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Cozy cat sim Little Kitty, Big City arrives for consoles and PCs on May 9
The cozy cat sim Little Kitty, Big City releases for the Nintendo Switch and other consoles on May 9. Preorders are available now and it costs $25.
The Flappie AI cat door stops your pet from gifting you dead mice
If you're tired of your cat bringing you a dead mouse as a present, Flappie's cat door might be the solution.
NASA beamed a video of a cat named Taters from deep space to Earth
On December 11, NASA successfully beamed an ultra-high definition video from the Psyche spacecraft to Earth. At the time, Psyche was about 19 million miles away. The video signal was received 101 seconds after it was sent.
Ring announces a wearable for your lost pets that's just a QR code
Amazon’s Ring is mostly known for doorbell cams and consumer-grade surveillance tech, but the company’s moving past humans and onto our beloved furry friends. It just announced the Ring Pet Tag to help find lost pets, as the tag attaches to a collar and includes a bevy of digital information about the animal, should it wander away from the yard.
Tile's latest accessory helps track your cat
Tile, best known for its AirTag-like trackers that help you locate lost objects, can now track down something that can get lost all by itself — your cat.
What's on TV this week: 'Final Fantasy VII Remake'
The biggest new releases this week include 'Final Fantasy VII Remake' on PS4, 'Trolls World Tour' and 'Killing Eve.'
As cinephiles shelter, studios are catching on to virtual movie nights
Compared to a Twitter Watch Party, a Netflix Party is a more intimate affair.
'Cats' is getting new special effects while it's still in theaters
You've seen movies receive visual touch-ups in special edition re-releases, but Universal is trying something new: it's updating a movie while it's still in the middle of its initial theatrical run. The media giant has informed theaters that it's giving them a new version of Cats that delivers "some improved visual effects," according to a memo Hollywood Reporter saw. Insiders talking to the publication said that director Tom Hooper wanted to alter some of the effects after rushing to get the movie ready in time for its December 16th premiere screening.
‘Cats’ trailer plunges into the uncanny valley of digital fur
VFX artists had a go with the feature film Cats. Universal unveiled a full-length trailer today that gave us the first look at what the film's human actors look like as CG-transformed felines. While the Broadway version of Cats relied on elaborate costumes and makeup, the Jellicle Cats in the Tom Hooper film are heavily aided by visual effects wizardry. Earlier footage revealed the film's actors performing in leotards with markers, with the promise of "digital fur" being added later in post-production.
Facebook’s next big augmented reality push is multiplayer games
Even as Facebook faces extreme pressure from Congress on issues like foreign interference and fake news, the company has to remain focused on keeping users tied to its many products. After all, that's how it makes its money. One of the ways Facebook is doing that is by going in heavy on augmented reality. Aside from bringing the technology to its News Feed and main app's camera, Facebook sees AR as the perfect medium to bring a different layer to one particular service: Messenger, where friends interact with one another on a daily basis.
Spinning litter box automatically collects your kitty's poop
I love my cat. She's cute, cuddly and I think she's adorable when she's playing with string or chasing after a stuffed mouse. But the one thing about owning a cat that I'm definitely not a fan of is cleaning up her poop. It's stinky, it's messy and did I mention it's stinky? I've played around with the idea of getting an automated self-scooping litter box, but I may have come across something much more colorful -- and a tiny bit more terrifying -- here at Computex 2018. It's a cat-eared litter contraption that rotates and spins to collect your kitty's poop.
Google Lens can identify dog and cat breeds
Now that the Android-first Google Lens feature has finally rolled out to the Photos app on iOS devices, nearly all mobile users can appreciate a recently-added feature: Identifying pet breeds. Also, a new wrinkle added this week will have Google Photos automatically create a book starring your pet. Yes, the might of artificial intelligence has been mustered to determine what kind of dog or cat is in the photo you just took. The only thing left for humans to decide is if they prefer a hardcover or softcover edition.
The Morning After: Friday, March 31st 2017
It's Friday, so live a little. Maybe order a pizza by robot? How about the latest phone available directly from Microsoft, the, er, Galaxy S8? Meanwhile, Destiny 2 is coming to PCs, and Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey parted ways with Facebook. No April Fools here -- it landing on a weekend means that's someone else's problem.
The Morning After: Thursday, March 16 2017
There's two more days left this week, but we're not stopping, and neither should you. Russia is going to the moon, while some of the country's agents have been blamed for the Yahoo hack from last year. We also talked to Frank Oz and rode an 8K 'VR' ride. That should perk you up.
Adorable Cozmo robot will soon recognize pets
Owners of the Anki Cozmo robot will soon be able to have it interact with their pets. An upgrade slated to roll out during the week of December 5th will add new functionality to the tiny automaton that includes reactions to dog and cats.
ICYMI: How studying bees helped fix internet traffic
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: The latest Golden Goose award goes to scientists who developed an algorithm to explain how worker bees collaborate to get honey to their hive. It turns out, that algorithm could be directly applied to solving peaks in demand in internet traffic, though it took ten years to be discovered. Meanwhile if you're into UAVs or don't like them, you should see the 500 aircraft array Intel put together, creating an aerial light display that could be controlled by two people (one was backup). The FAA had to grant a special dispensation for this bit of fun, so don't expect to get your hands on it anytime soon. You've gotta see the You've Got Mail video if you haven't already, and if you just need a mental break, may we recommend this cat video. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
On the Brink of Greatness: Online Experts
Ah yes, the fabulous life of an aspiring YouTube star. Steve visits with Dan, the host of Catitude TV, to get the story behind his channel that's chock-full of useful lifehacks. You know, things like the proper technique for screwing in a lightbulb, petting a cat and making a single cup of coffee. Let's face it, watching a video is a lot funner than Google directions yourself.
ICYMI: Quick launch UAV box, dog translation collar and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-878392{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-878392, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-878392{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-878392").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A new crowdfunded collar for dogs purports to translate activity levels and temperature into how the animal is feeling, then let you know. The KYON collar is basically the dog from the Pixar movie Up in beta version. A nesting box for storing and charging UAVs between flights aims to get surveillance states a drone on standby. And the Emi by Moodbox wants to be the Amazon Echo-like device you turn to for music selections, since its AI is designed to learn your song preferences and curate according to your mood.
Psychedelic love arrives on PS4 in time for Valentine's Day
Let's say you were gazing longingly at your PC and Xbox One owning friends when Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime released on those platforms last year. Despite all the killer couch co-op games at your disposal on PlayStation 4, none could quite fill the niche the gorgeous and altogether psychedelic indie game about eradicating all evil in the universe would. Well, fear not Sony fans: The laser-filled outer space adventure hits PS4 on February 9th. And even if you can't find a co-op date by then, you can always play solo with an in-game space-cat (or dog) picking up the slack.
ICYMI: Pegleg cat, X-ray laser sight and recharging tabletop
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-260428{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-260428, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-260428{width:570px;display:block;}try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-260428").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A cat born without part of its hindlegs got an upgrade with 3D-printed prosthetics implanted in its bones. A camera that basically gives X-ray vision has been invented, peering around corners with lasers, then recreating images of objects that are out-of-view. And design students in Copenhagen dreamt up a charging pad for phones that is powered by the heat given off by a cup of coffee.
