India launches reusable shuttle

The Verge reports that this week India's space agency has successfully launched a reusable mini shuttle model into space, marking an important development in its low-cost space program. An unmanned prototype of the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV-TD) launched Monday morning reaching an altitude of 43 miles before returning to Earth. The project has been in development for more than 10 years, on a reported budget of just $14 million. Compare that to the US space shuttle, which cost about $450 million per launch (NASA)

Creating a reusable low cost space shuttle is a huge step in any space progam. India is competing with space agencies in Europe, Japan, and Russia as well as private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Pebble 2 announced

Pebble announced not one, but three products this week: the Pebble 2, the Pebble Time 2, and the Pebble Core. A software update include with new products adds an actions list for faster access to certain app features.

The Pebble 2 and Pebble Time 2 are both smart watches that focus on health and fitness with built-in heart rate monitors. The Pebble 2 is very similar to the original Pebble with slightly beefed up hardware, a 7 day battery life, and a thinner look. The Pebble Time 2 has a color e-paper display, boasts a 10-day battery life and boasts a screen that is 50 percent bigger than the original.

The Core is a small device that clips onto your clothing and is geared towards runners. It has built-in GPS so you can track your distance and pace, as well as step tracking. The Core also acts as a music player with 4GB of storage for up to 1,000 songs.

At retail the Pebble Core will cost $99, the Pebble 2 is $129, and the Time 2 is $199.  

All the devices are available for a discount on Kickstarter with the watches shipping in September and the clip-on Core shipping in January.

Pepper the Robot at Pizza Hut

SoftBank's Pepper robot has been employed in the past at hotel desks. Now though Pizza Hut Asia is partnering with MasterCard on a trial that will use Pepper in their restaurants. By the end of 2016, Pepper will be able to interact with customers, take orders, and even take payment information. Once customers pair their MasterPass account, they can do everything from paying for your meal to asking about the calorie count.

Looks like Pepper may be putting some Pizza Hut employees out of work soon.

Google I/O news

Google made a slew of announcements this week on new projects, updated plans, and what’s next for Google. Here are the most interesting announcements of the week.

Google’s next operating system, code named Android N, is apparently far enough along that Google thinks it's ready for more people to try it out. This third beta release is out now. If you want to opt in, you'll be able to do so at Android's website. You can also submit what you think the “N” in Android N should be since Google is taking name submissions.

Google announced a voice-activated device called Home that has a speaker in the base and integrates with other cast devices like Chromecast Video and audio, and supports home networking systems for Home Control. Google Home won't arrive until later this year so Amazon’s Echo doesn’t have to worry until then.

Google also announced a messaging app called Allo.  It includes a the voice-activated smart assistant and an incognito mode that offers, end-to-end encryption, discreet notifications and permanent deletion of messages. It's coming to iOS and Android this summer. https://youtu.be/QJ3WV8N92Hs

Google also announced VR Mode in Android N and the Daydream platform for VR development which gives VR apps exclusive access to the device’s processor cores. Looks like Google’s recognized the success of the GearVR and wants all devices running android to be able to get VR now. https://youtu.be/KNR4j1DJ4Cc

Google’s VR Head Clay Bavor confirmed Google will sell its own version of DayDream VR gear saying on stage at I/O, “And, by the way, it’s not just going to be partners building from the reference design, we, Google, are also going to build a controller and a headset and make it available.” Google is partnering with Epic Games and the Unity on the motion-sensing controller.

Samsung Galaxy Surfboard

Samsung Brazil has created a commercial featuring Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina and a wild Samsung Galaxy Surfboard concept.

It looks like any regular sleek surfboard, except it has an LED display that's powered by a Samsung Galaxy S7 that slots into the base of the board.

The surfboard can feed live conditions of the sea straight onto the display, alongside wind direction and the frequency / height of waves. Trainers can even send surfers messages to help improve their technique.

Touchscreen Arm

PC Magazine reports that Samsung has received a patent for a small projector that can display UI elements on skin and read behaviors to translate into mobile or virtual actions. PC Mag notes Carnegie Mellon researchers introduced SkinTrack last month, a similar system for turning your arm or hand into a touch screen. That system uses a high-frequency AC-signal-emitting ring to communicate with electrodes in a wristband.

Gesture Control for Gear VR

Tired of using a controller for your GearVR or Google Cardboard? Well, Eyesight Technologies has developed gesture control that uses a phone’s rear camera allowing touch-free input for phone based VR systems. It's a great video and we can't wait to get our hands on the it. 

No mention on when it will come to phones-- though Engadget says Eyesight is bringing its control scheme to phones with built-in 3D sensors.

Self Driving Semi Trucks

Backchannel reports on Otto a startup founded by Anthony Levandowski, the man who built Google’s first self-driving car, and three other ex-Google engineers. The company has bought and retrofitted three Volvo truck cabs with lidar, radar and cameras and driven them sometimes with no human occupant, on highways in Nevada.

Otto plans to sell after-market self-driving kits at a fraction of the cost of a new cab. Initially the tech will only work on highways, exit to exit.

Google Translate in Any App

Google is making it way easier to translate text on Android: just highlight it.

The new feature is called Tap to Translate, and it arrives in an update to Google Translate for Android. The feature allows Translate to automatically pop up inside of other apps after you've highlighted text in a foreign language, all without copy and pasting. The pop up will also allow you to translate text from your first language back into the foreign language you're reading.

Hyperloop One tested

Hyperloop Technologies has changed its name to Hyperloop One and showed off a test of its linear-electric motor on a test track in the desert north of Las Vegas. A 10-foot sled was accelerated to 400 mph along a test track into a pile of sand at a force of 2.5Gs. CTO Brogan BamBrogan hopes to have a quarter-mile track with tubes by the end of the year.

Viv is Siri 2.0

Viv, the open platform voice assistant from the creators of Siri, was demonstrated today at Disrupt New York and generally impressed as expected. Not only did Viv handle conversational requests for information but also but by connecting with third-party merchants to purchase goods and book reservations.

Viv additionally demonstrated dynamic program generation. With every verbal requests Viv showed the code that handled it. This could allow developers build a conversational UI by speaking to Viv and tweaking the generated code returned.

Viv utilizes advancements that will replace current voice assistants like Siri and Cortana.

Amazon takes on YouTube

TechCrunch reports that this week Amazon launched Amazon Video Direct. This service allows creators to upload their own videos to Amazon’s Prime Video and generate royalties based on the hours streamed. Creators must fill out tax information and link a bank account, plus create pages for their series and provide artwork for display. They can choose to include shows in Amazon Prime, streamed free with ads, rented, sold or any combination.

Amazon video is available in Japan, the UK, Austria, Germany and the US. Variety reports Amazon will pay creators 50% of retail, 55% of ad-supported free streaming and 15 cents per hour streamed in on Prime in the US, 6 cents per hours streamed elsewhere, capped at $75,000. The top 100 titles get paid a monthly bonus.

It seems like Amazon is looking to take on the big players in the user generated content services like YouTube.

Save your Periscopes

Periscope’s latest update lets beta testers permanently save your broadcasts by adding #save to the title. Saved broadcasts will remain online “forever.” Saved videos will also appear in user profiles. There is no limit on the number of videos you can save. Android and iOS users can ask for an invite to try the feature by visiting bit.ly/betascope.

Automated Lyft Test

Only a few months after GM invested $500 million in Lyft,

The Wall Street Journal reports GM and Lyft plan to test self-driving Chevy Bolt cabs in 2017 picking up actual Lyft passengers. The plan will use technology from Cruise Automation which GM acquired in March. GM will also begin renting out Chevy Bolts to Lyft drivers. Currently it rents only the Chevy Equinox. GM and Lyft announced a partnership in January. No word on what city they plan to roll out the test in.

YouTube Unplugged

Bloomberg reports its sources tell it YouTube is planning another subscription based streaming service called Unplugged that would include network and cable channels.

YouTube has supposedly been working on the product since 2012 and plans to launch in 2017 at around $35 a month with add-ons available. YouTube is in talks with such companies as: Comcast, NBCUniversal, Viacom, Twenty-First Century Fox, and CBS, although it has yet to strike any deals.

Hulu On-Demand

The Wall Street Journal reports that Hulu is planning a new web subscription service that would sell live and on-demand programming from the likes of ESPN, ABC, Fox and FX, for about $40 a month, starting early next year.

Hulu may be trying to compete with other skinny bundle services like the Roku.

GeoOrbital adds power to any Bicycle

In as little as 60 seconds, GeoOrbital says they can add motorized power to just about any bicycle.

You just snap off your front wheel and replace it with GeoOrbital's electric wheel. The wheel uses a 500W motor and 36V battery to propel the bicycle up to 20 miles per hour. The battery — which is removable— will last at least 20 miles on its own, or about 50 miles if you mix in some pedaling.

The GeoOrbital wheel will eventually retail for about $900 — which is cheap by electric bike standards — and the company is offering it for as low as $500 to early backers on Kickstarter.

Try Oculus at Best Buy

Today Oculus announced details of their plan to let users try out the Oculus Rift in Best Buy stores starting May 7th. Initially in 48 Best Buys, you’ll get to try demos like Oculus Dreamdeck, The Climb, and in the coming weeks, you’ll be able to explore the beautiful alien world of Farland.

There will also be a small number of Oculus Rifts to purchase at Best Buy and Amazon stores on May 7th. You don’t have to get angry if you’re still on that 3 month pre-order waiting list though. Oculus says you can opt to buy one of these Rifts in store at Best Buy and you’ll still get to keep your pre-order bonuses, just let them know so they won’t charge you again.

You can schedule your Rift demo with Oculus Live at Best Buy locations up to a month in advance. Guess they’re expecting quiet the rush.

SignAloud translation gloves

Two students from the University of Washington, Navid Azodi and Thomas Pryor, have created lightweight gloves that can translate sign language instantly.

The SignAloud glove prototype recognizes hand gesture and placements matching them to the correct American Sign Language word or phrase. Sensors throughout the glove pick up the placement and motion data of the hands which is sent to a computer via Bluetooth. The computer analyzes the data, searching for a correlation in its database, and if it recognizes a gesture, then the ASL translation is played through a speaker. This student project has since won the Lemelson-MIT Undergraduate Student Prize and $10,000.

Bioo Lite markets PHONE-OSYNTHES

A Barcelona-based company, Arkyne Technologies, wants to use a single plant to charge your phone.

The company’s product, a pot called the Bioo Lite, uses the energy generated by photosynthesis to charge smartphones. Bacteria in the pot breaks up the compounds, releasing electrons that travel along nanowires. The resulting electricity powers a typical USB port, where you can plug in your phone or tablet cable.

Arkyne Technologies claims the pot allows up to three charges per day at about the same speed the USB port on your computer would charge your phone. Bioo Lite will only work while the plant is alive, so taking care of the plant is crucial. If you kill your little green friend, you’ll have to replace it with a new one.

The pot is available for an early bird special of roughly $112 on Indiegogo. The company already surpassed its goal of raising nearly $17,000 and is estimated to begin shipping as early as December 2016. Like other Indiegogo campaigns, back at your own risk.