CampusIntel

3D television isn’t the only next step in evolution for TV technology. At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week, there was also a buzz going on about Web TV. Watching content from the web from your living room television.

Students are busy enough as it is with classes, papers and exams. Most of them don’t have the luxury of setting aside hours a night every week to watch television. And the ones that do find it increasingly difficult to stay caught up with their favourite TV shows. So most of them have resorted to watching their favourite shows on the internet, either by downloading a torrent or streaming the video. But they end up sacrificing the luxury of watching from a large screen television for the sake of convenience.

Enter Boxee

Boxee Beta from boxee on Vimeo.

As the video above demonstrates, Boxee allows you to do more tha just watch streaming video of your favourite shows from the internet. You can also watch viral videos from sites like Digg, view photos from Flickr and Picasa, and listen to music from sites like Pandora (though Canadians will probably need some kind of hack). Moreover, you can also connect with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, and see what they are watching, and recommend stuff to them as well.

There are a couple of limitations to Boxee however: a content issue, and a hardware issue.

First, Boxee is an U.S. product, and thus its default settings only have support for U.S. content. This is a problem because Canadians are barred from viewing internet content from sites like Hulu, ABC, and Netflix due to geographic IP filtering. However, several independent third-party developers are working on apps to provide support for Canadian content, such as GlobalTV, Comedy Network, YTV, Much Music, and the National Film Board of Canada.

Secondly, as of now, the only way to use Boxee is to download it for free, install it onto your computer (compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux), and connect your machine to your television. The problem with that is that you would have to dedicate your computer entirely to playing Boxee on your television. But fortunately, Boxee is coming out with their own hardware, the Boxee Box, which connects directly to your television via HDMI, SPDIF and RCA Audio. It is scheduled to come out sometime between April and June. By that time, developers should have completed support for at least some Canadian content.

DivX TV on deck

Boxee isn’t the only one trying to revolutionize your TV experience. DivX is parterning with LG Electronics to bring DivX TV to the living room. But unlike Boxee, DivX TV will not require any additional hardware. DivX will be installed directly into LG’s existing Blu-Ray players and home theater systems with NetCast Entertainment Access via a firmware update that will be available later this year. The service should also be available on mobile devices, allowing you to remotely stream content from your computer’s media library onto your phone.

The DivX TV content lineup includes more than 70 channels from a variety of genres, including short web videos, as well as premium Hollywood content. Content providers include the Associated Press, CNET, Dailymotion, Picasa, Revision 3, Rhapsody, TED, and Twitter. More content parters are expected to sign on once the service becomes more popular.

TV Widgets and Apps

In a different move to take advantage of this web TV trend, Yahoo! is planning on launching a service that allows people to use “internet widgets” from their television set. With this, people can can communicate with friends via Facebook and Twitter, check the news, weather, sports scores, and stocks, as well as view pictures from Flickr and Picasa. See the video below. Yahoo! formed parternships with Samsung, LG Electronics, Sony and Vizio last year in order to push this service on their HD TVs and Blu-Ray players, and have released Widget Development Kit to engage more content providers.

Similarly, Samsung will also be launching an app store for their HD TVs in July 2010. Actually, it’s reported to be a multi-device app store, meaning you can use the same app on your PC, mobile device, or television. This sets up the potential for synchronizing between devices.

TV of the Future?

The next ten years of TV watching are going to be very different from what we were used to when we were growing up. From 3D television to web TV, these are only the beginning of what our living room liesure time is going to be like in the future. But the question is, are people ready to adapt to all this new technology? I, for one, am looking forward more to web TV than I am to 3D TV, just because the relative quantity of content makes it seem more feasible for the developers and manufacturers, and also more economic for the consumer. But what about you? Are you looking forward to purchasing web connected technology for your television?

[photo credit: DivX.com]

So as we were all warned, there’s no more cell-phone use allowed while driving in Canada, unless you enjoy being fined around $200.  Well, in most of Canada anyways (BC, Saskatchewan and Ontario are in; Alberta, Manitoba, and the Yukon Territory have laws in the works.  Meanwhile, you can still drive, text and gab all you want in Quebec, the Maritimes, and those crazy, crazy, Northwest Territories).  That is of course, unless you’re equipped with one of the government’s latest mandated cash-grabs (accusation and solid proof pending): the Bluetooth hands-free device.

The gist of the law is that anyone who watches the screen of an electronic device (cellphone, GPS, mp3 player, DVD player, video games, or Sean Avery distracting Martin Brodeur, which also required a new law legislation) while driving violates the law; unless it’s installed correctly, and doesn’t obstruct the driver’s view of the road.  To read the more detailed version of the BC Law, click here.

Now, with all that being said, let’s get to the real issue at hand with this law:

IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL FOR PEOPLE TO WALK AROUND IN PUBLIC TALKING ON HANDS-FREE DEVICES.

Ok, I get it Government of Canada, you want to keep motorists and pedestrians alike, safe.  Great, good plan.  I appreciate your concern for my well-being.  Honestly, I’m one of the better and safer driving talk and texter’s out there; but I’ll conform for the sake of the greater good.  But for crying out loud, if I have to see one more person walking around talking into thin air, using their outside voice while clearly within hearing and visual range of myself and others, waving both their arms around like they just got their mental institute shackles off, I’m going to grab that little “lifesaver” right off their ear, turn it sideways, and show them where they can stick it: back in their car, so they can put it back on when they start driving again (what did you think I was going to suggest?)

I used to work at a local irrigation supply store in Kelowna, and we had this dealer rep from one of the companies we ordered products from that would regularly drop by our store to visit the owner and talk turkey.  Fine by all accounts;  probably good business and PR.  The only problem was, this larger, portly, balding, booming bass voiced man (my friend and co-worker, Jayson Zilkie pointed out a startling Homer Simpson resemblance) would stroll into our store, mid-conversation, with his hands-free device inserted in his ear, and his speech burrowing into the goodwill-towards-men shield of my rage.

From the moment our door-chime went off, this guy was already 5 sentences deep.  He would come in, flail his arms around, flaunt his apparent ability to solve problems on the spot for everyone in the store to hear, walk a few laps around our store, walk out the back door, come back in, repeat the process, and then one time I seem to recall, he actually left and drove off without ever even actually talking to anyone in our store.  This happened A LOT while I was employed there.  The guy was lucky I didn’t see him pulling that routine after our order of sharp garden tools came in and were displayed near the front desk.

So if you’re one of those people who uses a hands-free device outside of your car, out in public, on display for everyone to see and hear, remember this:

YOU’RE BOTHERING EVERYONE.

 Do us all a favour; disconnect the hands-free when you turn off your car and get out, and if you get a call, talk on the phone, like a normal human being.  We may be thwarting road-rage with this law, but we may also be inventing Bluetooth-rage.  When I got my headset (which I won off the radio for being the first caller), I made a vow to keep that thing in the car at all times.  My suggestion to all of you is that you do the same, for all our sakes.  And your own safety.

read more of Dave at Serenity Now… The SDC Blogs http://davecunning.wordpress.com

FROM Engadget.

iBuyPower Battalion Touch now available to order, starting at $999

Sweet!

Ah Monopoly, that classic game that you can find in just about every version- there’s been Disney Monopoly, NHL Monopoly, Lord of the Ring Monopoly, and the list goes on..

Now for the first time ever, makers of an upcoming Canadian Monopoly want the public to have a say in what locations will appear on the board. St. Catharines, the medium-sized city close to the Canada/US border and home to Brock University, is among 65 cities on the short-list to determine 20 of the spots.

City officials are campaigning vigourously to ensure St. Catharines has a spot in Canadian Monopoly, launching Twitter, email and Facebook campaigns to get citizens on board. St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan thinks his city is “definitely Boardwalk material” and further adds “But I’d be happy with the city getting any spot on the board.”  

Online voting will be the deciding factor in which Canadian cities and places of interest appear on the board; the city with the most votes gets the prime spot, equivalent to the Boardwalk space in the original game.Voting for the top 20 continues until Feb. 7 and cities voted onto the  board will be announced in June, when the Canadian edition of Monopoly is rolled out this summer.

To vote: www.monopolyvote.ca until Feb 7. A final wild card round occurs Feb. 8-21.

The city’s voting site on Facebook is found here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lets-get-St-Catharines-on-the-Canadian-MONOPOLY-board/416208300496?ref=search&sid=89905850.376870563..1

At the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Los Vegas last week, the buzz was all about 3D televisions. With the success of 3D movies like Avatar, and more 3D movies coming out, like Alice in Wonderland, the world is ready for 3D to hit the small screen. Last week, three big announcements were made, implying that 3D televisions aren’t just going to be a fad, but rather are the next step in the evolution of TV technology.

First, Discovery Communications announced that they are engaging in a joint venture with Sony and IMAX to bring 3D televisions to the living room. Sony will be producing the 3D-capable televisions that will be required to view Discovery’s 3D programming, while IMAX will likely be responsible for providing the technology for filming programs in 3D, and converting 2D programs into 3D. The Discovery-Sony-IMAX triumvirate will launch a 24-hour channel in 2011, which will be dedicated to running all 3D programming. The channel will feature programs on natural history, space exploration, adventure, engineering, science and technology, motion pictures, and children’s programming. Unfortunately, plans as of now only intend to broadcast the channel in the U.S., but you can bet that Canadian broadcasting companies will immediately follow suit.

On the same day, ESPN also announced that they were planning to kick off their own 3D-dedicated channel on June 11 2010, to broadcast the World Cup soccer match in 3D. ESPN is committed to keep this channel running for at least one year, with a minimum of 85 live 3D events. Other planned events include the Summer X Games (for extreme sports), NBA games, and college basketball and college football. They do not plan to air reruns, so the network will go dark when there are no 3D events to air. Again, there might be a delay before this becomes available in Canada, but it would be great ig we could watch the World Cup in 3D!

Later that week, DirecTV also announced that they were set to launch a trio of dedicated 3D channels by June 2010. This will include a 3D pay-per-vew channel, a 3D video-on-demand channel, and a free linear 3D channel intended as a “sampler demo channel”. DirecTV is also also planning to work with other programming partners and movie studios to produce more 3D content, including CBS, MTV, NBC Universal, and Turner Broadcasting System, as well as the Fox Sports Network to broadcast the MLB All-Star Game on July 11 2010, (hmm… not as exciting as watching the World Cup in 3D, but still pretty exciting). Current DirecTV customers with existing top-sets will get a free firmware upgrade to support 3D programming, but they will still need to buy a compatible 3D television, such as the Panasonic Viera Full HD 3D TV. DirecTV has signed a deal with Panasonic to be the exclusive sponsor of their services.

Clearly, 3D televisions aren’t just going to be a passing fad. It’s only a matter of time before every household in Canada owns one. But the question is, how much time? There are still some among us, I’m sure, that are still trying to catch up with the HD trend. But it’s the nature of technology to make leaps and bounds before everyone can catch up. From black and white, to colour, to HD, to 3D, the evolution of television just keeps getting faster and faster. Technology grows at an exponential rate, but people are much slower to adopt such technology. So how long are you going to wait before your house gets their own 3D television?

Just as the holiday season comes to a close, French Bluetooth company Parrot announces this year’s hottest new toy. At the 2010 Consumers Electronics Show in Los Vegas, Parrot was showing off the AR.Drone: a quadricopter controlled by your iPhone! The price point hasn’t been announced yet, but the drone is scheduled to be released some time later this year.

The AR.Drone can be controlled with your iPhone or iPod Touch. It has two cameras to monitor it with cockpit-view from your iPhone, and is controlled by tilting or touching your iPhone to make it rotate, tilt, and accelerate. Parrot plans to make the device available on other mobile platforms, like on the Droid or the Blackberry.




And as if it weren’t cool enough to have your own remote controlled spy-bot, you can even play Augmented Reality video games on it! This includes single-player modes and multi-player mode (see video below). Parrot has even released a software development kit to allow third-party developers and game publishers to design more games.




What’s more interesting is that Parrot is even looking into alternative applications for the drone besides gaming. The military already uses several remote controlled air robots, but how else could the AR.Drone be used by consumers? I would imagine that it would be very useful for researchers, engineers, and emergency and police forces. But what about for people like us? How would you like to see the AR.Drone being used?

I would love to get to the point where companies like Apple, Sony, Tom Tom, and RIM send me their products for review.  CampusIntel.com will hopefully become the hub we dream it to be for the 18-24 demographic in Canada…and if we realize this dream, then I’m sure we can start reviewing all sorts of cool technologies for you. Hey…we can build killer websites, killer web apps, and deliver over 1,000,000 sample products to university and college students across Canada, there is no reason why we can’t dominate the digital sphere as well.

We need your support, so make comments, and if you have fun with words and enjoy writing them…then what are you waiting for? Join our blogging army today!

Originally posted December 9th, 2009.

Imagine viewing the real world with virtual objects overlaid on top of it. These virtual objects don’t actually exist in the physical world, but you can see them, and you can interact with them. If you were in Toronto and walked by Old City Hall, you might see a Wikipedia icon hovering over the building. Touch the icon, and you can access all the Wikipedia information about Old City Hall, presented overlaid right on top of Old City Hall. It’s almost like having a virtual tour guide. This is Augmented Reality (AR) . This might be difficult to visualize just by reading, so please see the video below.

What Is Augmented Reality?



The video above exhibits Bionic Eye, which is just one of the many AR applications available for iPhone. Bionic Eye, in particular, focuses on helping you find Points-of-Interests (POI) in your nearby environment, including fast food, restaurants, coffee shops, wi-fi hot spots, hotels, and even subway stations. These services are available for all U.S. and Canadian cities, as well as U.K., France, Germany, and Tokyo.

Another popular AR application available on the iPhone is Wikitude, which markets itself as an AR Travel Guide. It overlays Wikipedia information over real world scenes, as well as crowdsourced information gathered from wikitude.me. Probably most impressive, is its combination with GPS-like real-time navigation, which produces point-to-point directions virtually overlaid on top of the real world, with no need for maps (see video below).

AR Navigation System

Another popular application available for the iPhone is Layar, which, on top of POI and Wikipedia information, also allows you to find nearby Twitter users. A more Twitter-specific app isTwittARound,which allows you to point your iPhone in any direction, and it will show you the avatars of nearby Twitter users. You can then click on the avatars to see their most recent tweets. Although this could potentially lead to some privacy issues (not to mention bordering the line of creepy), this could have some amazing consequences.

With AR, social media can be taken out of the web, and placed right into the real world. The video below features an iPhone app being developed by The Astonishing Tribe. You point your iPhone to a person in the real world, and then the app uses facial recognition technology to pull up that person’s information on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.

AR Social Identity

Augmented reality is not just limited to smartphones. Just this year, it has already been used by Esquire magazine to bring Robert Downey Jr. into your computer screen. This demonstrates its potential for other non-commercial uses, such as AR enhanced textbooks at school. Augmented reality has also been used in video games, such as in an Nintendo DSi video game, where you can interact with virtual ghosts lurking in your immediate environment. However, by far my favourite uses of augmented reality are in museums and tourism: Imagine going to New York and being able to see the Twin Towers as if they were still there. See the video below to see how AR can be used to bring history back to life.



Time Travel Tourism

Of course, the equipment worn in the video is much too bulky, and you end up looking like one of the Ghostbusters hunting Slimer. Scientists are trying to find different ways for people to use augmented reality, including contact lenses and eye-glasses that project images directly into your retina. See the video below for another concept, which Nokia is working on, using eye-tracking technology to display an image on bifocal eye-glasses. The idea is that instead of interacting with the virtual objects using your hands, you can just focus your eye-gaze directly onto a virtual object.

Augmented Reality Glasses

You can expect to see more AR in the near future. It has been a fast-growing trend in 2009, and 2010 is promised to see even more growth in the field. In the future, AR might be so ubiquitous that it might become difficult to distinguish reality from virtual reality. It would have been hard to imagine something like this a few years ago. For most people, it is still a very foreign concept that seems like science fiction. Imagine what the next ten years might be like. *head explodes*