Slimfady

Google Maps for iOS and Android is getting a big update today, bringing stronger support for offline maps to both platforms, adding in lane guidance when driving, and integrating Uber as an option for getting around. Among the most helpful of the updates will certainly be offline maps, which is now front-and-center on iOS for the first time and in a more robust form on Android: after searching for or tapping on a location, Maps will display an option to save that area for use without an internet connection. Google is introducing a way to manage those offline maps too, allowing users to see what locations they have saved through their profile.

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Why walk when you can Uber?Turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps is also getting a lot more helpful with today's update. In the US, as well as parts of Canada and Japan, Maps will now tell drivers if they should stay in their lane or move over to a different one when they're approaching an exit or a turn. The update will also put drivers just a tap away from changing to an alternate route, rather than leaving drivers stuck with whatever route they initially chose.

Maps is also building Uber into its options for getting around. In certain cities — presumably those where Uber operates — anyone who has Uber's app installed will see a "Get an Uber" option along with an estimated transportation time when searching for public transit or walking directions. It's an interesting integration, especially given Google Ventures' sizeable investment in Uber. Uber is certainly at the forefront of taxi apps, but it's far from the only option available in many big cities.

Correction, May 6th, 2:05PM ET: Offline maps were previously available on iOS through an easter egg, in which typing "OK Maps" into the search bar would save whatever area was on screen. This article previously stated that offlline maps were coming to iOS for the first time.

Nintendo will not hold a live press conference at E3 2014, the company has announced.

Instead, Nintendo will showcase its wares in a special "Digital Event" to be streamed online at 1pm UK time on Tuesday, 10th June.

The broadcast will "reveal and provide further detail about the gaming experiences on the way for Nintendo platforms in 2014 and beyond," the company teased.

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Watch Dogs developer Ubisoft has teamed up with Nvidia to offer free a PC copy of the game to anyone who upgrades their graphics card.

10 recent models are included in the deal, including the Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan, 780 Ti, 780, 770, 760, 690, 680, 670, 660 Ti and 660. Participating retailers include Dabs, Novatech, ebuyer.com, Overclockers, and SCAN.

It's not the first we've heard of Ubisoft working with Nvidia on the game - the two teamed up to present Watch Dogs' recent PC trailer.

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Jack-of-all-trades artist and designer Chris McVeigh creates these awesome minimalist Lego models of outmoded technology including TVs, video game consoles, as well as analog phones and cameras. Not only does he design and photograph them, but also makes them available as sets you can buy in his shop, or as instructions you can download freely on his site. He also turns many of his LEGO-themed illustrations and photos into prints which you can find on Society6. (via Stellar)

In order to compete with Google Hangouts, Skype has made group video calls free on the desktop and Xbox One consoles. Previously, the multi-pal chats were available via a premium subscription on the aforementioned platforms, but it's now accessible...

Twitch is the number one site for live streaming video content in the United States, according to video solutions company Qwilt. The company's data shows Twitch leading by a large margin: it currently possesses 43.6 percent of all live streaming...

It's no secret that many use virtual private networks (VPN) to dodge Hulu's ban on TV streaming outside of the US, and the company is now clamping down on these surreptitious international viewers. TorrentFreak reports that Hulu has started blocking...

A Resident Evil 2 fan has recreated key sections of Capcom's classic survival horror to play like Resident Evil 4.

Gone are the original game's fixed camera angles - replaced instead by the 3D environments seen in the RE2 sections of Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (thanks, Game Informer).

Budding programmer Rod Lima borrowed environments and character models from Capcom's on-rails Wii shooter, then patched in new inventory and weapon systems.

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The Android Device Manager might get the basics taken care of, but Cerberus goes a few steps farther. It's a powerful security suite with features like SIM locking, device alarms, remote lock, remote wipe, remote picture taking, and location tracking. It would usually cost you €2.99 (about $4) for a lifetime license, but it's free for the next day in celebration of the app's third birthday.

Cerberus has robust functionality on standard devices, but it can also take advantage of root access to move to the system partition so it persists between device resets.

• [Deal Alert] Get A Free Lifetime License For Android Security App Cerberus Today Only [Updated]
• Friday App And Game Sales: RadiON, WiFi Mouse Pro, Bombcats: Special Edition, Angry Words, And More [Updated]
• [Mobile Security App Shootout, Part 3] Cerberus Faithfully Guards All Your Devices With Ease
• TekTrak Mobile Security Comes To Android, Offers Cross-Platform Protection With iOS For A Full Family Solution

[Deal Alert] Security App Cerberus Is Three Years Old Today, Celebrating With Free Licenses For One Day Only (Plus A New Feature) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

This is no 20 GB video file, painstakingly pulled from a render farm. All of it was generated in real time by one tiny algorithm. And it's amazing.

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We've known since last summer that Microsoft was looking to bring its Age of Empires series to mobile, but earlier this week we were given an official announcement and title. The game, which is being developed by KLab, is called Age of Empires: World...

Science student Hugo Germain (aka. Graphonaute) is just 18 years old, but crates animations and visual effects that seem well beyond his years. Though animation is not his primary focus, Germain spends his spare time mixing live action footage with various 3D tools to create quirky visual effects and experiments. You can see more over on Graphonaute. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

Whether it’s slicing up fruit in your favorite mobile game, or scrolling through menus and homescreens, screen latency is absolutely vital to the user experience on our mobile devices. Contrary to popular belief, the time it takes for your smartphone to register the touch of your finger tips doesn’t always have to do with the amount of GHz found on your smartphone either. Much of this is software based. You may have heard from friends or family (or even experienced it yourself) how responsive iOS can be even on the oldest of hardware (yes, GPU acceleration helps a good deal as well).

Imagine our surprise to find a newly released Android device smashing previous records when it came to screen latency — the all new HTC One M8. In a review we came across from the French tech blog Lesnumeriques, they found the HTC One M8 scored an incredible 46ms screen latency. The next closest device (which held the previous record) was the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 at 67ms, followed by a variety of Apple products like the Apple iPhone 5/5s with 75ms. For reference, here’s a chart showing some older devices.

We should note that left out of their tests was the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2, two of the biggest smartphones of the year (although their previous iterations can be found scoring relatively high). You would think a faster processor comes largely into play, except for those awkward times when it doesn’t.

So what does this tell us? Well, it let’s us know that the future Microsoft envisioned is closing in fast, and the HTC One M8 could be leading the way. Score another one for the M8.

[via XDA]

After 12 years, Microsoft is ending support for its Windows XP operating system tonight at midnight. After this point, the company will no longer offer security updates and technical support for the OS.

If you are still using XP, Microsoft urges you to migrate to a "modern operating system" like Windows 8. Support for Office 2003 will also end today, April 8.

Microsoft launched Windows XP on December 31, 2000 and stopped selling the OS at retailers June 30, 2008. On October 22, 2010, Microsoft stopped selling Windows machines with Windows XP installed.

The end of support for Windows XP is proving problematic for some larger institutions. For example, thousands of computers in the Connecticut state government system still run Windows XP. The hard drives on the computers have tax information, inmate lists, and other various regulatory files, all of which could become vulnerable to security breaches over time.

Microsoft says enterprise customers (companies or institutions with 500+ employees) can reach out to Microsoft to learn how they can mass-upgrade their network of machines.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Last night's episode of The Simpsons featured a Minecraft-inspired couch gag, and creator of the indie worldwide phenomenon, Markus "Notch" Persson, doesn't know how to feel about it.

"I STILL feel a bit like it's just this small game I made at home. It's so weird to have all these things happen," Notch wrote on Twitter, adding a <3 to the end of the message. "I'm not sure how I feel about it," he said.

Minecraft comes from humble origins but has since become a worldwide hit with a huge commercial tail. There's even a movie based on the series coming from Warner Bros.

The Simpsons couch gag for "Simcraft" features block-style versions of the iconic animated family and their home town of Springfield. Bartender Moe even makes an appearance, showing up as a Creeper who ruins the party.

You can watch a clip of the opening couch gag on YouTube right now, while the full episode should be available on Fox's website later today.

Minecraft is far from the first piece of popular culture that The Simpsons has created a couch gag around. The show has also parodied other well-known franchises like Star Trek, James Bond, and Monty Python, among many others.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Every so often, some enterprising computer company will claim they’ve finally fixed the TV. They’ll talk about how they’ve turned a dumb terminal into a smart computing platform that extends your work and play to a gigantic screen. Then, we’ll watch as the idea flops because they fail to line up content deals or wind up delivering a confusing, haphazard experience. That was the story of Google TV, which became the laughing stock of the industry after Google chairman Eric Schmidt bet...

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When you work in an environment that's all about battling germs, bacteria, and disease, common sense dictates that you should always keep your hands clean. But that's easier said than done, at least until these clever PullClean sanitizer dispensing door handles are installed in every hospital, doctor's office, and clinic around the world.

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Although this amazing orchestral piece, performed by Ensemble ACJW, is a mere 4:30 long, it manages to include snippets of 43 different cartoon theme songs. Most are only around five seconds long, but the awesome part is that this video provides a few... visual clues to help you out. Good luck!

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Today during Nvidia's annual GPU Technology Conference, the company announced the GeForce GTX Titan Z, a new graphics card that promises to deliver "supercomputer-inspired performance." The card will sell for $3000.

The GeForce GTX Titan Z is built around two Kepler GPUs and 12GB of dedicated frame buffer memory. It features two GK110 chips, and is powered by a total of 5,760 processing cores, or 2,880 cores per GPU. It has also been engineered for 5K and multi-monitor gaming.

"If you're in desperate need of a supercomputer that you need to fit under your desk, we have just the card for you," Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said (via the Nvidia blog).

Nvidia says its Titan Z GPU is different than other dual-GPU cards because its GPUs are tuned to run at the same clock speed, and feature "dynamic power balancing." This means, according to Nvidia, that neither GPU will face a performance bottleneck.

"And that performance is delivered in a card that is cool and quiet, rather than hot and loud. Low-profile components and ducted baseplate channels minimize turbulence and improves acoustic quality," Nvidia said.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

Facebook plans to purchase Oculus VR, maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, for $2 billion. The deal is comprised of $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook stock. Facebook announced its surprise purchase via a blog post. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also revealed Facebook's reasons for the deal. "Oculus's mission is to enable you to experience the impossible. Their technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences," Zuckerberg says. "Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate."

Zuckerberg says that Facebook will "focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games." But he makes clear that after Oculus sees through its gaming ambitions, Facebook will expand the product into new territory. "We're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face — just by putting on goggles in your home." Zuckerberg equates Oculus to "a new communication platform" and clearly has a vision that extends far beyond the gaming focus that helped Oculus become a smash Kickstarter success.

"Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures."

The acquisition of Oculus seemingly comes out of nowhere: the company just demoed its most recent version of the Oculus Rift development kit at GDC 2014 to much fanfare. Oculus has been steadily moving towards a consumer product, and Facebook's resources can only help to push that mission along. "Facebook understands the potential for VR," the Oculus team wrote in its own blog post announcing the deal. "Mark and his team share our vision for virtual reality’s potential to transform the way we learn, share, play, and communicate. Facebook is a company that believes that anything is possible with the right group of people, and we couldn’t agree more."

But the most interesting question, as Zuckerberg lays out, is where the technology will go in the future. "By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures." Zuckerberg says that future is coming sooner than anyone thinks, and he "can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us."

Earlier today, HTC announced the new One, its new flagship smartphone loaded with great design and tons of features. While the design of the One itself is striking, one of the most interesting things announced along with it is the new Dot View case, which provides protection for the phone, but still lets you see notifications and check the time easily. The $49.99 Dot View has a series of holes in the front of it that let you view the screen even when the case is closed (hence the name).

You...

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I was as surprised as anyone when I heard that Facebook acquired Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Oculus VR has repeatedly positioned its device as a gaming platform, and outside of supporting social games made by developers like Zynga, Facebook has relatively little experience in gaming at large. This, coupled with the fact that a lot of people dislike some of Facebook's practices, has left a lot of people confused and dismayed by the announcement.

Regardless of Facebook's privacy-related controversies, I think this acquisition is a clear boon for VR's biggest proponents, not a threat. Here’s why.

More Funds for Research and Development

Not long after the announcement, Oculus co-founder and VR visionary Palmer Luckey took to Reddit to defend the decision to join a large and controversial company like Facebook. For someone who’s made VR his life’s work, Luckey knows full well that developing new technologies requires money--lots of money. Luckey had this to say about the benefit of the acquisition:

“The partnership accelerates our vision, allows us to execute on some of our most creative ideas and take risks that were otherwise impossible. Most importantly, it means a better Oculus Rift with fewer compromises even faster than we anticipated.”

So, with more working capital, Oculus VR will improve the Rift faster than it could have before and bring it to market sooner than they previously envisioned? Makes sense. So far so good.

Facebook Has Proven its Ability to Grow Businesses

When Facebook acquired the photo sharing service Instagram nearly two years ago, there were 30 million active users. Today, that number is over 200 million. Did Facebook do this by fundamentally changing Instagram? No. If Zuckerberg’s statements to investors earlier today are to be believed, Instagram has continued to operate independently since it was purchased. That doesn’t mean that Facebook isn’t leveraging Instagram as a product, but apart from reducing it’s functionality on Twitter, Instagram has benefited from the partnership with Facebook because it's largely been left alone.

The association with a company like Facebook, whose proliferation of users is admirable, will expose Oculus VR and the Rift to a wider audience. With more people interested in VR, there’s a greater chance that game publishers will take VR seriously, and the medium will grow faster than it otherwise would have.

Facebook is in this for the Long Run

Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR is part of a long-term plan that aims to connect the global population, ideally, within the next 10 years. When discussing the development of VR, including gaming, Zuckerberg stated that he views VR as a five to ten year initiative. What that means is that Facebook isn’t in a rush to turn a profit on the hardware; it’s in a rush to fund development today to get results further down the road.

Though Zuckerberg made it clear that VR can serve Facebook’s business outside of gaming, he also said that Oculus VR was valuated at $2 billion “solely” for its gaming business alone, and that it is the “clearest opportunity” for the device. Time, Facebook money, and its belief in VR gaming equals a brighter future for the medium.

Facebook Supports Open Software Development

Facebook began its Open Compute Project in 2011, which aims to develop advanced, energy efficient data centers, but more importantly, share its findings with the industry at large in the form of open-source design documents. While that doesn’t mean Facebook will give away Oculus VR’s secret sauce, it’s proof that Facebook isn’t solely driven by monopolizing technology, and there’s a great chance it will keep Rift development open to anyone who’s interested.

...with more working capital, Oculus VR will improve the Rift faster than it could have before...

If Facebook throws more money at research and development, if it isn’t in a rush to turn a profit on VR, and it respects the Rift’s value as a gaming platform, why should this acquisition negatively impact the future of VR gaming? We know that the Rift will also be leveraged for non-gaming purposes that tie into Facebook’s advertising network, but that doesn’t mean gaming will as well.

Not everyone is convinced. Mojang pulled out of a potential deal to bring Minecraft to the Rift due to owner Markus Persson’s feelings that “Facebook creeps me out.” But, who says VR gaming will be threatened just because a service-based company with a social focus is involved? I’m optimistic that Facebook will help legitimize VR as a future gaming medium, and that Oculus VR will benefit as a result of time and further investments.

What do you think? Will VR gaming benefit or suffer from Facebook’s involvement?

The "all new" HTC One has been one of the worst-kept secrets of 2014, but today it's a secret no more. The Taiwanese manufacturer has taken the wraps off its latest flagship and fans of last year's model (count us among them) won't be disappointed. The phone boasts the same aluminum unibody construction as last year's model, but with more pronounced curves and even more metal this time around. A full 90 percent of the body is made of aluminum, quite a bit more than the 70 percent on the previous model. That means it's about half an ounce heavier, but it seems like a small trade-off given the incredible design and spacious 5-inch screen. That panel is still a 1080p S-LCD3 one, which means you can count on the same bright colors and deep blacks. Plus the whole front is protected by a sheet of Gorilla Glass 3. Oh, and before we go any further -- the pair of capacitive buttons have been replaced with the standard trio of Android soft keys! (Phewww...)

Under the hood, you're looking at a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 and 2GB of RAM. Basically this phone will laugh in the face of almost any task you throw at it. Edit photos, put together video montages, play taxing 3D games -- this thing should churn through it all with ease. As far as storage goes, you've got two options: either 16GB or 32GB. But if you feel that's not enough, there's a microSD slot for adding up to 128GB more. Plus, Google is throwing in 50GB of storage on Drive for two years, replacing Dropbox. Unless you're truly abusive to your gadgets, there's no way you should run out of room to store stuff. A sizable 2,600mAh battery keeps the whole thing chugging along for an estimated 20 hours of talk time or, with the new Extreme power saving mode enabled, 40 days of standby. Regardless, it's a nice, but smallish boost from the 2,300mAh one found in last year's model. And, of course, the expected set of radios and sensors are on board, including Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, AWS compatibility, LTE, NFC, an accelerometer, gyroscope and barometer.

Of course, the two big unique features from last year's model make a return here: the front-facing stereo speakers with BoomSound and the UltraPixel camera around back. But both have been given significant upgrades for 2014. The speakers are connected to a new dedicated amplifier and a more powerful DSP chip. They're also seated deeper in the phone's chassis, which should lead to richer, louder audio with better-defined low-end sound. The UltraPixel shooter around back is, for all intents and purposes, the same exact camera as last year. The sensor is the same 4-megapixel backside-illuminated one with giant 2µm pixels, but there's a new imaging processor attached and HTC has ditched the optical image stabilization tech. But, it's also added a second camera to the back in what it's calling a Duo Camera array. Truth be told, the second "camera" isn't actually a camera in the traditional sense; it's a depth sensor. It allows the One to perform all sorts of neat tricks especially in post processing, such as blurring backgrounds or changing the focus point like a Lytro.

No new flagship phone would be complete without a significant software update, and HTC isn't going to let you down. At its core, the One is running Android KitKat 4.4, which means it's got all of the latest enhancements straight from Google. On top of that, however, it's running Sense 6.0, which includes BlinkFeed and a heavy focus on themes. Several of its primary UI elements have been given subtle redesigns that bring a more modern and open look. Perhaps most exciting though, BlinkFeed has been opened up to developers, who will be able to push information to your feed. For example, Foursquare will be able to publish lunch recommendations or Fitbit can send you activity-tracking data. Interestingly, the company has also broken several of its proprietary apps free of its firmware, such as Zoe, which will find itself on the Play Store soon. That will make it much easier to push updates to users, which means features will be available much quicker.

Most of the tweaks are relatively small, but Motion Launch is a pretty significant new feature. When the phone senses movement, it "listens" for prompts to launch particular apps or actions. For example, swiping right on the screen will take you straight to BlinkFeed; holding the volume rocker while turning the phone into landscape mode launches the camera; and you can answer a call simply by putting the phone to your ear -- all without unlocking it first. The Dot View case, seen above, extends those features, by allowing you to tap the case twice to receive notifications without turning on the phone's display.

The new HTC One will be available in three colors (gunmetal gray, glacial silver and amber gold) starting today, March 25th.

Richard Lai and Brad Molen contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Google has dropped a large wearable bombshell today in the form of a developer preview for "Android Wear," a smartwatch platform that works a bit like Google Now for your wrist. Now, various hardware manufacturers are coming out of the woodwork to announce their own plans to create wearable devices. LG announced first, with its G Watch due to arrive next quarter. The watch appears to be a simple, plastic square with an LCD touchscreen. In a statement, LG's CEO of mobile communications said simply that LG would "pull out all the stops in both design and engineering." LG also said it was "developed in close collaboration with Google," but stopped short of dubbing it a "Nexus" device.

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Motorola also has announced plans for a smartwatch. The company, which is about to be purchased by Lenovo, said in a blog post today that it would be called Moto 360. It has a round face and looks much more elegant than any smartwatch we've seen thus far. Motorola said that "all the core components are technically brand new," and already Motorola is showing off at least a couple of elegant, analog-style watch faces for the circular screen of the watch. Like the rest of the watches on the Android Wear platform, it will support voice commands, ambient alerts, directions, and notifications. Motorola is holding a live Google Hangout with the lead designer of the Moto 360, Jim Wicks, at 2pm ET on March 19th.

On it's Android Wear site, Google has listed other partners, including HTC, Samsung, and Asus. Fossil also released a carefully worded press release, in which it said it was "working together with Google supporting the extension of Android into wearables with Android Wear." Presumably that means it, too, is working on a watch.

No company has committed to an exact release date — though Motorola said it's would be available in a "variety of styles globally in Summer 2014." We don't yet know technical details like battery life, screen resolution, and all the rest. If they're anything like the concepts that Google has posted, each will have a color screen and will accept voice commands. Android Wear also has the necessary APIs for a wide array of sensors — as Google's Sundar Pichai announced earlier this month — so it's likely that at least some of them will support health tracking.

After months of rumors, Google is officially entering the wearables market. On March 18th, 2014, the company unveiled a specialized version of Android — Android Wear — designed to power smartwatches and other wearable products. On the same day of its major announcement, Google also revealed that it's already signed on a number of hardware partners including LG and Motorola to help realize its vision.

Android Wear promises to deliver notifications, reminders, navigation directions. Google says it also puts a huge focus on fitness tracking. The first smartwatches running the platform are set to arrive this year. Google has already released a preview of Android Wear to ensure that smartphone apps are optimized with support for the operating system by the time it reaches consumer devices.

Google is officially getting into wearables. The company has announced Android Wear, a version of the operating system designed specifically for wearable devices. To start with, the system is made for smartwatches, and Google is moving aggressively to make itself the key name in wearables.

The company has released two videos that show off what the watch interface will look like, and from what we've seen, it's very impressive. In addition, Motorola and LG have already revealed their first Android Wear smartwatches, which look more attractive than any smartwatches we've seen to date. Motorola's first device is featured in the picture above and the videos below.

There are several key features that have been announced. Of course, fitness is a key component. Google says that you'll be able to get "real-time speed, distance and time information on your wrist for your run, cycle or walk." Naturally, that means Google Maps will be built in so that you'll be able to get directions directly from your wrist.

The company will also be using Google Now in the watches. Automatic, passive reminders will be sent to users via their smartwatch. The watches will also connect with Android smartphones so that you'll be able to get all the notifications that you want from whatever apps you have installed on your phone.

You'll also be able to say "OK Google" to perform voice searches, à la Google Now. Lastly, the company is teasing multi-screen functionality from the smartwatches that use the operating system. As an example, Google says that you can use a voice command to cast a video to your Chromecast or get a certain song to play on your phone. It's not hard to imagine more exciting uses for this technology as Google works to get Android into more hardware around the world, such as the connected smarthomes and cars of the future.

Google is working to make sure these watches aren't hideous: Fossil and other "fashion brands" will apparently offer watches using the operating system later this year. The company says it is also already working with current Android partners like Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola, and Samsung on wearables. LG's first device with Android Wear will be called the G Watch, and it's being produced in collaboration with Google just like the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 before it. The device will be available in the second quarter of this year.

In many ways, Android Wear seems like it's built off of the work the company did on Google Glass. The operating system looks fairly similar to the interface used by the controversial wearable. It's possible that Google has transformed that work into something that's less polarizing.

We'll hear much more about Wear at Google I/O in June

Today's announcement follows comments from Android and Chrome chief Sundar Pichai at SXSW last week. He confirmed that the company was working on offering tools for developers and manufacturers to make Android better suited for devices such as smartwaches. In addition, Google recently purchased Nest, the makers of the Nest Learning Thermostat and the Protect smoke detector. It's still unclear what role Nest will be taking within the company.

Google isn't offering specific details on when we can expect to see more about Android Wear — or what other devices will use the system in the future — but a preview of the operating system is available now so that developers can make sure their app notifications will work with Wear.

We expect to hear much, much more about Android Wear at Google I/O from June 25th to 26th, which is just a couple of months away. Of particular interest is how Google plans to use Android Wear in other devices beyond smartwatches.

Update: Google informs us that the circular watch in the preview videos is Motorola's upcoming smartwatch. In addition, we've been told that LG will not be the first to ship an Android Wear smartwatch — it will be "one of the first." We regret the error.

Read more: Motorola and LG show off their first Android Wear smartwatches

Sony has revealed its plans for virtual reality technology on the PlayStation 4. Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, showed off a prototype headset at a Game Developers Conference 2014 event entitled Driving the Future of Innovation. "Nothing delivers a feeling of immersion better than VR," said Yoshida. "VR has been a dream of many gamers since the computer was invented. Many of us at PlayStation have dreamed of VR and what it could mean to the gaming community."

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"Nothing delivers a feeling of immersion better than VR."

The VR system is currently codenamed Project Morpheus, and will work with PlayStation 4. While still in prototype form, Yoshida says that Morpheus is the "culmination of our work over the last three years to realize our vision of VR for games, and to push the boundaries of play." The headset uses a 1080p LCD, offers a 90-degree field of view, and will integrate with the PlayStation Camera for tracking and PlayStation Move for motion control. It connects via HDMI and USB; while the current prototype uses a 5-meter cable, Sony would like to make it wireless. The company says the headset doesn't put weight on your nose or cheeks, and its design allows for airflow without the lenses fogging up.

"VR is going to be pervasive."

Sony Magic Lab's Richard Marks, who pioneered the EyeToy camera and PlayStation Move, joined Yoshida on stage to offer further details on Project Morpheus. "The thing that makes VR special is really the feeling of being in another place... there's no way to explain it to you that will make sense, but it's that feeling of presence," he said. "VR is going to be pervasive, and what I mean by that is it's going to be used for all sorts of things you might not think it would be used for." As one example, Marks says he's been working on a project with NASA and its Jet Propulsion Lab that will allow PS4 owners to feel like they're right with the space agency on Mars.

Marks has identified six areas that Sony needs to crack in order for VR to work: sight, sound, tracking, control, ease of use, and content. For sight, Marks refers to Sony's considerable weight in optics and imaging technology. For sound, the company is working on 3D binaural tech to aid presence and immersion. For tracking and control, Marks says the PlayStation Camera and PlayStation Move are ready-made solutions. For ease of use, Sony plans to make it a comfortable, plug-and-play experience. And for content, Marks showed a long list of software partners including Epic Games, Crytek, Autodesk, Unity, and more. Sony will be showing demos of Thief, EVE Valkryie, and more running on Project Morpheus at GDC.

Sony's VR philosophy

Although VR is yet to turn up a viable consumer product, the concept has been gaining momentum ever since Kickstarter-funded startup Oculus VR showed off its first headset, the Rift, in 2012. The company demonstrated a more refined Oculus Rift prototype, codenamed Crystal Cove, earlier this year, with more contenders set to join the fray. Valve is working on similar VR technology of its own, and Microsoft has explored augmented reality glasses, known as Project Fortaleza, that would work with the Xbox One's Kinect sensor.

Sony's announcement today, however, marks the first serious effort from a first-party platform holder, and could prove the most attractive option yet for VR developers. "We have seen passionate people at Oculus VR and Valve introduce VR prototypes and share their learnings," said Yoshida. "I have an enormous amount of respect for them. This shows how all of us as an industry can rally around a new medium like VR to push gaming forward." No release date is set for Project Morpheus, but Sony plans to make an SDK available to developers in the near future.

Lo! We bring you good tidings, fair Plexians!

You’ve been very patient, and we’re thrilled to announce that Chromecast support is now free for everyone! All you have to do is update to the new releases of our iOS and Android apps, and you can enjoy the absolute best local media app for Chromecast. (And of course, a giant thank you to all the Plex Pass members who supported us during the preview period. You all rock. Namaste.)

Seriously, though, if you’ve been waiting to check out Plex on the Chromecast, it’s completely awesome. Downright rad. Not only do we provide the highest quality streaming around for your photos, music and videos (guaranteed, or your pixels back), we just added “content mirroring” which displays details for your media on the big screen while you browse, which is an incredibly cool, unique, and useful feature. Impress your friends. Make your parents think all that money for college didn’t go to waste.

And really, we could end the blog post right here. Chromecast support is free, now get back to your couch and check it out.

But we slipped in a few more awesome things for you…

In the six+ years we’ve been working on Plex for you, one of the most often requested features is “can I shuffle all my music?” Well, as of today, on iOS and in the web app, yes, yes you can! We’re happy to be introducing our play queues feature, which is—as you might have guessed—a prelude to full-blown playlists for Plex. As always, we don’t take new features lightly; what you’re seeing below is a shuffle of over 40,000 tracks, using the highest quality shuffle mechanism there is. It’s incredibly fast, even over a remote connection. And once you’ve created a play queue, you can easily add to or edit it.

 

Not only can you play or shuffle all your music, but you can also use our rich and powerful filtering system to narrow down what you’re going to listen to. In this next example, I’m about to shuffle all my Australian music (and if you’re not listening to Australian music, sir or madam, you are missing out. The melodies! The lyrics! The facial hair!).

And really, why would we stop at just shuffling music? You can also use play queues with video. For example, and because I have very good taste in TV shows, I’m just sitting down on the couch with Barkley, about to partake in an Archer marathon. Quickly queue up all unwatched episodes, shuffle all episodes, or for example, I could also use our powerful filters to shuffle all unwatched movies rated G to protect Barkley’s sensitive ears while I write code, for you.

This feature is brand new, available for everyone on iOS and the web app, today. We’ll be expanding to other platforms, and making it even more awesome over the coming months.

So now we’re really done, right? House lights up, people heading for the exits? Hardly.

We’ve got one super cool brand new feature for Plex Pass members on iOS called Camera Upload. It’s easy to explain: point the Plex app at a server and a photo library, and it’ll make sure all the photos on your camera roll automatically upload to that library. We do all the work for you, in the background, using a brand new iOS 7 feature. Keep your phone in your pocket, as your photos are backed up safely in a Plex library, and then you can access them on all Plex apps, share them with friends or family, or (of course) fling them to your Chromecast (free for everyone now!).

We’ve even made a little promo video for the feature, since we dig it so much:

 

And that’s all she wrote, folks. Until next time, here’s Barkley, relaxing after a beach jaunt, face full of sand and delight. He’s a damn fine dog.

The post Chromecast free for everyone, and great new features for iOS! appeared first on Plex Blog.

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