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Anyone can use NVIDIA's physics simulation engine
NVIDIA isn't just showing off its Titan RTX GPU and some clever AI demos -- it also has big news for anyone interested in more realistic computer physics. The company is releasing its hardware-accelerated PhysX simulation engine as an open source project, making it accessible to virtually everyone. It's a recognition that the technology is useful for more than just convincing game physics, NVIDIA said. PhysX can help with more accurate AI and robotics simulations, including self-driving car technology. You could see vehicles and bots that are better-prepared for real-world conditions.
Amazon helps others make accessories for Echo speakers
There aren't many Echo-oriented accessories beyond Amazon's own Echo Button, but that's about to change very shortly. Amazon has released a beta Alexa Gadgets Toolkit that lets hardware brands make Echo-focused Bluetooth accessories that respond to Alexa commands. You can have a cuckoo clock that responds to your Echo's wake word or a notification, a switch that releases dog food after an alarm, or a chime that sounds when time's up. A future update will even allow visual interaction with music -- it's easy to see a lamp that pulses in sync with Amazon Music tracks.
Microsoft’s new coding language is made for quantum computers
When one of the first personal computers, the Altair 8800 came along in 1976, Microsoft was ready with a programming language, Altair BASIC. It wants to be equally prepared when quantum computers go mainstream, so it has unveiled a new programming language and other tools for the futuristic tech at its Ignite conference. You'll still need to understand Qubits and other weird concepts, but by integrating traditional languages like C# and Python, Microsoft will make it easier to do mainstream computing on the complex machines.
Trion explains why ArcheAge uses Hackshield
Ever since ArcheAge's launch, Massively has been deluged with queries about Trion's use of Hackshield, an anti-cheating toolkit created by Korean company AhnLab, Inc. Western gamers aren't traditionally fond of such security programs; as of the time of this writing, even Hackshield's meager entry under AhnLab's English Wikipedia entry has been vandalized, presumably by disgruntled internet denizens. ArcheAge's Hackshield implementation recently provoked one Redditor to issue an open letter essentially accusing Trion of illegally and secretively installing a third-party rootkit on every computer that runs Glyph. We spoke to Trion about the legalities and efficacies of the program. Specifically, we asked about five topics: Whether the program is being installed without permission, Whether it is legal to install it in in this way around the globe, Whether it is causing technical problems for users as claimed, Whether it is fully uninstalling when ArcheAge/Glyph are uninstalled, And whether it actually works, given weekend reports about exploits.
Windows Server 8 and Azure platform introduced, Metro-style app building starts today
Server and Tools Business President Satya Nadella, amongst others, took the stage at Build today in order to showcase something a bit less consumer-facing: Windows Server 8 and the revised Windows Azure platform. Fret not, though -- this all plays a vital role in how you'll be enjoying Windows 8 in the months to come. A Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview will be made available to coders starting today, enabling devs to concoct Metro-style applications with HTML 5, JavaScript, C#, Visual Basic and C++. We're told that the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview is available today for Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and will be made available to the public on Friday. Microsoft also announced that Server 8 would provide multi-tenant infrastructure for cloud services, while the Azure Marketplace would expand to 25 new nations in early October. Those hoping to dig deeper can head on past the break (and visit the source links below). %Gallery-133730%
Microsoft demoes Twitter and Netflix apps for Windows Phone 7, releases final dev tools
Coming this holiday season to a Windows Phone 7 phone near you: Twitter, Netflix, Flixster, OpenTable, and Travelocity apps. The adroit coders behind those slices of software have managed to put together enough eye candy for Microsoft to highlight them as part of its announcement that the WP7 developer tools have been finalized. It doesn't sound like anything dramatic has changed from the beta -- which seems fitting given how close to the actual launch we now are -- but a new Bing Maps Control SDK has been issued, allowing access to a cornucopia of map-related coding opportunities. We're sure you're just over the moon about that. Go past the break for a couple of Microsoft's demo vids as well as a little Seesmic teaser or click the source for more.
Crytek interested in offering free development platform
When Epic offered the Unreal SDK free to all users, it got Crytek to thinking -- specifically, thinking about doing the same thing. Speaking to Develop, Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli said that his company is looking to offer a free platform for budding game developers "that will be up to speed" with CryEngine 3. It's nothing new to Crytek, which offered free versions of its previous platforms to the modding community, but this new venture is something different -- a "standalone free platform that people can run independent of CryEngine that will also be up to speed with the latest engine," Yerli hopes. While he's quick to point out it's not the same thing as what Epic and Unity are doing -- another popular game development tool that offers a bit of variety in free and premium toolsets -- we're hard-pressed to find much of a difference between the two. Crytek curently has no timetable for release of the new platform, nor has it commented on potential tech and licensing agreements stemming from the new venture.
JetS3t offers another option for Amazon S3 access
At 15¢ per gig, Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Solution) is rapidly becoming an online storage standard, with companies like 37Signals and SmugMug storing information adding up to terabytes. On a slightly smaller scale, I transfer a few gigs on S3 every month, both to and from my Mac and server-to-server, and my bill is usually under $10. I'm always on the lookout for new ways to take advantage of this inexpensive yet massive storage system. Several Mac applications have already added S3 support, including Transmit, Interarchy and Forklift. That's a cool step for such applications because it integrates your various file transferring tools (FTP, SFTP, S3, etc.) into one app, which I would love... if it worked reliably. But the only application I've consistently had luck with – as in not constantly crashing – is JungleDisk, which uses a webDAV system for filestorage that allows an S3 bucket (a subsection, or folder, in your S3 account) to be mounted as a local filesystem, but makes the filesystem on the web inaccessible to other programs. And you can't make files public outside of your local network. I've generally resorted to S3Fox - a very capable Firefox addon - and a command-line ruby script called s3sync. However, I also discovered the JetS3t Java toolkit today. In addition to the toolkit, the JetS3t download also includes an application suite. Of primary interest to me was the Cockpit application, which provides an S3 browser with upload and download capabilities, as well as ACL control. There are also apps for setting up gateways and providing a secure, distributable client. I'd like to begin by saying that I loathe Java applications on a Mac, not least because they're ugly. But Cockpit is one of the fastest S3 browsers I've ever used. Looking past the fact that you have to launch it from the command line (yes, you can fix that), it has no integration with other Mac apps, and its underwhelming aesthetics, I have to admit that it really does get the job done. It even has little extras, like the ability to generate Torrent URLs or a temporary URL that which allows people to download a file for a specified period of time. It probably won't replace my current tools, but it was worth a trip to the dark (Java) side. I hope it inspires some Cocoa browsers that are faster, more flexible and more stable than what we've got.
