Category: Tech News

New Generation Musical Instrument – Oval hits #KickStarter by @Tiwaash #Music #StartUp #MusicalInstrument

Technology is evolving at the fastest rate ever since humanity was introduced to it helping us do our work with ease and in a more sophisticated manner and today we are here with something very innovative, thanks to the innovations in technology we have Oval. Sound confused? Read on…

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ABOUT OVAL:
OVAL is a new generation electronic musical instrument which allows you to play, learn and perform music with any sound into it.
The Oval is both an electronic musical instrument and an open-hardware music controller linked to a smartphone, tablet or computer. It allows you to change and create sounds and is also a tool for playing and learning music, sharing your compositions and performing live.

DO YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT IT?
Inspired by the HandPans family of acoustic instruments, the Oval provides total freedom to create sounds and it’s a tool geared towards music learning and performing.
There are more ways of enjoying music besides listening. You are never too old or too young to experience the awesome feeling of playing an instrument and creating music. We believe that learning music should be fun and that you can play an instrument right away. The Oval speeds up your music learning curve, leveraging the power of technology, gaming and sharing with others.


Ovalsound was founded in 2014 by Ravid Goldschmidt and Alex Posada in Barcelona (Spain), to provide everyone with the opportunity to find a way to express themselves musically, pushing the boundaries of traditional music to new ways of interaction.
Most traditional instruments are linear, think of a guitar, a flute or a violin. The handpan is meant to be performed in circles. The interface doesn’t have a beginning or an end, so you can join musical notes together in a fluid way. The notes have a radial position and are equidistant from the Ding, the central note that sets the tone of the scale. No matter how you play, you are able to perform beautiful melodies every time.


The Oval takes the design, ergonomics and musical qualities of the handpans as an inspiration to create an electronic instrument that can be as simple for a beginner to start exploring music as a means of expression, and as complex as a professional musician wants to make it, as it allows to change sounds and scales, layer samples, real time looping and go wherever the imagination takes you.

SPECIFICATIONS:

  • The Oval is ergonomically designed and can be played in many ways. Highly sensitive, intuitive, easy , durable and (children-proof) resistant!
  • The external case is made of Solid Surface composed by natural materials –minerals like bauxite, marble and quartz–, natural resins and acrylic.
  • Carefully designed, the Oval is light, portable, durable, minimal, simple and energetically self-sufficient.
  • Easy as a backpack, you can get an additional case beautifully made of wood to take it comfortably anywhere you want and never leaving your Oval at home.
  • Designed, engineered and made with care in Barcelona.

WITH OVAL : PLAY, LEARN, SHARE, CREATE: IT IS ALL IN YOUR HANDS

Grab your Oval right now from Kickstarter capaign I’m pretty much exited about this wonderful project, so all the musicians out there check this awesome gadget.

Stay tuned for more tech buzz.

Twitter now makes conversations easier to follow on tweet page. #Twitter #SocialMedia

Twitter has introduced a new feature making conversations easier to follow,On the Tweet page, Tweets that are part of a conversation are connected by a line. If you want to see more of the replies to a specific Tweet within a conversation you can click “View other replies”.

On their blog they post the following.

Conversations surrounding a Tweet, particularly if they’ve sparked lots of replies and disparate conversations, can be hard to follow. So, we’re doing a few things to make this much easier: grouping conversations together and highlighting some of the most interesting exchanges surrounding a given Tweet right below that Tweet. To surface some of the most interesting conversations, we’ll take factors into account like whether the original account has replied.

Example – Q&A with Tony Hawk.

 

This feature is now beginning to roll out to all logged in and logged out users on twitter.com today and will be rolling out to mobile apps in the future.

Source

Get Batman – #ArkhamKnight before anyone with €15 in vouchers with @ParcelMotel & @HMVIreland #Gaming

Get your hands on Batman: Arkham Knight before anyone else along with €15 in vouchers!

Gamers can now get their hands on Batman, Arkham Knight before anyone else plus €15 in vouchers to boot.

As part of this exclusive offer you will also receive free delivery to your Parcel Motel, as well as a FREE €5 hmv.ie voucher plus 2 x €5 XVMarketplace.ie vouchers.

How to avail of this amazing offer:
1. You must be registered with Parcel Motel to avail of this offer.
2. Place your order on hmv.ie including your PMID and Parcel Motel Dublin address for delivery (see your address below).
3. Your order will be shipped to your Parcel Motel and you will receive your PIN number at midnight on 23rd June.
4. Enter code KNIGHT at checkout.
5. Offer ends midnight 17/06/15.

TERMS
Enter code KNIGHT at checkout to avail of this offer – Batman: Arkham Knight + FREE €5 hmv.ie voucher and x2 €5 XVMarketplace.ie.
Offer ends midnight 17/06/15.
Offer only applies to select title and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Yahoo is shutting down maps and other services. #Yahoo #Maps

Yahoo have made a blog post announcing some upcoming changes in its “Q2 2015 Progress Report On Our Product Prioritization“,

Amotz Maimon, Chief Architect reports….

At Yahoo, we continue to focus on our key product pillars: search, communications and digital content. Part of that focus includes taking a hard look at our existing products and services, and ensuring our resources are spent smartly and with a clear purpose. Ultimately, we want to provide you with the best products, platforms and experiences possible.

 

 

 

We’d like to provide you with a few upcoming product changes:

 

  • Support for Yahoo Mail on older iOS devices (built-in Mail app): In order to maintain focus on the security, speed and functionality of Yahoo Mail on the latest systems, we are no longer supporting Yahoo Mail on the built-in Mail app for devices prior to iOS 5 on June 15, 2015. If you use iOS 4 & earlier, you can continue to use Yahoo Mail on their Safari mobile browser at mail.yahoo.com.
  • Support for syncing Yahoo Contacts on older Macs: Similarly, to provide the best and safest experience, starting June 15, 2015, we are no longer supporting Yahoo Contacts syncing for devices prior to Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. If you use Mac OS X 10.7 Lion & earlier, you can continue to access your Yahoo Contacts through Yahoo Mail on their web browser.
  • maps.yahoo.com: The Yahoo Maps site will close at the end of June. However, in the context of Yahoo search and on several other Yahoo properties including Flickr, we will continue to support maps. We made this decision to better align resources to Yahoo’s priorities as our business has evolved since we first launched Yahoo Maps eight years ago.
  • GeoPlanet & PlaceSpotter APIs: For developers who use GeoPlanet and PlaceSpotter APIs, we are standardizing and consolidating our offerings by retiring these APIs in Q3. The functionality provided by these APIs are available today through Yahoo Query Language (YQL) and BOSS. Information on how to migrate the APIs is available on the websites forYQL (non-commercial usage with rate limited to 2,000 queries per day, per table, per app ID) and BOSS (commercial usage).
  • Market-specific Yahoo media properties: In the coming weeks, we will shut down some of our regional, genre-specific media properties to streamline our editorial offering. The content from these sites will be redistributed across the Yahoo network. Here are the affected markets and properties:
  • In mid-June, we will close Yahoo Music in France and Canada as well as Yahoo Movies in Spain. We will also close our Yahoo Philippines homepage and genre-specific media sites, and redirect to the Yahoo Singapore homepage.
  • At the end of June, we will close Yahoo TV in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Canada as well as Yahoo Autos in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
  • In early July, Yahoo Entertainment in Singapore will close.
  • Yahoo Pipes: Pipes creation will not be supported as of Aug. 30 this year. Pipes infrastructure will run until Sept. 30, 2015 in read-only mode to help developers migrate their data. Please visit http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes for additional details.

Via 

Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition,unboxing gallery and walkaround. #SamsungGear #VR #Oculus

Today a very nice package arrived and its the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition and its certainly one fantastic piece of kit,only just set up from what we have seen this is something rather exciting and looking forward it can only get better,but perhaps in a smaller iteration.Standing up is not a good idea at first, having tried one out last year nothing has changed there, you will feel funny, Preloaded material is quite good to get you up and running and shows us what’s in store and what the future can hold.

Check out our image gallery and unboxing after the break,currently we just have pre-loaded content which we can say looks fantastic to begin with so any questions fire away and we will talk more over the coming weeks.

See the Difference

The new Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition transforms your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 into an unparalleled 360 degree virtual reality viewing experience. Be transported to amazing new worlds in games, video and images.

Immersive Environments

Powered by Oculus and the Galaxy Note 4, The Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition literally surrounds you with virtual video, images and games in a full 360 degree immersive environment that puts you at the center of all the action.

All-In-One Experience

Navigate the virtual world and select content with a combination of head movement and touch controls. Download fresh content from the Oculus store. New applications and in-app content will constantly show up sharing new, exclusive experiences with Gear VR Innovator Edition users.

See more at Samsung

 

The Samsung Galaxy S6 launched to the edge of space. #Samsung #GalaxyS6

Seems to be a common thing these days,but the team at accessories manufacturer Slickwraps, Inc. mounted the Galaxy S6 onto a box that was attached to a high-altitude balloon and launched it into the stratosphere. While up there, Slickwraps estimates that it faced “temperatures as low as -65°F (-54°C), and a maximum altitude of 122,264 feet.”

The phone makes it far enough up into the stratosphere where it looks like a scene out of the film Gravity before the balloon bursts and sends the device hurtling back toward Earth. The device crashed along with the box it was mounted on and it did indeed survive the impact despite encountering speeds of 110 mph along the way.

Via

Ireland is forking out much more on mobile charges than our EU counterparts. #Mobile #Bills #Killbiller

As the title says we are forking out much more than our EU counterparts,its true and prices are still on the up with 3 recently upping prices and more hikes could be on the way,in fact most likely..

The Indo talks to Killbiller about the topic.

The costs work out at 50pc more than the EU average, according to a new analysis by phone comparison app developer Killbiller.com.And the cost of calls, texts and data combined are six times more expensive in this country compared with the cheapest EU rates.Killbiller co-founder Bart Lehane, who carried out the research, said Irish people also paid far more for mobile phone services than it costs in countries in Europe that were similar in terms of population and size of economy. I tend to agree here myself. BUT Industry body Irish Cellular Industry Association (ICIA) rejected the Killbiller findings.

Factor in the mobile penetration rate here and our size compared to other countries look at the plans,they are indeed at times odd and you will get caught out somewhere along the line no matter what you pick.One thing in particular is our data plans,we now use data more than ever yet our data caps are quite modest if not poor compared to others especially on 4G contracts,3G is a bit more fair but its something the consumer needs to watch and if you are on 4G keep your eye on the data,it burns up rather quick…moral of the story here is do your homework before you decide what is right for you be it a bill or prepay plan..

Pay as you go contracts are generally quite good if you can manage them,if you can stick to your €20 p/m or €30 p/m rolling contracts again  not so bad but we still fair higher ,go to the UK and you can get similar deals for almost half the price,yes the market is bigger but there is more competition. On that topic An Post have launched a new campaign aiming to hit the data hungry folk on recently..

The findings are

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) research found that Ireland is up to 42pc more expensive for mobile phone services than other countries.

But

ICIA director Torlach Denihan said independent research using OECD-approved methodologies published last March found Ireland was the second cheapest when compared with five countries – Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK – for a basket of pre-paid mobile calls.

“Ireland is the third cheapest of these countries for a basket of bill-paid mobile calls and 29pc cheaper than the average price for these countries.”

Source

Oh! And just in case you have not tried Killbiller for yourself and save money download the app on Android and iOS

It may be possible to charge your mobile with Wi-Fi soon. #Mobile #Tech #Wifi

There is always going to be talk about charging your devices and there is always ideas and gadgets to help do this,NFC if one way which is wireless and we recently spoke about battery anxiety on RTE with the Consumer Show about alternative methods to keep our devices charged.Now WI-Fi tech is here to help in the near future.Until then we may stick with charging banks,USB and our humble wall plug..

US engineers recently developed technology known as ‘ambient backscatter’ that taps into Wi-Fi signals and transforms it into power – and have now created a prototype router.

During trials, these so-called PoWiFi routers powered battery-free cameras 17ft (5 metres) away and did so without interfering with the homeowners’ web speeds.The technology was first showcased by researchers at Washington University in August but lead engineer Shyam Gollakota recently demonstrated the prototype router at the EmTech Digital conference.

Ambient backscatter transforms existing wireless signals into both a source of power and a communication medium.It enables two battery-free devices to communicate by backscattering existing wireless signals.Since it uses the ambient radio frequency signals that are already around us, it doesn’t require a dedicated power infrastructure.The router used in the tests sent out radio waves which was then converted into a direct current voltage using what’s known as a ‘rectifier.’ A DC-DC converter was then used to increase the voltage level of the signal to match the requirements of the sensor or microcontroller.

Eventually, the technology could lead to networks of devices and sensors that send data by reflecting existing signals to exchange information, without the need for batteries.

Source

 

 

SipSup is a uniquely designed mobile connected drinking glass. #SipSup #Mobile #Kickstarter

 SipSup is uniquely designed mobile connected drinking glass that works as a reminder of your past adventures

SipSup is uniquely designed glass that can be used for much more than just drinking. Great looking piece of glassware is suitable for more or less any drink and enables you to enjoy special moments with your beloved ones even more.

“Almost every one of us has their favourite glass or cup they like to drink from. The market is full of beautiful cups but when it comes to glassware, uniquely designed glasses are hard to find. There is a reason behind every design detail of a SipSup. After many prototypes we came up with the curve shaped design that fits your hand perfectly. The base resembling a ripple of a drop falling into the water is telling you more than meets the eye.” SipSup explains.

SipSup glasses are crafted in collaboration with Slovenian glassworks Steklarna Hrastnik. Besides its outstanding design, the glassware also received a Vitrux certificate because of the outstanding optical properties and its resistance to machine washing.

Eva Stopar tells us about SipSup

SipSup is a young start-up company that grew from the idea of 3 friends and co-founders. In need of a female touch on the project the team expanded with 3 new members. We believe that our enthusiasm and the great energy within the team and will reflect on the SipSup.

For more on the upcoming Kickstarter tune in on the 19th June 2015

Thanks to Eva for getting in touch and check out their website HERE