Facebook has introduced a new technology that will someday allow Facebook users to explore immersive, 360-degree videos from their News Feeds. The company unveiled the technology at its annual F8 developer conference in San Francisco this week. The content is created with a 24-camera rig, and it can be viewed in a browser or a smartphone screen without a headset. Facebook envisions users will also use an Oculus Rift headset to view the 360-degree video in the future. Continue reading No Headset Needed to Watch 360-Degree Video via Facebook

Apple’s revamped Beats Music streaming service will debut later this year and will be looking to take on other popular streaming services such as Spotify. Originally, Apple intended to offer Beats Music at $8 per month, instead of the competition’s standard $10 per month, by using its leverage in the music industry to secure cheaper rights. The negotiations fell through, and with no plans for a free version of Beats Music, Apple may have to work harder to attract customers. Continue reading Apple’s Upcoming Beats Music Relaunch Has Spotify In Sight

One ongoing study is testing a potential solution for nausea-inducing VR content, and so far, a virtual reality nose has proven effective. Simulator sickness is believed to be caused by an asynchrony of the body’s movement and the visuals. Researchers suggest that a fixed visual reference, like a nose, can help reduce vertigo and nausea. The study participants who had a virtual nose didn’t even notice the added facial feature and could play more than a minute longer than the control group. Continue reading Study Finds That Virtual Nose May Reduce Simulator Sickness

For the first time, the NFL will allow one football game to be streamed on a national digital platform. The league relies heavily on television to broadcast its games, but for this single broadcast next season, it is letting digital platforms bid for the rights. The game will be a week-seven matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars to be played in London. The broadcast is slated for 9:30 am Eastern time, but that will be primetime in China where the NFL hopes to attract viewers. Continue reading NFL to Experiment Broadcasting One Game Online Next Season

Improbable Worlds has created a distributed computing platform that allows developers to build large-scale, 3D, real-time models, and now the London-based startup has $20 million to bring this tech to gaming, urban planning, biology, and numerous other industries. The modeling system is unique because it draws upon the computing power of its users and redistributes the computing, while enabling collaboration. Prominent venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is the investor. Continue reading Improbable Worlds Raises $20 Million for Simulation Platform

While television continues to migrate online, live sports have been slow to follow. Many people are still tethered to their cable subscriptions because they want to watch their sports live. As soon as sports programming breaks from bundles and is streamed online, more consumers may become cord cutters and abandon their cable subscriptions altogether. Meanwhile, Canada has become one of the first countries to require companies to dismantle their cable bundles and allow customers to choose their channels. Continue reading Is Television Being Held Back by Traditional Cable Bundles?

While the FCC has proposed that broadband companies cannot accept payments for access to an Internet fast lane, some streaming TV services want to be classified as “managed services,” much like digital phone services. This gray area of the net neutrality rules may provide media companies a fast lane opportunity. The FCC allows cable and phone companies to operate managed services, such as digital phone services or video-on-demand, on a special bandwidth so that consumers do not experience dropped calls or video buffering. Continue reading Streaming TV Services Look to Bypass Internet Congestion

Researchers from Nanyang Technical University in Singapore have developed a microfiber technology that enables them to build brain-like computers. “Photonic synapses” are collections of microfibers that pass electronic signals. The optical fibers can send signals at the speed of light, much faster than the neurons in real brains. This breakthrough could provide a boost to both robotics and AI technology. Improved vehicle control, speech, and search are just some of the possible applications. Continue reading Breakthrough in AI Technology Mimics Synapses in the Brain

Popcorn Time became one of the most popular torrenting sites since it debuted nearly a year ago, and even though the original was taken down, spin-offs plan to stay. Popcorn-Time.se, for example, makes it easy to find torrented content like pirated movies and television shows. Its developers plan to make the site harder to take down by implementing a peer-to-peer protocol. The MPAA was successful in shutting down the original Popcorn Time, but it has not been able to shut down the spin-off sites yet. Continue reading Popcorn Time Torrenting Sites Intend to Become Unstoppable

Google will release an open API for the Google Now dashboard/personal assistant, which will allow developers to integrate their apps into the service. Android users might one day be able to get all of the relevant information from Google Now without ever having to open the apps. Currently, Google Now only pulls notifications from Google-based apps like Maps and Search, but another 40 third-party apps are in a pilot program to integrate their apps with Google Now. Continue reading New Google Now API Could Impact the Future of Android Apps

Nintendo has teamed up with Japanese mobile game company DeNA to bring Nintendo’s popular characters to smartphones and tablets. DeNA and Nintendo plan to build an online gaming service that will be introduced this fall. However, Nintendo has not completely abandoned its strategy to build games for its own hardware. The company is also working on its next game console, codenamed the NX, which may be unveiled next year. It may possibly incorporate VR or media services offerings. Continue reading Nintendo Will Make Mobile Games Through New Partnership

Facebook is adding a new feature that allows its users to send each other money through Facebook messages. Users link their debit cards in order to send their friends money. Unlike PayPal or Venmo, users do not have to “cash out” the funds. The payments transfer directly between debit cards. The new service, which is free to Facebook Messenger users, will roll out in the U.S. in the next few months. It will show up in the Messenger app as a dollar sign, next to the icons for text, photos and thumbs up. Continue reading Facebook Unveils Peer-to-Peer Payments on Messenger App

Researchers at the University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University have developed a new, faster 3D printing technique — and now a California company is planning to use the technique to revolutionize production. The technique is called CLIP, or Continuous Liquid Interface Production. Unlike traditional 3D printers, which construct prototypes layer-by-layer, CLIP 3D printers build an object in its entirety out of liquid resin. The process is reportedly up to 100 times faster than other methods. Continue reading 3D Printing Method Could Make Production 100 Times Faster

Apple has scheduled two upcoming events during which the company is expected to share more about the release of some of the year’s most anticipated products, including the relaunch of Beats Music, a new Apple TV set-top, and the Apple Watch. The company will introduce the remake of Beats Music, a streaming music service with curated playlists, at an event in June. Meanwhile, today’s “Spring Forward” event will likely feature the long awaited Apple Watch and its Watchkit applications. Continue reading Apple to Unveil New Watch, Beats Music Service and Apple TV

The most recent prototype of Avegant’s Glyph video headset could possibly illustrate what the future of media consumption will look like. The headset allows users to plug in any HDMI video source to watch movies or play video games. The image is crisp because of a new micromirror projection technique that eliminates the problem of seeing individual pixels. Glyph also has a head-tracking feature so that users can immerse themselves in 360-degree video, but the real world is still visible above or below the eye line. Continue reading Avegant’s Upcoming Glyph Headset Plays Music, Movies and VR