The Morning After: Friday, July 7th 2017
TGIF.
Hey, good morning!
It's 7/7 and we're finishing off this blissfully short week with all kinds of wearables: AR biking specs, an exoskeleton that looks like it was made for sci-fi and a fitness tracker that measures your calories, through science or something.
AR glasses will quench your ride-stat thirst
The bike Roberto Baldwin was riding to test the new Everysight Raptor AR glasses was probably a bit too small for him. Also, it was a typical San Francisco summer day, so it was cold and windy, and he'd left his jacket upstairs. But none of that mattered, because he was peering into the future of biking. The best part was that the Everysight Raptors didn't feel bulky or make him strain his eye sockets to look into a tiny screen -- all the information was projected right in front of him.
Russian exoskeleton suit turns soldiers into stormtroopers
Developed by the state-owned Central Research Institute for Precision Machine Building, this very Star Wars-esque combat-armor concept features a powered exoskeleton, ballistic protection from bullets and shrapnel and a heads-up display.
Fender Play doesn't judge -- it just teaches you guitar
Fender Play is a digital lesson platform designed to keep young would-be guitarists coming back day after day, year after year. The company's research suggests it's not hard to attract new players, but it's extremely difficult to keep them tied to the instrument for the rest of their lives. Most players don't even make it past the first three months. Play has been designed not only to be simple but to cater to an increasingly diverse player base, delivering relatively quick gratification.
Camera maker RED is building a phone with a 'holographic' screen
RED -- makers of those pricey digital cinema cameras -- is trying something a little different. The company just revealed its plans to release the Hydrogen One, a high-powered, unlocked Android smartphone with prices starting at an eye-watering $1,195. That gets you an aluminum phone with some crazy-looking grips; the titanium finish will set you back an extra $400. But what about that screen?
Mike Pence visits NASA's Kennedy Space Center
In a speech during his visit, the vice president said: "And with the National Space Council, we will grab that destiny with both hands and go to work with each and every one of you."
Cuts focus on the Microsoft sales team
As expected, Microsoft has announced a radical reorganization of its sales business, with thousands of people expected to lose their jobs. The process will cut up to 3,000 jobs, mainly in the sales department -- that's less than 10 percent of Microsoft's total sales force -- and roughly 75 percent of the cuts will be outside of the United States, CNBC reports. The reorganization effort is meant to help Microsoft focus on building up Azure, its cloud platform.
'Overwatch' debuts its fourth new hero: Doomfist
Fans of Blizzard's squad shooter have been waiting for Doomfist since they saw the game's first cinematic trailer, and now he's here. Well, he's here if you play in test realms on the PC. Before he brings his metallic arm to the main game, we're expecting a few weeks of play testing, but all players can get familiar with the new character's lore and capabilities right away.
