Wednesday, June 5, 2013

SMI, others to use Champions League final as eye-tracking experiment

SMI, others to use Champions League final as eye-tracking experiment data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20582789' !== '') ? 'bsd:20582789' : ''; var postID = '20582789'; var modalMNo = '93319231', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"misc",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"daniel-cooper", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-13c",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319231", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93310027", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});SMI, others to use Champions League final as eye-tracking experiment AltBypostedMay 24th, 2013 at 1:52 PM 0

SMI, others to use Champions League final as eyetracking experiment

It may be the most watched sporting event, but SMI's more interested in how we watch the Champions League final than the game itself. The eye-tracking firm, in participation with the KMRC and University of Tübingen, will observe how 61 fans watch the Dortmund/Bayern tussle using its RED-m cameras. The project aims to discover if supporters of rival clubs perceive matches differently and, by tracking their eye movement, learn how those perceptions are formed. Of course, given our violently hysterical reactions when Didier Drogba sunk the winning penalty in last year's game, the researchers might have difficulty keeping the participants still enough to monitor.

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Automatic delays connected car platform until August as it seeks to perfect iPhone app

Automatic delays connected car platform until August as it seeks to perfect iPhone app data = {blogUrl: "www.engadget.com",v: 315};when = {jquery: lab.scriptBs("jquery"),plugins: lab.scriptBs("plugins"),eng: lab.scriptBs("eng")}; var s265prop9 = ('20583384' !== '') ? 'bsd:20583384' : ''; var postID = '20583384'; var modalMNo = '93319229', modalVideoMNo = '93320648', modalGalleryMNo = '93304207'; when.eng("eng.omni.init", {pfxID:"weg",pageName:document.title,server:"acp-ld39.websys.aol.com",channel:"us.engadget", s_account: "aolwbengadget,aolsvc", short_url: "",pageType:"",linkInternalFilters:"javascript:,",prop1:"article",prop2:"transportation",prop9:s265prop9,prop12:document.location,prop17:"",prop18:"",prop19:"",prop20:"", prop22:"darren-murph", prop54:"blogsmith",mmxgo: true }); adSendTerms('1')adSetMOAT('1');adSetAdURL('/_uac/adpagem.html');lab._script("http://o.aolcdn.com/os/ads/adhesion/js/adhads-min.js").wait(function(){var floatingAd = new AdhesiveAd("348-14-15-14d",{hideOnSwipe:true});}); onBreak({980: function () { adSetType("F");htmlAdWH("93319229", "LB", "LB"); adSetType("");}}); EngadgetMenu NewsReviews Features Galleries VideosEventsPodcasts Engadget ShowTopics Buyers Guides Sagas Store HD Mobile Alt Announcements Cameras Cellphones Desktops Displays Gaming GPS Handhelds Home Entertainment Household Internet Laptops Meta Misc Networking Peripherals Podcasts Robots Portable Audio/Video Science Software Storage Tablets Transportation Wearables Wireless Acer Amazon AMD Apple ASUS AT&T Blackberry Canon Dell Facebook Google HP HTC Intel Lenovo LG Microsoft Nikon Nintendo Nokia NVIDIA Samsung Sony Sprint T-Mobile Verizon About UsSubscribeLike Engadget@engadgettip uswhen.eng("eng.nav.init")when.eng("eng.tips.init") onBreak({980: function () {htmlAdWH("93308280", "215", "35",'AJAX','ajaxsponsor');}});Automatic delays connected car platform until August as it seeks to perfect iPhone appBypostedMay 24th, 2013 at 5:03 PM 0

Automatic delays connected car platform until August as it seeks to perfect iPhone app

It's an age-old problem: do we clamor for a company to ship a product that's not ready, or do we swallow delays with grace as it aims to deliver when things are good and ready? Such a choice has to be made when it comes to Automatic, the California-based startup which had originally hoped to start shipping its automotive dongle + app platform at the end of this month. Those (including yours truly) who pre-ordered on day one received an email last night delivering the news that things were running a bit behind schedule. The hardware itself is actually already being manufactured, but stellar components are only a piece of the total puzzle. The software -- an iPhone app, in this instance -- still needs more time in the proverbial oven, and now we're being told that packages won't ship until "the end of August."

A three-month hiccup is nothing to scoff at, and Automatic seemingly knows it. In order to sate those who were hoping to use the $70 product during their upcoming summer road trips, the company is giving early pre-orderers the option to beta test the app as it stands today. For those who agree, they'll receive their hardware in mid-June, but they'll be forced to use it with a version of the app that "lacks a few features like Crash Alert and support for multiple cars and users." We'll be keeping a close eye as the situation develops, and will definitely endeavor to pass along a review just as soon as we're able. If you're curious, we've embedded the email in full just after the break.

Show full PR text

Two months ago, we announced our vision to improve peoples' relationship to their cars. Since then, we've been blown away by the excitement surrounding Automatic and by the volume of pre-orders.

Our small team has been working hard to build a seamless connected car experience that works on thousands of makes and models, and we've made tremendous progress. The good news is that the Link – that little device that plugs into your car – is ready and being manufactured! Unfortunately, we underestimated the time needed to complete the iPhone app and we're sorry to say that it won't be ready until the end of August.

When we realized we were going to have to push back the date, we started working on a way to get the core of Automatic's features to you sooner. So here's our plan: Because you pre-ordered early, we're making Automatic available to you as a private beta. If you sign up, you'll elect to receive your Link for use with a beta version of the app, which is stable but lacks a few features like Crash Alert and support for multiple cars and users. We'll gradually roll out Links to beta users starting in mid-June.

If you'd prefer to get your Link with the feature-complete version of the app in August, you don't need to do anything. Either way, you won't be charged until your Link ships.

We're truly sorry for the delay. Thank you for believing in our mission. when.eng("eng.pr.init")when.eng("eng.perm.init")

Report: Xbox One has remote play between consoles so a friend can help

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Report Xbox One has remote play between consoles so a friend can help

Unnamed sources speaking with Polygon say the Xbox One has a remote play feature between consoles, both hardwired and online, allowing friends to take over gameplay remotely. The demonstration the sources claim to have witnessed featured one Xbox One connecting to another using "a local hardwired connection between consoles," with a Skype call bridging the two users. A similar feature is available on Sony's next-generation console, the PlayStation 4, both between consoles and via PlayStation Vita.

The other piece of the report adds to a bit we already knew concerning the new Kinect. "At some point, we'll be able to have conversational understanding," Microsoft hardware lead Todd Holmdahl told us last week. That "some point" may be sooner than later, as Microsoft reps were apparently already demonstrating the functionality, and said it'll be available either at launch or "post-launch within the first few months."

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Growing Up Geek: Melissa Grey

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Welcome to Growing Up Geek, a feature where we take a look back at our youth, and tell stories of growing up to be the nerds that we are. This week, we have our new associate editor, Melissa Grey!

DNP Growing Up Geek Melissa Grey

Sometimes, the formative moments in your life happen when you least expect them. One such moment occurred for me in 1997, as I watched my brother pilot Cloud Strife through the ruins of the Forgotten City while Aerith Gainsborough clasped her hands in prayer. We'd taken turns playing Final Fantasy VII on and off for days. He bemoaned my stubborn inclusion of Red XIII in every party and we both developed gambling habits at the Gold Saucer on the outskirts of North Corel. We argued about the validity of Yuffie Kisaragi's existence and watched in awe as Sapphire Weapon emerged from the sea to attack Junon. We laughed. We cried. We experienced a game unlike anything we'd ever played before, but nothing could have prepared us for what happened next.

As a sword-wielding Sephiroth fell on Aerith like an avenging angel, I felt the Earth tilt on its axis. It wasn't simply the unexpected plot twist that left me reeling. No, it was deeper than that. I realized in that moment that the figures on my screen had transcended the jagged stacks of polygons that made them. They had become real to me. The loss of one of them, fictional as it was, cut me to the quick. It was then that I realized what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to devastate people the way I had been devastated. I wanted to build worlds as fantastical as Midgar and populate them with characters as richly layered as Vincent Valentine. I wanted to tell stories. I wanted to be a writer.

DNP Growing Up Geek Melissa GreyThat seed had been planted years prior to Final Fantasy VII's release, when I was but a wee babe in pigtails, discovering the awesome power of video game narratives. One of my earliest memories is watching my brother scale Death Mountain to defeat the villainous Ganon and save the kingdom of Hyrule. I was entranced. The Legend of Zelda was the first game my family had ever acquired and my brother and I cherished our NES with a tenderness almost unheard of in small children.

We had no idea how the little buttons we mashed manipulated the figures on our TV screen and we didn't care. As far as we were concerned, the NES ran on magic. And, in a way, it did. With the push of a button (and a few puffs on stubborn cartridges), we were transported into fantasy worlds bursting with possibilities. We were pirates. We were ninjas. We were Italian plumbers with a penchant for property damage. We were heroes. If that isn't magic, I don't know what is.

Over the years, my brother and I amassed an increasingly tangled mess of consoles and wires. I saved up every penny I could find in my couch cushions to buy my first PlayStation (pre-loved and refurbished), spent countless hours highlighting titles in the FuncoLand catalog and got into vicious arguments about the merits of various systems. To this day, my brother won't let me live down my overconfident proclamation that the Sega Genesis would stand the test of time better than the SNES (I know, I know -- I don't need to hear it from you, too). We're close enough in age that we didn't get along until we were both legally able to vote, but we put aside our differences when it came to video games. With our powers combined, we conquered every flippin' castle until we found the one with the princess; we cackled over fatalities, animalities and babalities; we took turns battling Dark Link in the Water Temple.

DNP Growing Up Geek Melissa Grey

Video games became my way to decompress, even if they sometimes caused their own stress. Titanic: Adventure Out of Time is still the most emotionally harrowing PC game I've ever played (solve this mystery before you meet your waterlogged end aboard a doomed ocean liner, no pressure!). To this day, I can't listen to Chopin's "Prelude Op. 28 No. 7" without an overwhelming sense of foreboding. And that was the awesome power of video games. The good ones wormed their way inside your head and stayed there; the great ones wrapped themselves around your heart and squeezed.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that I came to writing through gaming. I've been an avid reader ever since learning what those little black squiggles on paper meant, but games taught me as much about storytelling as books did. I don't know if I would have penned the first short story I ever sold -- a little ditty set in a post-zombie-apocalypse world -- if I hadn't traumatized myself by playing Resident Evil in the dark for hours.

Growing up geek made me what I am: a writer. The profession has taken me to some strange places over the years. I had a brief stint as a fashion blogger and made my first writing paycheck as a comics journalist (I have very strong opinions about Batman and his extended family). My career has been a wild ride, peppered with unexpected twists and turns, but I have zero regrets about where I've wound up. I'm glad to be a part of Engadget, surrounded by fellow geeks of all stripes, sharing my words with you lovely people. And I know some of you out there understand why I'm still not over Aerith's untimely demise. Sephiroth, man, why you gotta play me like that?

Melissa Grey can be found on Twitter as @meligrey, babbling about comics, Doctor Who and her desire to live at Hogwarts. She's a Gryffindor, by the way; Pottermore told her so.

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This week on gdgt: Toshiba brings a Retina-class display to Windows

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This week on gdgt

Each week, our friends at gdgt go through the latest gadgets and score them to help you decide which ones to buy. Here are some of their latest picks -- along with a few you should probably avoid. Want more? Visit gdgt anytime to catch up on the latest, and subscribe to gdgt's newsletter to get a weekly roundup in your inbox.

kirabookToshiba Kirabook

The Kirabook is a truly impressive laptop, with solid performance, good battery life, a well-designed backlit keyboard and the highest-resolution display currently available on a Windows laptop. Unfortunately, it's also very expensive, and that super-high-resolution screen isn't always an asset.
Buy from $1,599
Read reviews and more

panasonic vt60Panasonic Smart Viera VT60

Panasonic impressed critics so much with last year's VT50 Series that many felt there wasn't room for improvement with the VT60, but that isn't the case. The new series impressed FlatPanelsHD so much that they gave it their Reference Award. All this high quality comes at a lofty price, so if you're on a tight budget, check out the cheaper ST60 Series, which is a gdgt Must-have.
Buy from $1,995
Read reviews and more

pocket playlist

HP Pocket Playlist

While it may only have 32GB of storage, the Pocket Playlist comes in at almost half the price of some of its competitors, and offers the ability to play recorded internet video content on the run.
Buy from $93
Read reviews and more

jbl charge

JBL Charge

With a price and sound quality comparable to our current Must-have speaker, the Jawbone Jambox, the JBL Charge might just be the speaker you should take on your next outing.
Buy from $149
Read reviews and more

Featured gdgt discussionTell us what you think about the new Xbox One. when.eng("eng.perm.init")

Google Glass gets a one-stop shop for downloads, including a rooted image

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Google Glass gets a onestop shop for downloads, including a rooted image

Early Google Glass owners are dominated by developers and tinkerers, so it's only fair that they get easy access to the downloads they need. Appropriately, Google has quietly set up a page that centralizes both Glass images and kernel source code. The company has even saved owners from having to hack their eyewear the hard way -- one image comes pre-rooted for those willing to toss caution (and their warranties) to the wind. Most of us can't take advantage of these downloads for about a year or more, but those with early access can swing by the new code hub today.

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