research and development
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Kickstarter talks to us about product 'pre-orders,' won't force refunds when creators flake
Kickstarter has proven an incredibly effective venue for connecting project creators with monetary support -- inventors pitch directly to consumers, indie filmmakers meet indie producers and food trucks get the financial push necessary to take their restaurants to the road. With the latter two, backers don't necessarily expect goods in return, save for an overvalued t-shirt, bumper sticker or film credit. When it comes to electronics, however, funders are often promised a first-off-the-line gadget -- one that may never arrive at their door. One oft-overlooked, yet critical detail should help curb expectations, while also serving to filter out pledges that are motivated by the pre-order promise, from those that offer financial support without a guaranteed return. Like it or not, all transactions fall into that second category. Pre-order offers may go unfulfilled, and some pledges may be reduced to donations, if a project creator ends up unable to deliver an item as intended. And such situations may not prompt a refund, souring the experience for an increasing number of hopeful device owners. Join us past the break for an explanation from the Kickstarter team, and a closer look at some recent examples.
Huawei throws R&D dollars at gesture control, cloud storage, being more 'disruptive'
Undeterred by the fact that even humans struggle to interpret certain gestures, Huawei says it's allocating a chunk of its growing R&D budget to new motion-sensing technology for smartphones and tablets. The company's North American research chief, John Roese, told Computerworld that he wants to allow "three-dimensional interaction" with devices using stereo front-facing cameras and a powerful GPU to make sense of the dual video feed. Separately, the Chinese telecoms company is also putting development cash into a cloud computing project that promises to "change the economics of storage by an order of magnitude." Roese provided scant few details on this particular ambition, but did mention that Huawei has teamed up with CERN to conduct research and has somehow accumulated over 15 petabytes of experimental physics data in the process. Whatever it's up to, Huawei had better get a move on -- others are snapping up gesture recognition and cloud patents faster than you can say fa te ne una bicicletta with your hands.
LG smartphone boom follows major R&D reshuffling, says analyst
South Korean electronics giant LG came out swinging with its line of Optimus products at Mobile World Congress this year, delivering the 4X HD, 3D Max, Vu and a trinity of L-series handsets. So how does one shop deliver six handsets to the public, you ask? Resources. A recent note to investors from Nomura Securities reveals that in 2011, the Life's Good gang assigned a larger portion of its R&D team to its smartphone division. The report claims that the company had 60 to 70 percent of its 8,000 person research outfit assigned to the Optimus-making arm at the end of last year. That's up from the 20 percent share of a 6,800 person staff it boasted just 365 days earlier. There's no doubt LG will be looking to steal the smartphone thunder of Samsung and HTC in 2012, but is this lineup of products enough? Only time (and sell-through figures) will tell.
DC Universe Online crafting goes live today with Game Update 8
It's patch day for DC Universe Online, and when the superhero title comes back up, denizens of Gotham and Metropolis will have a new research and development system to play with. The R&D mechanic is DCUO's answer to traditional MMO crafting, and characters at level 10 and above will want to head to either the Watchtower or the Hall of Doom for an introduction to the new mechanics. The R&D system brings equipment mods and superior consumables to the game, and it's broken down into four major gameplay spheres: researching, gathering, salvaging, and collecting. Researching involves finding upgrade plans throughout the game world while gathering involves acquiring exobytes. Salvaging is all about turning items into crafting materials, and collecting hinges on getting drops from various boss mobs. The new mechanics are free for all players via the game's eighth major update. The patch notes can be viewed on the official DCUO forums. [Source: Sony Online Entertainment press release]
Ford to open R&D lab in Silicon Valley come 2012, wants to be closer to the action
Following in the footsteps of Verizon and AT&T, it's now Ford's turn to open up its very own research center here in Silicon Valley. A prudent choice too, as Dearborn's become more invested in advanced infotainment, not to mention bonafide smartphone apps. Slated to open in the first quarter of 2012, it reckons the center will help "prepare [Ford] for the next 100 years" as it scouts out new technologies and partnerships with local startups and universities alike. Mum's the word on exactly where the new R&D lab will reside, but those interested can learn more about it and its sister facilities -- whom Ford lovingly dubs its "innovation network" -- in the PR after the break.
HP's chief strategy officer to retire next month, won't have a successor
Remember Shane Robison, the HP exec who advocated for the survival of webOS following the company's decision to dismantle its hardware unit? Yeah well, he's about to make an exit. HP confirmed yesterday that Robison will retire from his position as executive VP and chief strategy and technology officer on November 1st, after spending eleven years at the company. In a statement, HP praised Robison for spearheading much of its R&D and several high-profile mergers during his tenure there. "In his role, he was responsible for shaping HP's corporate strategy and technology agenda," the company said. "He was instrumental in steering the company's multibillion-dollar research and development investment and has led many of the company's largest merger and acquisition activities." Newly minted CEO Meg Whitman, meanwhile, described Robison as a powerful innovator and lauded his role in guaranteeing "that innovation continues at HP." Perhaps the bigger story, however, is the fact that the firm doesn't plan on filling Robison's shoes. In the announcement, HP confirmed that his position will be dissolved as part of "an effort to drive strategy, research and development closer to the company's businesses." The implications, of course, remain to be seen. Full PR after the break.
AT&T Foundry innovation center opens its doors in Palo Alto to help devs do what they do
We've heard of keeping up with the Joneses, but this is getting ridiculous. First it was Verizon, then Vodafone, and now Ma Bell -- with an assist from Ericsson -- has built an innovation center in Silicon Valley. This new center completes the triumvirate of AT&T Foundry facilities (the other two are in Texas and Israel), and is a part of the company's strategy to accelerate the process of developing and delivering new products to its customers. Right now, there are over 100 projects in development in Palo Alto, and AT&T is looking to add more. Those who are chosen gain access to AT&T's networks and expertise to ensure that new projects play nice with all of the company's gear, and it's already produced a few things that were on display at the center's grand opening. Want a sneak peek at what's in AT&T's innovation pipeline? Read on past the break to get it. %Gallery-133819%
Vodafone Xone R&D center opens its doors in Silicon Valley, wants to help startups grow
Verizon's doing it, so why not Vodafone too? That's right, folks, the big red telco from abroad has decided to get into the swing of things in Silicon Valley with its new Vodafone Xone R&D center in Redwood City, California. Unlike VZW's Application Innovation Center just a few miles north in San Francisco, the Xone is focused on identifying startups with potential and putting their ideas on the fast track to proof-of-concept trials. In order to do so, the center provides technical expertise, business advice and access to its lab to ensure that products are compatible with Vodafone's global 2G, HSPA, and LTE networks. This R&D center is also aligned with Verizon's facility in Massachusetts, so budding entrepreneurs have access to stateside LTE infrastructure, too. We got a chance to check out the new business incubator ourselves, so read on for more. %Gallery-133022%
New York Times' magic mirror helps you get dressed, puts the 'wall' in 'paywall' (video)
Forget crosswords and Krugman, because the New York Times has created a new bathroom companion that looks infinitely more entertaining than either of them. Like some of its Snow White-style predecessors, the Times' "magic mirror" prototype uses Microsoft Kinect to detect and follow your movements, while deploying voice recognition technology to execute your commands. With this omniscient slab affixed to your wall, you can surf the web, flip through your wardrobe and send reassuring e-mails to your teenage daughter, whom you should have driven to school a good 30 minutes ago. An RFID reader, meanwhile, can recognize tagged pharmaceuticals or other products, allowing you to instantly access information on your prescription meds by placing them in front of the reflective LCD. You could also use the mirror to browse through the Times' full slate of articles and video content, meaning you can read about extravagant weekend getaways and urban gentrification from the standing comfort of your sink. Unfortunately for all mankind, the magic mirror is still in the prototype phase and the NYT's Research & Development Group has yet to offer a timetable for its release -- but you can see it in action for yourself, after the break.
Sony London Studio chief talks 3D lessons, promises VR headsets
Haven't settled in to 3D PS3 gaming just yet? Too bad because Sony's ready to leapfrog that industry buzzword with another once-vaunted, immersive tech of yore -- virtual reality. Announced ahead of Sony London Studio chief Mick Hocking's Develop conference "3D post-mortem speech," comes word the Japanese electronics giant is underway with R&D testing for a head mounted display. Shown off at CES earlier this year, the unit incorporates twin-OLED screens that put you closer to the game, fried eyeballs and all. If any of this sounds familiar, that's because it's all very 1995. Still, Hocking seems pretty optimistic about the company's lessons learned dipping its toes into three-dimensional waters, and has even created a so-called "3D 10 Commandments" to ensure quality product output. Hit the source below for the UK division head's full 3D musings.
Verizon's Innovation Center opens its doors to LTE product development
Not sure if you've noticed, but there's an LTE race going on and VZW's wasting no time sprinting to the lead. Despite rival AT&T's February launch of a similar R&D space in Texas, Verizon's cutting its first big red bow on the two years in the making Innovation Center. Located just outside Boston, the Waltham, Massachusetts-based labs began churning out LTE-friendly products in October of 2009, developing 30+ products to date. While most of these may never ride along the borderline blazing speeds of real-world LTE, the environment does give small startups a leg-up in a collaborative, deep-pocketed space (insert emphasis here). The research center also does double duty for the operator's bottom line, offering its Verizon Ventures group first dibs on investment opportunities -- like it did with Nomad Innovation's LiveEdge TV product. Construction on a second mobile applications-focused facility is already underway in San Francisco with its very own opening ceremony slated for late summer. We're glad to see Verizon spreading the bills to spur tech forward, but there's one major thing the carrier forgot -- an emergency room wing for all its crapware-bloated products. Official PR after the break. [Image credit via PCMag]
Toshiba's in-cell integrated 7-inch capacitive LCD ditches touch layer, extra girth (video)
Samsung's Super AMOLED may have beat Toshiba to the in-cell capacitive touch punch, but we're still happy to see other LCD panels dropping unnecessary layers. Featured in a GPS mock-up, Toshiba's 7-inch 1024 x 600 R&D display touts 10-point multi-touch over 38,400 sensors -- that's one touch sensor for every four pixels. It may not be the first LCD to abandon the standard touch layer for integrated capacitive support, but we wouldn't shy away from a tablet or embedded screen featuring this 1mm wonder. We'll have to wait though; Toshiba's in-cell tech is still in R&D, with no word when or if we might see it in commercial devices. Check out the video after the break for a quick hands-on. %Gallery-123862%
Nintendo building new R&D facility in Kyoto
According to a report from Nikkan (as translated by Andriasang), Nintendo's planning on getting its proverbial ducks in a row with the construction of a new 12-billion-yen Research and Development facility in Kyoto's Minami Ward -- the same location as its Japanese headquarters. The gargantuan building will house 1,500 employees focused on product development, and is scheduled to break ground January 2012, with a projected completion date sometime the following year. In short, if you're looking for the future birthplace of the Nintendo 4DS, you needn't look any further than this new facility. On a related note, if you're looking for the birthplace of Nintendo as a whole, you could also do that using the Nintendo 4DS' time-piercing chronoscreen. Man, we can't wait for that thing to be invented. Good thing we don't have to! Ha! Time travel. [Image credit: Flickr user Johannes]
WebOS will be on 'every HP PC' shipping next year, says CEO
You'd think Leo Apotheker, HP's newest CEO, would want to save a bit of thunder for his March 14th event. Instead, the man continues to unleash stentorian quotes with unabashed candor like today's claim that "HP has lost its soul." He's also making bold proclamations about every HP PC being able to run WebOS and MIcrosoft Windows as an integrated experience in 2012 -- a move the company hopes will create a "massive platform" to attract those all important developers. Apotheker's strategy will reverse Mark Hurd's cost-cutting emphasis with a renewed focus on product quality and innovation -- the latter achieved by breaking down inter-company barriers that currently separate product groups and by boosting the R&D budget already pegged at $2.96 billion last year (a pittance by some measurements). Click the source link below to read the Businessweek article in full if you're interested in Leo's issue with being the smartest person in the room and his attempts at Californication. Cool? Awesome.
Microsoft shows off prototype avatar that will haunt your dreams
Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie wants to show you the haunting bridge his team has built over the uncanny valley. Employing Kinect hardware and custom PC software, the research team at Microsoft has created an unnervingly realistic new avatar that can handle text-to-speech when combined with a script and can recognize the words in any order. "This is a way to create a synthetic model of people that will be acceptable to them when they would look at them on a television or in an Avatar Kinect kind of scenario," Mundie told USA Today in a video interview. "There's no reason that we couldn't do that in real time by feeding the information that we get from a Kinect sensor, including its audio input and its 3D modeling, spacial representation, and couple that to the body and the gesture recognition in order to create a full body avatar, that has photo realistic features and full facial animation," he added. This impressive (if not somewhat terrifying) demo is still very much in the prototype phase, however, and Mundie said it would be "some time before we see it show up in products." We're just hoping those first "products" aren't T-1000s.
Visualized: Nokia R&D spending, almost 3 times its peers
Our initial reaction to the Bernstein Research chart above is to wonder what value Nokia's massive R&D spending has achieved. Sadly, that's our second and third reaction, too, having spent some time with the company's Symbian OS. Let's just hope all that money was poured into MeeGo or some other megaprofitable ecosystem that it will "build or join" in 2011. Update: Added a snapshot of Nokia's R&D spending from 2007 and 2008 (when the company topped the EU with US$7.24 billion spent on R&D) after the break.
HTC confirms new research and development office in Durham, North Carolina
It's been swirling for months now, but at long last HTC has finally come forward with the official word: it'll be cracking open a new operation in the heart of North Carolina's technology hub to usher in 2011. According to the company, it'll be hiring 45 individuals at the Durham, NC-based venue, as they conduct research into "multiple areas of wireless technology, with plans to grow further during 2011 and into the future." The list of current job openings there is definitely robust, and there's little doubt that a good bit of design work will be going down just a few miles from the nearest Cook-Out. The opening of the new location marks HTC's third research and development facility in the States, with the others being positioned in Seattle and San Francisco. Out goes Sony Ericsson, in flies HTC -- fitting, don't you think?
KDDI develops a zoom-enhance system for HD movie streaming on smartphones (video)
Because not every smartphone has a full 1080p resolution (yet), KDDI's R&D Labs have come up with a new method for massaging the most out of HD movie streams while on the move. You'll still be able to pummel your poor mobile device and connection with the full-res stream, should you wish it, but KDDI's innovation is in developing a system whereby you can zoom in on particular parts of the feed, have the stream cropped to your requirements on far-off servers somewhere, and then receive only the stuff you want to see onto your device. And because of your phone's aforementioned pixel deficiency, the employment of this technique will most often result in negligible picture fidelity loss, if any. The biggest benefit, however, might be to carriers like KDDI who end up having to carry less data back and forth, even if it does come at a slight server-side cost. Video after the break.
Apple touchscreen iMac rumor just won't die
The Apple rumor that keeps on giving -- the touchscreen iMac -- has just been given another shot of monger juice. DigiTimes (who else) cites industry sources who claim again that Sintek Photonics is shipping Apple touchpanels to sample for use in a future 20-plus-inch iMac. Specifically, the panels are of the projected capacitance type (same as iPhone/iPod touch/iPad) and integrate the touch sensor with the glass cover for reduced thickness and weight while exhibiting "good" viewing angles and brightness. While the image above, extracted from an Apple patent, gives us a clue as to how a touchscreen iMac might be used, we remain unconvinced of its advantages (drawing stylus, anyone?). Then again, we're sure Apple has lots of whacky products in house for R&D so why not one more.
Unintended source of passive income to be removed from EVE Online
There are many of ways to make ISK in EVE Online, from mission-running and ratting to trading and research. Some methods, like mission-running, are very active processes in which the amount of ISK made is directly proportional to the amount of time spent playing. Other processes, such as trading or moon-mining, are largely passive endeavours in which ISK is made even while the pilot is offline. One such source of passive income, which has been around since the tech 2 invention system came in, is datacore collection. Players with high enough standings and the right skills trained in the science field can sign up to do research with various R&D agents throughout EVE. The agents automatically give players research points every day for free, which can later be redeemed for datacores to be sold on the market. Datacore collection itself is an intended game mechanic, and this system for supplying datacores doesn't look like it will be changing any time soon. The issue is that characters on expired accounts will still accrue research points every day. Using this so-called "ghost research" loophole, some players have been farming datacores with an unfair advantage over active pilots. Abusers typically set up accounts with three research characters each, then let those accounts expire. Several months later, each account will be re-activated to harvest the datacores. In a recent devblog, CCP Soundwave explained that this issue came from a list of important player-voted issues that was presented to CCP by the Council of Stellar Management. The unintended loophole will be closed in a hotfix in the near future.
