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Parrot’s Remote Controlled Helicopter Takes Augmented Reality to the Next Dimension

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:37:33 +0000

In December, I visited Parrot 's development labs in Paris to check out the company's newest project. While Parrot is mostly known for its Bluetooth headsets and speaker systems, the company's newest project combines augmented reality with a remote controlled helicopter. This helicopter - the AR.Drone - features four rotors to keep it stable and a front-mounted camera that is linked to an iPhone or iPod touch. The rig is controlled via an iPhone or iPod touch and the device's screen can show an augmented view of what the helicopter's camera sees. Sponsor AR Meets the Real World What's most exciting about this product is how it combines a real helicopter with this augmented reality view. Instead of just looking at an augmented view of the world through the phone's camera, you get to see the world through the drone's camera. The iPhone takes the view of the camera (via Wi-Fi) and replaces markers with anything from walls to dinosaurs. During our discussion with Parrot in December, we couldn't get any information about the price of the AR.Drone out of the company's representatives. Given how sophisticated the hardware is, however, chances are that it won't be very cheap. The drone, for example, features two camera. Besides the camera that feeds the video to the iPhone, the drone also features a second came that is mounted underneath he structure and augments the drone's autopilot. Hands-On With the AR.Drone We got a chance to play with a prototype of the AR.Drone in Parrot's labs and while it took a while to get used to the controls (the app uses a combination of the phone's tilt sensors and on-screen controls to manipulate the drone). The video on the iPhone was surprisingly clear and didn't show any noticeable lag. Sadly, we didn't get a chance to try out the AR features of the app, though. Parrot will launch the AR.Drone later this year. The company plans demo the helicopter at CES this week but the exact date of the public launch remains unclear. A Drone for Developers In its current iteration, the hardware and software is clearly laid out for gaming, but Parrot also released an SDK that will allow developers to use the hardware for other purposes as well. It will definitely be interesting to see what games and other tools the developer community will come up with one the AR.Drone is launched. Parrot told us that it hopes that developers will look at the hardware as a platform and the company hopes to create an active developer ecosystem around the AR.Drone. More Videos Click here for more videos of the AR.Drone in action. Disclosure : Frederic met with Parrot during a trip that was partly sponsored by Parrot . An Early Demo Discuss

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Parrot's Remote Controlled Helicopter Takes Augmented Reality to the Next Dimension

Search, Monetize and Fact Check YouTube Transcripts with Speakertext

cgseo — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 04:00:00 +0000

You've probably never heard of Matt Mireles and Bjorn Liljequist but with a $4000 dollar budget and an engineering team paid in iPhones, the two already have Meebo founder Seth Sternberg as their advisor and praise from VC Fred Wilson . The duo's filtering service Speakertext will launch at tomorrow's New York Tech Meetup and the concept is a simple one - to make video interesting. Sponsor Like Tubechop , Speakertext allows users to omit the boring parts of a video; however, the service's transcription component offers a new and important twist. Says CEO Mireles, "At some point, longer videos become useless. It's the metadata and the fact that we're allowing it to be indexed that make this a great tool." The service uses the YouTube API and replaces the YouTube player with a Speakertext player. Users can search video text for relevant quotes and embed the linked quote or the Speakertext player and video into their blogs. To index your own video with the system, you can either transcribe it yourself or opt into a

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Search, Monetize and Fact Check YouTube Transcripts with Speakertext

ReadWriteWeb’s List of Kid-Friendly Online Resources

cgseo — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:00:00 +0000

In an ironic twist of fate for 2009, Fox's IGN Entertainment, a company known for its game reviews of products like Zombie Apocalypse acquired What They Play . The newest member of Fox Interactive is touted as the "family guide to video games" and offers reviews, warnings and suggested products. Under the umbrella company of What They Like , What They Play uses the "Entertainment Software Rating Board" (ESRB) to warn parents of games containing explicit lyrics, cartoon violence and drug references. Sponsor Editor's note: This story is part of a series we call Redux, where we'll re-publish some of our best posts of 2009. As we look back at the year - and ahead to what next year holds - we think these are the stories that deserve a second glance. It's not just a best-of list, it's also a collection of posts that examine the fundamental issues that continue to shape the Web. We hope you enjoy reading them again and we look forward to bringing you more Web products and trends analysis in 2010. Happy holidays from Team ReadWriteWeb! In an age when gross-out sites like goatse are just a click away, a number of services offer parents the information they need to find quality online entertainment. While past generations were raised on unfiltered television and video games, today's parent take a more active role in the process of media consumption. AOL's PlaySavvy : PlaySavvy is another site that offers parents a chance to check out age-appropriate kids games. Similar to What They Play, this site lists the ESRB ratings next to games and information is categorized by topic and gaming system. Products for console favorites like Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii are often featured on the site. AOL also offers parents daily articles and a section to view the most popular games. Parents' Choice : Established in 1978, this site is run by the Parents' Choice Foundation - a nonprofit organization that offers awards to the top children's media and toys. Some of the award categories include websites, video games, DVDs, software, television programming and toys. This site definitely skews towards narrative-based educational materials. If your kid has a shorter attention span, you might want to visit PBS Kids instead. Common Sense Media : Common Sense media is a nonprofit organizations dedicated to offering parents reviews and suggestions on appropriate content. The group produces movie, website, TV, game, book and music ratings as well as a number of educational tools for classroom use. The site can be personalized for kids between the ages of 2-17 years old and it's available in English and Spanish. This site tends to weigh the benefits of mainstream media sites. PBS KIDS Island : This site offers parents reading resources, videos and games in English and Spanish. While the majority of the content is best queued up by a parent or teacher, the videos are of particularly high quality and completely commercial free. National Geographic for Kids : This site offers kid-friendly games, videos, stories and activities for nature lovers. The same photography that has made National Geographic a hit with grownups is likely to please kids. Not surprisingly, the video content is equally compelling. Discovery Kids offers a similar experience and is a great site for visual learners. Totlol : Totlol is a parent-moderated version of YouTube. The site offers video options specifically designed for children and even offers "age optimized interfaces" to ensure that kids of different ages get the most appropriate content. In 2008, ReadWriteWeb covered Totlol's beta launch . As of today the site charges a $3 per month subscription fee or $54 until your child grows up. Photo Credit: Swaminathan Discuss

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ReadWriteWeb's List of Kid-Friendly Online Resources

Synchtube: Watch Synchronized YouTube Videos With Your Friends

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:25:34 +0000

Chances are that you are getting at least a few emails and IMs with links to YouTube videos every day. While watching these alone can be fun, Synchtube turns this into a far more social experience. Synchtube allows you to share and discuss a video in real time with up to four of your friends. The first person to enter the room controls the playback and also has the ability to change videos. Sponsor Features To get started, just head over to Synchtube.com and copy and paste a link to a YouTube video into the box in the lower right corner. Then send out the link to the room to your friends and start the video once they have arrived. In our tests, the service worked just as advertised. The chat room itself is basic, but it fulfills its purpose without getting in the way. The video sync sometimes lagged behind a bit by up to 4 seconds. This is definitely within an acceptable range, however. Just like these commenters on Reddit , we would love to see a few additional features in the app, including the ability to create playlists, search for videos within the app or give control over the room to another user. The developers have promised to continue to work on this app and plan to add more advanced features in the near future. Verdict For now, if you are looking for an easy way to watch YouTube videos with your friends without having to install a desktop app like DeskTube , Synchtube is one of the easiest apps to use. The app has some limitations, but for the vast majority of users, the current version should work just fine and most of the current issues will surely be fixed in the near future. Discuss

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Synchtube: Watch Synchronized YouTube Videos With Your Friends

5 Sites to Help You Set Up Your New Gadgets

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:37:15 +0000

It's been almost a year since I last worked with DIY repair site FixYa but I still remember the traffic spike we'd see every Christmas. While families would be thrilled to unwrap smart phones, netbooks and flat screen monitors in the early morning, they'd find themselves lost in a sea of instructions by noon. There is nothing worse than having a new shiny toy and not being able to play with it. In addition to FixYa, below are a few resources you can use to help set up your new gadgets. Sponsor 1. How Stuff Works : If you're looking for a basic understanding of your computer or device, you can always check out this site for some helpful videos. The site offers tips on everything from adding RAM to your laptop to deconstructing your wireless mouse. 2. Videojug : This site offers videos on everything from cooking to cars. The site's technology and cars section offers a variety of how-to information including how to get videos onto your iPod to how to set up your PlayStation. 3. Aardvark : When in doubt, ask the mob. While not specifically a gadget site, Aardvark allows you query your network for answers via email, instant message, iPhone app and web interface. Named ReadWriteWeb's Best Little Co. of 2009 , the beauty of this site is that only those with a self-proclaimed expertise will be asked to solve your gadget problems. 4. Gdgt : Gdgt is a social wiki site where users trade tips and tricks on their favorite gadgets. Launched by former Engadget editors Ryan Block and Peter Rojas, the site offers specs and reviews on some of the newest products on the market. If you can't solve your gadget-related issue on one of the video sites, it's probably because the product is too new to have how-to videos. Check Gdgt for the listing and look at the discussion page for details. 5. iFixit Teardowns : And finally, if you're feeling ambitious and you don't want to wait on the phone for a manufacturer's 1-800 number, iFixit offers user-generated teardown guides. The guides give a photo documentation of gadget disassembly as well as commentary on parts and hardware. Check your product documentation before venturing into this territory, you wouldn't want to void your warranty before getting the device working. Discuss

YouTube Gets Short(er) Links, Too

cgseo — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 04:28:56 +0000

Almost in the immediate wake of Google's announcing short URLs ( goo.gl ) and Facebook experimenting with fb.me links, YouTube has made a gesture toward shorter web addresses, as well. Today, the video site announced it's launching youtu.be links. They're not as short as the super-brief URLs users might see from Bit.ly or is.gd because each one contains a unique ID for the video it links to. But this extra bit of information makes the URLs more useful for developers, too. Sponsor While the resulting URLs aren't significantly shorter than a regular YouTube link, users will have the added benefit of knowing exactly what kind of content they're being redirected to, which isn't always the case with many shortened URLs. Also, with the video ID as part of the short URL, writes YouTube engineering manager Vijay Karunamurthy, "developers can do interesting things like show you thumbnails, embed the video directly or track how a video is spreading in real time." End users can shorten links manually simply by putting the video ID (the part of the YouTube URL that comes after the equals sign and before the ampersand, if there is one) after http://youtu.be/. For example, " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1acVM7_rWw4 " is the regular URL of an interview we did over the summer with a great startup advisor in Boulder, CO. The short version of that link would be " http://youtu.be/1acVM7_rWw4 ". Or, for those copy/paste-averse folks among us, links will be automatically shortened when broadcast thought the site's sharing mechanisms. Discuss

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YouTube Gets Short(er) Links, Too

YouTube in 2009: One Video That Ruled Them All

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:53:49 +0000

YouTube posted its year in review stats this morning and Susan Boyle's singing performance was listed as the most popular video of the year. That video was, in fact, almost four times as popular as numbers two through five - videos including David After the Dentist , that insipid wedding dance and the trailer for the vampire movie New Moon . With more than 120 million views, Boyle's video demonstrates a lot of things about YouTube, now one of the world's largest search engines. It's an inspiring video that challenges expectations about gender and age with a story of personal triumph. It's also something that traditional media pulled off better than user generated content probably could have. Sponsor The video has had embedding turned off on YouTube but it's really quite compelling. It's embarrassing to see how people talk down to an older woman, whose appearance falls outside of television's definition of beauty. It's moving to see her triumph in the performance. It's bittersweet to consider that the television franchise souped up the video of her performance, turning a woman worthy of respect into a freak because of her beautiful, youthful voice and profiting handsomely while she went on to have psychological issues because of the resulting public pressure. That's what people on the Internet watched this year, though. That and a small child speaking under the influence of dental medication. Discuss

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YouTube in 2009: One Video That Ruled Them All

The Day Has Come: Facebook Pushes People to Go Public

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:01:17 +0000

Facebook announced this morning that its 350 million users will be prompted to make their status messages and shared content publicly visible to the world at large and search engines. It's a move we expected but the language used in the announcement is near Orwellian. The company says the move is all about helping users protect their privacy and connect with other people, but the new default option is to change from "old settings" to becoming visible to "everyone." This is not what Facebook users signed up for. It's not about privacy at all, it's about increasing traffic and the visibility of activity on the site. Sponsor Information like your email address is recommended to remain limited to friends, but make no mistake about it - Facebook wants you to make the status messages you post visible to the entire internet. According to the video explaining the changes, the new default for status messages is "everyone." That's a huge change. Of course it's not hard for people to keep their existing privacy settings, but confusion around what those settings are is hardly resolved by the phrase "old settings" and a tool-tip phrase appearing when you hover over that option. A substantial backlash has already begun in comments on t he Facebook blog post about the announcement. Previous moves by the company, like the introduction of the news feed, have seen user resistance as well - but this move cuts against the fundamental proposition of Facebook: that your status updates are only visible to those you opt-in to exposing them to. You'll now have to opt-out of being public and opt-in to communicating only with people you've given permission to see your content. Will users go for it? If Facebook becomes a lot more like Twitter, will users stick around? The network of friends you've created on Facebook can't be taken anywhere else - access to those people off-site is limited due to "privacy concerns." This is an amazing move that was announced with limited press attention. A Facebook group message to press was sent out at 6am, two hours before a press phone call. The announcement is a long, wordy and unclear text putting undue emphasis on Privacy when the new options clearly favor going public. Earlier this week the company made an announcement about forthcoming privacy policy changes and Open was not the recommended setting . Facebook confirmed to us in a press call earlier this year that the company does in fact want users to post more publicly and we expected a site-wide call for users to loosen privacy restrictions - but not like this. This announcement was couched in language of user control and privacy. A much more honest approach to privacy would be to encourage users to create lists of contacts and encourage them to select which list any update was visible to . Instead, that's greatly underemphasized. Expect to see this story blow up for the rest of the year. It's a very big move. See our previous coverage for context: Facebook Wants You To Be Less Private - But Why? A Closer Look at Facebook's New Privacy Options Is Facebook a Cult? Discuss

Boxee Beta Releases New Social Dashboard

cgseo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:00:00 +0000

In a world where content is king, Boxee has found a way to give entertainment producers the royal treatment. After a successful App challenge and calculated rollouts of its Mac, Windows and Linux releases, internet television platform Boxee is launching into private beta with a new and improved look. ReadWriteWeb got an early look at the product and found out how the company plans to increase its growing user base. Sponsor Says Boxee's VP of marketing Andrew Kippen, "We're trying to change how people view television. It the past it's been something people have associated with unhealthiness. Instead of force feeding programs to passive audiences, users are exploring and interacting with web and TV content and each other." Kippen hopes that the company's new design will be more conducive to dialogue and exploration. Rather than appearing like the mobile app interface of an iPhone, the new Boxee offers an experience much like that of social dashboard Seesmic. In addition to OAuth integration , users will notice the following changes. New Homepage With Boxee Beta, users are greeted by a dashboard with three columns in the form of a newsfeed, featured content and a program queue. The newsfeed offers starred content and comments from Boxee, Twitter and Facebook friends. The center column is reserved for featured community content. In the future this area will be monetized through a pay-to-promote program. And finally, the program queue lets you to keep track of your Netflix queue and latest Boxee-related TV subscriptions. TV and Video In the past users were asked to differentiate between their local and web files. Boxee Beta mixes local and web content in recognition that users simply want to watch their favorite programs regardless of the formats or location of files. Instead of filtering by types of file or having to open an application, Boxee Beta has a new integrated search feature and allows us to pull up files by genre and price, rather than having to switch between file types. The company also organizes your favorite TV shows by episode and season. Some New Applications Social : While both Justin.tv and Hulu's Watch Now Facebook application allow users to chat alongside their favorite entertainment programs, nothing beats the resolution of your home entertainment system. Clipsync overlays chat on video game programs while Cliqset does the same for regular television. Super Fandom : If you've ever wanted to have yourself a Kurt Russell movie marathon, then the Clicker Boxee application is your answer. ReadWriteWeb recently covered the web version of Clicker as a TV guide for web video and the Boxee application allows users to pull in all the relevant metadata on shows, channels and even actors. Niche Content : Boxee Beta's latest content partners include The Escapist gaming network with episodes like the ever-popular Zero Punctuation video game reviews as well as the Suicide Girls' community programming. By changing Boxee's default settings to allow for adult content, users will discover that a number of additional adult applications exist. Discuss

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Boxee Beta Releases New Social Dashboard