reportedly Wants to Work on a High-End Nexus Tablet

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 07:53 AM PST

The X-men’s home in Westchester gets a revision in Lego form, and might even become an official set in the near future, if it garners enough support.

The ‘cerebro’ behind this incredible idea is no other than Glen Bricker, a Lego and X-men enthusiast, and he’s proposing it even as an official set on which you can vote and eventually see it made, Lego and Marvel willing. See more pictures (and vote!) of the LEGO X-Men X-Mansion, in here.

The complete mansion not only includes X-men figurines and regular rooms but also more specific rooms that fans might be familiar with such as the Danger Room, Xavier’s office or the kitchen, AKA, wherever Wolverine stores his beer.

Source: Super Punch

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HP to Launch Business Videoconferencing Chromebox This Spring

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 05:30 AM PST

Right after Google launched a video meeting product encompassing Google+ Hangouts and Google Apps with HD video conferencing, Asus unveiled their first Chromebox to run it and HP announced that they will offer a similar product in the upcoming weeks.

Chromebox for Meetings, as Google’s product is called, includes a Chromebox, microphone, speaker and an HD camera, all for the humble price of $999. That price also includes the first year’s $250 management and support fee, from which I gather that it will be a subscription based service.

I’m not sure about the price of the peripherals, but the Chromeboxes themselves won’t be that expensive. The $179 Asus Chromebox includes a Intel Haswell SoC (Celeron 2955U), Ethernet, dual-band WiFi, and the price goes up if people opt for better specs. Expect HP’s Chrome OS uber-mini fanless Chromebox to be similarly priced, as there’s really not much of a difference besides branding.

Caesar Sengupta, a Google VP of product management, pointed out that “We’re trying to improve collaboration by making face-to-face communications much more affordable.” Chromebox for Meetings may seem expensive, but similar systems cost tens of even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Google’s product won’t be shy to face them.

Sengupta emphasized the impact of videoconferencing systems on the way business work and interact nowadays: “Most of our meeting rooms have videoconferencing systems in them now. It’s had a transforming impact on our culture. People can meet face to face. It’s improved the openness of the culture. So now, it’s kind of strange to just call someone up.”

HP’s Chromebox sports HDMI and DisplaySport (thus having support for two monitors), WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB 3.0 ports. In terms of processing power, the Chromebox made by HP will be quite capable, since it will come with an Intel Haswell CPU. The high-end version meant for business videoconferencing will undoubtedly be based on an i7.

It might take a while till large companies who are currently using teleconferencing products made by Polycom and Cisco Systems to make the switch to Google’s meeting-room-in-a-box. The price, which is rather steep for home users, will be one of this product’s major selling points for business consumers. Business videoconferencing peripherals aside, Chromeboxes are really useful for people with basic needs.

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Nintendo Reportedly Basing Next Console on iOS

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST

As information about the successor to the Wii U is revealed by Nintendo, the company says that their next console will be based on Apple's iOS.

Say what you want about Apple but there's no denying that the Cupertino, Calif. based tech company have built a lucrative thing. Its iPads are built to take the business away with you once you've begun working on your iMac, your iPhones are the bridge between your work life and your personal life and your iPod Touch, if you have one, is what you use when you want to get away from it all and would rather be playing Flappy Bird than poring over spreadsheets. The point is, Apple's gadgets are made for each other. Bar the iMac, they all run the same OS and even Apple's pearly white desktop is made from the ground up to function with its more portable siblings. Nintendo have no such luck with this cross compatibility, scrapping this for purpose built consoles but from the future on, the Japanese game makers are set to take a walk on the Apple side.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had this to say in a recent Q&A about the future of Nintendo products, "To cite a specific case, Apple is able to release smart devices with various form factors one after another because there is one way of programming adopted by all platforms. Apple has a common platform called iOS. Another example is Android. Though there are various models, Android does not face software shortages because there is one common way of programming on the Android platform that works with various models. The point is, Nintendo platforms should be like those two examples. Whether we will ultimately need just one device will be determined by what consumers demand in the future, and that is not something we know at the moment. However, we are hoping to change and correct the situation in which we develop games for different platforms individually and sometimes disappoint consumers with game shortages as we attempt to move from one platform to another, and we believe that we will be able to deliver tangible results in the future."

That somewhat lengthy quote from the Nintendo boss is interesting for many reasons, one of these being that it's said that Apple's next iPhone will have a health focus, similar to the health-based platform that Nintendo have revealed that they are working on. Too, as Nintendo have notably lost many sales to the low cost and ease of accessibility that smartphones offer, this puts them in direct competition with Apple, which will lead to some (possibly) game changing distribution of market share once more of each company's products hit the shelves.

We'll keep you posted once we know more.

Source: Kotaku

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Google Now Launcher Rears its Head

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 04:00 AM PST

Google's Nexus line has always been the poster child for pure Google Android, but a new app from Google will put that power in anyone's pocket.

The past few iterations of Android have allowed users to bring their devices more and more in line with the standards set by Google through their Nexus line and—more recently—through the Google experience devices in the Google Play Store.

The look and feel has always been dictated by the manufacturer, though. Samsung devices use their touchwiz skin, HTC devices use HTC sense, and most manufacturers have some other distinguishing variations from stock Android.

Rumors have been swirling surrounding a "Google Experience Launcher" which would make your Android device look and feel (mostly) like a clean version of unadulterated Android. So far, this launcher has only been available on the Nexus 5, but an incoming update to the Google Search app suggests this is about to change.

Android Police has examined the new release by Google and found many of the included changes actually affect the Google Launcher, including an official branding as Google Now Launcher, which suggests they are preparing to distribute it beyond stock devices.

I tested the .APK included on their site on my HTC One and can confirm that it does deliver as promised with minimal effort. You can follow their included directions if you also wish to get it for yourself.

If you want to wait for an official update from Google, there's no word yet on how long that will be—or even any confirmation that it will ever be available. As always, be careful before you go installing 3^rd party apps on your devices, but the .APK is signed by Google and it passed a scan from Lookout Security before I installed it.

I've always been a big fan of the cleaner simplistic approach of the Google Nexus UI, but it may not be for everyone. If you want to try something new on your phone but don't like the Google Now Launcher look and feel, try checking out Launcher Pro or Action Launcher from the Google Play Store.

Source: BGR, Android Police

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HTC Reportedly Wants to Work on a High-End Nexus Tablet

Posted: 07 Feb 2014 03:30 AM PST

The Nexus family might go back to its roots if HTC gets to make the next Nexus tablet, even though rumors suggest that Asus will also be making one in 2014.

A Taiwanese report suggests that HTC might be making the next Nexus tablet, even though rumors have been flying around that the Nexus line would soon come to an end. On top of that, unnamed sources close to the Commercial Times revealed recently that HTC has won the rights to make the next high-end Nexus tablet, presumably a new Nexus 10. Google’s collaboration with HTC back in 2010 marked the launch of a new line of competitively priced smartphones and tablets with incredible specs, but unfortunately, Nexus One was a one-off, and the two companies never worked together ever since.

HTC isn’t particularly well-established as a tablet manufacturer, having made only two until now, the 7-inch Flyer (also known as HTC Evo View 4G) and the 10.1-inch Jetstream. The price might have deterred people, since the Flyer was $499 and the Jetstream had a $849 price tag. Still, this doesn’t mean that the company is not good at making such products, just that they haven’t been financially successful. Moreover, a lot of rumors and leaks from the past year suggested that HTC would make a comeback. Not to mention that Cher Wang, an HTC chairperson, claimed back in October that HTC is not shy about re-entering the tablet market: “When the tablet comes out it will be something nice and disruptive.”

A new Nexus tablet would mean a new source of revenue for HTC, who haven’t been having exactly the time of their lives, financially speaking. Before launching the One X, the Taiwanese company was very close to collapsing, and a partnership with Google could breathe new life into HTC. Nexus products are known to sell like hot cakes, regardless if they’re made by Samsung, Asus or LG, and I’m sure that an HTC Nexus 10 wouldn’t be an exception.

Both Google and HTC refused to comment on these rumors, but I think that a high-end Nexus tablet made by the Taiwanese company could make everyone happy, especially the consumers, who would get yet another stellar tablet at a great price. Should it ever become a reality, the HTC Nexus tablet would most probably be launched in the second half of the year, since doing otherwise would mean for Google to break its habits.

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