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I see a little black square held up in front of me. It looks like nothing, just a lump of black plastic with a row of gold contact pins on the bottom. It could be a little memory stick. Or maybe a garage door opener. It's surprisingly nondescript.This is the new Jacquard Tag. What Google's showing me is the brain that's going to go into a line of clothing and fashion products this year, starting with an Yves Saint Laurent smart backpack. And what will the clothing and wearables do that connect with this device? For now, gestures and taps to cue up Google Assistant on the go. But after that, maybe more. Google's Jacquard 2.0 aims to ride alongside another experimental technology, the radar-based Soli tech in the upcoming Pixel 4 phone, to drive the company's ambitions towards an ambient computing future.I spoke to Google's ATAP (Advanced Technology and Projects) Director and Technical Project Lead Ivan Poupyrev and Dan Giles, PM for Jacquard by Google. Poupyrev and Giles are guiding the … [Read more...] about Google’s smart backpack leads second wave of connected clothing

 Wonderscope, an augmented reality storytelling app for Apple devices, added a new interactive experience to its library of immersive, educational stories Tuesday: Clio's Cosmic Quest brings young readers along for a journey with a cute purple space particle (who's dealing with a jerk in her nebula) as she learns about stars, supernovas and our solar system. Wonderscope is one of the first companies to tackle storytelling in AR, the buzzy technology that overlays digital images on top of the real world around you. Best known with products like Snapchat filters and Pokemon Go, augmented reality has been on most consumers' radars for its goofy gimmicks, but iApple CEO Tim Cook has said AR holds the potential to be as important as the iPhone. The new format means rethinking some of the norms of creating a story. Wonderscope's AR treatment of stories is like "inside-out storytelling," according to Chris Milk, the CEO of Within, the company behind … [Read more...] about iOS AR app Wonderscope teaches kids about bullies in space

YouTube has caught the attention of a high-level Congressional office that is asking questions about some of its copyright practices, an inquiry that comes as the massive video site cracks down on stream ripping, a type of music piracy. Stream ripping swipes audio tracks off of YouTube videos and spits them out as MP3 downloads. The office of House Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, reached out to Google late last week about YouTube's actions on stream-ripping because of his longstanding concern about piracy, according to a person familiar with the matter. A second industry source said content-protection organizations outside of the US have also been working to verify whether YouTube was putting new measures in place to block stream-ripping.YouTube declined to comment on whether it had been contacted by Nadler's office, but it confirmed it has elevated its blocking of stream-ripping sites, which violate its terms of service. YouTube is the world's … [Read more...] about YouTube cracks down on stream-ripping sites that pirate music

If you're looking for a pair of quality wireless headphones for your upcoming summer travels, then you've come to the right place. Amazon has the top-rated Beats Studio 3 headphones on sale for $279.95. That's a $70 discount and the best price we've seen for the wireless headphones.Beats Studio 3 headphones make the perfect travel companion by offering long-lasting comfort with over-ear cushions that feature advanced ventilation. The wireless headphones feature Apple's W1 chip which results in improved connectivity so you can seamlessly take calls, skip songs and activate Siri. The wireless headphones deliver a premium sound experience by providing pure adaptive noise cancelation that actively blocks external noise. The Studio 3 headphones also offer an impressive battery life of up to 22 hours with a quick 10-minute charge that will add three hours of play time.Beats Studio 3 Wireless Over-Ear Headphones $349.95 $279.95 at AmazonSave $70 on the Beats Studio 3 headphones at … [Read more...] about Beats wireless headphones get a $70 price cut at Amazon

Alexa now works with over 60,000 smart devices, making it the most widely available voice assistant on the market. According to Digital Trends, this represents a significant increase in availability, as "just one year ago, Amazon reported that the voice assistant was compatible with 12,000 devices".                                                                                The best smart speaker of 2019Alexa games: the best games you can play on your smart speakerAmazon Echo vs Google Home: which speaker is best for you?As Amazon reported that Alexa was compatible with 20,000 products in … [Read more...] about Amazon Alexa now compatible with over 60,000 smart home devices