www.adpub.info: 07/15/14

Red Bull Creation: Omnicorp: This Time, They’re Not Evil

While the bulk of the building for the Red Bull Creation happened at a recycling center/art space in Detroit, the judging was at Detroit’s Eastern Market, a huge farmer’s market that has just about everything. The Omnicorp hackerspace is just off Eastern Market, so this is their territory: they know what will work. For their entry for this year’s RBC, they’re going local: a wheeled information kiosk that’s also a great place to make smoothies and grill up a few veggies and dogs.

While the information kiosk the team is commendable, the idea of giving all the visitors to the Red Bull Creation event a halfway decent lunch is a great idea: all the ingredients are already there, so all that’s needed is an extension cord and a little bit of charcoal.

After the Red Bull Creation event is where this project would have really shined: hundreds of people going through at least six kegs, fireworks, a friggin’ dragon dump truck, and a DJ loud enough to be heard a half mile away. We’ll get to that in a post tomorrow. Let’s just say our head editor had fun.

Filed under: contests, Featured

Demystifying NTSC Color And Progressive Scan

NTSC

Black and white NTSC is simple – it can, and was, done with vacuum tubes for a long, long time. Color is just weird, though. It runs at 29.976 frames per second, uses different phases of the carrier for different colors, and generally takes a while to wrap your head around. [Sagar] is doing a series on the intricacies of NTSC, and the latest post deals with color and progressive scanning versus interlacing, or as it is better known, how classic game consoles and home computers generate video.

The test bed for [Sagar]‘s video experimentations is a circuit containing an ATMega16, a 4-bit shift register, and a 14.31818 MHz clock. This clock is much faster than the 3.579545 MHz clock in an NTSC carrier frequency – exactly four times as fast – allowing the shift register to output four different phases of the carrier frequency a 0°, 90°. 180°, and 270°. Playing with some of the pins on the ATMega in the circuit results in a palette being generated on any old TV.

NTSC requires interlaced scanning, or sending an entire screen of even lines, then an entire screen of odd lines, at around 60 fields per second. The Nintendos and Segas of yesteryear didn’t bother with this, instead opting to send half the vertical resolution at double the frame rate. This is known as a progressive scan. [Sagar] found that this resulted in some image artifacts when displayed on a modern LCD, and moving back to an interlaced mode fixed the problem. All the code and files are up on the gits. If you’re feeling adventurous, this is exactly how projects like the Uzebox have created homebrew game consoles using little more than the ATMega found in [Sagar]‘s build.

Filed under: video hacks

Pinoccio: Mesh All The (Internet Of) Things

Pinn There’s a problem with products geared towards building the Internet of Things. Everyone building hardware needs investors, and thus some way to monetize their platform. This means all your data is pushed to ‘the cloud’, i.e. a server you don’t own. This is obviously not ideal for the Hackaday crowd. Yes, IoT can be done with a few cheap radios and a hacked router, but then you don’t get all the cool features of a real Things project – mesh networking and a well designed network. Pinoccio is the first Thing we’ve seen that puts a proper mesh network together with a server you can own. The Pinoccio team were kind enough to let us drop in while we were in Rock City last weekend, and we were able to get the scoop on these tiny boards from [Sally] and [Eric], along with a really cool demo of what they can do.

The hardware on the Pinoccio is basically an Arduino Mega with a LiPo battery and an 802.15.4 radio provided by an ATmega256RFR2. The base board – technically called a ‘field scout’ – can be equipped with a WiFi backpack that serves as a bridge for the WiFi network. It’s a pretty clever solution to putting a whole lot of Things on a network, without having all the Things directly connected to the Internet.

Programming these scouts can be done through Arduino, of course, but the folks at Pinoccio also came up with something called ScoutScript that allows you to send commands directly to any or all of the scouts on the mesh network. There’s a neat web-based GUI called HQ that allows you to command, control, and query all the little nodules remotely as well.

In the video below, [Sally] goes over the basic functions of the hardware and what it’s capable of. [Eric] was in Reno when we visited, but he was kind enough to get on a video chat and show off what a network of Pinoccios are capable of by emblazoning their web page with Hackaday logos whenever he presses a button.

Filed under: hardware

Sling Media revamps two of its Slingbox items which let you take your cable TV box anywhere

Image Credit: Sling Media

Sling Media, the company behind the magic box that lets you tap into your cable TV box from anywhere, is doing a little summer sprucing up and revamping a couple of its popular products, the Slingbox 350 and 500 models.

Essentially, the company is swapping out these two models for two new ones that also have some additional new features. Both products let customers stream their cable TV, live or recorded, to other devices including their computers, tablets, and smartphones.

The Slingbox M1 will replace the Slingbox 350, and here’s the lowdown:

It’s the most affordable Slingbox, and it lets you remotely access your cable box and DVR.
It can be accessed through Sling’s apps.
You can access it on a second TV through Apple TV and Roku.
No monthly fees.
Dual-band 2.4/5Ghz WiFi connectivity and Ethernet port.
Will retail for about $150.

The SlingTV is replacing the Slingbox 500, and here are the details:

It’s the more upscale one of the two, with enhanced recommendation and “smart TV” capabilities.
A soft remote built into the iPhone and Android apps.
A new visual interface to search and browse items to watch.
Rotten Tomatoes ratings.
Sports scoreboard that doesn’t require to change channels, and real-time statistics.
Recommendations, powered by SlingCloud.
Will retail for about $300.

"Customers interested in a no-compromise entertainment experience using the most popular devices will be delighted by the affordability and new features of the Slingbox M1. SlingTV completely enhances the living room TV experience with a visually stunning on TV user interface that takes ultimate advantage of social media data activity,” said Sling Media senior vice president and general manager Michael Hawkey in a statement.

The company originally released the Slingbox 350 and 500 in October 2012, at similar prices.

The Slingbox M1 will become available for purchase through sling.com on July 20, and SlingTV will start selling in August. Customers who already own a Slingbox 500 will be able to download the new software for free.

Sling Media was founded in 2004, and was acquired by EchoStar in 2007. The company previously raised a total of $14.5 million.

Our upcoming GrowthBeat event — August 5-6 in San Francisco — is exploring the data, apps, and science of successful marketing. Get the scoop here, and grab your tickets before they're gone!

Echostar Communications Corp doesn't have a company summary yet. Click '[edit]' to add one and help improve Spoke... read more »

Sling Media, Inc. is a different kind of consumer electronics company - one that's working to demystify convergence technologies and to create empowering experiences for the digital media consumer. The focus of Sling Media is to embrac... read more »

Waywire adds 85 video channels — and gives preroll ads the green light

Image Credit: Via Waywire

The online video curation startup Waywire Networks continues to boost its channel lineup.

Waywire, which Magnify owns, said today that it has added 85 new channels, including Al Jazeera, My Damn Channel, and Maker Camp.

Waywire aggregates videos from multiple sources and offers a cloud-based video platform to website owners and publishers. The platform lets clients offer site visitors tools for discovering and curating video. It gives viewers the capability to sort those videos into their own channels based on a particular topic.

For example, someone could create a "wire" for entrepreneurs, linking to various broadcast news sources from major media companies (NBC, Fox, etc.), web media companies (AOL), and user-generated videos (Vimeo, YouTube, Vine). The idea is that people can curate their own news far better than some mainstream news organization.

"We're pleased and proud to be able to announce that we've grown our Curated Channel lineup," said Waywire CEO Steven Rosenbaum in a statement. "Our team of Channel Curators has grown to 25 – bringing quality curated video content to a growing array of topics. And we've added an additional 85 branded channels to our network."

Waywire will also implement its newly awarded "Pre-Roll Everywhere" patent to give its site owner/publisher clients the means to run video ads supplied by ad networks as interstitials before third-party video plays. The company counts the BBC, AARP and New York Magazine as clients.

Waywire also holds a patent on the technology that provides video discovery and channel creation for sites and publishers via web enabled devices.

Magnify, which also deals in curated video, acquired Waywire in 2013.

The video startup counts Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker as a founder, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman an angel investor.

Our upcoming GrowthBeat event — August 5-6 in San Francisco — is exploring the data, apps, and science of successful marketing. Get the scoop here, and grab your tickets before they're gone!

Gangnam Style wasn't discovered by MTV. It was discovered by your friends. Easily stay up to date on breaking news, new music, disgustingly cute cat videos and the best stuff online by following your friends and favorite sources on #... read more »

Blackphone CEO responds to BlackBerry’s privacy digs

Blackphone CEO Toby Weir-Jones has a lot to say in response to BlackBerry’s recent post on its blog criticizing the company’s approach to privacy. Allow me to begin by saying the snark is strong with this one.

The piece on the Inside BlackBerry for Business Blog suggests that Blackphone (an encrypted phone) is “consumer grade” and not suitable for business users. It also criticized Blackphone for only having one piece of hardware currently on the market (the BP1). Weir-Jones was quick to point out that the article, of course, swiftly offers BlackBerry’s products as a privacy solution. Ahem. He also notes that he was a BlackBerry user at one point, using the 957 and several of the devices that followed. But his loyalty to the company waned, particularly in 2010:

Unfortunately, the world discovered in 2010 that RIM was willing to compromise its integrity if sufficient pressure was applied by governments intent on spying on the messages sent via the ubiquitous devices. Various statements from the Saudi, UAE, Indian, and other telecom regulatory bodies all confirmed the same thing: RIM made it technically possible for the formerly secret encrypted messages to be decrypted and viewed. Much speculation surrounds exactly what was done, and whether it remains in place today, but if anything there was more than one approach which achieved the same basic goal: a betrayal of the objectives of privacy.

As if that weren’t enough, Weir-Jones then lays out some numbers, specifically that BlackBerry’s adjusted share price is now $11.51 as compared to its $230 share price back in 2007 — a 95 percent decline.

However, he rebuts this by emphasizing the inclusion of encrypted voice communications to just about any phone number and Silent Phone and Silent Text, which can be managed by the Silent Circle Management Console. This tool is something “enterprises can use to manage their deployed secure comms subscriptions across the employee base,” he says. Global Dial (a world-wide encrypted calling plan) is also now available to Blackphone users.

The Blackphone is a hyper-encrypted smartphone developed to be NSA-proof by SGP Technologies. It runs on an Android-based operating system called PrivatOS and encrypts calls, video, chat, and more. And Silent Phone is a peer-to-peer system that prevents government eavesdropping on a Blackphone, even if such a thing was demanded. He then compares this to what BlackBerry offers: BBM Voice, which only enables subscribers to talk to other subscribers, which in his opinion leaves a door open on privacy.

“The whole point of Blackphone is privacy, choice, and control,” Weir-Jones says, which means individuals can make any choice they like for themselves and businesses can decide how its employees use its equipment. But he finds the argument that an “end-to-end approach” is the only “viable” option to be simply not true. And then he drives the point home: “… It’s that same approach which allowed BlackBerry to betray its customers and jettison its credibility.”

Though BlackBerry piece attempts to cut down Blackphone for not being directed at businesses, Weir-Jones deftly threw the criticism back in the former’s face. I suppose that’s what happens when you criticize a phone designed for privacy when you’ve had a few privacy breaches yourself.

Blackphone launched in 2014 and is headquartered in Geneva. The company just made its flagship phone available for preorder at the end of last month.

Our upcoming GrowthBeat event — August 5-6 in San Francisco — is exploring the data, apps, and science of successful marketing. Get the scoop here, and grab your tickets before they're gone!

Research In Motion, Ltd., is a provider of wireless solutions for the mobile communications market. The company is the designer and manufacturer of the BlackBerry smartphone brand, and also creates touchscreen and mobile keyboard techn... read more »

Blackphone is the first integrated smartphone from the best privacy minds in the industry. Silent Circle and Geeksphone have partnered to combine best-of-breed hardware with all the skills and experience necessary to offer PrivatOS, a... read more »

CBS to Aereo: talk to us, but bring your checkbook

Above: Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia

Image Credit: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

In the aftermath of their Supreme Court disaster, where does Aereo go from here? It might head over to the office of CBS head Les Moonves.

Speaking at a tech conference today, the network head said that he was “willing to talk to them” about a deal – one that involved paying for shows, as opposed to their previous business model of streaming over-the-air programming from CBS and other networks without handing over a fee to the broadcasters.

“Aereo only has one option from here and that’s to compete as a Pay TV operator,” Forrester Research VP James McQuivey told VentureBeat.

The Supreme Court decision, reversing a lower court ruling in favor of Aereo, had suggested the company could be considered a kind of cable system, but it would have to get a statutory license to the programming.

Aereo has appealed to a U.S. District Court in New York, seeking the right to get that license — a position that, pre-Supreme Court, it had rejected. It had contended its capture of broadcasts was legally the same as subscribers picking up their own signal.

“If it chooses to compete using the broadcast content it currently has access to, it will have only a modest offering to give consumers,” McQuivey told us, “so in addition to negotiating with CBS, the new Aereo would need to pay for rights to the content owned by Viacom, NBC Universal, and many other cable providers.”

After the Supreme Court decision, Aereo announced it was suspending its operations as it figured out its next move.

“It’s not going out without a fight,” Parks Associates Research analyst Glenn Hower told us.

He pointed out that, before the court decision, Aereo said it had no Plan B. “Obviously, they do,” Hower said, “but it’s a very complicated Plan B.” He noted that one of the complexities is that most of the statutory licenses include DVR recording, but these probably don’t cover the kind of cloud-based DVR recording that Aereo offers.

If they do get a license, he said, “they’re not going to have a $7.99 [monthly] subscription” service, as it previously did.

This kind of offering might appeal to “cut-the-cord” types who only want a ‘Net broadband connection from some other provider, plus Aereo’s broadcast channels and limited kinds of other fare, he said, “but that’s a small market.”

Aereo could become “competitive with other Pay TV providers,” McQuivey predicted, “but [that] would probably come after eating some significant humble pie because one can assume that all of those providers would want to punish Aereo for its prior bravura during the negotiation process.”

Our upcoming GrowthBeat event — August 5-6 in San Francisco — is exploring the data, apps, and science of successful marketing. Get the scoop here, and grab your tickets before they're gone!

television stations & broadcasting co... read more »

Aereo is a New York City-based technology company that allows consumers to access live broadcast television on Internet-connected devices through use of its remote integrated antenna/DVR technology. Aereo allows users to watch live bro... read more »

Funding Daily: Stealth kung fu kitty edition

Image Credit: skankboy/Reddit

Get all the tech funding news of the day delivered straight to your mailbox! Sign up for Funding Daily and never miss a deal.

Here’s our roundup of all the notable funding news of the day:

Seedcamp takes $30M

Seedcamp, an investment firm specializing in providing seed funds to startups, has raised a new $30 million round of funding to scale up its operations. Seedcamp said it wants to move beyond its reputation as a startup accelerator and take bigger action when the mood strikes. The new funding will enable the company to back 100 startups within the next four years and acquire additional funds for follow-on investments.

NetDocuments raises $25M

NetDocuments, a provider of document- and email-management services for law firms, has picked up a $25 million round of investment. The company offers its document-management software as a service (in other words, a software-as-a-service model) in exchange for subscription fees. Law firms and financial-services companies are its primary users, according to the company's website, although real estate, health care, and accounting firms also work with it.

RedMart nabs $23M

Singapore-based online grocery startup RedMart announced today that it has raised a new $23 million round of funding, the company’s second to date. Garena, SoftBank Ventures, Visionnaire Ventures, and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin led the round.

Read more here.

Motiga takes $20M

Motiga, an indie game studio, announced that it has raised $20 million to build a free-to-play gaming empire. Its first major project is Gigantic, an action game where heroes battle alongside a massive guardian. The ambitious title and large amount of funding show that the stakes are getting bigger in free-to-play gaming, which has become a multibillion-dollar market thanks to titles like Riot Games' multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game League of Legends. Bellevue, Wash.-based Motiga hopes to fit into this universe with a genre-bending game that combines action and strategy in a fantasy world. The company plans to launch the title in 2015 on the PC.

Captricity grabs $10M

Captricity, a startup that helps enterprises digitize their paperwork, faxes, scans, mobile phone photos, and handwriting, is expanding. The startup hopes to serve more enterprise customers, especially those in the health system including government agencies, insurance companies and health care companies. With that goal in mind, the startup announced a new $10 million round this morning as well as a partnership with New York Life Direct, a division of the life insurance company New York Life, to digitize a large number of paper-based sales leads.

Plastiq closes $10M

Payments startup Plastiq closed new $10 million round of funding today to let people pay with their credit cards anywhere. The startup’s service basically lets people use their credit cards to pay for a list of things that traditionally required paper checks, wire transfers, money orders, or ACH (Automated Clearing House) payments. For a small fee (between 1.89 percent and 2.89 percent of the transaction), people can use their card to pay in place of those aforementioned transaction methods. Some banks, such as Bank of America, already offer services that will mail paper checks to landlords and other merchants, but Plastiq is taking a more universal approach.

Bay Dynamics scores $8M

BI startup Bay Dynamics closed a fresh $8 million round of funding, the company announced. The San Francisco-based startup provides companies with information on risk intelligence. Comcast Ventures led this A round.

Read more here.

Autobutler takes $7.9M

Car startup Autobutler closed a new $7.9 million round of funding, the company announced today. Autobutler offers an online platform for car repairs. The fresh investment was led by Index Ventures, and Autobutler said it plans to use the additional capital to expand across Europe.

Read more here.

Neon Labs raises $4M

San Francisco-based startup Neon Labs announced a new $4 million round of funding. The startup uses cognitive science to identify which thumbnail to serve to consumers to drive video views. Additionally, Neon Labs announced a new partnership to bring its technology to digital publisher IGN’s online publications. As for the funding, Mohr Davidow Ventures led the round, with participation from prior investor True Ventures and technology exec Steve Blank. The additional capital will let Neon grow its operations and advance its partnership with cloud-based video service company Brightcove, that startup said.

Read more here.

MobileX Labs grabs $1.5M

Chicago's MobileX Labs says it is bringing low-cost democracy to the app store. The company just announced $1.5 million in seed funding to move the needle forward as it launches a beta of MXL Build, a DIY development environment that requires no coding experience. Mobile application targets include both iOS and Android.

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RedMart nabs $23M

Bay Dynamics scores $8M

Autobutler takes $7.9M

Neon Labs raises $4M