Shall I Buy Enables Social Shopping: Foodspotting for Everything Else

  • Shall I Buy is a free iPhone app with the goal of combining instant social feedback for shoppers to make better purchasing decisions and possibly combat buyer’s remorse.
  • A shopper can share a video, picture, price and location to engage potential followers and incite comments, and allows sharing of links through Facebook and Twitter.
  • “The app is done simply, taking heavy styling cues from Instagram, but in doing so it’s effective and easy to use,” reports TheNextWeb.
  • The post cites two potential downsides: 1) By default, users receive a great number of push notifications, and 2) It would be helpful to have “a way to configure notifications inside of the app itself,” rather than going to the website.
  • Robert Scoble equates it to “Foodspotting for everything else.”

Pandora Embraces HTML5 as Key Enabler for Connected Devices

  • Pandora now claims more than 100 million registered users. CTO and EVP of Product Tom Conrad credits the success of his company’s Internet radio service with the decision to embrace both Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android mobile operating system. Conrad spoke at this week’s GigaOM Mobilize conference.
  • However, Pandora had a rocky start regarding growth on mobile platforms until the iPhone came along to help turn things around. And at one point, Conrad had little interest in Android. Pandora shipped its app through the iTunes store and watched its user base explode from 13 million to what it is today.
  • “Conrad has also since made peace with Android, about which he had previously said that he needed the platform ‘like I need a hole in my head,’ referring to the confusing state of Android fragmentation. On Monday, Conrad didn’t want to go into the specifics of Android vs. iOS market share amongst Pandora users, but he called Android’s growth ‘nothing short of remarkable.'”
  • Now Pandora is embracing HTML5 as it looks to what’s next.
  • “The company launched a new HTML5-powered website last week, and Conrad said that using HTML5 helped to both dramatically increase the performance of the site as well as implement new social features,” reports GigaOM.
  • Conrad calls HTML5 a “key enabler for connected devices,” hoping that it will provide opportunities for Pandora on connected TVs and car dashboards.
  • Currently, 70 percent of Pandora’s listening occurs on mobile devices. “In the future, the majority of Pandora listening will happen in the car and on the connected device,” predicts Conrad.

Will Sony Tablet S Set itself Apart from iPad Wannabes?

  • Walt Mossberg suggests that one reason Apple’s iPad dominates the market is that most other tablet offerings come across as imitations that do not ultimately provide the same superior experience.
  • Sony aspires to change that perception with the release of its 9.4-inch Sony Tablet S, which Mossberg describes as a “handsome tablet with an unusual, asymmetrical design and some software tweaks and content services it hopes can set it apart from the pack.”
  • Sony’s new device, launched over the weekend, uses Google’s Android OS and costs the same as the Wi-Fi-only iPads ($500 for the 16GB version and $600 for the 32GB model).
  • The Tablet S has no cellular data option and tested weaker than the iPad in terms of battery life, but has a design like no other competitor: “One of the long sides of its rectangular, plastic body has a thick, rounded edge that makes the device look like a folded-back magazine.”
  • Mossberg sees this as a positive, even suggesting the device feels lighter than the iPad (it isn’t), based on how the weight rests on your palm. “While this design makes the Tablet S much thicker than many competitors, it has several advantages. When you hold the device one-handed in portrait, or vertical, mode, it feels much more comfortable and balanced than any other tablet I’ve tested. When you lay it on a flat surface in landscape, or horizontal, mode, the rounded edge creates a natural angle for typing, without a case or stand.”
  • Additionally setting it apart is an SD memory card slot (useful for transferring media), a customizable row of frequently used app icons, a Favorites feature (ideal for recently accessed media and Web bookmarks), and a universal remote control app with built-in infrared transmitter. “Sony also is bundling services for buying music, TV shows and movies, e-books and games to create a content ecosystem like Apple’s,” writes Mossberg.
  • We’ll see if these new features and unique design will be enough to attract consumers. If not, another tablet is on its way: “Sony is planning a second, even more radical tablet for later this fall, called the Tablet P. It’s a much smaller and lighter device that has no visible screen until you unfold it to reveal twin 5.5-inch displays that can either be used as one large screen or can have separate content in each.”

Adobe Demos Flash Video Streaming at NAB

Adobe previewed its new video streaming technology at NAB, built on the Adobe Flash Media Server. The new features and capabilities are designed to help stream protected video to mobile devices such as the Apple iPad and iPhone, Motorola Xoom, Samsung TVs and Atrix smartphone.

Last year Adobe introduced HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) for the Flash Platform, which leverages the MPEG-4 fragment container format using H.264/AAC codecs. The company is now adding support for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), an MPEG2 transport stream used by devices including the iPad 2. Adobe explains that HLS support within the Flash Media Server reduces “the publishing complexity for broadcasters who need to reach browsers supporting HLS through HTML5 (such as Safari) or devices where Adobe Flash is not installed.”

Adobe also demonstrated its next version of the Flash Media Live Encoder, that enables users to “capture a live broadcast stream and publish out to multiple devices including Android, Apple iOS and Samsung TVs.”

You can check out a seven-minute video demo on the Adobe blog.

Luci Live Enables Live Broadcasting from Mobile Devices

Netherlands-based Technica del Arte, maker of the LUCI series of broadcast software apps, recently announced that its popular Luci Live software is now available for Mac OSX Snow Leopard or higher (MSRP $450).

Luci Live turns mobile devices into portable recording studios, ideal for journalists who want to quickly record and edit video and audio content for HD streaming and live broadcasts. Macworld reports that TV and radio field reporters are using phones and laptops to cover events in locations such as Egypt, Japan, and Libya where traditional broadcasting techniques have recently been impacted by technical limitations.

As long as reporters have an Internet connection, Luci Live (also available in iPhone and Windows versions) is a viable solution.

Click here for more details regarding the $400 iPhone/iPad app.

YouTube Labs Invites Users to Test Experimental AI Features

YouTube is introducing YouTube Labs, an experimental hub where users can test the company’s latest artificial intelligence tools and prototypes, starting with AI hosts for YouTube Music. “As you listen to radio and mixes, AI hosts will chime in with relevant stories and insights,” YouTube explains. A brand-specific version of its parent company’s Google Labs, YouTube Labs is positioned as the place “to discover the next generation of YouTube,” and the streaming video giant says that like its predecessor, “feedback and interactions may be used to improve Google products and services.” Continue reading YouTube Labs Invites Users to Test Experimental AI Features

Nvidia Audio2Face AI Avatar-Generator Is Now Open Source

Nvidia has made its Audio2Face open source, a potential boon for game developers and other 3D uses such as customer service. The generative AI facial animation system brings lifelike speech and expression to avatars on an accelerated basis using real-time facial animation and lip-sync. It works by analyzing acoustic features to create a stream of animation data that is then mapped onto a character’s facial poses. The data translates to “accurate lip-sync and emotional expressions,” says Nvidia, noting the imagery can be rendered offline for pre-scripted content or streamed in real time for dynamic characters with accurate lip-sync and emotional expressions. Continue reading Nvidia Audio2Face AI Avatar-Generator Is Now Open Source

Spotify Is Allowing for Creative AI Use While Filtering Out Slop

Artificial intelligence has proven to be a creative enabler, though also a headache when it comes to protecting intellectual property rights. And for some, like Spotify, it is both. Even as the platform takes pains to accommodate AI-powered bands like The Velvet Sundown it is simultaneously “waging war” against content-farmed AI tunes. In the past 12 months Spotify says it has removed over 75 million spammy tracks. Now it is rolling out an even more robust spam filtering system while stepping up enforcement of impersonations and mandating AI disclosures for music with industry-standard credits. Continue reading Spotify Is Allowing for Creative AI Use While Filtering Out Slop

Nvidia Investing $100 Billion in OpenAI Data Center Build-Out

Nvidia is investing up to $100 billion in a partnership with OpenAI that will result in what Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicts will be “the biggest AI infrastructure deployment in history.” The project will use about 10 gigawatts worth of Nvidia systems — including the upcoming Vera Rubin platform — power equivalent to 4 million to 5 million GPUs. “This partnership is about building an AI infrastructure that enables AI to go from the labs into the world,” Huang said on CNBC’s “Halftime Report,” explaining the $100 billion will be invested in stages as each gigawatt is deployed. The investment will be all-cash with Nvidia receiving an undisclosed amount of OpenAI equity. Continue reading Nvidia Investing $100 Billion in OpenAI Data Center Build-Out

eBay Set to Purchase Norway’s Social Shopping Platform Tise

EBay has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Norway-based consumer-to-consumer (C2C) social marketplace Tise, which specializes in secondhand fashion and home furnishing goods and is popular with Gen Z and Millennial shoppers. Founded in 2014, Tise currently has about 2.5 million registered users in the Nordic region and has raised $45 million over three funding rounds. EBay says Tise’s community engagement features, including the ability to follow sellers and receive personalized product recommendations by ‘liking’ and commenting on listings, will enrich the eBay C2C experience. Financial terms for the acquisition were not disclosed. Continue reading eBay Set to Purchase Norway’s Social Shopping Platform Tise

Sports Helping Propel ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV to New Heights

After five years of spadework, ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV is ready for its close-up with the fall football season and growing HDR interest across the sports world. The August 23 NFL preseason game between New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos was an inflection point, the first time a local U.S. broadcaster delivered an over-the-air show in native HDR from “glass to glass” — camera lenses to NextGen TV home screens. Now the NextGen coalition Pearl TV is gearing up for a marketing push to promote the benefits of HDR in the lead-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Continue reading Sports Helping Propel ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV to New Heights

Google Adds Gemini AI Assistant to Chrome Browser in U.S.

Google is rolling out “Gemini in Chrome” to U.S. Mac and Windows desktop users. Business users will get it in the weeks to come, as will Android and iOS mobile devices. The immediate change integrates “Google AI into Chrome across multiple levels so it can better anticipate your needs, help you understand more complex information, and make you more productive when you browse the web.” There are a number of safety features that leverage AI to combat scams and handle things like automatic password resets. And Gemini in Chrome will soon be able to recall websites previously visited without requiring you to scroll through your browsing history. An agentic browsing assistant is also in the works. Continue reading Google Adds Gemini AI Assistant to Chrome Browser in U.S.

‘Europa’: ETC Teams Up with AWS on Cloud-First Production

Sci-fi short “Europa,” written and directed by Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal, is the Entertainment Technology Center’s latest project to test the expanding possibilities of virtual production and remote collaboration. To call “Europa” a cloud-first production is to rethink filmmaking from the ground up. This wasn’t just a distributed team working online — it was an ecosystem where every workflow, from previs to final VFX, operated entirely in the cloud. It wasn’t a workaround; it was the foundation. And powering that foundation — every tool, every task, every decision — was AWS. Continue reading ‘Europa’: ETC Teams Up with AWS on Cloud-First Production

Microsoft Details $7 Billion Future of Wisconsin AI Data Center

Microsoft is in the final phases of building the $3.3 billion Wisconsin facility it says will be the most powerful AI data center in the world when it comes online in early 2026 to train the next decade of artificial intelligence models. The software giant has already begun staffing the operation and is already planning further expansion, with another $4 billion to be spent in the next three years to build a second data center of similar size and scale — bringing the total investment in Wisconsin to more than $7 billion. Located in Mount Pleasant, the nearly completed facility will be the first in what Microsoft is calling its Fairwater family of hyperscale data centers. Continue reading Microsoft Details $7 Billion Future of Wisconsin AI Data Center

Roku and Aurzen Launch D1R Cube Portable Smart Projector

Roku has partnered with German projector maker Aurzen on the first smart projector that runs on the Roku OS. The Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector D1R Cube can display a native 1080p image with 330 ANSI lumens brightness sized from 40 to 150 diagonal inches with the projector placed 3.6 to 10.8 feet from the screen. The device is currently available from Amazon for $250. The D1R Cube can display indoors or outdoors on a screen or a wall. The Roku OS capabilities include voice control and one-click access to premium streaming channels including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube and Apple TV. Continue reading Roku and Aurzen Launch D1R Cube Portable Smart Projector