Consumer Electronics Daily News

Transform Instagram Video Into Custom Products With Cap That

Cap That (www.capthat.com), the only website that enables users to capture still images from videos and transform them into one-of-a-kind products, has announced the launch of a new feature that will allow Instagram's 130 million users to capture moments from Instagram videos and turn them into canvases, phone covers, woodprints, dog tags, designer quality apparel, and more. Users can upload a video directly from their Instagram gallery, and use a variety of filters, graphics, and other effects to create "art with no boundaries."

Brands like Disney, Universal Music, Discovery Channel, and IndyCar have already partnered with Cap That, allowing their fans to turn captured still images from licensed videos into official merchandise.  Now Instagram users will be able to enjoy the same technology with their own Instagram videos.

"Instagram offers an easy way to take high-quality photos and create really beautiful videos, we wanted Instagram's users to be able to take their photo and video sharing experience to the next level. Now they can turn their memories and special moments into personalized high-quality products," says David Hibbard, chief executive officer of Cap That. "You'll always be able to catch the apex of an epic trick and you'll never miss the 'blowing out the candles' moment; all those amazing shots that can only be captured in video will now be liberated by Cap That's new platform."

The launch of their Instagram video interface is the latest addition to Cap That's intuitive, easy-to-use product design platform. Users can play with effects, textures, templates, cutouts, graphics and transform any photo or still image from a video into unique expressions of themselves.

Cap That and Instagram are a perfect match: Instagram made it simple for anybody to take stunning pictures and videos, and Cap That does the same, empowering users to create incredible one-of-a-kind products.

Go to www.capthat.com for more information.

Twilio Launches Picture Messaging, Drops Prices on Text Messaging

Twilio, the communications API platform, today announced Twilio Picture Messaging, which allows customers to send images over MMS. Twilio customers can now send picture messages via short codes in the U.S., and phone numbers in Canada. In addition, Twilio is adding feature enhancements and continuing its tradition of passing savings onto customers by announcing a 25 percent price cut to its text messaging product for US phone numbers. More details on Twilio's offering can be found at http://www.twilio.com/sms.

"Text messaging is a great way to communicate, but often words are not enough," said Jeff Lawson, CEO and co-founder of Twilio. "Why describe a house for sale in words when you can send a picture? Why describe the damage to your car when you can show it? Seeing is believing -- pictures can build trust and drive decisions. Picture messaging opens the door to a whole range of new communications opportunities. We can't wait to see what our community builds next."

Developers and businesses can now send and receive picture messages to and from Canadian phone numbers and U.S. short codes with just a few lines of code. Twilio Picture Messaging supports a wide variety of image types including JPEG, GIF and PNG. Pricing will be only $0.02 outbound, $0.01 inbound, with a one-time activation fee of $500 for U.S. short codes only.

"Incorporating pictures into messaging takes the customer experience to another level," said Patrick Malatack, director of product management at Twilio. "Whether you are influencing customer behavior, maintaining consistent branding in your communications, or building better processes for your business; we think that a lot of people, in a wide range of industries will be able to create incredible experiences as part of their products and workflows."

As Twilio has done historically, it continues to drive down the cost of operations and pass the savings on to its customers. Twilio Text Messaging, which debuted for US phone numbers in 2010 at $0.03 per message, will now be a fraction of a cent -- only $0.0075 per message, inbound and outbound. International messaging and short code messaging rates remain unchanged.

"Twilio continues to work to reduce costs and make the delivery of voice and messaging more accessible," said Lawson. "As we do that, Twilio passes those savings onto our customers. Making it as easy and affordable as possible to use Twilio is our ultimate goal -- a scenario where everyone wins."

In addition to picture messaging and the new pricing cut on text messaging, Twilio is also adding support for sending messages up to 1600 characters, an increase from the industry standard 160.

To learn more about Twilio's new messaging offerings, please visit http://www.twilio.com/sms

PRNewswire

The Bluetooth-Equipped, Battery-Operated Babysitter

Americans' love affair with smartphones and tablets shows no sign of abating. Over half (52 percent) own or use the former, with one in three owning and using the latter (33 percent). These ownership figures rise considerably when looking specifically at parents of children under 18, with seven in ten (69 percent) confirming smartphone ownership and 44 percent indicating tablet usage. But is it just their own personal use driving this segment's higher ownership levels?

While it may or may not be a reason to purchase such devices, many parents seem to have found them useful for "controlling" a very specific crowd: over six in ten (61 percent) have ever used a smartphone (47 percent) and/or a tablet (44 percent) to keep their children under 18 occupied, entertained or distracted. Nearly two in ten have used a standard mobile phone (18 percent) or an eReader (17 percent) to do so, and 14 percent have used other mobile devices, while 20 percent have never done so with any device.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,286 U.S. adults surveyed online between August 14 and 19, 2013 by Harris Interactive. (Full results, including data tables, can be found here)

But it's one thing to trust your own child with your tech (or at least resign yourself to the occasional cracked screen as an added cost of bringing up baby), and quite another to put such devices into other children's-– and, some might argue, fate's-– hands:

• Far fewer parents of kids under 18 (23 percent), and a similar percentage of Americans overall (20 percent) have ever used a smartphone (14 percent each) and/or a tablet (13 percent parents of children <18, 12 percent Americans) to keep a family member's child occupied.
• When it comes to a friend's child (again under the age of 18), Americans are even less likely to employ such tactics, with one in ten saying they have ever done so with a smartphone (7 percent) and/or tablet (5 percent). It's worth noting, however, that those with their own children under 18 (14 percent) are nearly twice as likely as those without (8 percent) to ever do so with their smartphone and/or tablet.

But of course, smartphones are also capable of far less childish pursuits; that said, even in everyday smartphone uses, those with children under 18 stand apart from those without on several habits, showing a stronger likelihood to regularly use them for...

• Mapping or navigation functions (71 percent among those with children under 18, 62 percent among those without),
• Social media (68 percent and 56 percent, respectively),
• Find or research restaurants (52 percent and 42 percent, respectively),
• Watch videos (50 percent and 39 percent, respectively), and
• Purchase goods or services (33 percent, and 21 percent, respectively).

To see other recent Harris Polls, please visit the Harris Poll News Room.

 

PRNewswire

FeZZee, who Make Music Festivals Smarter, Launch Their Kickstarter Project

FeZZee, who make awesome apps for Music Festivals in the US, UK and Europe, are looking to raise $80,000 on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to help them build a Smart Phone Testing Lab and finish FeZZee in time for next year's festival season.

The 2013 festival season is finished, but as festival organizers are competing to book the headline acts for 2014, the creators of FeZZee are building a new set of apps that are Festival Smart and embrace many emerging technologies.

FeZZee is designed for music festival fans, by music festival fans. FeZZee cares about music festivals, because you do. After interviewing 100's of festival fans, the crew at FeZZee arrived at their four main solutions:

• Line-up components that let you select the acts you want to see, and recommend and help you check out the ones you don't know.
• A Location app that lets you mark and find your car, your tent, your favorite food/merchandise vendor, and your friends, reliably.
• The Buzz feature is a single place where you can check out what's happening at the moment, from a host of social media channels, and also contributes.
• Share and synchronize your photos and videos with groups of friends to contribute to collective crowd-sourced albums quickly and easily.

FeZZee is web, smart-phone, and social media apps working together, doing what each do best, at the time they do it the best, to make music festivals less hassle and more fun. Smart-phones are street-smart; they're designed to work in towns and cities. The FeZZee Festival Smart apps are designed to solve the problems unique to festivals, including huge crowds, remote locations, and limited connectivity. Co-founders Gene Myers and Matt Mapleston have together 30 years of experience developing software for defense, security, and high volume websites, and are now using their experience to address these challenges. Both are also long-term music festival fans.

"This Kickstarter project will allow us to deliver on our promise to make apps that are Festival Smart, and we also have a great range of essential festival items as of rewards for backers that will make great holiday gifts," says Gene Myers, FeZZee's CEO. Backing FeZZe's Kickstarter gets you access as a Design Partner, and for those that love festivals, it's a way to keep that spirit alive during the winter months and help shape the apps that many are saying will revolutionize the festival scene.

"This will take over-- [it's] the future of festival programs," says Benga, Radio 1 DJ and owner ofthe record label Benga Beats. Ella Guthrie, of the music magazine Guestlist, went further, "The New Generation Festival App that will save your life".

There are a wide variety of awards for backers of FeZZee on Kickstarter. For $5, your support will be celebrated by adding your face and name on a photo-mosaic crowd scene on the FeZZee apps and site. Further levels of reward include T-Shirts, Smart-phone charging bricks, waterproof phone cases, limited edition media, and even a chance to appear as a Mock Star in FeZZee's demo festival lineups.

Please visit http://kck.st/17TO3hD and for more information visit http://fezzee.com

PRNewswire

Nix Color Sensor: Scan and View Colors on Your Smartphone or Desktop

Nix, a new project currently crowdsourcing funds on kickstarter, wants to ensure that you never fumble with finding paint swatches again! A clunky paint deck-- made only for one paint brand-- is inconvenient and behind the times. The Nix, a device that can fit in the palm of your hand, "is a patent pending device that allows anyone to become a color expert. Just grab Nix from your pocket, purse, or bag, touch it to an object and magically watch the exact color appear on your iPhone, Android, PC, or Mac. Once scanned, you can keep palettes of your favorite colors, match the color to real life pigments, and even receive directions to the nearest store where you can purchase the color," notes the Nix team on their kickstarter page.

Its practicality extends far beyond interior design. Makeup artists, graphic designers, photographers, hobbyists, and practically anyone can find a good use for this tool.

The Nix wirelessly links to its app on iphone, android, mac, or pc. With the app, you can:

• Save a scanned color to a swatch, with notes.
• View a color in RGB, HSL, HSV, Lab, XYZ, HTML, or CMYK.
• Convert the color to a multitude of media such as: interior wall paints, oil paints, makeup, watercolor, hobby paints, wood stain, automotive paint etc. 
• After you have selected a particular media you can select a particular brand.
• Get directions to the nearest store where you can buy the paint.

At the time of writing, the Nix team has 28 days to go and a little under half of the $35,000 project funded. If they end up with full funding, the Nix will be set for shipping February 2014 and eventually retail at $199 CAD for those not snagging the kickstarter deal. For a complete breakdown of costs and production schedules (and to donate!), please visit the Nix kickstarter page.

 

 

Mobile Game LavaCat Now Includes All-New Obstacles with Nine Additional Levels and Three Minigames

PocketCake, a mobile app developer, has announced a major update to its first game, LavaCat, which has been downloaded more than 25,000 times since its release on Google Play Saturday, July 27. The new version will include 19 levels, all-new obstacles and three minigames: LavaCat Run, LavaCat Jump and LavaCat Fly. The minigames will be bundled with LavaCat or available individually on Android and iOS devices.

The LavaCat update will be available on Google Play the week of Monday, September 23, the same week LavaCat debuts on iOS, Facebook, the Chrome Web Store and Ouya, a portable game console that premiered in late June.

LavaCat is the first mobile game that allows players to rewind time, a feature meant to be used often, as LavaCat is intended to be challenging. Players are also aided by five powerups, which can be collected in game or purchased. They include Pajamas that are immune to lava, Big Paws that deflect falling rocks and a Supercape that defies gravity, allowing players to soar through the air.

In the new levels, players navigate mazes that include warp pipes, hoop challenges and objects that deplete a player's energy meter. The wrong route leads to certain death. "It's not just a left to right dynamic as in the early levels," says Jim Bassett, PocketCake's general manager. "You have to chart your course wisely up walls, across platforms and through warp pipes."

On the other hand, each of the three minigames is engineered to be easy to play. LavaCat Run is a neverending, advanced level of LavaCat that uses forced movement, requiring split-second decision making -- and many leaps of faith. In LavaCat Jump, the player guides Lucky, the main character, up a series of rock platforms. In LavaCat Fly, the player pinballs Lucky upward off cat treats. LavaCat Fly uses gyroscopic controls, meaning the player guides Lucky by tilting his or her phone from side to side.

PRNewswire

Leviton Releases OmniTouch 7 Touchscreen

Leviton announced today the OmniTouch 7 Touchscreen. The latest capacitive touch, glass front touchscreen from Leviton features a 7 inch high resolution screen for controlling security, energy and entertainment settings in a residential setting.

Featuring large, recognizable icons, the new touchscreen allows users to arm or disarm their Leviton security system, alert emergency personnel, lock or unlock doors and view crisp IP or analog surveillance video footage. Additionally, the device features slider bars that adjust individual light levels from zero to 100 percent; control up to 64 thermostats to manage humidity settings and additional systems like irrigation, ventilation; and monitor or adjust window coverings. The OmniTouch 7 also acts as an interface to Leviton's Hi-Fi 2 Distributed Audio System or a compatible system from a connectivity partner. 

Developed using Leviton's new user interface engine and featuring high processing power, the device allows users to customize and incorporate their connected devices-– such as additional lights, thermostats or cameras-– with a swipe on the screen. Two digital MEMS microphones along with a built-in amplifier and speaker improve noise and echo cancellation. In addition, the light sensor allows automatic dimming of the display backlight on the glass front capacitive OmniTouch 7.

"The user-friendly OmniTouch 7 allows for simple setup and intuitive customization for integrators," said Jay McLellan, president of Leviton Security & Automation. "The new always-there, always-on Touchscreen is plug-and-play, but affords users a variety of options, including showing only necessary icons, the ability to name the building and rooms, separate devices by area and quickly adjust settings like brightness and volume levels."

The OmniTouch 7 is the seventh-generation touchscreen offering from Leviton Security & Automation, building on the success of the company's first in-home dedicated device, the original OmniTouch, released in 2003. The new device is the most capable touchscreen Leviton has produced while also maintaining the lowest price point.

The new Leviton OmniTouch 7 Touchscreen, part numbers 99A00-1 (White) and 99A00-2 (Black), is now available in all markets. Foreign languages are in-development and can be implemented in the field with a free firmware upgrade. 

PRNewswire

PlayShore announces release of Spelling Millionaire 2

Up and coming young indie games developer, PlayShore, is proud to announce the release of its latest mobile game, Spelling Millionaire 2.

Based on a popular TV game show, Spelling Millionaire 2 challenges players to decide whether words are spelled correctly or not. The more answers they get right, the more money they win and the higher they can climb up the rankings board. This highly addictive mobile game is a great way for adults and children to improve their spelling and English skills and is in a format that is instantly familiar and playable.

PlayShore is a relatively new name in the games development arena, but Spelling Millionaire 2 is testament to the years of experience, knowledge and expertise that exists amongst the PlayShore team. An appreciation for gaming, extensive programming knowledge and expert distribution management show that PlayShore is a name to watch in the future.

The production value of Spelling Millionaire 2 is obvious from the moment it is first played. The game's visuals, animations, sound effects and music are of the highest quality and immerse the player instantly. Creating a similar gaming experience to competing in a real life TV game show, Spelling Millionaire 2 is exciting, fun to play and addictive.

Hot on the heels of Spelling Millionaire 2, PlayShore will release another title this year that promises to be a true challenge for strategy games lovers. The PlayShore team has been busy working on this exciting mobile game for over a year and will release it before next Christmas. A third game is in the pre-production phase.

Spelling Millionaire 2, based on a development by Feel Good Seal for Windows Phone, is now available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and can be downloaded from the Apple Store.

Apple's iPhone 5S, 5C Announcement Satisfies and Excites

Today at 10:00 Cupertino Time, Apple held an intimate meeting in their 200-seat theatre at 4 Infinite Loop to introduce the new iPhone 5c, 5s, and iOS 7.

Some highlights from the announcement:

iOS 7

• Siri has “higher quality male and female voices” and a more seamless integration with twitter, Safari, and other apps.
• Safari now has a 3D tabbing interface-- similar to what iTunes did with "Album View"
• The iOS 7 Camera has built-in instagram-y filters.
• Airdrop, the P2P sharing found on iMacs, is now part of iOS 7.
• iOS 7 will be a free upgrade for existing iPhone users (4 or later), iPad (2 or later), iPad Mini, and iPod Touch (5 or later) on September 18.
• iWork comes free with iOS 7-- they are immediately downloaded with the update.

iPhone 5C

• "The entire back and sides are made from a single part, its front one glass, multi-touch surface. As close as you look, you wont see joints or seams"
  
• Each device comes with a color-matched wallpaper
• 4-inch Retina Display
• Higher-capacity battery than other iPhones and an A6 chip
• 8MP iSight Camera
• 16gb model will be $99 and 32GB for $199 on a 2-year contract
• On Sale September 20.

iPhone 5S

• Features the A7 performance chip-- the biggest and first smartphone CPU of its kind.
• Graphics are two times faster and the computing power is two times as fast with its 64-bit re-engineering. "It’s got a new 64-bit kernel, libraries, and drivers. All built-in apps have been reengineered. It’s a seamless dev transition, with full backwards compatibility."
• The M7 Motion Coprocessor continuously measures motion data, accelerometer, and gestural data. It can determinine whether you’re walking or driving.
• The battery life is even better than the iPhone 5-- it has an estimated 250 hours of standby time.
• iSight camera now has an f/2.2 aperture and a 15 percent larger active sensor area (1.5 micron pixel sensor)
• There are two flashes in the 5S-- one white LED, one amber, and the camera has auto-image stabilization.
• Videos can now record in Slo-Mo.
• TOUCH ID: The fingerprint sensor "is capacitive, 170 microns thin, has a 500 ppi resolution, scans sub-epidermal skin layers, and has 360 degree readability"
• With the Touch ID, you only need to touch the home screen and iTunes purchases can be made with the tap of a finger
• $199 for the 16GB model, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB on a 2 year contract
• On sale September 20.

For a complete blow-by-blow, check out Techcrunch's live update stream.

Facebook Announces Public Feed API and Keyword Insights API

Facebook has announced another way that it will be taking your words and applying them to media marketing. According to Jason Osofsky, VP Media Partnerships and Online Operations, "Over the past few months, we have rolled out a series of products aimed at surfacing the public conversations happening on Facebook including hashtags, embedded posts, and trending topics. We are committed to building features that improve the experience of discovering and participating in conversations about things happening in the world right now, including entertainment, sports, politics and news." Basically, a user's conversations and posts will be meshed with trending topics (not only hashtags) to create a comprehensive and enhanced ad stream alongside the facebook feed, profiles, and pages.

This will be carried out with the Public Feed API and Keyword Insights API, and they will only be available to certain news organizations, including Buzzfeed, CNN, NBC's Today Show, BSkyB, Slate, and Mass Relevance. With these tools, the news organizations can "begin to integrate Facebook conversations into their broadcasts or coverage by displaying public posts of real-time activity about any given topic. For example, CNN’s New Day can now easily incorporate what people on Facebook have to say about the latest, breaking news event during their show."

The function of these two APIs are summed up by Osofsky:

Public Feed API
The Public Feed API displays a real-time feed of public posts for a specific word. Only public posts (from Pages and Profiles of those with ‘Follow’ turned on) are available with this API.

Keyword Insights API
The Keyword Insights API aggregates the total number of posts that mention a specific term in a given time frame. It can also display anonymous, aggregated results based on gender, age and location.

It will be interesting to see how news outlets integrate these tools into their media. Will this become as obnoxious and prevalent as forced facebook logins, or will it be relatively unobtrusive like the facebook web tracker API?