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CNN turns Google Glass owners into citizen journalists
Sometimes breaking news happens right before your eyes while you're out and about. If you happen to be wearing Google Glass when those events take place, CNN now has a way for you to share photos and videos of the action directly from the headset. The news outfit announced the addition to its iReport citizen journalism effort earlier this week, and it's claiming to be "the first major news network" to allow contributing via the wearable. If you're interested in joining up, you'll have to authorize CNN to send notifications to Glass and link up an iReport profile in the settings. When you've completed those steps, the appropriate avenue for beaming captured media to the newsroom will appear as a sharing option for photos and videos. Folks have already opted in, as the first mobile coverage (relating to gas prices in Miami) can be seen here. [Photo credit: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
CNNx lets you watch only the news you care about
Since you're here, we figure you're pretty comfortable in using the internet to get your news. CNN has noticed that trend as well, and is making the jump to the next generation with CNNx. Initially available as an update for CNN's iPad app but intended for other set-top boxes and CNN.com in the future (no word on Android, iPhone or other mobile platforms, although live streaming is already widely available), it lets viewers skip through any story segments that have aired in the last 24 hours -- unfortunately that doesn't include The Daily Show's takedowns of its coverage, but you can see a screenshot of the app after the break.. That should end the frustration felt when you flip to the channel halfway through one interesting segment, and are faced with sitting through an hour of disaster-of-the-minute coverage to find out all the information. There's more than just video (live or on-demand) too, with related articles, pictures and social media just a click away. CNN is a cable channel though, so you'll need a login from a participating provider (DirecTV, Cox and Verizon FiOS right now, but it will come to all services later this year) to use the TV Everywhere service, just like HBO Go. It's not live in the app store for us to try out just yet, but it will arrive later today. For now, there is a video preview explaining what CNNx is all about -- give it a peek and see if the ability to cherry-pick interesting stories is enough to pull you back into the 24-hour cable news cycle.
CNN's Flipboard rival now belongs to... Flipboard
CNN bought the news-aggregation service Zite to get a fast track in the mobile space, but it never gained much ground versus Zite's archrival, Flipboard. Accordingly, the TV broadcaster is throwing in the towel -- it just sold Zite to Flipboard for $60 million. The deal brings a raft of previously unavailable CNN content to Flipboard's news-curation platform, ranging from articles to video feeds for shows like Anderson Cooper 360 and Inside Politics. The network has also agreed to produce custom magazines (shown here) that go beyond what you'd normally find online. CNN's content is available today, and it's launching alongside a big Android app update that lets readers sign in with Google, control article density, curb their data use and attach photos to custom magazines.
Twitter tool tells journalists what's BREAKING!
We've known for sometime that Twitter is looking to make a move in the news game, but what that would look like was still unclear. Today, the blue bird's intentions are starting to look a bit more concrete, with the announcement of Dataminr for News, a tool that pinpoints and alerts journalists of breaking news before every Joe with a dot com is tweeting about it. The tool, created in partnership with NY startup Dataminr, uses machine-learning algorithms to identify big and reliable stories and alert journalists via email, mobile alerts and other means. It will also provide detailed information about the origins and sources behind the information. According to The Verge, CNN has used Dataminr tools for months and is already seeing some payoff: It claims to produce at least two stories a day sourced from the service. The new initiative feeds into the "me first" media culture that has seen hoaxes rise to the top of Twitter as quickly as real breaking news stories. However, Dataminr claims that its algorithms cut through the bull shit by looking beyond the first tweet to find "corroborating sources on the ground" among other factors. According to TechCrunch, Dataminr CEO Ted Bailey said Dataminr for News will become available to all journalists for an undisclosed price later this year.
Facebook lets news organizations broadcast your trending topic discussions
Anyone else think that Twitter's love affair with TV has gotten those down in Menlo Park a little scared? Facebook has announced that broadcasters like CNN, NBC and Sky can now gain direct access to your public wall posts concerning trending topics and embed them in their shows. That means that your insightful or controversial opinions on Shark Week might be sharing screen time with Al Roker without your explicit say-so. News organizations will also be able to generate real-time infographics to gauge the state of the nation and show, to an unprecedented level of detail, just how many of you care about twerking at any one time.
Tweetwall rebuilt, new iPad app available
Tweetwall is a company that provides Twitter displays for events, allowing companies to show guests the live Twitter chatter about their events. Their clients have included CNN, Yahoo, Intel, PayPal, Microsoft, eBay, the Obama campaign and the Webby Awards. Now Tweetwall has launched a rebuilt version of its service, including a redesign and a new iPad app offering AirPlay support. The iPad app is currently free to download and works with AirPlay or the digital AV adapter to display your feed on a screen. Tweetwall is offering two variations on pricing for their service, a US$49-a-day self-service model where your wall is built from templates and a full service option that has a $1,000 setup, plus $249 per event day. Loading times and stability have been improved, and the service allows filtering to keep your event wall from being spammed with profanity or other keywords. Correction: This article original incorrectly stated the price of the full service option as being $500 a day. The $500 quoted was a test price the company ran to see if pricing drastically impacted the volume of Tweetwalls we were doing per week. According to a company representative in the comments it worked and was the inspiration for the launch of the self service platform. (5/20/13) [via TechCrunch]
iPhone app used to control Touch Bionics prosthetic hand
In 2008, Jason Koger had both of his hands amputated after accidentally coming into contact with a downed power line on his grandfather's farm. Since the accident, Koger has been using a variety of prosthetic arms to cope with everyday life. However, the prosthetics Koger has been using have been limited. In an interview with CNN, Koger said, "It's like I'm carrying a toolbox, but only have one tool. You can't use a wrench for everything." Now Koger has had the opportunity to be the world's first double-amputee to use some remarkable technology: the i-limb ultra revolution. Designed by Touch Bionics in the UK, the i-limb offers the most advanced and versatile prosthesis available, with a powered rotating thumb. It also includes biosim, an iPhone app that gives Koger instant access to 24 Quick Grip patterns. The biosim app lets Koger choose from a selection of automated grips and gestures which aid in daily tasks, like index point for typing on a keyboard or a touch screen, precision pinch mode for gripping small objects, and a natural hand position. The app also lets Koger personally customize his own grips and gestures. Using the Touch Bionics prosthetics and app, Koger said, "Nothing is perfect, but I feel like I can be a more active participant in everyday life with these hands. I can do pretty much everything I could before; it just might take me a little longer." Read the full interview and watch a video of the prosthetics and app in action at CNN Health. [Via Gizmodo]
CNN finally adds live TV streaming access to its Android phone app
While some of us try to avoid mainstream media and the accompanying Things You Should Be Afraid Of Today reporting, sometimes we need a place to go for 24/7 coverage of a disabled cruise ship, and CNN is always there. Now it's there on Android too, after launching live streaming of both CNN and HLN on iOS back in 2011 a new update for its Android phone app has brought the feature (and the classic "This is CNN" greeting by James Earl Jones) to the platform. You'll still need to be a subscriber to a participating cable TV service to actually watch the feed, but getting your dose of Anderson Cooper on the go is as simple as inputting your account details, and then you're set. Feature parity -- who doesn't love it? (Android tablet owners, Windows 8 users, Symbian...)
Fortune ranks the Apple analysts
After Apple's earnings call yesterday the company's stock took a sizable hit. This, of course, was due in large part to the company underperforming analysts' revenue expectations. But rather than rail on Apple, Fortune argues that Wall Street's Apple analysts performed worse than the company itself, and it's worked up a rather handy chart to prove its point. Ranking a whopping 68 analysts based on how close their predictions came to hitting Apple's true numbers, the chart shows just how dramatically earnings predictions can vary. For example, Apple reported revenue of $54.51 billion, but analyst predictions ranged from $51.70 billion to $65.69 billion. Take a look at some more failed predictions, ranging from insanely optimistic to depressingly dismal, on Fortune.
Zite releases version 2 of its popular news app
I've always found Zite to be the smart news aggregator I turn to first in the day. Because it learns from my choices, it gets better and better at creating a personal news magazine that has the topics I really love. Today Zite has pushed out a thoroughly revised update with a lot of new features, and, I'm afraid, a few glitches. First, the good. Zite has gone to 40,000 topics, 20x what the older version had. The Top Stories section has been expanded. More pages appear in that section, and the app claims to have gotten more intelligent about what goes into top stories. Pages have been re-designed and look fine, with a clean look and nice fonts. There are now topic tags, so at the end of an article you can explore more on the subject. A Headline News module shows the most talked about headlines in news, using technology from CNN Trends. CNN now owns Zite, so it's a logical addition. There is also a 'popular on Zite' section, that tells you what Zite readers are looking at. So what's not to like? First, the user interface has been drastically changed, and not necessarily for the better. In places, Zite's screens seem a bit busy, and some people may react negatively to this change. Zite seems a little slower than it was, especially in rendering a web page to fit in with the Zite graphic standards. I expect that will improve in coming updates. Also, several of the features are giving me content that I haven't chosen, but others have. To me, this recommended content seems to be contrary to what Zite is supposed to be about. It's personal news. I could care less what CNN thinks is important, and if I wanted to know I would go to the CNN app. Same for what other Zite users like. I may be in the minority here, but that's my take. Finally, there's a very welcome feature that lets you re-order your list of topics, but when I tried it on my iPad, Zite ignored many of the changes I made. It's obviously a bug, but I hope it gets fixed soon. I really do like Zite. It's my most used news app, but I have some mixed feelings about this update. I hope the bugs are cleaned up, and that I get the option to turn off some of the non-personal news I didn't ask for. Nonetheless, I still recommend Zite. Zite was first launched in March of 2011 and there are new versions today for the iPhone and the iPad. %Gallery-172648%
iPad mini's rumored launch may be aimed at Microsoft Surface
This theory is speculative, but let's give CNN's Don Sears some consideration anyway. He suggests that Apple's suspected iPad mini event has been moved from the rumored October 10 to 17 date range to the current expectation of the October 23. Why, he asks? Because the Microsoft Surface is due to arrive right around then, he answers. Microsoft announced its Surface tablet unit quite a while ago, and rumors suggest that the device will greet the public this month. Sears suggests that Apple re-scheduled its own event to more closely coincide with Microsoft's launch plans. While much of this is based on suspicions and rumor (Apple has not officially announced an event), Sears' logic rings true. After all, Apple has had no problem with stealing thunder. It has announced its own products specifically around big industry conferences like CES and GDC many times before, and it would be very Apple-like to take Microsoft's release on directly, stealing much of the anticipated Surface buzz. We'll have to see how this all plays out when these announcements finally do happen later on this month.
iPhone 5 / iOS 6 app update roundup: new versions for a taller world
Call it a hunch, but we suspect that at least a few of you picked up an iPhone 5 today, or at least made the leap to iOS 6. If you're in either position, you may be wondering just what apps to feed Apple's flagship (or that fresh new firmware) once it's ready to go. We've got a quick-hit list of titles that have been updated to take advantage of the tall display and new OS that go beyond Apple's own work. The biggest upgrades of the lot come from keynote darling CNN as well as Flipboard: both have done more than add extra columns on the iPhone 5, offering an interface you won't see on any mere 3.5-inch iPhone. Some bread-and-butter apps have made the launch week cut as well, such as Facebook and Twitter. There's even more if you're willing to dig deep. Third-party Twitter client Tweetbot beat the official app to the punch by days, and we've likewise spotted updates to Evernote, its rival Remember the Milk and Yelp. We know some apps aren't fully iPhone 5- or iOS 6-native -- Instagram, for example, and most anything from Google -- but it's apparent that the holdouts are increasingly the exception, rather than the rule. Did you catch any other noteworthy apps that received a boost in recent hours? Let fellow owners know in the comments. CNN - App Store Evernote - App Store Facebook - App Store Flipboard - App Store Kindle - App Store Pulse - App Store Remember the Milk - App Store Tweetbot - App Store Twitter - App Store Yelp - App Store
Internet Archive puts all TV news since 2009 online, helps you stay classy
Wish you could spend your evenings and weekends reliving the halcyon days of broadcast news? You should head on over to the Internet Archive. Founder Brewster Kahle has collected TV news from 20 major channels since 2009, and is making them available online from today. The archive stretches from the 24-hour CNN through to The Daily Show -- with whole episodes available to rent for a fee of $50 per disc. Kahle's planning to add additional years in reverse chronological order at least back to 2002, since that's when closed captioning (which the system uses to catalog the footage) was introduced. Unless, of course, we all fancy transcribing an hour or two of Channel 4 News circa 1975 to help out.
Apple's "obligation" to help fix America's problems
Does Apple have an obligation to help solve America's financial woes? That's a question addressed by Clyde Prestowitz in a special edition article on CNN. Prestowitz, founder and president of Economic Strategy Institute, argues that Apple should use its position to drive manufacturing back to the US and Mexico. He points to Samsung, which is building processors for Apple in an Austin, Texas plant, as an example how this homegrown manufacturing idea could work. Not only would it help the US economy, it would also alleviate the problems Apple is facing from poor working conditions in Chinese factories. This notion runs counter to a recent New York Times report that claims North America doesn't have the infrastructure or labor force to support Apple's operations (here's our take on that). Apple's demands are high and require factories and workers capable of producing millions of devices each month.
CNN observes the migration habits of the elusive wild gamer
We all know that one guy who flits between MMOs with the same attention span as an ADD goldfish on cocaine. Heck, we've probably been there ourselves a few times. Well, CNN's Geek Out blog has decided to take a look at the migratory patterns of the MMO gamer in his natural habitat, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. With the recent release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, gamers everywhere are deciding whether or not to migrate. The author of the piece takes a look at the comparative subscription numbers of major players in the MMO game, and speaks to Warner Bros. Entertainment's Jim Drewry and Adam Mersky regarding how the folks behind Lord of the Rings Online deal with MMO migration. It's really a rather interesting look into the culture, so click on through the link below to give it a read.
Why is Siri female (in the US at least)?
Have you ever wondered why most of the default voices for computers are female? Although Siri is male in the UK and France, it's female in the U.S., Australia, and Germany. CNN's Brandon Griggs pondered this question in a post last month, and found that -- among other things -- people find women's voices more pleasing than men's. Griggs quoted Stanford University Professor Clifford Nass, author of a book about human-machine relationships, as saying "It's much easier to find a female voice that everyone likes than a male voice that everyone likes. It's a well-established phenomenon that the human brain is developed to like female voices." According to Nass, this preference starts in the womb, as fetuses react to the sound of their mother's voice but not to other female voices or their father's voices. Another reason could be that telephone operators have traditionally been female, so people are used to getting assistance from a woman's voice -- realizing that certain age iPhone users and younger may have never heard a real, live telephone operator. There are other theories. Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies Inc. believes that tech companies try to stay away from the sound of male computer voices due to the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey. HAL's soothing male voice didn't cover the fact that he was insane and intent on killing his human crew mates. The post goes on to state that many experts expect that Siri will come with a choice of voices, accents and genders someday, so that if you're a little peeved with "her" voice right now, you can replace it with a voice more to your liking. Speech technology firm Nuance's director of advanced speech design thinks that in the future there's a "huge opportunity for personalization. I could have an approximation of my wife's voice read me a text message in my car."
CNN acquires Zite, plans to operate as independent business
A week ago we reported on the rumors that CNN reportedly purchased iPad magazine app Zite, a magazine aggregater which collects news based on your personal preferences and presents it to you in a magazine-like format. Today, CNN confirmed those rumors. In a post on CNNTech, the company says it bought Zite and plans to operate it as an independent business. And yes, that means that Zite will continue to pull information from several sources -- not just CNN. The app will remain free and will launch without ads, though though you may expect that to change. While CNN does plan to make an Android version of Zite the company says the iPad will remain its "primary platform." While Zite will run as an independent business out of San Fransisco (CNN in headquartered in Atlanta) the cable company does plan to integrate Zite technology into its existing iOS apps. It was rumored that CNN paid up to US$25 million for magazine aggregater app, but the company declined to comment on the purchase price. Zite is a free download from the App Store. You can also read our review of the app here.
CNN reportedly buys iPad magazine app Zite
Techvibes is reporting that CNN is buying Vancouver-based iPad magazine app Zite for up to US$25 million. Zite is an iPad magazine app that aggregates news based on your personal preferences. Personalized magazine aggregator apps are becoming increasingly popular on the iPad. Other similar apps to Zite include Pulse, Flipboard, AOL Editions, and more. All the apps basically work in the same way: you input your preferences for the stories you want to read, or the app reads your preferences from social media sites and presents you with news stories. CNN's interest in Zite as a stand-alone news aggregator would be an interesting departure from its video-heavy iPad app. While that app does also have print stories, it's possible CNN wants Zite for its underlying technology to incorporate into its existing iPad app, allowing for a more personalized experience for its users. Or, who knows, perhaps CNN wants to get into the magazine aggregator business on all its own, though it would be rather self-limiting if CNN only used its own sources for the aggregator app. After all, the appeal of such apps is that they pull news from multiple news sources around the web. At this time, Zite is still available as a free download from the App Store.
Daily Update for August 23, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
The Daily Grind: Are you among the 10% who finish what they start?
Last week, CNN published an article declaring that video game attrition is significantly higher than we might have suspected. According to the post, 90% of gamers don't finish the video games they start. CNN lists several possible reasons for this phenomenon: the rising age of the average gamer (37), shortening attention spans, different life focuses, gaming platforms, game lengths, and a roster of new games -- particularly the more profitable and time-consuming multiplayer games -- that's becoming increasingly bloated. Setting aside the question of whether MMOs even have endings at all, we have to wonder whether MMO gamers suffer this same inability to see a game through to the finish line. Whatever you consider the "end" of your MMOs, do you ever get there? Are you among the 10% of gamers who finish what they start? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
