Google Introduces “Find Your Way To Oz” HTML5 Chrome Experiment In Collaboration With Disney And Unit9. For a while now, Google has regularly worked with well-known brands like Cirque du Solei and others to launch advanced web-based experiences optimized for its Chrome browser.
Today is Disney’s turn. Google, in collaboration with UNIT9 and Disney, just launched Find Your Way to Oz, a new Chrome experiment based on Disney’s upcoming movie “Oz The Great and Powerful.” The experience, Google writes, allows you “to take an interactive journey through a Kansas circus, which leads you to the land of Oz after you are swept up by a massive storm.” To bring this world to life, Google and UNIT9 — using various HTML5 techniques, including WebGL for the 3D effects, CSS3 transitions and GLSL shaders — accelerated 3D transforms, the Web Audio API for audio effect and the getUserMedia feature of WebRTC to power an in-browser photo booth that uses your computer’s camera and microphone. The Chrome experiment is fun to play with even without knowing all the technical details. Talking Robots Play Part in Therapeutic Treatment for People With Special Needs. JEFFREY BROWN: Next: a science and medical story involving research from the frontiers of robotics.
Ray Suarez looks at how doctors are using high-tech toys to help people with special needs. LIAM MCGUIRE, autistic child: What’s your favorite game? COMPUTER VOICE: “Mario Cart,” the original. ‘Text From Dog’ Tumblr blog author reveals his identity on Amazon through book deal. Go through to textfromdog.tumblr.com for more awesome goodness The identity behind popular Tumbr blog Text From Dog has been revealed to be that of Joe Butcher, a twenty-something English animator who creates children’s learning software for a small media company in Derby, UK. The information went public on Amazon’s site after Butcher messaged fans via social media today to let them know of the pre-order of his book, Texts From Dog.
The book will officially go on sale on Oct. 25, 2012. Changemakrs Looks To Reinvent Inspirational Quotes For A More Social Web. “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes.
It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.” — Steve Jobs A few months ago, former Facebooker Sacha Tueni and Matthias Wagner were working on a Twitter client. Yes, a Twitter client — several years after Tweetdeck launched and Seesmic pivoted toward being a social media reader. While their app Zerobird was good at filtering interesting content, investors weren’t biting. It was also going to be a long uphill battle in the app store and on Twitter’s increasingly politically complicated platform.
BII REPORT: Here Are The Major Players In Mobile Advertising. We are in the post-PC era, and soon billions of consumers will be carrying around Internet-connected mobile devices for up to 16 hours a day.
Mobile audiences have exploded as a result. Mobile advertising should be a bonanza, similar to online advertising a decade ago. However, it has been a bit slow off the ground, and its growth trajectory is not clear cut. In a new report from BI Intelligence on the mobile advertising ecosystem, we explain the complexities and fractures, and examine the central and dynamic roles played by mobile ad networks, demand side platforms, mobile ad exchanges, real-time bidding, agencies, brands, and new companies hoping to upend the traditional banner ad. Social Network For Fashion Photos Trendabl Raises $800K From Khosla Ventures.
Social network for fashion photos Trendabl has raised $835,000 from Khosla Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and other angels.
Trendabl is aiming to be an Instagram-like platform for fashion photos. Users are able to take a photo and tag it with descriptive information such as the brand of the item and share it with the Trendabl community. Users are able to follow their friends as well as various brands, retailers, magazines and celebrities. Currently the startup only offers an iOS app, but is looking to expand to the web as well. The company’s advisors include Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen, and Angelo Sotira (CEO/Founder Deviant Art). Android-Based Siri Alternative Maluuba Goes International, Looks To Raise Up To $10M. Maluuba, the Siri-like personal assistant that launched at TechCrunch Disrupt SF earlier this year, just announced the launch of its Maluuba International edition.
Until now, the service was only available in the U.S., Australia, UK and Ireland, but the International Edition is now available worldwide in the Google Play store. An open source personality testing system. International Personality Item Pool is a public domain personality testing system.
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test and other major personality testing systems are closed, proprietary systems – the scoring systems are opaque. They can’t be experimented with and modified or, most importantly, tested by those outside of the organizations who own them. International Personality Item Pool is an open system for behavioral scientists, created by the Oregon Research Institute. This IPIP Website is intended to provide rapid access to measures of individual differences, all in the public domain, to be developed conjointly among scientists worldwide. Ngomik: Working With Telcos to Sell Comics Makes Us Very Happy. Ngomik.com is one of the few Indonesian startups to focus on the low-end feature phone industry, and the company is making some cash from it too.
We caught up with Muhammad Subair from Ngomik to find out more on the startup’s progress since we spoke last year about its digital comic publishing business. Subair shared a few of Ngomik’s key statistics so far: A Googler Explains Why Mobile Ads Are The Next Big Thing. When Machines Start Writing Back: My Problem With DataPop & Automated Content Creation. I had the opportunity to meet a few of the folks from DataPop at SES San Francisco this summer.
Not one to judge after just one meeting, I knew I needed to speak with them again. I had a bone to pick. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard of the relatively new LA-based company, who call what they do “Creative Science.” Web marketing veteran Bryan Eisenberg told me months ago, “You have to see what these guys are doing.” Robot learns to recognise itself in the mirror - tech - 22 August 2012. By Hal Hodson NICO spends a lot of time looking in the mirror.
But it’s not mere vanity – Nico is a humanoid robot that can recognise its reflection – a step on the path towards true self-awareness. In fact, Nico can identify almost exactly where its arm is in space based on the mirror image. Joy for Cats & Dogs. A lucky dog in Fort Worth inherits a fortune of antiques. FORT WORTH — Fine china, world-class silver and antique furniture are packed tightly into a Fort Worth showroom. Hard to believe it all belongs to a dog named "Lucky. " Former owner Kenneth Bortz stored up enough treasures to fill ten homes. Dallas-Fort Worth Breaking News Video - WFAA.com. 5 startups to watch from Y Combinator’s demo day: morning edition. With swarms of investors and media in Mountain View, Calif. on Tuesday for Y Combinator’s summer demo day, there’s nowhere more exciting in the land of startups.
More than 70 companies pitched to the group, hoping to become the next Dropbox, AirBnB, or Reddit. Launched in 2005, Y Combinator has become somewhat of a gold standard for incubators — companies that help startups grow with advice, connections and resources — and is closely watched by the tech world. IAC’s CityGrid MediaBuys Yext’s Pay-Per-Call Ad Business Felix For Around $30M. IAC’s Citygrid Media has bought Felix, a pay-per-call ad business from Yext, a service that helps businesses synchronize their listings across the Web.
We hear the acquisition price was around $30 million. Yext originally launched at the TechCrunch50 conference in 2009 as a pay-per-call advertising service. Earlier this year, Yext shifted its focus from this service to a new product called PowerListings. The company then spun off the pay-per-call part of the company into a wholly-owned subsidiary called Felix. Felix listens to customer phone calls and determines which ones were actually good for your business. China's Mobile Internet Users Surpass Desktop Users. CNNIC has recently released a lengthy but fascinating report showing how mobile is overtaking the desktop in China. As you can see in the graph below, there is a continual surge of mobile internet users. CNNIC says there are more than 388 million mobile internet users recorded in June of this year.
That figure has finally exceeded desktop internet users which are slightly over 380 million users. The report also found that 72.2 percent of internet users use mobile devices to browse the web. In contrast there are lower proportion of internet users using the desktop as their gateway to the internet. So why the huge jump in mobile internet users?
Mobile phones accounted for a whopping 60.4 percent of the rural region’s internet usage. The monthly income of Chinese internet users have two outstanding groups. So how are Chinese users using the internet? So overall, we hope CNNIC statistics are helpful to foreigners who are looking at China for opportunities. Virginia Tech’s Wu Feng unveils HokieSpeed, a new powerful supercomputer for the masses. Wu Feng, associate professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering, spearheaded the design and construction of HokieSpeed, Virginia Tech’s latest and fastest entry into the supercomputing arena. Blacksburg, VA , December 19, 2011Virginia Tech College of Engineering. Pinterest pierces the ranks of the social-networking elite.
Matchmaking service for dog owners and sitters gets funding. Investors. $57 Billion Pet Industry Walks the Line. NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire -04/02/12)- In the New Normal of economic moderation, pet industry players must walk a line between promotional pricing and product premiumization, according to "U.S. Pet Market Outlook 2012-2013," a just-released report from market research firm Packaged Facts. Despite the Recession, the U.S. Pet Care Industry is Staying Out of the Dog House. Pet Industry Booming, With Sales of Gourmet Treats. Pet Industry Weekly. U.S. Pet Industry Remains on Solid Ground, Report Says. U.S. Pet Industry Remains on Solid Ground, Report Says. Global Pet Food Market to Reach US$95.7 Billion by 2017, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. San Jose, CA (PRWEB) November 21, 2011 Follow us on LinkedIn - The pet food industry witnessed a significant increase in size in the last few years, with the market structure evolving as per the current requirements of the dynamic industry.
In addition, pet foods represent one of the fastest growing sectors in the food industry. The industry has been growing on account of increased market segmentation and producer innovation. Numerous factors such as increased popularity of organic pet food, and greater interest in nutrition and health of pets are driving the pet foods market. Private label cat and dog food brands are increasingly being used in developing markets. The humanization trend in mature markets is stimulating demand for value-added products, such as functional pet foods and nutraceuticals.
As stated by the new market research report on Pet Foods, Europe continues to remain the largest regional market. Dog Food continues to be the largest and the fastest growing segment. The Pet Economy. Industry Statistics & Trends. U.S. Pet Industry Spending Figures & Future Outlook The following spending statistics are gathered by APPA from various market reseach sources and are not included in the organization's bi-annual National Pet Owners Survey.
Total U.S. Pet Industry Expenditures Year Billion. RETAIL: Petco files to grant stock options to insiders.