Consumer Electronics Daily News

Affectiva releases the first emotion-sensing mobile SDK

Affectiva, the global experts in consumer emotion insights, today announced the release of the Affdex™ Software Development Kit (SDK), the first emotion-sensing technology for iOS. By extending its Affdex emotion-sensing platform to mobile, developers can optimize user engagement by creating apps that instantly respond to their unfiltered emotion feedback.

The Affdex SDK builds on the scientifically proven, cloud-based Affdex emotion-sensing platform, adapted for mobile environments without internet access. Users' facial expressions are captured (via device camera, video or single image) and valuable emotion insights are generated on-device, in real-time. Keeping the processing on the iOS device, enables Affectiva to uphold the privacy of users by ensuring that facial images are not saved or transmitted.

The CEO of Affectiva, Nick Langeveld stated, "Emotions are what truly make the difference in taking an ordinary, everyday experience and turning it into an extraordinary moment that we remember. Building the Affdex SDK opens up a world of possibilities for developers who want to make their apps more emotionally engaging. We're excited to see what this community will create as we work together to find new use-cases and make emotion-sensing technology more ubiquitous."

Stephanie Tilenius, a Kleiner Perkins Caufield Bauer executive stated, "Mobile is growing exponentially. With social networking and geo-location, our devices are enabled to know who we are, where we are and what we're doing. However, these smart devices are still missing the key element to understanding human sentiment. As technology innovators, Affectiva is creating a platform for passive and active emotion-sensing --the next generation of social communication."

Self-Taught Developer David Richard Harnesses the Power of Geofencing to Create a New Type of Local Network with His New Mobile App JaVu

Mobile app developer David Richard has recently launched the private beta for his upcoming application JaVu. Built around the concept of geofencing, this top-notch app is capable of functioning as a location aware social network. JaVu users can create a geofence around them, and their followers receive image or text notifications when they enter the geofence. JaVu is capable of finding out connections with a high degree of accuracy while still being battery-safe by using a combination of Wi-Fi positioning, cell tower triangulation, and GPS.

Though these are early days to make any prediction, JaVu does look like a unique application with endless possibilities for the future. This may include finding restaurant reviews, promotion of entertainment events, product listing for a business, and much more. David's plan for the future of JaVu includes augmented reality, location based games, event implementation, deep real estate implementation, and an incredible feature for restaurants.

David is a 22-year-old entrepreneur and application developer who began tinkering with the idea of JaVu and other programming projects approximately 18 months ago. "I have been building the idea in my head for two years, even before I started programming. When Apple released their Reminders app, I wondered how they accomplished reminding people based on their location. That's when I discovered geofencing. I thought it would be incredible for your phone to automatically alert you of location-based social media," David says.

The young developer has moved from fixing iPhones in a flea market to learning the Gamesland Engine, Lua language and the Unity Game Engine. He is currently learning and writing JaVu in the iOS native Objective C language. All of this has occurred over the past year and a half.  He has released several applications on the Apple App store, but JaVu is his biggest project to date.

Currently, JaVu is in private beta, and the creator is looking for more testers. David is pushing for a mid-March launch.

CES Spotlights International Startups

The 2014 International CES® will spotlight the promise, power and future of technology through innovative startups and entrepreneurs. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today announced new areas and events at CES dedicated to the startup community, including the Indiegogo Zone and UP Global LIVE Stage. 

“CES is a platform for innovators, big or small, who come to CES to take their business to the next level,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, International CES and corporate business strategy, CEA. “Startups are attending and launching their products at CES in ever-growing numbers, underscoring CES’ importance as the proving ground for innovators in consumer technology. We’re thrilled to bring new areas and events to the show floor that showcase these entrepreneurial companies and their groundbreaking innovations and provide them access to potential customers, partners, and investors as well as the global media.”

The all-new Indiegogo Zone, housed within the Eureka Park TechZone, will feature hardware campaigners from around the world. These innovators will showcase products and share experiences about raising funds on Indiegogo. The Indiegogo Zone provides an opportunity for anyone interested in learning more about crowdfunding for hardware.

The UP Global LIVE Stage, sponsored by GE, will showcase the startup community, facilitate connections and provide programming in Eureka Park. The stage will feature panels with iconic entrepreneurs, leading investors, corporate executives and media. In addition to programming, UP Global will host mentor sessions and pitch competitions and provide resources and networking opportunities for exhibitors and attendees.

The second annual ShowStoppers Launch.it power session is a curated pitch event built exclusively for the young, transformative and entrepreneurial startups that exhibit in Eureka Park. Sixteen exhibitors will pitch to a panel of high profile angel/VC investors along with media, analysts and industry experts in the audience.

An anchor for the startup community at CES, the 2014 Eureka Park TechZone will feature more than 200 exhibitors, 30 percent more than the 2013 CES. In partnership with UP Global, the National Science Foundation (NSF), General Electric (GE) and AT&T, Eureka Park provides a stage for new companies with technologies to market their innovation to venture capitalists, media and buyers. Eureka Park will have a French pavilion for the first time with UbiFrance bringing 11 French startups to the area.

Building off the success of Eureka Park, the new Eureka Park: NEXT hosts the progressing stage of Eureka Park startups. This TechZone is designed for mid-stage startups that have launched a product in the past year. In Eureka Park: NEXT, retailers, venture capitalists, manufacturers and more will discover established startups looking to expand their growth.

Floored within Eureka Park, Academia Tech focuses on the technologies coming from colleges and universities. CES also offers special networking events curated for startups and entrepreneurs like the invitation-only Entrepreneurs Reception and Tech Cocktail’s Startup Night.

The 2014 CES will feature more than 3,200 exhibitors unveiling the latest consumer technology products and services across 15 product categories. For more information on the 2014 International CES, visit CESweb.org.

Stream TV to Present Consumer-Ready 4KTVs with Glasses-Free 3D at CES 2014

Stream TV Networks will be showcasing consumer-ready 4KTVs featuring breakthrough Ultra-D™ glasses-free adjustable 3D technology during 2014 International CES.  Of the various sizes to be brought to market by the company's brand partners in 2014, the 50" and 55" models will be on display.

Some of the TVs will be accompanied by the seeCube-4K™, an external device that converts a wide range of content – 2D or 3D stereoscopic sources –  to 2160p glasses-free 3D in real time. Stream TV has successfully ported its realtime conversion technology to the new Qualcomm 8074 processor, and a second version of the TV will carry the conversion technology built into a chip, significantly reducing costs. Using complex algorithms, the Ultra-D technology converts 1080p/2 million pixel content into a 4K/8 million pixel viewing experience. Users can connect their satellite or cable service, VOD, Blu-ray player, Xbox or PlayStation, as well as watch Internet content from Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Baidu TV, PPStv, iQYi tv, Totou TV and other video sites with ease.

Qualcomm's latest 8074 processor features the new Krait 400 CPU in quad configuration, with speeds of up to 2.3 GHz per core for best-in-class performance per watt, so processor performance can hold up to the more demanding processing.The new Adreno 330 GPU delivers more than 2x performance for compute applications over the current Adreno 320 GPU, capturing playback and display in 2160p video.

"Ultra-D presents a never-before-seen glasses-free 3D viewing experience," said Mathu Rajan, CEO of Stream TV Networks. "There's a lack of 4K content out there, but by generating millions of new pixels with depth information, we truly take advantage of what a 4K screen can offer."

Ultra-D will be on display at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Central Hall Booth 14032 during CES.

Haier Ranked #1 Global Major Appliances Brand for 5th Consecutive Year

Haier is ranked the world's number one major home appliances brand with a 9.7 percent retail volume share, according to the 2013 Global Major Appliances Brand rankings released by the Euromonitor International consumer market strategy research firm. In terms of the manufacturer rankings, Haier gained the top position with an 11.6 percent market share, while Whirlpool and Electrolux remained Haier's strong competitors.

Haier also maintained its leadership position in the global markets for refrigerators, washing machines, wine coolers and freezers.

According to the research data of Euromonitor in recent years, this is the fifth time Haier has been recognized as the #1 Global Major Appliances Brand. Against the backdrop of increasing international competition, Haier's consistent and steady growth has attracted widespread attention, but industry watchers are even more interested in investigating into the driving factors behind Haier's success.

Haier is deploying a networking strategy to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet era. This differentiates Haier from other players in the global appliances market. Haier aims to develop innovative and smart appliances that users can communicate with through the internet, enabling multi-way communications between users and a suite of smart appliances to create an intelligent life experience.

Haier strives to build smart homes and communities, in order to rapidly create a smart living experience for consumers. However, Haier is not the only player in the smart appliances market, and a number of rivals are challenging its leadership position to gain a larger piece of the pie. Looking ahead, the industry's attention will be focused on if Haier can leverage its networking strategy to maintain its global appliances leadership position amid the intense market competition.

AVG Delivers Shopping Privacy for the Holiday Season With New Wi-Fi Do Not Track feature for Smartphone Users

- AVG Technologies N.V. today announced the release of a new Wi-Fi® Do Not Track (DNT) feature available in its flagship AVG PrivacyFix^TM for Android^TM application, aimed at giving consumers the choice to block tracking of their location enabled by Wi-Fi networks in retail stores and other public venues. By using AVG PrivacyFix to choose the adjustments they wish to make their smartphone settings, shoppers can now trust that their retail experience will be more private than ever before.

The new Wi-Fi DNT feature within AVG PrivacyFix for Android enables users to have the Wi-Fi on their smartphones automatically suspended when they are out and about, only reconnecting in the vicinity of pre-set trusted Wi-Fi locations, such as their home, office or regular coffee shop, for example. This prevents the device from transmitting a unique code (MAC address) which retailers and marketers have begun using to track the movement of shoppers based on physical location. Retailers are using this information to count visitors, optimize store layouts or measure the effectiveness of mobile advertising.

"Using Wi-Fi technology to capture our location data in stores provides retailers with analytics. The problem is that consumers have limited notice of these activities, often no opportunity to opt-out, and many may not realize they are even being observed in this way," said Gary Kovacs, Chief Executive Officer, AVG Technologies. "My view is that trust is at the heart of all successful transactions. Take that away, and you devalue technology's significant potential. AVG was the first security company to provide active Do Not Track in our desktop products and, with consumers increasingly using mobile devices to get online, we have maintained our leadership by extending this choice to the physical world."

"The commercialization of Wi-Fi tracking of shoppers appears to be on the rise with companies offering such services to retailers. Yet often these services lack any opt-out mechanism for consumers and fail to provide assurance of basic encryption protection of your device identifier. AVG PrivacyFix offers individuals the choice and control over their privacy that the industry has yet to provide," said Jim Brock, VP Privacy Products, AVG Technologies. "Until we see broadly accepted and protective industry standards in place to regulate smartphone tracking in the real-world, consumers need to fend for themselves. We're here to make that easier."

AVG PrivacyFix featuring the new Wi-Fi DNT feature has been developed as an additional element to the existing AVG PrivacyFix application, which allows people to manage their privacy settings across popular online sites, such as Facebook and Google+ and is available now to download for Android smartphones here. 

Lock and Unlock Your House with Your iPhone

Kwikset® answers consumer demand for both convenience and security with its Kevo™ smart lock. The highly anticipated Bluetooth®-enabled deadbolt is now available to order and has begun shipping to homes across America. By simply installing Kevo and downloading the mobile app, your iPhone® becomes your key. Convenient and versatile, Kevo gives owners the ability to unlock the door with their smartphone and a simple touch; send electronic keys (eKeys) to family, friends and service people; and receive notifications whenever a user enters or exits their door.

"Kevo is not just another lock, it represents a shift in lifestyle for busy homeowners. Whether keeping track of your teenage daughter, granting temporary access to a housecleaner or monitoring your front door activity while on vacation, Kevo redefines the meaning of smart, simple security," said Greg Gluchowski, President, Kwikset.

The Total Key Management Solution
Using the Kevo mobile app, homeowners can send eKeys to family, friends or service people, anytime, anywhere. Once an eKey is sent, recipients can simply download the mobile app, if they don't already have it installed, keep their iPhone in their purse or pocket and unlock the door with a simple touch. With several levels of permissions, Kevo owners and administrators have authorization to send, delete and disable eKeys within seconds. After distributing eKeys, they can choose to receive notifications when a user locks or unlocks the door, for convenient home security management. Homeowners agree, eKeys are the answer to every-day challenges in key (and home security) management:

"Using Kevo is like living in the future. My new smart lock, and therefore my home, now magically recognizes me by touch. Being able to issue and revoke virtual keys to family members or service providers is priceless. Install was a breeze, even for a guy like me who's never replaced a deadbolt, and it only required a single screwdriver," said David Zatz, blogger at "Zatz Not Funny".  

"I have two dogs that I walk and two children, ages four and two. I am always carrying the kids, groceries and my bags from work, holding the dog's leashes, or with my hands full," said Kathy Z. of "3 Boys and a Dog" blog. "This device is invaluable to me because, instead of fumbling for keys (that I inevitably drop), I can simply touch my lock with one finger and gain access to my home. I always have my phone on me, either in my pant pocket or in my purse, and I can just leave it in there, touch my Kevo and I am in. The convenience factor is huge!"

A Mobile App that Gives You Control and Convenience
Kwikset's Kevo mobile app includes a simple interface that delivers much more than eKey management. After setting up a Kevo account, Owners can customize and control everything through their app, including:

• Managing eKeys and settings associated with each given lock
• Receiving notifications when a user enters or exits the door
• Monitoring lock activity and tracking user history
• Updating Kevo lock software directly from a smartphone
• Instant access to Kevo's Help Center
• Kevo web portal offers the same management features as the app via a browser

The Kwikset Kevo Advantage
Kevo combines UniKey Technologies™, Inc.'s (UniKey) secure touch-to-open technology and Kwikset's 67 years of experience engineering and manufacturing residential door locks. This combination of expertise translates to unmatched convenience and security features that include:

• Inside-outside technology - Kevo offers patent-pending intelligent positioning technology that detects whether an authorized user is inside or outside of the home before granting access, to help prevent unauthorized entry. 
• Touch-to-open convenience - Users can keep their phones in their pocket or purse. No more fumbling for keys, simply touch the lock to open for the ultimate convenience.
• Kevo fob - No smartphone? No problem. Users can enjoy the same touch-to-open convenience with the fob. A single fob can be authorized to work with up to 25 Kevo locks.
• Multiple levels of encryption - Kevo uses multiple levels of encryption to increase digital security and is continually reviewed by industry leading independent security experts. 
• SmartKey¨ technology - Kwikset's patented SmartKey re-key technology provides superior security and re-key convenience unlike any other smart lock on the market.

"History has shown extremely powerful solutions that deliver a simple and elegant user experience evolve industries. Combining forces with Kwikset, we are able to deliver a complete, mass market product that will truly revolutionize the way we gain access to our homes," said Phil Dumas, founder, UniKey.

Compatibility, Pricing and Availability
Kevo is compatible with smartphones that support Bluetooth Smart Ready/Bluetooth 4.0 hardware and have the Kevo mobile app available. The app is currently available for iPhone® 4S, 5, 5c and 5s, as well as the fifth generation iPod® touch, third generation or higher iPad® and iPad mini. The app will become available for additional platforms such as Android™, pending software upgrades that will fully support Bluetooth Smart Ready/Bluetooth 4.0 technology. Homeowners can purchase their Kevo deadbolt for the suggested price of $219 at a wide range of retailers nationwide.

Still Wearing a Real Mask this Halloween?

Halloween costumes can be so…analog. Until this season.  Artist and Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) augmented-reality researcher Mark Skwarek has teamed with one of his grad students to create 3D digital masks more appropriate to the year 2013.

Skwarek, an NYU-Poly instructor of integrated digital media, and Animesh Anad, a computer science graduate student, developed the virtual masks to launch an augmented reality game that turns the entire planet into a futuristic reality game in which real people and locations morph with fantasy.

By using a mobile and instructions on how to easily print out "markers," which are a kind of colorful barcode, about four inches square, to clip or tie into their hair or hat. By holding up a mobile device, the wearer suddenly appears wearing a digital mask – from cute kitty to ghoul, skeleton, or pumpkin-head. Through the 3-D wonders of augmented reality, the viewer can walk around the masked wearer and peek around the sides to try to find the wearer's identity—just as one would at a costume ball.

The masks are part of what the augmented reality set call "wearables." For the Brooklyn Art Fair, some 4,000 kids "wore" virtual dinosaur and monster costumes as their loving parents watched them on iPads and iPhones, tromping as frightening creatures in real time through the real Prospect Park.

Skwarek predicts augmented reality technology will soon boom as future generations of Google Glass and competitors emerge. Gamers will no longer stare, nearly stationary, at video screens, but instead visit parks and other common areas, which have been mapped by game developers using GPS, where they will physically interact with others in realistic-looking settings overlaid with the creators' imaginative additions, such as forts or castles. The same technology, already developed for mobile phones and pads by Skwarek, allows an interior designer or architect to walk clients into an unfinished building and see in 3D what the finished project will look like, while moving and turning to get different views.

Skwarek is teaching the cutting-edge technology in classes and in a new augmented-reality lab opened at the NYU Media and Games Network (MAGNET) facility in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn's Tech Triangle. In the spirit of NYU-Poly's commitment to what it calls i-squared-e, for Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Skwarek and Anad are founders of the company Semblance AR. Its first offering is Play AR, the world's easiest augmented reality video game-creation software in a mobile app. Play AR lets people with no programming experience create highly interactive augmented reality (AR) video games with just a few clicks—absolutely no programming knowledge required. In AR Battlefield, any real location on Earth transforms into a futuristic, multi-user augmented reality game. Its wearables include full body armor. To launch the game, the startup is offering the AR Halloween masks for a donation of as little as $5 to its Kickstarter campaign.

Skwarek has been active in the creative and industrial sectors and has also worked on locative solutions and information delivery for the public, private, and governmental sectors. He has a long record of international augmented reality artwork, ranging from "erasing" the DMZ battlements between North and South Korea (a piece he did on site), to the virtual elimination of the barricades between Palestine and Israel, at the Gaza Strip. His work has been featured by the New York Times, Art in America, WIRED, the Boston Globe, NPR, and the BBC, among other major outlets.

L-3 and Lemko Corp Fly an Ultra-light Airborne 4G LTE SwarmNetwork™ for Tactical Air to Ground Broadband Communications

L-3 and Lemko Corp. fly an ultra-light airborne 4G LTE SwarmNetwork™ for tactical air to ground broadband communications. The X5™ aerial demonstration proved that the same high-speed data infrastructure available in fixed mounted or dismounted configurations on the ground can be further supported from the air. Lemko's solution surpasses traditional LTE coverage bubbles by the ODC SwarmNetwork™ providing an ad-hoc LTE network with roaming, hand-off and survivability between nodes. A single ultra-light Swarming LTE Node provides a bubble of – voice, VoLTE, SMS, high-speed data, and video call – coverage.  Multiple SwarmNetwork™ Nodes form a canopy of In-Band Mesh Network for larger coverage area or higher capacity.

"The airborne LTE swarming capabilities demonstrated with L-3 certainly show that we are able to quickly deploy mobile broadband in the remotest areas in support of our war fighters or first responders. This will certainly significantly enhance their mission performance capabilities," says Chris White, Executive Vice President Sales, Lemko Corporation.

OmniVision Releases OmniGlass™ Reference Design

OmniVision Technologies, Inc.  today announced OmniGlass™, a new reference design that combines a wearable display and a camera module for the rapidly growing wearable electronics market. The OmniGlass™ reference design combines OmniVision's new ultra-compact and low-power OVP2200 liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) solution, which displays 720p high-definition (HD) video, with the OVP921, a companion chip that provides image processing support and further simplifies system design. Together, the OVP2200 and OVP921 deliver a complete high performance display solution that is structured specifically for the next-generation wearable consumer electronics market.

"We're bringing the OVP2200 to market at a time when the wearable electronics industry is poised for explosive growth. Industry analysts are predicting that the global market volumes for wearable electronics will exceed 130 million units by 2018, reaching an estimated $8 billion in revenues," said Raymond Sun, Senior Manager, LCOS business at OmniVision. "By building the OVP2200 LCOS display into the OmniGlass reference design, we can help enable our customers and partners to quickly enter the burgeoning wearable display and camera markets with highly competitive offerings."

The OmniGlass reference design is a complete optical head-mounted display (OHMD), equipped with a 4-megapixel autofocus camera that delivers high quality 720p HD video, and a best-in-class display enabled by OmniVision's high-performance OVP2200 LCOS solution. The device's image processor is capable of supporting various wireless connections, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and enables on-screen display (OSD) features for augmented reality applications.

The single-chip OVP2200 is a color field sequential LCOS device with a native resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels and a diagonal measurement of 0.26-inch. It uses all-digital technology to produce clear, stable images. The OVP2200's ultra-compact form factor and low-power consumption make it an ideal LCOS solution for applications ranging from wearable smartphone displays to sports and medical cameras.
The OVP921 companion chip provides enhanced system performance without the need for external memory or an image processor. It has built-in keystone correction, frame rate conversion, video input scaling, interface to LED controller and an embedded microcontroller. The OVP921 can accept video data from three different signal inputs: 24-bit RGB, MIPI or USB.

A prototype of OmniGlass is currently available for demonstrations, and a development kit is available for customer sampling upon request. The OVP2200 is currently sampling, with volume production expected to begin during the second quarter of 2014.