This week, we had a bunch of exciting new VR headsets revealed, VR also got a bit easier to afford as Oculus dropped its prices and Vive introduced a new payment plan. We also had news of a very poorly secured children’s toy and one tinkerer explains how you too can run Windows 98 on your Raspberry Pi!
The new Acer Microsoft VR headset, a worryingly insecure kids’ toy and running Windows 98 on a Raspberry Pi!
Sometimes conferences can be tough to get to. Luckily, this one is much easier to attend than most! You can attend without leaving your house! The online developer conference, AI With The Best, is on April 29th and we’ve got discounted tickets at the link above (or use the code WTBVIP).
The headset has inside out tracking (no need to place trackers in your room) and has the ability to flip up when you’re not using it. They seem to be shipping, but the only place I could find to register interest is here. Microsoft’s VR platform is also supposed to appear on Xbox next year.
LG’s new VR headset partners with Valve to provide Vive-like VR headset with a higher resolution screen.
New US plans mean that for $66 a month & no-interest financing for 12 months, Americans can get a Vive with less of an upfront cash commitment.
From $599 to $499 for the headset, from $199 to $99 for Touch controllers.
Leap Motion tech is new reference designs for Qualcomm mobile VR!
Graphics cards just keep getting more powerful!
He believes that “hardware features such as wireless, while desirable, simply add to the cost of a product that is already considered too expensive”.
Srushtika Neelakantam and Tanay Pant, both friends of Dev Diner, have put together a book on learning WebVR and it’s available for pre-order!
PSVR: 915,000 shipped, Gear VR: 5,000,000 shipped. Huge numbers!
59% of VR devs use Unity, but devs have made more money with Unreal.
This is a fantastic look at what Magic Leap’s first headset is likely to be and why. Nice piece on AR overall.
HoloLens is appearing in all sorts of places now!
He thinks it’s going to be tough for others to catch up.
Fitbit say the Alta HR is the slimmest wristband with a pulse tracker.
This is paired with an “all-time high” for global wearable shipments. Promising to see news like this, compared to the usual doom and gloom!
This is the aforementioned news that the Fitbit news above is paired with! News around the impending death of wearables may be a little premature if this report is correct.
Now here’s a cool way to train robots!
They won’t be able to exceed 10 miles per hour or weigh over 50 pounds, but they can be autonomous. This is a huge step.
Sounds both promising and worrying at the same time!
Chatbots can now be set up with solely a menu for interaction, for times when typing isn’t too convenient.
This is a fascinating and great real world use of AI to make life better!
I’m actually not sure if I’m keen on this idea. Didn’t we all just manage to start convincing businesses to have people on the other end of the line?
Some interesting predictions here!
A look at using emerging tech to identify people in need of support.
Facebook are approaching the same concept as the app above. Good to see attempts to improve the situation, I just hope there’s a way to filter out false positives and do this with extreme care.
A true network security pro took some time to share his thoughts with me on how we can get much needed security into our IoT applications.
Troy Hunt looks at this in great detail. This is a perfect case of how NOT to do the IoT.
You can avoid voice control and instead see it visually in the app.
Mastercard is experimenting with ways to advertise on the IoT.
It apparently doesn’t run too fast but it’s impressive that it runs at all!
Bringing the IoT and augmented reality together!
This isn’t an area I saw coming in the evolving IoT ecosystem.
Got questions on emerging tech? Feel free to Snapchat me (devdiner), DM me on Twitter or just send me an email and ask! Please don’t hesitate — get in touch 🙂
