Lenovo and Google team up to create the first Project Tango smartphone

If you know Google’s Project Tango program, you’re in for a treat, a consumer version of the smartphone will be coming courtesy of Lenovo. Project Tango is Google’s device that comes with 3D-sensing technology. It allows for a completely different augmented reality experience than what you get from the current crop of smartphones and tablets. Project Tango makes use of computer vision and motion sensors as well as the accelerometer, gyroscope, and camera most mobile devices come with. This will allow for more immersive games and more accurate digital content overlaid on your surroundings.

Of course, something different like this would need new apps, but there are already some available on the Play Store as Google has been giving developer kits for Project Tango tablets since last year. The two companies are also launching an app incubator for those who want to create more apps for the platform. There are no details yet what the phone will look like and how much it’ll cost. But it should come out in the summer of 2016 and it’ll run on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor.

Source: Mashable

CES 2016: Creative outs its smartest Bluetooth speaker

Creative has a lot of different kinds of speakers out on the market but they claim this newest one is the smartest yet. The iRoar, which won the CES Innovation Award for 2016, comes with a customizable open platform that lets users personalize the speaker as well as create apps and features to expand on it. It has software add-ons and expandable hardware platform. If developers want to create an app for it, they can do so.

In the hardware side, it comes with the company’s multi-core floating point SB-Axx1 processor, which is what Creative uses for their sound cards. It has dual two-inch drivers for high- and midrange frequencies and a 2.75-inch woofer with dual passive radiators on the side for lows. It has an amp for left and right channels and one for bass. Connectivity options are plenty on the iRoar, including a 3.5mm analog line-in, microUSB audio input, microSD card slot, USB female 1.5A port for charging, and TOSlink Optical input. It also supports NFC and codecs such as aptX, aptX low-latency, AAC, and SBC for wireless streaming. It’s already available on Creative’s site for US$369.99 (around $520). Other add-ons include the iRoar Mic (US$79.99 or roughly $110) and iRoar Rock subwoofer (US$149.99 or roughly $210).

Source: Creative + Android Community

CES 2016: EyeForcer helps keep your gadget-obsessed kids in check

An eye-catching (pun unintended) device unveiled at CES hopes to help you and your children out to combat what has been called GameBoy disease. The illness is said to cause headaches, blurred vision, as well as neck and back pain associated with too much time playing or using electronic devices. The solution? EyeForcer from Vancouver-based Medical Wearable Solutions. It all started with one parent and doctor, Medical Wearable Solutions Co-founder Dr. Vahid Sahiholnasab, and how he got frustrated with how his children spent too much time using gadgets.

The EyeForcer keeps track of kid’s posture and how long they spend time staring at a screen. If it deems your kid has been on it for too long or they start to slouch, it will shut down your device. While it can improve their health, we can’t say if it’ll do the same for your children’s moods. No word yet though on how much the device will cost or when it will be available.

Source: Cult of Mac

Netflix is now available in over 190 countries

Safe to say Netflix had a rather big announcement at CES 2016. The company just launched in over 130 new countries around the world. Netflix Co-founder and Chief Executive Reed Hastings made the announcement at a keynote during CES. This gives the new countries access to Netflix’s original shows and movies. The company promises that this year they will release “31 new and returning original series, two dozen original feature films and documentaries, a wide range of stand-up comedy specials and 30 original kids series—available at the same time to members everywhere.”

Netflix has also added Arabic, Korean, Traditional and Simplified Chines to the 17 languages it supports. At the moment though, they still aren’t available in China, a big market that comes with a lot of restrictions. But they are supposedly working on options to provide the service there. It’s also still not available in Crimea, North Korea, and Syria due to US government restrictions on American companies. Netflix launched its service in 2007 and has expanded globally, first to Canada, then to Latin America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan to include 60 countries.