Expensive Google Glass could one day control your expensive smart fridge

Google Glass, a tech that no one has, could one day be used to control smart fridges and , another tech that no one has.

According to a patent filed by Google (and discovered by Engadget) Google is working on functionality that would allow Glass owners to virtually interact with the smart devices around them. Using a combination of infrared, Bluetooth, radio frequency IDs, and plain old visual identification via Glass’s external camera, Google’s specs would act as a central control hub for developing Internet of Things you’ve been hearing so much about.

Everything surrounding Google Glass already sounds like science fiction, and this latest development is no exception to that. The world has been promised smart fridges and the like for a while now, but the devices are still at the fringes of mainstream adoption. (In that sense, they’re actually a bit further on than Glass itself.)

It’s tough not to geek out about the whole thing, but it’s even tougher to ignore the fact that all of this is going to be, really, really expensive. With the $1,500 price tag attached to Glass and the $4000 price of the relatively rudimentary smart fridges of today, the functionality  described in Google’s patent is going to be well beyond the reach of most people for a long, long time.

Photo: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

Filed under: Gadgets

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Pandora launches Windows Phone 8 app, promises ad-free listening through 2013

Popular online radio service Pandora has launched a Windows Phone 8 app, with the added bonus of hearing no advertisements with songs through the end of the year.

Pandora offers its service across nearly every platform it can to reach the widest audience possible. The service has more than 150 million registered users in U.S., but it has struggled to make a profit. The biggest news coming from the Pandora camp as of late was the resignation of long-time CEO Joe Kennedy. This happened just as Apple is reportedly looking to stomp on Pandora’s turf with its own radio service.

But today Pandora’s focus in on the future, with the addition of Windows Phone 8 to its lineup. The company writes in a blog post:

For the last six months or so we’ve been working hard to bring Pandora to the Windows Phone 8 audience. Happy to announce the day has finally come.

While of course Pandora on Windows Phone 8 features the same listening experience you’ve come to expect from us, we really wanted to embrace the unique features of the Windows Phone 8 platform. For example, you can pin your favorite stations directly to the Start screen. Even cooler, the tiles are live and show you what’s currently playing without having to actually launch the app. If you have kids, we’ve also integrated into what Microsoft calls “Kid’s Corner” – just launch Pandora from that starting point and we’ll make sure that no explicit content plays during that session.

From a design perspective, we constantly strive to keep the Pandora user experience as easy and consistent as possible across an ever-increasing variety of platforms — computers, mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes, cars, and more — all while taking into account the additional capabilities and design patterns of each individual platform. With its visually flat elements and unique panorama concept of navigation, designing for Windows Phone 8 while keeping our consistent Pandora aesthetic was an exciting challenge and we’re thrilled with the results.

The best part of the Pandora experience for most users, however, will be hearing no annoying ads while listening. Microsoft is actually footing the bill so Windows Phone 8 users don’t have to hear ads.

While the app isn’t available as of this writing, Pandora said the app will be available some time today in the Windows Phone Store.

Top photo via Pandora

Filed under: Media, Mobile

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At seven years old, how has Twitter affected your life?

It’s been seven years since Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent his first tweet (back when it was called Twttr) — since then the company has gone on discover vowels and reach more than 200 million active users.

Twitter created a short video (below) celebrating the major moments leading up to its seventh birthday, but beyond that the company surprisingly doesn’t have anything else to mark the occasion (even its user metrics have been announced previously). So what batter chance to reflect on the massive impact of 140 character messages on the world?

Like many, I thought the very idea of Twitter was silly when I first heard about it in 2006. How much can you really say in 140 characters? It seemed to signify that texting was creeping towards more general communication, and there simply was little room for in-depth thought in modern communication.

By early 2008, when I finally joined Twitter, it’s utility was quickly becoming clear. It wasn’t meant to replace longer communication, it instead seemed like the perfect way to join in on a larger, global conversation. Watching my Twitter feed automatically refresh and respond to breaking news, it began to remind me of how characters in The Matrix could see the shape of that virtual world simply by staring at code.

Throughout 2008, Twitter became an indispensable tool for all of my work. It helped me keep track of news for my IT support job, and it was also a great way to get in touch with people in the entertainment industry for my budding movie podcast.

Twitter  became the first thing I looked at in the morning, and the last thing I checked in with at night. My infatuation only intensified when I got my first iPhone, the 3GS, in 2009. Indeed, Twitter seemed like the perfect medium for the smartphone age: it fostered public communication, and its character limit meant users were forced to be clear, rather than ramble on like so many do in e-mails.

Now, Twitter sees more than 400 million tweets a day, and it’s an even more integral part of my daily life.

“Twitter has become a true global town square — a public place to hear the latest news, exchange ideas and connect with people all in real time,” wrote Twitter editorial director Karen Wickre in a blog post today. “This is where you come to connect with the world at large. Get on your soapbox to critique elected officials, or go sotto voce to the neighbor next to you.”

Photo via Clever Cupcakes/Flickr

Filed under: Media, Social, VentureBeat

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Build up your design toolbox with The Premium Designer Freebie Bundle [VB Store]

This sponsored post is produced by StackSocial.

It’s not often that we’re able to offer you something totally free here through our VB Store, but we’ve got one now. This bundle is loaded with hundreds of high-quality vector files, PSD files, icons and more – and for a limited time it can be yours for absolutely free!

The more you have at your disposal to use in your design work, the more creative you can be with the designs you make. This bundle offers a treasure trove of resources that you can use for much of your design needs.

You can check out the look of all the designs over at the VB Store page – but here’s a listing of what you’ll get in this free bundle (Note: Regular pricing for each item is listed in parentheses):

• 15 High-Quality iPhone and iPad Website Templates ($48.00): Need to get your app noticed on the web? We’ve got 15 sleek website templates so you can represent your iPhone and/or iPad app the right way on the web.
• 8 Clean, High-Quality Templates and UI Elements ($122.00): If you’ve been looking to give your design tools that extra edge this is a great little package of 8 clean templates (including PSD files) that will help you complete your next design project.
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• Over 80 Commercial Use Fonts ($15.00): There’s no quicker way to polish up a design like a nice, unique font. This isn’t just another font pack with negligible differentiating fonts.. Each included font has it’s own distinct features that will add a ton of variety to your designs. Don’t sweat copyrights – these bad boys include a commercial license so you can use them for any and all your design needs.
• 9 Premium Fonts from Andre Zottolo ($10.00): When it comes to fonts, it’s the more the merrier right? Now you can stack up on 9 more premium fonts with this pack compliments of Artist of Design! These fonts were created with design in mind and are sure to add some pizzaz to your next project. (And again, the commercial license included.)

You’ll also get these free bonus resources:

• 30+ Beautiful Grunge Textures…and more: Shiny and glossy design elements are now officially outdated… but just like retro is becoming trendy again, grunge is on the up and up! Bring 90’s grunge back in style with this fantastically grungy design pack!
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• 300 Smooth iOS Tab Bar Icons: As a designer, you can never have enough icons. These icons and symbols are designed for Apple iPhone and iPad app development. They are pixel perfect and contain alpha transparency which follow all the requirements provided by Apple.

You’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain by picking up this bundle. But it’s only around for a few days. When it’s gone…it’s gone. So grab this VB Store offer and get some excellent resources to add to your design arsenal while you can!

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Filed under: Entrepreneur

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