Google’s Plan to Keep You Online All the Time

Google wants you to stop thinking about what wireless network your phone is on.

The post Google’s Plan to Keep You Online All the Time appeared first on WIRED.

Read more..

via WIRED http://ift.tt/1y9ADjC

11 Beautiful, Psychedelic GIFs Created by a Math Whiz

David Whyte uses cosines and exponentials the way Toulouse-Lautrec used oil paints.

The post 11 Beautiful, Psychedelic GIFs Created by a Math Whiz appeared first on WIRED.

Read more..

via WIRED http://ift.tt/1rLdui5

The Dying Tradition of Sri Lankan Stilt Fishing, Captured in Powerful Photos

Steve McCurry captured an iconic image of Sri Lankan stilt fisherman back in 1995. Nowadays, not many remain as photographer Florian Müller found out.















Read more..

via WIRED http://ift.tt/1qCJDY5

IBM lets scientists pay to play with its thinking supercomputer

IBM's Watson promises to usher in a new era of "cognitive computing," but, so far, all the system has demonstrated is a knack for game shows. Now, however, IBM has announced Watson Discovery Advisor, a cloud-based service that'll enable researchers...

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1nIgqXg

Humin adds context to your contacts for a smarter smartphone

Our phones have changed so much since the early days of the smartphone. We can now take amazing photos with them, play video games on them, track our health and fitness on them and of course use them to surf the internet. But the humble contacts app...

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1sGfhGw

Roam Britain's most famous art gallery with some nocturnal robots

Ever fancied roaming an art gallery through the eyes of a robot? For the next five days, that's the opportunity that London's Tate Britain is offering the citizens of the internet. After Dark will see four telepresence 'bots roam the halls of the...

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1lSWYWW

Samsung's premium Galaxy Alpha packs a metal frame and octa-core chip

Samsung's finally launched the much-leaked Galaxy Alpha, a fancier-looking but stripped-down version of the Galaxy S5. As expected, it sports a substantially different, less rounded design than the GS5, with metal sides that gives it a glancing...

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1nOeueO

Review: Kia’s Luxury Sedan Takes Aim at BMW—And Misses

[HTML1] WIRED WIRED: Piles of high-tech features, a powerful V8 engine, and a swanky interior in a car that looks great and is priced well below its competition. TIRED TIRED: None of those many features are unique to Kia, and the good acceleration time doesn’t make up for the fact that you feel like you’re […]















Read more..

via WIRED http://ift.tt/XZQIYh

Boeing’s Figuring Out How to Make Jet Fuel From Tobacco

The plane maker and the airline settled on using tobacco instead of more established biofuel sources.















Read more..

via WIRED http://ift.tt/1moX1K8

The next version of Android will enhance battery life, speed up apps

Several months ago, Google added an experimental runtime option to speed up apps in Android 4.4 KitKat. A runtime, for the record, supports the apps running on your device -- without it they'd be nothing but piles of useless code. Called ART (short...

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1pk24y2

Google reportedly wants in on Virgin Galactic's space business

Fresh from its $500 million acquisition of satellite specialist Skybox Imaging, Google appears to be ready to make another space-related investment. Sky News reports that the search giant is in advanced talks to take a minority stake in Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic business (which already counted Skybox Imaging as a potential customer) with a view to getting its internet satellite project off the ground. Google may invest around $30 million into the company, which is set to begin commercial flights to space later this year, forming a joint venture that would see Virgin Galactic offer up its technology in return.
Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1kqGwvj

Tesla Just Gave All Its Patents Away to Competitors

Much like Tony Stark, Elon Musk likes to do the impossible. Electric cars, spaceships and now … patents?


Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced today that his company will not “initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.” In plain English, that means that if other car companies want to produce electric cars, they can use Tesla’s technology to do it, and, in turn, advance Musk’s sustainability vision.


“The mission of the company is to accelerate the widespread adoption of electric cars,” explained Tesla spokesperson Simon Sproule in an interview before the patent announcement was made. “If Tesla acts as the catalyst for other manufacturers … that will have been achieved.”
Read more..

via WIRED http://ift.tt/1l5BiLa

High-speed maglev toys are coming in 2015

Takara Tomy promised us that maglev technology would make its way to playsets next year, when we spoke at this year's Tokyo Toy Show. It had two very different toys on hand, one a train that the company claims can reach up to 600 KPH...

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1v9jJvN

Google designs new self-driving vehicles that lose the steering wheel and pedals

Google has been tweaking its self-driving car project for years, but now it's taking another big step. Later this summer it will start testing prototype vehicles it's designed from the ground up, instead of merely retrofitting existing vehicles. Announced tonight the the Code Conference, the new prototypes aren't equipped with a steering wheel, mirrors, pedals or other vestiges of vehicles gone by, and for now are limited to a maximum speed of 25MPH. As explained in an early preview to Re/code, the car is driven entirely by computer, with backup automated systems for brakes and steering that would take over in case of a failure of the primary setup. So far, Google says it's not planning to sell the vehicles itself, but is looking for "friends and partners to bring them to market. Following rumors from late last year, the automated cars could partner with a "friend" like Uber for a delivery service that runs on autopilot.












Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1nynk3T

Leap Motion Adds More-Intricate Tracking to Its Amazing Controller

Leap Motion’s newest motion-tracking software just got much more precise. Today, the company released its Version 2 (V2) software to developers in a public beta. The update allows developers to create applications that can make use of very subtle finger and joint movements.

As Leap Motion’s first video of V2 in action shows, this could mean incredible things for the world of computer-generated animation. The video shows how the V2 software recognizes individual hand, fingers, joints, and bones through its “Visualizer” mode; you can compare its more-granular skills to the previous version of the software in this video. When those more-intricate gestures are mapped to an animated set of Mickey-Mouse-like hands, the on-screen results are incredibly smooth and lifelike.



Read more..

via WIRED » Gadget Lab http://ift.tt/1k2Ns5Q

Nitrogen vs Air In Tyres

Is it really worth it.. Nitrogen... Decide for your selves.

Chrome's 'OK Google' voice search rolls out to all

If

If you wanted to enjoy hands-free Google searching from your desktop, your only option was to install an extension or become an early tester. The downside was that you'd have to accept some additional bugs might come your way. No more -- Google has rolled out a Chrome update that integrates the company's now iconic "OK Google" command directly into the latest version of its browser and in Chrome OS. As long as you're based in the US or have Chrome set to US English, any time you visit the Google homepage or open a new tab, you can quickly say (or loudly shout, the choice is yours) "OK Google" to perform a search, ask a question or schedule a reminder. 

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1gSbp0J

Samsung's mobile health app can now tell when you're stressed out

The Galaxy S5's heart rate sensor has mostly been handy for fitness gurus, but it's now helpful for the rest of us, too. Samsung has pushed out an update to S Health that uses the sensor to track stress levels; if your heart is racing after a bad day at work, you'll know. The app also tracks long-term trends, so it should be clear when you're overdue for a vacation. While S Health won't help you get rid of the annoying coworkers or personal dramas that cause stress, the app will at least make it clear that it's time to relax.

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1tglBQH

Rest in peace Ubuntu for Android, we hardly knew ye

 
We can't say that the future of Ubuntu for Android ever looked particularly bright, but we were enamored with the concept. You'd walk around by day with a standard-issue Android phone in your pocket, but when you docked it to a keyboard, mouse and monitor, you were greeted with a full Ubuntu desktop experience. Well, Canonical has decided to put the project out to pasture apparently. Buried away in a recent bug report (now hidden frompublic view) was the fact that "Ubuntu for Android is no longer in development," and thus its landing page should be taken offline. Though some responses from the Canonical team appear to muddy the story, the take away is the same -- active development on Ubuntu for Android has come to a halt.

Read more..

via Engadget RSS Feed http://ift.tt/1kpklXV

This Video Shows What Caffeine Does to Your Brain and How Much Is Safe

Caffeine is a fascinating drug, one that many of us enjoy via coffee, tea, and other products. This video from the American Chemical Society is a quick look on how caffeine actually affects our bodies and how much is a safe dose .

Read more...

via Lifehacker http://ift.tt/1jnQQrM