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StripeSpotter turns wild zebras into trackable barcodes
We've heard plenty of stories over the past few years about tagging animals with RFID chips, but we've never been particularly keen on the idea. Well, now a team of researchers has come up with a much less invasive way of tracking individual animals -- specifically zebras -- by essentially using their stripes as barcodes. StripeSpotter, as it's known, takes an isolated portion of a photograph of a zebra and slices it into a series of horizontal bands. Each pixel in the selection is then fully converted into black or white, and the bands are in turn encoded into StripeStrings, which eventually make up a StripeCode that resembles a barcode. All this information is stored in a database that allows researchers to directly identify particular animals without ever having to get too close. StripeCode may be a zebra-centric application for now, but its developers see it making a mark across the food chain with the inclusion of other distinctly patterned beasts, like tigers and giraffes. Animal tracking hobbyists can get their own free copy of the application by clicking on the source link below.
Robo-Rainbow, all the way (video)
Paul Vasquez, meet your mech god... if god rode a bicycle and illegally tagged decrepit streetscapes with happy bands of color. Watch this complicated technical solution assist with a simple act of vandalism art urban renovation in the video after the break. [Image credit: Donna Zoll]
Nike+ GPS app adds new Tag feature to foster competition between friends
We just talked to Nike last week about its Nike+ GPS app for the iPhone, and there's another update to the already full-featured app. A new feature called Tag brings competition into Nike+ GPS. After you finish a run in the app, you can press the Tag button to invite as many of your friends or contacts to the game as you want; each user invited has to complete a certain goal within three days. The goal can be set for distance, time or the last person to actually go running. At the end of the game, everyone gets to know who was "IT" -- whoever went the shortest or whoever ran last. It's all meant in fun, but it seems like a cool, social way to keep your friends running -- a little competition between fellow runners. There's a video embedded after the break that Nike put together to show how it all works. The Tag feature is a free update to current owners of the app, but new users will have to pick it up for the usual price of US$1.99.
Microsoft 'Tags' 2 billion real-world objects with its phone-friendly barcodes
Microsoft might be late to the cameraphone-able barcode game, but it appears to be making up for lost time. Its multi-colored (and, frankly, rather attractive) Tag barcodes added a few important innovations on top of the general QR code concept, and apparently to good effect: 2 billion Tags have been printed since the January 2009 launch, and 1 billion of those Tags were printed in the past four months. Sounds like Microsoft has found some momentum, and they claim to have gained a lead in the publishing industry already. Obviously, the analytics, customization, and anti-fragmentation nature appeals to Big Barcode, but we'll have to wait and see if Tag is the ultimate choice of the everyman. Plus, won't ads be able to hack our brains and implant URLs at-will soon enough? We're holding out for that.
Nintendo 3DS 'tag mode' demonstrated in Super Street Fighter IV trailer (video)
Wondering how wireless "tag mode" will work on Nintendo's new 3DS? You're not alone. Fortunately, a trailer for Super Street Fighter IV has been loosed upon the internets giving us a pretty decent overview of what serendipitous game play will be like. To start with, a minigame feature lets you automatically fight your nearby rival's collectable action figures even while the 3DS is tucked away in your bag. The more you fight the more figures you collect. Then there's the more obvious wireless battle mode for active multiplayer gameplay with nearby 3DS owners. Should make for some interesting chance encounters on public transportation. You do live in a densely populated area don't you squirt?
Nintendo 3DS ships in Japan February 26, US and Europe in March, auto-generates Mii from camera (update: video!)
Enough with the rumored prices and launch dates for the 3DS already, let's get official. Nintendo just announced a February 26 ship date in Japan for ¥25,000 (about $298). It'll then land in the US and Europe in March for an undisclosed amount. Launch colors are aqua blue or cosmo black. At a press event in Japan, Nintendo demonstrated the ability to take your picture using the 3DS' front-facing camera and then automatically converting the image into a Mii -- you can edit it too using Mii Studio on the 3DS. You can even merge two photos into a single image if you choose. Images can then be exported as QR codes in wireless "tag mode" or as a file to the bundled 2GB SD card. Ninty also announced a special edition Super Mario DSi LL (no hardware changes) set to launch for ¥18,000 in Japan on October 28th. It also confirmed that a Wii Remote Plus is in development (it'll be announced at a date some time in the future) and a partnership with Fuji TV that will trial 3D video streaming to Nintendo's new handheld. Finally, a virtual console-style store was show serving up downloadable Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to the 3DS. Update: Nintendo just launched its 3DS microsite in Japan with a bit more product detail including new feature overview and software lineup videos found after the break. There you'll see a built-in pedometer with activity graph and what looks like background multitasking (or at least a state save) letting you launch other apps and then return to a game at the exact same point you left it. Nintendo also demonstrates the Mii Plaza app that lets you collect and view Miis from 3DS owners you pass throughout the day (even when the 3DS is sleeping); Augmented Reality gaming with six AR cards included in the box; a long-press home button for in-game access to web browsing, WiFi toggle, and more; a Book app; and note writing / diary software.%Gallery-103589%
Blue Watchdog Bluetooth proximity alarm: 100 decibels of aural terror in a credit card-sized package
While we've seen (and reviewed) a few Bluetooth proximity alarms in our day, these guys are still pretty a much a niche product. The premise is pretty straightforward: paired with your handset, the device emits a shrill alarm on the event that the two are separated. Of course, this depends on you keeping the thing on your person, and not in the backpack or laptop bag in which your phone resides -- something that's presumably more likely to occur with the credit card-sized Blue Watchdog by Secu4 than it is with other solutions we've seen. Selling for €70 (about $95), is small enough to fit inside your wallet, and features a stand-by time of 120 hours, thanks to a 3.7 volt LiPo battery. It can be charged via recharger or USB, sports a 100 decibel alarm, and can be configured to go off if separated from your handset anywhere from one to thirty meters. On sale now from the company's website (which also has a complete list of compatible phones), but not so fast: you'll want to see it in action first, right? You're in luck! There's a video after the break.
Walmart to add RFID tags to individual items, freak out privacy advocates
Walmart's been pushing RFID for years now, using it to better manage the company's vast inventories and understand where products are and how fast they're approaching. Now, the mega-retailer is about to take things to another level, and it just might push competitors into getting with the program. As of now, there's limited consumer-facing benefit to tracking pallets in transit, but a Wall Street Journal report suggests that Wally World will be placing radio-frequency ID tags on individual clothes. The initiative is slated to kick off next month, and it's expected to help apparel managers know when certain sizes and colors are depleted and need to be restocked. In theory, having this ability will ensure that consumers never see their desired size or hue as sold out, and if the clothing trial is successful, the tags could be rolled out to a near-infinite amount of kit. Of course, privacy advocates are all wound up about the idea, though it seems as if most sniffing concerns could be dealt with if the tags were removed as customers departed the store. Unless you're leaving in a hurry, that is...
One Shots: Kilroy was (not) here
If you're fighting your way through Realtime Worlds' shiny new MMO, All Points Bulletin, and seek to stake your claim on a particular area, one of the ways you can let rival gang members (and police) know is by tagging signs around town. However, if you're trying to do it by yourself on a heavily populated map, it's a great way to wind up dead. After all, anyone can come along and shoot you while you're busy "spraypainting" your graffiti up. Today, we have a screenshot of a pair who managed to find an open spot and successfully pull off getting their design in place. This image comes to us courtesy of Brad, also known as Nemesis on the Zombie server, who writes in: "This screenshot was taken after a long shoot out in the waterfront district. A fellow clan member and I held out on a rooftop and happened upon a blank billboard. We decided that the waterfront district needed to know who we were." One Shots needs more screenshots! If you're playing an MMO -- from large to small -- we'd love to see one from you. All you have to do is email a screenshot to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit. %Gallery-85937%
TAG Heuer Merediist GMT keeps your Monte Carlo arrivals on time
For all its luxurious sapphire crystal glass and genuine alligator skin, the TAG Heuer Meridiist has always struggled to keep up with the times -- but don't expect that two megapixel camera or 1.9-inch QVGA screen to change in the handset's latest iteration. No, the Merediist GMT's only new feature is -- you guessed it -- to literally keep track of Greenwich Mean Time. "Switch between home time and destination time," a flashy new ad teases, as a pair of (presumably) filthy rich individuals take the TAG Heuer Tesla for a cross-country drive. We're not quite sure how one originally forgets about world time with 150 years of watchmaking experience under one's belt, but at least the company has pledged to include the function in all future $4000+ models.
Google, Verizon, Comcast, and more band together to form tech (and policy) advisory group
BITAG doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, as far as spoken acronyms go, but the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (also goes by TAG, for short) is looking to make (radio) waves. Facilitated by former FCC Chief Technologist (and University of Colorado at Boulder Adjunct Professor) Dale Hatfield, the group aims to "develop consensus on broadband network management practices and other related technical issues that can affect users' experience," which largely leads to addressing technical issues and making suggestions to policymakers. The group runs the gamut of major players in the broadband industry, including AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, DISH, EchoStar, Google, Intel, Level 3, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon. Naturally, the aforementioned companies already on board are lauding the move, and for its part the NCTA is happy to see a forum for tech and engineering experts to openly discuss issues and policies. Providing the counterargument would be the folks at DSL Reports, who show reserve that this may end up being nothing more than "policy dog and pony show" to avoid stricter government regulations on network neutrality. At this point that remains to be seen, as this organization doesn't seem to have even hit infancy yet. Expect more in the coming weeks as it continues to form and attempts to organize. We submit for your perusal the press release, just after the break.
Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for all
It was about a year and a half ago that Microsoft decided it could do QR codes better, that any universal coding system needed a dash of color, and launched Tag. Now, the roughly one billion Tags that users have printed have been made a little less illegitimate, with Microsoft bringing the service out of beta and taking the opportunity to toot Tag's trumpet a bit. The codes have appeared in 20 million magazines so far and have recently been deployed to create a sort of tour for geeks in Amsterdam (no word on whether our own international man of mystery is featured). Meanwhile America's cultural hub, the Mall of America, has been similarly bestickered to "enhance customer engagement," but based on our previous experiences at that bastion of commercialism we're thinking scooters and foot massages might have been more effective.
TAG Heuer's Tesla Roadster gets pictured on the road
The good people of Tesla couldn't leave us with just stock studio photography of their new TAG Heuer special edition vehicle, oh no. They've treated us to a full gallery of the car out on the road, sporting its new regalia and that radical paintjob with pride. To remind you, the only special thing about this edition is indeed that TAG Heuer has reskinned its exterior, while a center console mount for a Meridiist phone and room for a Limited Edition Stopwatch can be classified as product placements for the crowd who'd buy things just because there's an allotted space for them. Anyhow, a couple more pictures await after the break (sans that silly flare on the Tesla logo above) or you can hit the source for the full experience.
Tag: Microsoft's first Android app is it
Everybody loves a world's first. So we might as well mention that Microsoft just released its very first application written for Google's competitive Android smartphone platform: Microsoft Tag Reader. Tag, as you might recall, is Microsoft's pseudo QR code implementation that uses high capacity color "barcodes" to link back to content. Download the app from the Android Market, scan a Tag with any camera enabled Android phone, and the linked data will automatically load on your device, be it a web page, video, advertisement, coupon, etc. Of course, readers without tags are as useless as tags without a wide swath of people with devices to read them -- so really, Microsoft has no choice but develop its Tag apps (already available for WinMo, Symbian, Blackberry, and iPhone handsets) for as many platforms as possible. First!
TAG Heuer and Tesla Motors team up to show off products you can't afford
The Tesla Roadster runs on batteries, and so too do (many) TAG Heuer watches. It's out of this obvious correlation that the TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster was born, a one-off special edition skinned in some unfortunate graphics then blessed with an extra slot in the center console for a similarly spendy Meridiist phone. There's also room in there for a one-fifth second analog Heuer Limited Edition Stopwatch, which sounds like a very useful addition indeed. Those attending Geneva Motor Show later this week will have a chance to see this (otherwise stock) car in-person, while the rest of us will have to make do with the gallery of photos below, which truly shows that "technology -- whether worn on your wrist or driven on the road -- can help us live better while we tread more lightly on this planet." These words courtesy of Elon Musk, who can surely be seen at the show wearing a giant piece of wrist-borne chronography. %Gallery-86723%
Microsoft Tag makes a video appearance, still seeking popularity
"It's the hyperlink in the physical world" says a Microsoft PR man, giving us the most succinct definition of what Redmond's Tag initiative is all about. Having announced its alternative take on the barcode at CES 2009, Microsoft has been working behind the scenes on proliferating the use of these multicolored Tags, which are designed to be snapped by nearby cameraphones. Once the pattern is recognized, you can obtain digital content directly on your phone -- whether it be a website link, YouTube video, or whatever -- and the uses are pretty much limitless: business cards, product packaging, magazines, anything that can benefit from supplemental online content and has a flat surface is a candidate to be Tagged. Such is the theory anyhow, and Microsoft's doing all it can to make it happen, with software for most mobile platforms, including the iPhone. Video demonstration after the break.
Ford becomes first automaker to offer HD Radio with iTunes tagging
If you thought the automakers would be leaving CES to the TV and PMP makers, Ford would like to have a word with you. A few words, actually. Aside from announcing that in-car WiFi will be available next year, the iconic blue oval is today calling itself the first car manufacturer to offer factory-installed HD Radio with iTunes tagging capabilities. Slated to become available on select 2011 Ford models sometime next year, the implementation will enable listeners of HD Radio to "tag" songs they like via a single button press; from there, the song information will be logged within the radio's memory, and up to 100 tags on Sync can be stored until an iPod is connected to suck them down. Once that data hits the iPod, users can then preview or purchase them conveniently through iTunes. There's no word yet on pricing (we're being forced to wait until CES), but we're guessing it'll demand quite the premium.
nio Bluetooth security tag review: your phone's new muscle
Picture this scenario: you've just left work after a long shift, and have to endure the lengthy commute in the hot, crowded subway. The last thing you want is to doze off and wake up to the horror of your bag or phone gone walkies. This is exactly the kind of problem TenBu Technologies is trying to solve with its nio Bluetooth security tag. Announced at the Mobile World Congress back in February, this little dongle aims to create a personal security space by the means of proximity, linking your tagged belongings with your Bluetooth-enabled phone. Read on to see how we got on with the nio – a dramatic video awaits you at the end.%Gallery-75423%
MIT's Bokode tech calls out zebra stripes, QR codes for battle of barcode supremacy
Since barcodes are the sign of the devil (must be true, we read it on the interwebs) it's no surprise that everyone wants to replace 'em. QR codes have been quite popular, allowing people and companies to tag their stuff with colorful decals filled with bits and bytes, and of course RFID tags are still going strong, but a team of researchers at MIT has come up with something better: Bokode. It's effectively a tiny little retroreflective holograph that is just 3mm wide but, when a camera focused to infinity sweeps across it, the Bokodes become clear and appear much larger, captured in the video below. In this way they can contain "thousands of bits" of data and, interestingly, show positional information too, meaning the camera knows where in 3D space it is in relation to the tag. This, of course, has hundreds of potential applications ranging from grocery shopping to augmented reality, and should lead to new and exciting ways for scholars to interpret/misinterpret Revelations. [Via BBC]
Batch tagging your iTunes videos the easy way
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - William Shakespeare, Romeo and JulietIf we applied Shakespeare's logic to today's digital age, then it would also mean that watching mis-tagged or untagged videos on your Apple device (be it a Mac, iPhone, iPod or Apple TV) would be just as enjoyable. Okay, you got me, they'd probably be just as good. But this doesn't mean you're excused from tagging your videos appropriately.First, a bit of background. The vast majority of videos purchased from the iTunes store, as well as "digital copy" (iPod/iPhone pre-formatted videos that are sometimes included on DVDs and Blu-Ray discs), will come pre-tagged. So, the situation for those in this camp (myself included) is peachy, especially when using an Apple TV. Your videos show up on the screen screen with proper titles, season and episode numbers, actors, and descriptions. Just the way Steve likes 'em.But what if you already own the DVD and want a version for your iTunes library? For those of you with the time and patience to rip an MPEG-4 version (and believe me, this takes some patience, especially if you use H.264 encoding) of your favorite videos, a HandBrake-MetaX martini make tagging your videos a bit more of a pleasurable experience - as if it wasn't fun enough already.
