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Microsoft's wacky AI app matches you with a dog breed
Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting pretty good at identifying people, but before it starts looking for Sarah Connor, Microsoft's Garage team is having fun with it. Last time, the group released an app that (poorly) guessed your age, and the latest app, Fetch, determines what dog breed you'd be based on your photo. It sometimes makes canny matches, but on the other hand, three different pictures of the same person (below) yielded three different breeds of dog -- an Afghan hound, a Cairn terrier and a Beagle, so it's lacking in consistency.
Fetch's shopping app puts a smarter concierge on your wrist
Talking into a smartwatch still isn't the most socially acceptable thing to do, but a pair of startups is hell-bent on at least making it worthwhile. Fetch and Expect Labs -- a personal shopping service and a purveyor of a voice-driven AI, respectively -- have teamed up to make shopping on your Apple Watch a little less tedious with an improved concierge that works from your wrist.
GoPro's new Fetch mount lets your pooch capture video in comfort
It's easy to get a dog's-eye view of the world by strapping an action camera to your canine, but making it stable and comfortable is another matter -- you don't want Rover shaking off that costly video gear. That's where GoPro's new Fetch mount should come in handy. The padded harness lets your dog carry up to two cameras (back and belly) in comfort, whether it's a tiny French Bulldog or a bigger Golden Retriever. The add-on includes a camera tether and water resistance, too, so your companion can play rough without losing any equipment. You'll have to spend a significant $60 to make Fetch happen, but it might be worth the outlay if you're eager to record the adventures of a four-legged friend.
HTC shows off its Mini+ and Fetch Bluetooth accessories (hands-on)
Remember HTC's Mini+ companion device that connects to your smartphone and lets you take calls without exposing your treasured handset? We got the chance to spend a few minutes playing with the gear and thought you might like to see how we feel. At the same time, the company whipped out the Fetch (pictured, after the break,) a Bluetooth tether designed to clip onto your key chain and prevent you from losing your most vital things.
HTC applies for 'Fetch' trademark, tracking device passes through Taiwan's NCC
Just what the heck is the HTC Fetch? Well, it's certainly not a phone. In fact, it appears to be some sort of tracking device according to a filling with Taiwan's NCC. Unfortunately, beyond some broad strokes describing the device in a US trademark filing, we're left with only our imagination to figure out how the Fetch might work. Apparently it's a "portable multifunction electronic tracking device for assistance in locating mobile phones, smartphones, cellular phones, portable computers, tablet computers..." The list goes on and on. We do know there's both a hardware (potentially Bluetooth-powered) and software component, and that while there's a lot of talk about finding lost phones or laptops, HTC also sees the potential for "tracking and locating people." Now it's just a waiting game to find out if the company has any intention of actually selling tracking accessories.
New vanity glyphs in Mists of Pandaria beta
A giant tauren named Flaskataur, Esq. is selling glyphs for your class in Orgrimmar, Stormwind and the Valley of the Four Winds. For some classes, he offers cosmetic glyphs. If you are a monk, hunter, mage, priest, or shaman, you can now customize your character's skills in various ways. As you can see above, monks can glyph a new flight form called Zen Flight. Other examples include the Glyph of Marking that turns the Hunter's Mark into a bull's-eye, and the shaman's Chain Heal spell looks like water with the Glyph of Deluge. Check out the complete list of vanity glyphs at Wowhead News. Flaskataur, Esq. will only show you the glyphs for the class you talk to him with. Prices are 4 silver each. He's live on the latest Mists of Pandaria beta build right now, looming over everyone in a conspicuous location. So if you're in the beta, you can try the new glyphs out for yourself. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
PBS Kids launches augmented reality game for iOS, says all the cool kids are counting sushi
It's official: Kids today have way cooler toys than you did when you were growing up. PBS Kids has just outed its first augmented reality mobile app for iOS -- a game called Fetch! Lunch Rush that aims to take the sting out of learning to do addition and subtraction in your head. If you're up on PBS' children's programming (and why wouldn't you be?), you'll recognize that pooch Ruff Ruffman as the game show host in the animated show Fetch! Here, he's a legendary movie director trying to make sure there's enough sushi for his movie crew (grown-up problems, right?). That's where the augmented reality comes in: bits of raw fish floating around screen. Though it's worth noting that this isn't augmented reality in the strictest sense of the term, in that you have to print out game cards to use with your iPhone or iPod touch's camera. The free app requires an iPhone or iPod touch (fourth-gen or later) or an iPad / iPad 2 running iOS 4.0. While we can't say we're a bit envious of those six- to eight-year-olds with their very own iPod touches, but then again, will they ever know the sheer joy of hunting in Oregon Trail over and over again? %Gallery-139344%
WWDC Interview: Fetch Softworks
Chances are if you used an FTP program on your Mac in the 90s, you used Fetch. The code was purchased from Dartmouth College a while ago, but the software lives on. In this interview Neil Ticktin (Editor-in-Chief, MacTech Magazine and MacNews) talks to Jim Matthews of Fetch Softworks at WWDC 2011. Jim was kind enough to tell us about their thoughts on the announcements on WWDC, and how it will affect their plans moving forward. TUAW and MacTech Magazine teamed up to speak to developers at WWDC 2011 about the keynote announcements and how Apple's new technologies will help them and their customers. We'll bring you those videos here, MacTech.com and MacNews.com. Also, check out the free trial subscription offer for MacTech Magazine here.
Lyric fetchin' lovin': how to batch fetch lyrics with GimmeSomeTune and Needle Drop
One neat little thing about the iPod and iPhone family of devices is their ability to display lyrics -- supported by all iPod nanos as well as the iPhone/iPod touch, and iPod Classic 5th generation and higher. On the iPhone and iPod touch, lyrics show up when a song is loaded (and can be re-displayed by tapping on the screen while a song is playing); while on the iPod nano, pressing the center button several times while a song is playing will cycle you through to display lyrics. But the real issue isn't so much about displaying lyrics as much as it is obtaining them. PearLyrics was once my tried and true favorite way of getting lyrics, but it passed away some time ago.
Poll: Is iPhone firmware 2.1 breaking fetch for email accounts?
Just when you think you've escaped the darkened woods of firmware 2.0.2 and previous ilk, along comes 2.1, wrapped in faster-loading-contacts-finery to convince you all is well in the iPhone world. That isn't entirely the case, it seems, if you're user of POP or IMAP mail accounts which are set to fetch messages. Apparently, a maddening bug exists in the new software which -- in the interest of battery power conservation, we assume -- stops the device from pulling down new emails while sleeping... unless the phone happens to be plugged in and charging. An ever-growing thread on Apple's support forums has been barraged with reports of the problem, and editors here at Engadget have certainly felt the burn. So we're putting the question to you, dear readers (and hoping the folks in Cupertino are paying attention). Are you noticing email issues with firmware 2.1? Let us know in the poll below![Thanks to everyone who sent this in]%Poll-20616%
MacUpdate rolls out a bundle-- $50 for 7 apps
MacUpdate has another one of these bundle promotions going on-- is it just me, or is Mac software the only place (besides, say, pyramid schemes), where increasing bundles like this are sold? I don't show up at the grocery store to buy some oranges only to find that they're cheaper because 10,000 people bought them earlier that day.Anyway, the bundle's not too bad, even without the extra promotional stuff. Right now, for $50, you get copies of: SRS iWOW, an iTunes audio enhancement plugin GarageSale, the eBay client Cocktail, the utility that our own Scott McNulty calls "indispensible" ProfCast, for lecture recording Amadeus Pro, for multitrack sound editing Fetch, an FTP client Graphic Converter X, a useful little image editor And then if the promo pans out, you can get more software out of the deal-- if a certain number of people (up to 10k) buy the bundle, then Little Snitch, Intaglio, and TechTool Pro get added to the bundle. With a week to go, they've only sold about 700 (for Little Snitch) today, so there's no guarantee you'll see any of the extra stuff, but the bundle might be worth it just for the apps above.And MacHeist, always ready to jump on the hype train, is trying to add a little extra bonus onto all of this.[ Thanks to everyone who sent this in! ]
