Sometimes a smartphone’s surface is just not big enough to make the most of mobile and social gaming. Even today’s largest smartphone screens have limitations that can hinder the multiplayer gaming experience. That is where Fuffr comes into play. The company has designed a mobile case that projects infrared lights to the surrounding areas of the phone, so that these areas too, can be used as multitouch surfaces for gameplay and a variety of other applications. Continue reading Fuffr Develops Multitouch Tech with Focus on Mobile Gaming

In attempt to bring new ideas to the table, NBCUniversal invited 300 developers, marketers and designers to partake in a weekend long hackathon to help the media company address some of its most common challenges when it comes issues such as movie releases and television audience retention. While the hackathon offered $25,000 in cash prizes, it was also an opportunity for attendees to access tools for building software applications and NBCUniversal to recruit future employees. Continue reading NBCUniversal Hosts Hackathons to Meet Industry Challenges

Developers can now start creating apps for Apple’s new wearable, the Apple Watch, with the company’s newly released development platform. WatchKit includes the Xcode 6.2 beta and the iOS 8.2 software development kit. Apple also provided design and user interface guidelines, so that developers can craft seamless apps for the Apple Watch. The iPhone itself will actually do most of the processing in the apps, but the watch will receive the user’s input and display output. Continue reading Apple Releases its WatchKit SDK for Apple Watch Developers

Samsung’s plans for mobile virtual reality are now underway. The company recently released details about its ongoing project with Oculus VR. The Gear VR Innovator Edition is a headset powered by Oculus Mobile built for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The headset plans to launch in December, and Oculus has released its Mobile SDK to foster the creation of apps. As part of an open software license, the SDK includes source code for Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Photo and Oculus 360 Videos. Continue reading Samsung to Ship Gear VR Headset, Oculus Unveils New SDK

Google’s cloud computing customers just got faster connectivity options and tools to share data between devices in real time. The tech giant announced its new Google Cloud Interconnect, a new service that gives developers three options for fast connectivity to Google’s servers. Google also started integrating technology from its latest acquisition of Firebase, a startup that specializes in real-time backend service, and has developed a “Triggers” tool for Google cloud computing. Continue reading Google Bolsters its Cloud Computing Services with New Tools

YouTube has unveiled the “YouTube WatchMe for Android” project, which provides app developers with the ability to integrate live streaming into their Android apps. The open source project is available on GitHub, but so far, the project only offers a reference app where a user simply presses a button in the app to start and stop broadcasting. Eventually, YouTube plans to develop a toolkit that will help developers include a broadcasting capability for their own apps. Continue reading YouTube WatchMe Project Brings Live Broadcasting to Apps

Microsoft recently launched a new section on its website to provide the public with access to various projects in development. Microsoft Garage started in 2009 within the Office Labs group as a place for employees to work on innovative new ideas. Until last week, The Garage was largely an internal effort that supported side projects, hackathons and science fairs. The Garage is now offering public access to 16 free consumer-facing apps across Android, Android Wear, iOS, Windows Phone and Xbox One. Continue reading Microsoft Opens The Garage, Unveils Wild Ideas of Employees

Twitter has traditionally relied upon other apps to help make its service more accessible. However, after it largely cut third-party access to the Twitter API, many developers were put off. Today the social media company is hosting its first developer conference in four years. Twitter is expected to announce Fabric, a suite of tools aimed at making programming easier. Rather than focusing on apps that build on Twitter, executives will speak more generally about app development.

Continue reading Fabric: Twitter to Introduce New Suite of Development Tools

German company Zeiss, known for its optics tech and premium camera lenses, is developing the VR One, a headset that uses a smartphone’s display, accelerometer, and gyroscope to give users a virtual reality experience. It is similar to Samsung’s Gear VR for the Galaxy Note 4 except the VR One is $100 cheaper and is an open project so that developers can help design the product. Currently, the VR One is compatible with the iPhone 6 and the Galaxy S5, but more phone tray options are coming soon. Continue reading Zeiss Builds a $100 VR Headset That Works with Your Phone

San Jose-based startup Matchstick, in cooperation with Mozilla, is creating what is essentially an “open Chromecast.” The startup is taking orders for its first open-source media streaming dongle, which will range in price from $12 to $25. Matchstick hopes to encourage developers to create apps for its Firefox OS-based device before it starts shipping in January. Mozilla is helping the Matchstick team draw more content partners, so that the startup will be able to offer premium content. Continue reading Matchstick Developing Open-Source Streaming Media Dongle

Oculus unveiled its latest VR headset, currently named “Crescent Bay,” at a Hollywood event over the weekend. Some 800 developers attended Oculus Connect, the company’s first conference, to check out the new device. While not yet commercially available, the prototype promises a more comfortable, natural experience. Crescent Bay features 360-degree motion tracking, integrated headphones and improved ergonomics. It is not the consumer version, but is “sprinting toward” it, explained chief exec Brendan Iribe. Continue reading Oculus Debuts Crescent Bay VR Prototype at LA Conference

Some analysts are suggesting that we avoid underestimating smartwatches, which could eventually become indispensable as a wide array of useful apps come to market. Major players such as Samsung, Google and Apple will release wearables that can be used for health and fitness tracking, interacting with our phones and vehicles, and much more. The platform is expected to usher in a new frontier of accessories and apps, and the ability to develop them in a more sophisticated manner. Continue reading Will Accessories and Apps Make Smartwatches Indispensable?

Millennials have more smartphones than any other age group in the U.S., currently at 85 percent. Statistics show that nearly 43 percent of these users opt for iPhones while 52 percent prefer Android devices. The choice to use Android is based on cost rather than software or hardware. Millennials spend 37 hours per month on their phones, most commonly engaged with social networking, entertainment and messaging. Users 25 to 44 use the most apps, an important statistic for developers. Continue reading Millennials Represent the Largest Number of Smartphone Users

Twitter unveiled its new BotMaker system this week, designed to address its growing spam problem. The machine learning models and other techniques traditionally used to classify messages as spam do not always work with the real-time nature of Twitter, so the company developed BotMaker, which scans messages as part of bulk data analyses. According to Twitter, the system has resulted in a 40 percent reduction in spam since it was rolled out and now handles billions of events each day. Continue reading Twitter Effectively Combats Spam with New BotMaker System

ETCentric community member Lee Lanselle forwarded us news that Samsung has acquired SmartThings, maker of smart-home controllers, for around $200 million. While SmartThings will continue to operate independently under CEO Alex Hawkinson, its three facilities are expected to move to Palo Alto to become part of Samsung’s Open Innovation Center (run by former Google and AOL exec David Eun). SmartThings, which is owned by Physical Graph Corp., began in 2012 as a Kickstarter project. Continue reading Internet of Things: Samsung Purchases Startup SmartThings