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Adobe XD's Mighty and Napoleon prepare for retail, Contour and Parallel apps introduced (eyes-on)
As you've likely read today, Adobe XD has announced its plans to officially bring Projects Napoleon and Mighty -- a drafting ruler and cloud-connected stylus for iPads -- to retail in 2014. Rather than make the consumer-facing hardware itself, the company's relying on Adonit's manufacturing prowess. Creative professionals can rest assured that the tools will function with Creative Cloud. The retail versions will be much like the prototypes, except that Adobe ditched Bluetooth in the 'short ruler,' Napoleon. It now uses only capacitive touch and a single button (see above) to act as a selector for options within apps. Mighty will ship with a non-replaceable tip that's just under 2mm, but it's otherwise the same and includes a lipstick-style carrying case / charger. On top of all that, Adobe's introducing Projects Contour and Parallel as its next serious experiments in the area. They will serve as reference apps to highlight the kinds of functionality the tools could afford designers. Contour is Adobe's take on a draft-sketching app, while Parallel is an iPhone app that lets you grab photos of objects in real life and instantly convert them into vectors -- as you'd expect, both intermingle. No word on whether these apps will make it out of Adobe's in-progress lair just yet, but a rep gave us a coy smile and note to stay tuned. You'll find a video of the apps after the break, as well as our early hands-on with Napoleon and Mighty from June.
E3 2012: Fragging undead on your phone with Parallel Zombies
The hardest thing about E3 is finding a place to sit. Well, that and making yourself heard above the din of squeeing fanboys, clicking cameras, and bass lines that would wake the dead. Per Blue CEO Justin Beck and I eventually found a couple of seats, but we didn't quite find the quiet, so we spent the better part of a half hour talking very loudly about the company's new Parallel Zombies mobile title. If Per Blue and the Parallel prefix sound familiar, it's because Parallel Kingdom has been out for the better part of three years now. But what's this I hear about zombies, you say?
IBM's cognitive computing chip functions like a human brain, heralds our demise (video)
After having created a supercomputer capable of hanging with Jeopardy's finest, IBM has now taken another step toward human-like artificial intelligence, with an experimental chip designed to function like a real brain. Developed as part of a DARPA project called SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics), IBM's so-called "neurosynaptic computing chip" features a silicon core capable of digitally replicating the brain's neurons, synapses and axons. To achieve this, researchers took a dramatic departure from the conventional von Neumann computer architecture, which links internal memory and a processor with a single data channel. This structure allows for data to be transmitted at high, but limited rates, and isn't especially power efficient -- especially for more sophisticated, scaled-up systems. Instead, IBM integrated memory directly within its processors, wedding hardware with software in a design that more closely resembles the brain's cognitive structure. This severely limits data transfer speeds, but allows the system to execute multiple processes in parallel (much like humans do), while minimizing power usage. IBM's two prototypes have already demonstrated the ability to navigate, recognize patterns and classify objects, though the long-term goal is to create a smaller, low-power chip that can analyze more complex data and, yes, learn. Scurry past the break for some videos from IBM's researchers, along with the full press release.
Sony considers incentives for commercial PS3 use
Tired of wasting all those idle PS3 clock cycles curing diseases for the benefit of all humanity? Wish you could sell off your extra processing power for prizes and free stuff instead? Sony knows how you feel, and is reportedly looking into a program that would let you do just that.Sony Computer Entertainment CTO Masa Chatani told the Financial Times that they are in discussions with a number of companies interested in using the parallel processing power of the PS3 network for their own research. Chatani realizes users might be hesitant to simply loan out use of their $600 living room computer to a commercial enterprise, so the company is considering offering incentives such as free products to users who would aid in such research.This sounds like a win-win-win situation to us: Sony gets a new revenue stream; small companies get their research done relatively cheaply; and PS3 owners get free stuff. Of course, every PS3 running one of these commercial projects is one less project running the potentially life-saving Folding@Home. OK, so maybe it's win-win-win-lose. Still, three out of four ain't bad.
Control the NES R.O.B. with your PC
There are a lot of mods out there for the NES controller that claim to be practical, but if we admit it they're only just thinly veiled excuses for mature adults to relive their wasted childhood. This latest mod, that makes Nintendo's Robotic Operating Buddy or (R.O.B. for short) controllable via a Linux PC, makes no claim to functionality: basically a guy called Fred managed to get R.O.B. to follow commands sent to it from his Linux box -- kind of the opposite of what R.O.B. is used to doing: interacting with a NES deck. We're not exactly sure how he did it, but we are certain it involved a lot of coding, soldering, and enough coffee to get Fred's doctor to class him as a technical insomniac -- but who needs sleep when you've got a little grey chip-hording robot to order about?[Via MAKE]
