Northstar
Latest
FCC gives Verizon extra mobile capacity to manage emergency demand
Earlier this week the FCC granted T-Mobile access to additional spectrum to cope with extra demand fuelled by the coronavirus outbreak -- now it's done the same for Verizon. The STA (special temporary authority) will allow the carrier to operate for 60 days in spectrum licensed to Northstar and SNR, in order to provide extra capacity to Verizon customers across the US.
Leap Motion shows off AR headset with rousing game of ping pong
If you wanted to demonstrate Leap Motion's low-cost augmented reality headset, how would you do it? Create a flashy, action-packed showcase? Leap Motion has a different idea: an invigorating game of ping pong. The company has crafted a demo that combines the Project North Star headgear with paddle controllers to pit the wearer against an AI opponent at a real ping pong table. It's not mind boggling by any stretch, but it's a good example of a fast, intuitive AR experience that depends on high accuracy. You can juggle the ball and serve it as naturally as you would if it were real. And importantly, there are behind-the-scenes developments that could influence AR going forward.
Leap Motion crafts a reference design for cheap AR headsets
Leap Motion is a company most famous for building a gesture-recognition doodad for PCs that wound up integrated into keyboards. Since then, however, it has built ever-smarter sensors that can bring hand gestures to VR without the use of dedicated controllers. Now, the outfit is taking its biggest ever, er, jump by announcing Project North Star, a proposed augmented reality headset it plans to open-source next week.
Europe's space agency will beam your message to Polaris
The European Space Agency (ESA) is collecting messages from people around the world to send to a place we'll never set foot on: Polaris. All you've got to do to send your thoughts to the North Star is head over to the "A Simple Response to an Elemental Message" project website and type in your response to the question "How will our present environmental interactions shape the future?"
Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner review
We live in a world full of fabulous idle distractions -- a million TV channels, videogames at our fingertips, the world's greatest literature just a few menu selections away. Yet still we're stuck cleaning the same floors more or less the same way our forefathers did, despite the fact that they had a lot less fun stuff they could be doing instead. The $249 Mint Automatic Floor Cleaner is another attempt to free us from that burdensome task and, like the Neato XV-11 we recently reviewed, it is quite clinical and comprehensive in the way that it does things. However, while this one is likewise a heck of a lot smarter than a Roomba, for some it'll be of rather more limited usefulness. Why? Read on to find out. %Gallery-105973%
Mint automatic floor cleaner up for pre-order, shipping this summer
It's not like the automatic vacuum cleaner market could get much more crowded, but Evolution Robotics has put an interesting twist on things with its Swiffer-packin' Mint. If you'll recall, we saw this guy wiping up the downright disgusting floors of the Las Vegas Convention Center back in January, and now it looks as if production plans are moving along nicely. Equipped with a NorthStar positioning technology that enables it to never hit the same spot twice on the same run, this hardwood sweeper is now up for pre-order. Unfortunately, getting in line requires a non-refundable $20 deposit, but the outlay will be applied to the purchase price and will enable you to snag one of the first shipments this summer (which is significantly more awesome than waiting for it to hit retail shelves in Q4). Don't worry -- your Roomba won't be too envious.
Imax licenses HD rights to 21 films
IMAX flicks have consistently made a good transition to high definition, and it looks like distributor Northstar Media plans to keep that trend going. It's licensed a package of 21 movies with the specific intent of delivering the IMAX experience in high definition., according to Greg Foster of Imax Corp. Been waiting to see Blue Planet, Space Station or Into the Deep at home? Expect to see them sooner rather than later on TV, VOD, mobile and broadband services. Peep the read link for a full list.
