Month: February 2020

Google Earth Releases 1,000 High Resolution Photos for end users

CompuScoop Staff February 14, 2020 0

Gopal Shah
Product Manager, Google Earth

Ten years ago, I was flying over San Francisco when this strange but kaleidoscopically beautiful vista opened up outside of my tiny airplane window. When I got home, I fired up Google Earth to investigate. The aerial wonder along the southern tip of the bay turned out to be the Salt Ponds. Microorganisms reacting to the salt runoff in these waters color the pools surreal hues, and the resulting chromatic smudge is visible miles above Earth's surface. As an amateur photographer, I instinctively took a screenshot of the landscape now clear on my laptop. And with that simple act, Earth View was born.

Earth View is a collection of thousands of the planet's most beautiful landscapes, seen from space. Over the last decade, the collection has been witnessed by millions around the world as wallpapers for Android devices, screensavers for Chromecast and Google Home, and as an interactive exhibit in Google Earth's Voyager. Earth View was even once featured on the world's biggest billboard to bring a little zen to Times Square during the holidays.

Today, we're making our biggest update to Earth View by adding more than 1,000 new images to the collection, bringing the total to more than 2,500 striking landscapes. The upgraded imagery features more locations around the globe and is optimized for today's high-resolution screens—featuring brighter colors, sharper images and resolutions up to 4K.

All the new imagery is available in the Earth View Gallery, as well as the popular Earth View Chrome Extension. The gallery also now features a nifty color map to help you visualize the thousands of Earth View locations, and find a landscape featuring your favorite color.

To bring Earth View to life, we've collaborated with our friends at Ubilabs in Hamburg, Germany. Together over the past several years, we've refined a set of tools that help us scour 36 million square miles of satellite imagery, while maintaining fine camera control to get just the right shot. To prepare the final image, we optimize the color profile for the particular landscape, and export the final image in ultra high resolution.

Earth View started simply enough—a curiosity pursued by the curious. Over the decade, that tiny seed sprouted several limbs, and today this imagery has been seen by millions of people the world over. For me, Earth View's resonance is the bigger curiosity. As a species, we've only had access to views from space for the last 50 years. Yet something encoded in us long ago seems to wake up when we see the world at this unprecedented scale.

Earth View has the power to elevate our minds from our tiny screens to outer space—the landscapes that materialize when you open a new tab or unlock your phone punctuate your day with a global looking glass. My hope then is this funny, little project—along with Google Earth as a whole—moves us to care more deeply about this strange but kaleidoscopically beautiful planet.

For more information, click here.

Apple to Reopen a Store in Shanghai on February 15th, 2020

Reuters News February 14, 2020 0

Apple Inc said on Friday it would reopen one of the seven retail stores it has in Shanghai from Feb. 15 with reduced working hours, a day after the iPhone maker said a few retail stores in Beijing would start functioning from Feb. 14.

Via: NYT Business Day / Reuters

Blind Engineer Builds Smart Cane that has Google Maps, Bluetooth, and a Sensory Device

CompuScoop Staff February 14, 2020 0

In today’s age of advance technology, a lot of devices, gadgets, and programs are built to make our lives easier and more convenient. While the more recent innovations were designed for entertainment, some companies are taking technology to the next level by incorporating a high level of help and hopefully, to make a difference to the lives of people who need it the most.

“Unfortunately I cannot name a single city as a perfectly disabled-friendly city that is why we are trying to provide this independence for visually impaired people” shared Ceylan on CNN.

WeWALK Facebook Page

The WeWALK smart cane was born from a visually impaired engineer named Kursat Ceylan. He is also the CEO and co-founder of a non-profit called the Young Guru Academy (YGA), the one responsible for making WeWALK come to life. As someone who faces the daily challenges of being blind, Kursat Ceylan knew the limitations of the current technology that people like him have to make do of. Knowing this, he created the WeWALK in hopes of changing the lives of the blind.

This innovative cane includes a built-in speakers, voice assistance, Google Maps, a Bluetooth system that makes syncing to other devices possible, and high-end sensors that alerts the user through vibrations when above chest level obstacles are within proximity—something a regular cane cannot provide.

Google maps helps people with their smart cane. — WeWALK Facebook Page

“In these days we are talking about flying cars, but these people have been using just a plain stick,” he explained to CNN. “As a blind person, when I am at the Metro station I don’t know which is my exit… I don’t know which bus is approaching… which stores are around me. That kind of information can be provided with the WeWalk.”

One of Kursat Ceylan’s goal in making the WeWALK is to make the social participation of people like him full, and easier. To him, the WeWALK was made to “support the visually impaired in their full participation into social life.” This device is not completely new, but the fact that he was able to utlize and incorporate existing technologies such as voice assistance, Google Maps, and Bluetooth syncronization, makes it a completely new idea.

A lot of people have expressed their joy and excitement for having this kind of device available for the visually impaired.

“Well done Ceylan! This will enhance lives of of the visually impaired by so much!” Julia Teng Roo Seen shared.

“Just add a taser and it’s perfect for all situations!” Bill Ward joked.

Even Duygu Kayaman, a proud user of the WeWALK shared her sentiment regarding this innovative device.

“To me, WeWALK represents the end of an era and the start of a new one.”

According to the World Health Organization, an estimated number of about 36 million are blind. Just imagine the possible change and impact of the WeWALK in these people’s lives once they get their hands on this groundbreaking device!

Know more about the WeWALK by going to their official website.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

Apple TV+ Forecasts to have 26 Million Paying Subscribers by 2025

Dan Uff February 14, 2020 0

Apple TV+ forecast to have 26 million paying subscribers by 2025, according to a new report from Research and Markets.

Disney+ will be the biggest Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) winner over the next five years. Disney+ will add 105 million paying subscribers between end-2019 and 2025 to take its total to 126 million. Disney+ will reach 53% of Netflix’s subscriber total by 2025 – up from only 27% in 2020.

Five global platforms will have 553 million paying SVOD subscribers by 2025, adding 196 million subscribers between 2020 and 2025. Netflix will gain 51 million subscribers between 2020 and 2025; revealing that there is still growth left for the most established platform. Netflix will command 44% of the 2025 total for the five platforms; down from 53% in 2020.

HBO Max will have 30 million paying subscribers by 2025 – if non-payers are included then this figure could be tripled. The same is true for Apple TV+, which this author forecasts will have 26 million paying subscribers by 2025.

The SVOD sector received a boost in November 2019 with the roll-outs of Disney+ and Apple TV+. A further lift will come when HBO Max starts in May.

More info via Research And Markets’ “Global SVOD Platform Forecasts” report here.