Apple Buyout Bringing Kinect to iOS

PrimeSense, the company behind the technology for Microsoft’s original Kinect sensor is reportedly in discussions with Apple about a possible acquisition. The rumored deal is said to be in the range of $300 Million.

Apple has owned patents on similar technology for several years and recently they’ve been working on their own gesture-controlled OS. After Microsoft switched to their own 3D technology, PrimeSense started work on its 3D system-on-a-chip. The result, called Capri, is a cheaper and more efficient version of their previous 3D technology.

Capri is small enough to fit inside of a tablet or a smartphone; a technology which could prove quite useful for Apple as they continue to develop new features for future versions of iOS.

Paying to Skip Commercials?

In other Apple news, negotiations with cable and TV companies could provide Apple TV customers another way to skip commercials.

However, unlike a Tivo or DVR, this method is more direct, where viewers completely pass by the advertisement without seeing it at all, and letting Apple directly compensate programmers for the lost revenue.

The new pay-as-you-watch feature could be accomplished in a couple of ways, such as paying to skip individual commercials, or by way of a season pass that skips commercials on a per-show basis. Apple is even considering a commercial-free service that would cut ads out entirely, and interested viewers could easily sign up for the subscriptions by logging into their iTunes account and purchasing one of the options.

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook described his grand vision for Television, arguing that the current TV viewing experience “could be better”. It’s believed that Apple wants to completely erase the line between live and on-demand video, and the ability to cut out ads is a good place to start.

A Few Months Ago, They Laughed, Now They Follow

AT&T and Verizon are trying to emulate T-Mobile’s Un-carrier pricing strategies by launching their own versions.

AT&T will be launching their new plan in the coming weeks, and instead of signing a 2-year contract with a phone subsidy, AT&T’s Next lets customers spread the full cost of their phone over twenty months. Customers are able to trade-in for a new device every twelve months, and the remaining eight payments for their old device are forgiven.

Unlike T-Mobile’s Jump, customers won’t have to pay a down payment, and there’s no fee for participating in the program.

Verizon is set to introduce a similar program called VZ Edge. The specifics of the Edge plan haven’t been released yet, but rumors are that customers will be able to avoid long term contracts by making payments on the full price of new devices. Customers are said to become eligible for upgrades once they’ve made half of the payments for their existing device.

Verizon has not released an official launch date for Edge, but we expect to hear more in the near future.

Fighting Wars by Attacking Supply Lines

The White House has partnered with Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other online advertising companies to create a set of industry-developed best practices, aimed at keeping ads off websites that offer pirated content.

Much of the blame for piracy has been placed on the shoulders of online ad networks, for essentially funding websites dedicated to offering pirated TV, songs or movies with ad revenue. Content creators and other critics have also documented how online ads from Google and other networks can be found on these illicit sites.

The new standards describe how ad networks will process takedown notices from copyright holders to remove ads from offending sites, which will remove ad revenue from the pockets of pirates.

Ever Seen That Movie Scanners?

Occipital just released Scanect for OSx, making it the first ever 3D scanning software on the Mac platform.

Scanect allows users to scan objects in 3D with low-cost sensors, like the Asus Xtion and Microsoft Kinect.

The software is free for non-commercial use, making it perfect for the casual user. It includes free exports to Sculpteo 3D printing software, as well as the ability to export scans to the SketchFab online sharing platform.

Skanect is ideal for capturing full color 3D models of objects, people, or complete rooms, and is able to create 3D meshes out of real scenes in just a few minutes. Users who want to take advantage of the new tool can do so immediately by downloading a copy directly from Scanect’s website.

Uber Carpooling

Uber just launched a new feature that will let road-trippers split the cost of the fare.

According to sources, the process works by allowing users to invite friends to help pay directly from the contacts list, or by entering their phone number manually at any point during the trip. From there, all your friends have to do is confirm that they’d like to split the cost of the ride, and Uber will automatically divide the cost by however many riders are present.

Currently, the update is live and available for iOS users, and Android users can expect the update in the near future.

Born To Die

In the not too distant future, you may no longer need to throw out your old device. Instead of throwing it away, it will simply self-destruct!

A project called “born to die” is currently being researched at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where researchers are creating electronics that vanish in water.

Professor of Materials Science John Rogers says the goal of the program is to design technology that can dissolve at the end of its useful life, in order to save space in landfills and reduce waste overall. Though the team has not completely solved the mystery of dissolvable electronics, they have made some breakthroughs.

The team has already designed a chip built on a thin film of silk that dissolves in water.

And that’s all the news we have for today. For this and more, be sure to join us every weekday morning on NewsDesk with Kristin Feledy.

photo credit: Tony Buser via photopin cc
photo credit: කේදාර KhE 龙 via photopin cc
photo credit: Kyle McDonald via photopin cc
photo credit: The Voice of Eye via photopin cc