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Microsoft hat erneut demonstriert, was mit der Hololens möglich ist und geht offener mit dem eingeschränkten Sichtfeld um. Zudem wird die Galaxy-Explorer-App im Quellcode freigegeben und Skype erlaubt eine Art Remote-Augmented-Reality. (Build 2016, Skype) 
Microsoft hat erneut demonstriert, was mit der Hololens möglich ist und geht offener mit dem eingeschränkten Sichtfeld um. Zudem wird die Galaxy-Explorer-App im Quellcode freigegeben und Skype erlaubt eine Art Remote-Augmented-Reality. (Build 2016, Skype) 
This “biobot” is half-computer, half-beetle, and you can control how fast it runs.
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Just in case you were craving an army of beetle minions to do your bidding, a group of engineers in Singapore has invented a new kind of "biobot." Fitted out with a microcontroller and electrodes implanted in the muscles of its legs, it's a cyborg beetle that can be made to run faster or slower at the whim of its human master.
Similar kinds of biobots have been built before—the last few years have seen the invention of everything from ratbots to mind-controlled cockroaches—but this is the first variable-speed model. That's because the engineers are directly controlling the insect's leg muscles rather than driving it by manipulating signals in its brain or antennae.
The engineers, who report on their creation in Journal of the Royal Society Interface, admit that there are a few drawbacks to making robots out of living animals. "There are demerits and disadvantages in insect platform due to living organism including limited lifespan, relatively narrow operation temperature range," they write. That said, the team is convinced the good outweighs the bad.
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Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios can’t claim copyright over the Klingon language, Vulcan’s pointy ears, or Phaser weapons, a court heard this week. This defense comes from the makers of crowdfunded Star Trek spin-off ‘Prelude to Axanar’, who were sued over their use of various well-known Star Trek elements.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
Earlier this year Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios filed a lawsuit against the makers of the Star Trek inspired fan film, accusing them of copyright infringement.
The dispute centers around the well-received short film Star Trek: Prelude to Axanar and the planned follow-up feature film Anaxar.
The project is an idea from Alec Peters who started working on it half a decade ago. The short film turned in to a massive hit and quickly raised more than $100,000 through crowdfunding, and the follow-up feature raised another $638,000 on Kickstarter alone.
That’s a serious budget for a fan-art project and the success prompted the attention of both Paramount Pictures and CBS Studios, who filed their complaint at a California federal court last December.
Among other things, the Star Trek rightsholder claimed ownership over various Star Trek related settings, characters, species, clothing, colors, shapes, words, short phrases and even the Klingon language.
This week, Axanar productions and Alec Peters responded to the allegations put forward in the complaint (pdf). According to the makers of the fan film, several of the allegedly “infringing elements” are not protected by copyright to begin with.
In their reply the filmmakers argue that words and short phrases such as names, titles and slogans can’t be protected. This includes the popular phrase “beam me up” as well as several Star Trek related names.
“…the names Garth of Izar, Soval, Richard Robau, and John Gill are not protectable, and neither are the words Andorians, Tellarites, Romulans, Axanar, Archanis IV, Q’onoS, Nausicaa, Rigel, Andoria, Tellar Prime, Vulcans, Klingons, Terra, Starship Enterprise, Starfleet, Federation, Starships, Stardate, and Federation or the short phrase ‘beaming up’,” they write.
In addition, Axanar productions points out that Paramount and CBS can’t claim ownership of the Klingon language, which is nothing more than an idea according to the defendants.
“The Klingon language itself is an idea or a system, and is not copyrightable,” they write.
“The mere allegation that Defendants used the Klingon language, without any allegation that Defendants copied Plaintiffs’ particular expression of that language, is therefore insufficient to state a claim for copyright infringement as to any protected element.”
The defendants continue by stressing that the use of the Vulcan appearance and the Heat-Ray Phaser weapons are not unique to Star Trek. They are common appearances in nature and / or have been used in fictional works before.
“Vulcan appearance: a species with ‘pointy ears’ is not original to Star Trek, and has appeared in many fictional fantasy works depicting imaginary humanoid species predating Star Trek, including, but not limited to, vampires, elves, fairies, and werewolves, as well as in many animals in nature.”
“Phasers are also known as Heat-Ray weapons, which have existed in science fiction since H.G. Wells’ ‘War of the Worlds’ in 1898,” the complaint notes.
Besides the questions Axanar raises over the copyright protections, they also argue that the allegations aren’t specific enough, since it’s not specified which exact copyrights have been infringed.
“While Plaintiffs allege that they own ‘more than 700’ Star Trek television episodes, a dozen motion pictures, and four books, they still fail to specify which of those copyrights Defendants have allegedly infringed,” the write.
As a result, Axanar Productions asks the court to dismiss or strike the copyright claims in question.
Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.
The Development Edition starts shipping today.
8ninths virtual workstation. Video shot by Esy Casey and edited by Nathan Fitch. (video link)
The first HoloLens Development Edition kits are shipping today to developers selected to be in the first wave of availability. Over the weekend, the $3,000 kits should get into the hands of developers not bound by NDAs and other restrictions, making this the first time we'll start to see and understand just what the device can be used for.
However, these aren't the first developers outside of Redmond to use the HoloLens. The company has been working with a select group of teams to develop apps for the augmented reality headset and to better learn how to use the hardware.
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Google wants to bring 360 degree photos and videos to more websites and mobile apps, and the company has launched a new tool called VR view to do it. Google says Android and iOS app developers can add 360 degree images or videos to their sites by using the Google Cardboard SDK and adding a […]
Google’s VR views bring 360-degree content to web, mobile apps is a post from: Liliputing
Google wants to bring 360 degree photos and videos to more websites and mobile apps, and the company has launched a new tool called VR view to do it. Google says Android and iOS app developers can add 360 degree images or videos to their sites by using the Google Cardboard SDK and adding a […]
Google’s VR views bring 360-degree content to web, mobile apps is a post from: Liliputing
Microsoft has painted a picture of a future where you interact with websites, mobile apps, and everything else by speaking to chat bots who can understand you using natural language thanks to machine learning. But while you may not be sold on the need to talk to a virtual concierge to book your next hotel […]
Microsoft shows mobile app that describes the world to blind users is a post from: Liliputing
Microsoft has painted a picture of a future where you interact with websites, mobile apps, and everything else by speaking to chat bots who can understand you using natural language thanks to machine learning. But while you may not be sold on the need to talk to a virtual concierge to book your next hotel […]
Microsoft shows mobile app that describes the world to blind users is a post from: Liliputing
Update focuses on stylus features for pen-equipped devices.
The new Ink Workspace.
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One of the first announcements coming out of Microsoft's Build 2016 conference this week is a slate of new Windows 10 stylus features for the Surface Pro and other pen-equipped devices.
The first new feature is the "Ink Workspace." Tapping the top of the pen on a Surface Pro brings up a new panel with common pen apps. In the demo, large tiles were reserved for Sticky Notes, Sketchpad, and Screen Sketch, along with a smaller set of tiles for "recently used" apps. At the bottom of the panel is a "Suggested" section, which promotes pen apps from the Windows Store. The promotion of pen apps is another upgrade to the Windows 10 ecosystem—there's now a dedicated section for apps that support styluses.
Sticky Notes can now be used to feed reminders into Cortana. In the demo, writing "Call mom tomorrow" caused "tomorrow" to be highlighted, and tapping on the word brought up Cortana to set a reminder. Bing is integrated, too, so sticky notes will be able to recognize places and link to maps.
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Microsoft is betting big that the way humans will interact with machines in the future is using natural language. That’s why the company launched the ill-fated Tay Twitter bot last week. It wast just one of a number of chat bots the company is working on to bring machine learning to play, allowing its software to […]
Microsoft’s vision for future of Skype, Cortana: bots talking to bots is a post from: Liliputing
Microsoft is betting big that the way humans will interact with machines in the future is using natural language. That’s why the company launched the ill-fated Tay Twitter bot last week. It wast just one of a number of chat bots the company is working on to bring machine learning to play, allowing its software to […]
Microsoft’s vision for future of Skype, Cortana: bots talking to bots is a post from: Liliputing
The traffic data company has a revised iOS and Android app with some cool features.
Jonathan Gitlin
INRIX Traffic's map screen. It uses OpenStreetMap for map data and INRIX's 275 million connected cars and devices for real-time traffic.
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You may not have heard of INRIX, a traffic data company based in Kirkland, Washington. But if your car's navigation system has real-time traffic data, there's a good chance you've been using its services. For example, the Audi A4 and Telsa Model X we drove earlier this month get real-time traffic data from INRIX. In the BMW i3 and i8, INRIX provides the range finder service that lets you know how far you can go before needing to recharge (and where you can do that).
Today, the company is taking aim at the mighty Waze with a new smartphone app that leverages its vast crowdsourced traffic database.
Do you remember what it was like trying to navigate in days of old? Back when some of us started driving, if you didn't want to get lost, you needed a map. (Remember them?) In 2000, then-President Clinton opened up the US' GPS network, and consumer navigation systems started to proliferate, first as standalone devices, then as installed infotainment systems in our cars, and finally on the screens of our smartphones.
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In Zusammenarbeit mit Canonical bringt Microsoft ein minimales Ubuntu-System auf Windows 10 – ganz ohne Virtualisierung. Darin laufen dann die Unix-Shell Bash und Kommandozeilenwerkzeuge wie Emacs. Möglicherweise baut Microsoft das Linux-Kernel-API dafür nach. (Build 2016, Ubuntu) 
In Zusammenarbeit mit Canonical bringt Microsoft ein minimales Ubuntu-System auf Windows 10 - ganz ohne Virtualisierung. Darin laufen dann die Unix-Shell Bash und Kommandozeilenwerkzeuge wie Emacs. Möglicherweise baut Microsoft das Linux-Kernel-API dafür nach. (Build 2016, Ubuntu) 
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