Augmented reality: the next generation
Mobile augmented reality (AR) was a favorite of the tech press in 2009, a year that saw the unveiling of mobile AR browsers from Wikitude, Layar and Metaio. Now that the dust has settled, let’s take a look at the current state of the technology and where it will go from here.
Mobile AR browsers currently work by using a combination of the mobile phone’s camera, compass and GPS data to identify the user’s location … Continue Reading
Adobe fires back at Apple on iPad
One of the more disappointing (if unsurprising) parts of Apple’s launch of its iPad tablet computer today was the absence of Flash, Adobe’s technology for web video and other media. Now Adobe has responded in two blog posts — one that’s diplomatic, and another that’s not.
In the first, Adobe says it’s excited about the iPad, and it reminds developers of its Packager for the iPhone announced last year, which allows someone to export an … Continue Reading
Epic Games' Mark Rein thinks iPad has performance to run cool 3-D games (video)
Mark Rein, vice president at Epic Games, was at the premiere of the iPad tablet computer from Apple today. We caught up with him in a brief video interview to talk about making games for the iPad. Epic is known for its hardcore games such as Gears of War and Unreal Tournament. He thinks the iPad will be a great platform for games in the future, even more so than the current iPhone.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9033244&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Mark … Continue Reading
Round-up "iPad" Edition: All the coverage you could want
God forbid you were another company trying to launch a product today. Apple completely dominated technology news today with the much anticipated launch of its table computer, the iPad. Here’s a round-up of the most interesting coverage we saw today (from our blog and others).
What gaming executives think: Here’s Dean Takahashi’s extended take on the iPad with interviews of entrepreneurs including SGN’s Shervin Pishevar and Smule’s Ge Wang on the tablet’s potential for gaming. … Continue Reading
Taking solar urban: S.F. installs solar arrays in affordable communities
Providing two services in one — affordable power for low-income neighborhoods generated cleanly by photovoltaic panels — the city of San Francisco continues its push to integrate renewable sources of energy. Not only will the local residents benefit from the less expensive electricity produced by three new installations, but also the resulting 33 jobs.
The plan is to continue these initiatives in the city’s Western Addition and Hayes Valley regions. To do so, city government … Continue Reading
McGraw-Hill axed from iPad launch after CEO leaks on TV
Updated with statement from McGraw-Hill.
This is one of Steve Jobs’ slides from this morning’s iPad launch presentation. Can you tell what’s wrong with it?
The awkward array of five logos used to be a tidy lineup of six. The day before the show, Apple removed McGraw-Hill, the 122-year-old publisher whose 61-year-old leader, Harold McGraw III — better known as Terry — prattled like a teenage schoolgirl about the tablet’s iPhone operating system on CNBC:… Continue Reading
Smule's Ge Wang dreams of making music on the iPad (video)
iPhone developer Ge Wang, chief technology officer of Smule (who spoke at our recent DiscoveryBeat conference, said he was excited about making new apps for the Apple iPad. He views it as a new platform that will likely require apps that are uniquely designed for the features of the tablet itself.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9032169&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Ge Wang of Smule talks about the iPad from Dean Takahashi on Vimeo.… Continue Reading
Electronic Arts will make games designed for the iPad (video)
Travis Boatman of Electronic Arts’ EA Mobile division is enthusiastic about making games for the iPad. EA showed off Need for Speed Shift, which was redesigned from the iPhone to run on the iPad. That process took a couple of weeks. EA already has 40 games on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Those games will work on the iPad, and they will even look decent because the iPad takes the smaller resolution game images and … Continue Reading
Photo gallery of the Apple iPad event (18 photos)
Here’s our photos from Apple’s event today.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs opened the conference with a quote about Moses’ tablets.
Steve Jobs mingled with the crowd inside the demo area after the event.
An accessory stand turns the tablet into a photo frame.
ESPN’s X Games Snocross is one of the 3-D games that will be available on the iPad.
Gameloft’s Nova first-person shooter game, which is available on the iPhone, was shown on … Continue Reading
SunHydro looks ahead to highway lined with hydrogen fueling stations
Among the many advanced vehicles set to hit the road in the next several years, a few under development at Daimler, Honda, Mercedes Benz and other automakers are being design to run on hydrogen fuel cells. But they will still hit the big roadblock facing their electric-powered peers: How will drivers refuel in a world of petroleum gas stations? What’s the point if you can only juice up at home?
Now a company called SunHydro … Continue Reading
Apple's elegant iPad design draws lots of kudos from the crowd
The iPad announcement from Apple today managed to take a lot of people by surprise, in spite of all of the pre-event speculation. And the crowd that saw the device up close was impressed with the design, quality, price, business strategy and versatility of its iPad.
In other words, if Apple executes on its plans, it will have another runaway hit. Based on interviews today and my own observations of playing with the device in … Continue Reading
Poti lands $2M for Songbird online music player
Poti (an acronym for Pioneers of the Inevitable), the startup that operates digital music player and discovery engine Songbird, has raised $2 million of a targeted $5 million round of equity, options, warrants and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Francisco, Calif., the company has now raised $10 million and is backed by Atlas Venture and Sequoia Capital.… Continue Reading
Obopay opens up $25M round for mobile payment platform
Obopay, provider of a service allowing people to make easy payments over their mobile phones, is looking to raise $25.3 million in options, warrants and securities, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in Redwood City, Calif., the company has raised more than $150 million to date and is backed by Qualcomm, AllianceBernstein, Citigroup, Redpoint Ventures, Societe Generale, Richmond Management, Essar Communications Holdings, Onset Ventures, Olayan, Promethean and Nokia.… Continue Reading
Inkling lets textbook makers embrace the iPad
“The book will never die. But the textbook probably will,” says Inkling CEO Matt MacInnis. Inkling is working directly with textbook publishers. First, they’ll port their existing tomes onto Apple’s iPad as interactive, socialized objects. Then, they’ll create all-new learning modules — interactive, social, and mobile — that leave ink-on-paper textbooks in the dust.
The ten-person San Francisco startup, stacked with pedigreed veterans of Microsoft and Google, Harvard, MIT and Stanford, came out of stealth … Continue Reading
Video of the Apple iPad, up close and personal (video)
Check out our video of the iPad tablet computer that Apple announced today. This video shows off the photo app capability of the device. You can see that the 9.7-inch screen is great at changing the screen fast when you swipe it. And the screen can accomodate multi-finger gestures. The iBook app also shows that the device is very cool at displaying books in color or black-and-white. Notice the cool animation when you change the … Continue Reading
ChipIn gathers $958K for to manage and track widgets
ChipIn, a former maker of fundraising widgets that now tracks and monitors widgets made by others, has brought in $958,540 of an expected $2.5 million round of options, warrants and debt financing, according to a filing with the SEC. Based in San Francisco, the company has raised $5.96 million to date and is backed by Polaris Venture Partners and Global Venture Capital.… Continue Reading
AT&T gets local with Buzz, competes with Yelp and Google Place
These days, everyone is trying to go local. Yelp has cornered the market on local business reviews, Google is attempting to integrate similar functionality in Google Maps with “Place Pages,” and it’s also at the heart of promising services like location-based game Foursquare. Now AT&T wants in with a new service of its own called Buzz.com.
Before the rise of the web, AT&T was already entrenched in local advertising and information with its Yellow Pages. … Continue Reading
Yelp snags $25M from Elevation Partners
The old saying “location is everything” has never been more true. Though these days, instead of referring to store fronts, it usually refers to location-based applications and review sites. Elevation Partners is buying into the saying too, literally. The company has announced today a $25 million investment in location review service Yelp.
Elevation also said that it will be looking to “increase its total investment in Yelp to $100 million through a planned purchase of … Continue Reading
How is Apple marketing the iPad? It's magical!
Apple’s website for its new iPad tablet device just went live. I haven’t explored the whole thing yet, but the centerpiece seems to be a 7-minute video offering super-slick demonstrations of the iPad in action.
During the video, Apple Chief Marketing Officer Phil Schiller talks about how the device is meant to take the iPhone’s breakthroughs and apply them to “a whole new device category.” Then he offers a two-sentence summation of Apple’s goals, making … Continue Reading
Steve Jobs demos the iPad, which runs all your iPhone apps
Apple’s Steve Jobs is on stage at the company’s big iPad launch event today, showing off the device. He’s sitting in a chair, tapping away at the device’s touchscreen, playing music, videos, viewing newspapers, and showing slide shows (see a brief video clip of his demo below).
He shows that you can access the iTunes store directly from the device, buy songs, discover music, and otherwise do everything you can do with iTunes from a … Continue Reading
