Weekly Tech Recap - № 135 - ARCore for Android, BB-9E and R2-D2 droids, 400GB microSD card, etc.
ARCore for Android
ARCore. © Google.
Google has launched a development kit for Android to ease the integration of augmented reality in mobile applications. Called ARCore, it works with Java/OpenGL, Unity and Unreal. It provides motion tracking using the telephone’s camera to observe feature points in the room, as well as IMU (inertial measurement unit) sensor data to accurately place virtual objects. Placement quality is enhanced with a horizontal surface detection feature, to recognize tables or shelves, for example. Finally, ARCore analyzes the ambient light in the environment, making it possible for developers to light virtual objects appropriately, for a more realistic appearance. The ARCore kit and demos are available for download. For the time being, just Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 phones are supported, but Google’s goal is to make kit-based applications run on any type of Android device. This announcement comes after Apple’s ARKit for iOS.
⇨ Ars Technica, “Google’s ARCore brings augmented reality to millions of Android devices.”
New Sphero robots
BB-9E, R2-D2 and BB-8. © Sphero.
Sphero is known for its adorable BB-8 robot, launched two years ago and controllable by smartphone. Today, BB-8 has two new friends: the R2-D2, which needs no introduction, and the BB-9E, BB-8’s evil twin which will play a starring role in The Last Jedi, the next installment of the Star Wars saga. The R2-D2 is able to make all of the noises in the movie with its speaker, whereas the BB-8 is dumb. Put several Sphero Star Wars robots together and they interact, exchanging data over Bluetooth LE. All run on the same iOS or Android application. The latest two robots should be available very soon on Apple Store, which already sells the BB-8. The BB-9E should go for about CAD180 and the R2-D2 for CAD210 .
⇨ Cnet, “Sphero just made the best R2-D2 robot ever.”
400GB microSD card
Ultra microSDXC UHS-I. © SanDisk.
At Berlin’s IFA 2017 show, SanDisk unveiled a microSD card packing an astonishing 400GB, far more than the previous record of 256GB set last year by Samsung. Sequential read transfer rate is said to be 100 MBps. 400GB allows you to store some 40 hours of Full HD video. The microSD card could also make for one very interesting Raspberry Pi-style computer. SanDisk’s Ultra microSDXC UHS-I card should soon be available for purchase for USD250 (CAD310). It comes with a 10-year warranty.
⇨ PCWorld, “SanDisk crams 400GB into a tiny microSD card.”
Unveiling of new iPhone
Apple Special Event.
Apple fans, mark the date: September 12. That’s when Apple launches its new phone. The Californian builder also marks another milestone: the launch will be the first event to be held in the Steve Jobs Theater, built in the heart of the Infinite Loop, Apple’s new futuristic headquarters in Cupertino. The theater’s capacity is 1,000 seats, which is far less than the 7,000 seats in the Bill Graham Civic Center where previous Apple Keynotes have been held, for example last year’s launch of the iPhone 7. The Steve Jobs Theater has a carbon-fibre roof weighing 73 tonnes which rests entirely on the outside glass walls: an architectural and technical tour de force in itself.
⇨ Ars Technica, “Apple will hold its iPhone event on September 12.”
NYPD to replace 36,000 smartphones
Policemen on 42nd street using their mobile phone. © iStock.
Just months after the NYPD issued its officers with 36,000 Microsoft-based smartphones, the force is switching to iPhones. The city bought Windows-based Lumia smartphones as part of a $160 million NYPD Mobility Initiative that Mayor Bill de Blasio touted as “a huge step into the 21st century.” Unfortunately, Microsoft has since decided to stop supporting the operating system, making the phones basically junk. Even so, they weren’t a complete waste: for the first time, NYPD beat cops were able to receive alerts, search databases, file reports and watch 911 services in real-time.
⇨ New York Post, “NYPD needs to replace 36K useless smartphones.”
