Researchers from the University of Washington have revealed a new "wireless steerable vision" system for live insects and teeny tiny robots. Solutions presented in this research were created to investigate insect vision, and the study the trade-offs made by insects between small retinal regions and the movement of said retinal regions independent of an insect's body through head motion.
Spotify has been going hard on podcasts in recent years, and today we're seeing the company take a big step toward making its app a prime destination for podcasters. Today, Spotify announced that it's rolling out video podcasts around the world - or at least in all markets where podcasts are currently supported. Video podcasts will be relatively small scale at first, as only several select shows will support them.
Attempting to launch a streaming service is a risky endeavor at the moment. Not only is the space a crowded one, but it's dominated by some big names. Quibi is a service that has tried to stand out from the others by offering short-form video content tailored for smartphones, but it seems that the service is having trouble attracting large numbers of new users and keeping them beyond the free trial phase.
Like pretty much everything that requires meeting in person, dating has been forced to change because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tinder today is rolling out a new feature that will allow matches to talk face to face without having to meet in person. Unsurprisingly dubbed "Face to Face" this is essentially Tinder's take on video calling with a little extra focus on security so everyone involved can be a little more comfortable video chatting with their matches for the first time.
Today Google revealed the release date for the first public release (in beta format) of the next major version of Android. That'll be Android 11, the Android 11 public beta, and it'll be revealed during a live stream that'll take place on June 3rd, 2020, at 11AM ET. That's 10AM Central Time, 9AM Mountain Time, and 8AM Pacific Time.
Back during CES 2020, before COVID-19 started spreading throughout the world and brought massive trade shows like this to a grinding halt, TiVo introduced the Stream 4K. The TiVo Stream 4K is a new streaming device that's supposed to be a jack-of-all-trades; in fact, TiVo bills it as "the market's first unifying streamer." After a few months of waiting, TiVo is launching the Stream 4K today.
With the coronavirus pandemic keeping most of us at home, video calling is something that's seen a dramatic rise. That's particularly true in the case of group video calling, as teams and companies that are working remotely still need to conference with one another. Zoom has been in the news a lot lately as the go-to for many people who are looking to set up virtual meetings, but today, Google made a whopper of an announcement in revealing that it's making Google Meet free for everyone to use.
Rebooting older, moderately successful TV shows has become a trend among streaming services, particularly ones that are new or too small to compete with the biggest names in the industry. The latest service to announce such a reboot is IMDb TV, which will bring back the older TNT show Leverage about con artists who target wealthy criminals and other corrupt individuals.
Instagram Live now works on the web. That means that web browsers on multiple platforms - including desktop platforms - can now view Instagram Live video feeds. The new interface is far more intuitive than the original, especially when it comes to multiple feeds in a single Instagram Live event situation. This system should be live for most if not all users right this minute.
A Facebook Messenger app was released this week for group chats between Facebook users. Users could've done video chat before now, with Messenger from Facebook, but this app makes the entire process feel a bit more official. This release comes just as the app Zoom sees a massive increase in use thanks to quarantine for global pandemic thanks to COVID-19.*
The video chat app Zoom isn't private by default. You've got to do a few things before your Zoom meeting is secure. You'll need to make sure you're not downloading a malicious bit of software. You need to make sure you're not sharing your room name. You've got to tap a few buttons and follow a few rules - and it CAN BE relatively easy to make certain you're entirely safe from negative elements like "zoombombing" or "zoom-bombing".
The latest update to iPhone and iPad devices seems to have broken a crucial component of the video chat system FaceTime. Reports have shown the update to iOS 13.4 for iPhone and iPad caused an issue with FaceTime audio and video calls. The bit that doesn't work seems to be the connection between these newly-updated devices and those still running iOS 9.3.5 or iOS 9.3.6 - the newest software some older devices can get.