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Walyou

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Features A Gruff Super Mario
Google Is Rumoredly Planning to Launch Android TV at I/O This June
eBay Tells User to Change Passwords Due to Security Hack
LazeeEye Makes 3D Cameras Out of Regular Smartphones
Kairos Aims to Create Best Smart Mechanical Watch

Mercedes-Benz Commercial Features A Gruff Super Mario

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 07:00 AM PDT

A take on the popular video game character that's more Michael Bay than Shigeru Miyamoto.

Car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has a unique, dare I say, "in your face" interpretation of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. for their latest Japanese advertising for the company’s new 2015 GLA. Perhaps it's just one of those "lost in translation" things, but for whatever the reason, this Mario is a breed far detached from his typical kid-friendly appearance.

This crazy thirty-one second TV spot is actually a partnership between both companies, centered mostly around the release of Mario Kart 8 (out now for the Nintendo Wii U). In fact, a future DLC pack for the game will feature a go-kart version of the Mercedes-Benz GLA that Mario and company can select in-game.

No word if this special – cool for the giggles – DLC will come stateside; it's Japan only for the time being. Instead, we get to see this gnarly commercial starring a tough-as-nails looking Mario that would probably have the legendary Lou Albano (who once played the Italian plumber in the live-action Super Mario Bros. Super Show) quaking in his plumber’s boots. Well, maybe just a little.

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Google Is Rumoredly Planning to Launch Android TV at I/O This June

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 06:30 AM PDT

The awaited replacement for Google TV might see the light of day this month at Google’s I/O Conference. While still based on the search giant’s mobile OS, Android TV is meant to represent a different approach at home entertainment.

What I believed in March to be a Nexus TV focusing on gaming turns out to be a new TV platform based on Google’s mobile operating system. Powered by Pano, Android TV will maintain that focus. At the same time, the search giant will partner with media services including hulu, Netflix, Songza, Pandora and Vevo, in order to expand even more the platform. On top of that, Google is in talks with various manufacturers that will provide the hardware for this platform. The usual suspects are Sony, Vizio and Haier, but other names might make the list, as well.

Pano, the cards-based UI that focuses on content rather than on apps, was unveiled in April, when the Verge made public an internal document. Besides the aforementioned services, Pano also featured a Games section, suggesting that it will focus heavily on this side, as well. What this UI seemed to lack was originality, as it resembled the interfaces of both Netflix and Android FireTV.

Google already has Chromecast, the Chrome OS HDMI dongle that enables people to mirror the content played on their mobile devices to the TV, so why would the company ever want to make a competing product? Well, Chromast serves pretty much a single purpose, and that one isn’t gaming. Its hardware is also limited, which means that it can’t run everything you’d like. Besides, Google wants to provide the hardware necessary for gaming along with the new Android TV platform.

One thing that will work in Google’s advantage is the fact that there aren’t any real competitors in this field. The TV platforms made by Roku and Opera, for example, don’t stand a chance against smart TV manufacturers as LG or Samsung.

I wish Google had taken a more global approach to its products. The partnerships with Netflix, hulu and Pandora are great, but these media services are not accessible from outside the US. They may very well expand at some point to include users from other countries, but for the time being, these are only available to Americans.

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eBay Tells User to Change Passwords Due to Security Hack

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 06:00 AM PDT

After several high profile hacks of sites, eBay is the latest to be hit, now telling users to change their passwords as a result.

Ever bought anything on eBay? Maybe a last minute gift or a hard to find item? Or maybe you're one of the site's most trusted sellers, with eBay becoming a global marketplace for the stuff that you can't find anywhere else or for the things that you just can't afford to purchase at full price. Indeed, eBay is incredibly useful which is why the trade site had over 100 million active users (i.e users who visit or use the site regularly) as of February 2013. That many people buying and selling things via the site equals a whole lot of people sending money around and so the news that eBay was recently the target of a cyber attack could be very concerning indeed.

According to eBay, the company (which also owns money transaction service PayPal) was recently under threat of a cyber attack. It's unclear if the attack was some sort of failed DDoS (Distirbuted Denial of Service) attack which would effectively just stop people visiting the site or if it was an active attempt to get into eBay's servers on account of the aforementioned money that it deals with, but what is clear is that company have asked all of its users (on both eBay and PayPal, where the password message was also posted) to change their passwords.

So important was the notification that initially, eBay released an update on both the eBay and PayPal sites regarding the password change with just a headline revealing that there had been some sort of attack on their sites, with the body of the message which would have been used to described the situation simply reading as "Placeholder text". This hastily posted message was eventually removed but the actual issue of the cyber attack was confirmed by eBay via an official statement that explained that the hacker “compromised a database containing encrypted passwords and other non-financial data". So thankfully it doesn't seem as though any users' financial information is under threat but eBay recommend changing your eBay and PayPal passwords nonetheless.

Source: engadget

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories, ZTE Open C Firefox Phone Goes on an Exclusive Sale on eBay for $99, Pebble's New Android Appstore Features eBay, Evernote and TWC Apps

LazeeEye Makes 3D Cameras Out of Regular Smartphones

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 05:30 AM PDT

3D camera smartphones haven’t had much success in the past, but maybe a gadget that turns regular smartphones into 3D cameras will be better received by people.

According to Heuristic Labs, the manufacturer of this gadget, LazeeEye is a portmanteau for laser and eye, no matter how much it sounds like a visual disorder. I’d like to think that the company could have picked a better name that doesn’t make people think of health problems. Regardless, it’s the purpose that LazeeEye serves more than its name that interests us. The gadget attaches to 3.5mm jack of iPhones or Android smartphones and with the help of a laser source, a mirror and a spatial modulating element, the phone is able to use a depth estimation algorithm in order to make stereo images.

To achieve this, the add-on module also comes with a stereo vision app that puts the computing hardware of the smartphone to use in order to create 3D images. Heuristic Labs compared its pencil-sized gadget to the likes of Microsoft Kinect and Google Project Tango, probably hoping that the world won’t realize that all of these devices serve different purposes, despite relying on 3D imaging. Project Tango smartphones and tablets, for example, will be used for indoor mapping, something that could make the life of visually impaired people a lot easier. Try doing that with 3D pictures!

The wiggle GIF effect that LazeeEye uses can indeed create the sensation of motion, but at the same time, it could make people sick, provided that they look at such a “3D image” for a bit longer than 2 seconds. The concept is definitely interesting, but I think it should have been advertised in a different manner, and maybe that way it would have been more successful.

Below is a video of the LazeeEye that the company shot just prior to launching a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Unfortunately, the goal of $250K was not met when the campaign ended this weekend (only $232K were pledged by backers). Given how close they were to getting their project funded, I’m firmly convinced that Heuristic Labs will try again, either on Kickstarter or on some other platform, as this wouldn’t be the first time a company takes a second shot at crowdfunding and being unsuccessful the first time.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Photojojo smartphone spy lens and Peek-i, an iPhone accessory that turns the phone into a spy camera.

Kairos Aims to Create Best Smart Mechanical Watch

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 05:00 AM PDT

As the popularity of wearables grows, there are still some gaps in current models. A new startup seeks to add the missing ingredient to smartwatches.

It seems like a new smartwatch is announced or rumored every other day. Most of these watches are all over the spectrum, from powerhouse computing on your wrist, to minimalist functionality. All smart watches up to this point fail to provide a substitute for the most basic function of any watch: to tell the time without a regular charge.

This paradox puts most wearables in an awkward place. A watch is first and foremost a time telling device. If the battery on your smartwatch dies, it’s just an ugly bracelet. The only reason to wear a smartwatch is for the functionality. There has yet to be a smartwatch design that doesn’t sacrifice fashion for size and features.

That’s where Kairos comes in. Kairos is a new startup that aims to close the canyon between mechanical and smart varieties of watches. The Kairos smartwatch appears to be modern, reasonably fashionable–albeit, a little thick–mechanical watch, but hidden in the watchface is a transparent OLED display that lights up to provide the “smart” watch features when relevant

This design would be the penultimate of all smartwatches that have been announced yet, but it is important to note that all releases thus far are merely renders. There is no functioning prototype to speak of, yet Kairos is taking non-refundable pre-orders for various models ranging from $499 to $1,199. I, for one, will wait until I can get some hands on time, because the promise of this watch appears too good to be true, which likely means it is.

Kairos is attempting to produce a product that will contain the best of both worlds in its two halves, mechanical and smart. It’s important to note that this is its first watch model of any type. Kairos doesn’t have a smart watch or a mechanical watch currently on the market, so the ambition to produce a device that is on par with existing smart watches and mechanical watches may be a bit of a reach. It would be one thing if this was a partnership with Citizen, Swatch, or Timex, but this is an independent venture, so it wouldn’t be surprising for this first foray to provide a product that is really the worst of both worlds.

However, Kairos may produce a surprise product when the watch is released this coming December. At the very least, it serves as a great proof of concept. Even if the device is unusable, somebody had to be the first to market and an improvement on the design will likely be out sometime in the next couple of years.

Source: The Verge

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