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The Pix Backpack is a wearable screen for the hypebeast generation
We've seen a couple of attempts at marrying screens with attire to create endlessly customizable fashion, but so far none have actually made it to market. At first glance, the Pix Backpack looks like another one of these intriguing accessories that never escapes the concept stage. The Kickstarter pitch promises a backpack with a retro-aesthetic display you manipulate using -- you guessed it -- a mobile app. The app features a library of images, animations, widgets and even games that populate the low-res color screen, or you can make your own pixel art through a simple editor. The Pix Backpack isn't just a quirky idea destined for the halls of vaporware, though.
Microsoft Pix uses AI to make whiteboard photos useable images
Microsoft's Pix sets itself apart from other camera apps by using the power of artificial intelligence to correct your photos, learning new tricks over time. It can do things like add artistic flair to your images, turn photos shot in a row into "Live Images," or just making sure the people in your photos look great. This week, the app got a new update out that adds yet another AI trick to the pile: The ability to capture whiteboards and turn them into useful images. So, for example, if you're at an important meeting, you can use Pix to take a photo of a diagram on the whiteboard to remember it later. The Pix app will then sharpen the focus, ramp up the color and tone, crop out the background and realign the image appropriately so that the diagram is shown straight-on. According to Microsoft, this will work not just on whiteboards, but also documents and business cards as well. It's a trick that's very similar to what Microsoft's own Office Lens app can already do, but while Office Lens is focused on productivity, Pix is more about using AI to recognize whiteboards and documents automatically. Basically, you don't need to tell Pix that you want the photo of the document to be cropped and realigned -- it'll automatically recognize what it is and will do so without you having to intervene. Microsoft's Pix Camera update is available right now on the App Store.
Microsoft Pix Camera imitates Prisma with its AI-powered filters
Microsoft Pix Camera uses artificial intelligence to make your pictures of people better. It uses algorithms behind the scenes to analyze the 10 frames it snaps for every picture you take, looking for sharpness, exposure and even facial expressions to make sure you get the very best shot. It even takes good data from the pictures it doesn't use to enhance the photos it chooses. The app, launched last summer and just updated, now offers new filters that can help you make your photos look like real works of art.
Here's how the NSA spied on Cisco firewalls for years
Edward Snowden leaks revealed that the NSA had the ability to spy on Cisco firewall traffic for years, but just how did the agency do it? We now have a clearer idea. An analysis of data from the Equation Group hack shows that the NSA used a specialized tool, BenignCertain, that uses an exploit in Cisco's Internet Key Exchange implementation to extract encryption keys and read otherwise secure virtual private network data. Cisco has confirmed that the attack can compromise multiple versions of its old PIX firewalls, which were last supported in 2009.
NYC's WPIX resurrects Intellivision gaming segment for Morning News
Those of you out there over the age of about 26 who live in the New York metro area might remember a popular call-in segment on WPIX. During day time children's programming, like the classic Magic Garden, viewers were encouraged to dial in and play a simple Intellivision game by shouting "PIX" to fire at falling blobs. Well, the TV station is bringing it back courtesy of a console direct from creator Keith Robinson. Only now, instead of calling, participants will be brought into the studio live to shout alongside the anchors. We're already trying to figure out how to get ourselves on the list. Check out a retro commercial promoting the segment after the break.
Nokia N8 earns its fashion wings, fills in for DSLR on magazine cover shoot
There's really no higher compliment a cameraphone can receive than when a professional team of photographers is blown away by the results they're able to achieve when using it, so Nokia's N8 gets a well-earned tip of the hat for shooting the December / January cover of South African photography mag PiX. In the team's own words, "we wanted to show that it is not the hardware that makes a good photographer but rather the technical execution of an idea" -- very true, we think, but it obviously doesn't hurt when you know your way around Photoshop and you're using just about the best-equipped camera on the smartphone market today. See the pretty stunning final result (and the making-of video) after the break.
Video: AT&T launching Mobile TV May 4th, demonstrated on LG Vu
MediaFLO is about to cut loose for AT&T customers and we've got video to prove it. After the break you'll find Mobile TV running on LG's new $300 (2-year, after $100 rebate) Vu, one of just two Mobile TV compatible handsets launching on AT&T May 4th -- the other being the $200 (2-year, after $100 rebate) Samsung Access. Performance looks reasonably snappy when scrolling through the channel guide although some of the exclusive PIX and CNN Mobile Live content is not yet available. S'ok, AT&T has three more days to throw the big blue switch on the broadcast TV service which includes a $15/month unlimited Mobile TV access plan. Hear that Verizon? AT&T's about to step all over your portable TV game in the US market.[Via MyFoxUtah]
Sony's PIX brings full-length films to AT&T Mobile TV
Sony just revealed a bit more about AT&T's Mobile TV service launching in May. We now know that one of the two exclusive AT&T channels will be called PIX, Sony's new feature film channel for cellphones. The service is a first of its kind in the US... for good reason. Oh, it's not that we have anything against the roster of films including "Ghostbusters," "Philadelphia" and "Karate Kid." It's more the prospect of sitting in front of that tiny mobile screen to watch a full-length film without the ability to pause, fast forward or rewind. This is live broadcast folks. Nevertheless, Sony Pictures claims to understand the risk. According to Eric Berger, VP Mobile Entertainment at Sony Pictures Television, "We recognize that people are on the go with their mobile phone and coming and going. This isn't for people looking to view a movie for the first time. It's OK to miss the beginning." Films will run on PIX for a month with new additions added weakly weekly.
Verizon to offer unlimted text, pix and flix on April 15?
Being with the nation's largest CDMA carrier certainly has its advantages -- especially when it includes one of the country's largest mobile to mobile communites, VCAST TV, and unlimited text, pix, and flix. Yep, that's right: unlimited. Initial reports are stating that on April 15th, Verizon will come out with new plans that include unlimited messaging. It appears that the single line plans cost about $20 more and family share plans start at $99.99 for 700 minutes. Be on the lookout for more details!
