Navdy is the Heads Up Display (HUD) for Older Cars That Want to Upgrade

This is Navdy's first heads up display design. There might be minor cosmetic touch-ups before the final product is released.

Preorder Now - $299US (Full Price $499US)

Release Date - Early 2015

San Francisco-based company Navdy is offering a solution for people with older cars since. For $499, it's come up with a flat projector you can mount to the top of your dashboard with a heads-up display that shows you key information like navigation and caller ID. It combines that with an infrared camera and microphone that watches and listens for hand gestures and voice commands so you can control your phone without taking it out of your pocket. Think of it like eyes and ears for your phone, and one that you can use with multiple cars.

Navdy's big sell is to let you see certain apps and notifications in a single or split view, something you might not get on your smartphone. If you're driving with directions turned on and get a call, Navdy splits those things up on its screen. You don't miss out on where the next turn is supposed to be, and avoid having voice commands interjecting into your call from your navigation app. The same goes for texts and emails: if you get either, they'll pop up on the right while directions continue to run; and if you want them read out loud, you just speak a voice command or use a gesture.

Now you can be more aware of your surroundings while interacting with your smartphone contacts.

"We think this is the first time head up display technology has been combined with touch-less gesture recognition, and also a real head up display that works in cars offered on the market. There's kind of a lot of things that we've had to pull together, and the combination of those things really creates a magic experience that's far better than the individual pieces." 

-Doug Simpson, Navdy chief executive 

By Josh Lowensohn

Google Inching Closer to a SkyNet Reality with Boston Dynamic's BigDog Robot (Video)

Pros

• 400 lb. carrying capacity
• 20 mile range
• No dedicated driver required

Cons

• Loud.
• Slow.
• No AI capabilities (yet)

Las Vegas native Lance Cpl. Brandon Dieckmann, an infantryman with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, India Co., operates the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) through an open field at Kahuku Training Area July 10-12, 2014.

The LS3 is experimental technology built by Boston Dynamics which is owned by Google. The robot is being tested by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab as part of the Advanced Warfighting Experiment during Rim of the Pacific 2014. The robot is funded by DARPA and the U.S. Marines (aka taxpayers).

Each LS3 carries up to 400 lbs of gear and enough fuel for a 20-mile mission lasting 24 hours. LS3 automatically follows its leader using computer vision, so it does not need a dedicated driver.

There are multiple technologies being tested during RIMPAC, the largest maritime exercise in the Pacific region. This year's RIMPAC features 22 countries and around 25,000 people.

Video courtesy of U.S. Marines, filmed by Sgt. William Holdaway/Marine Forces Pacific Combat Camera
BigDog architecture graphic courtesy of Boston Dynamics

Google Just Unveiled It's Own Version of Oculus Virtual Reality Headset

While Facebook's virtual reality effort involved a multi-billion dollar purchase of Oculus VR, Google's gone with a decidedly simpler route: cardboard. Following the end of its Google I/O keynote, Google's put out an app called Cardboard that lets users slot their Android device into a do-it-yourself cardboard viewer. When looked through using special lenses, you can interact with various Google services like a VR headset. It's not as polished as Oculus but does give you a cool VR experience.

We can't wait for FlappyBird VR and AngryBirds VR. Stoked!

Oculus VR Development Kit 2: $350 US

Google Cardboard: Free App + Cardboard cost and accessories $3 - $8 US

Nexus 5 Leaked Image, Android 4.4 Kit Kat and Internal Service Manual

Android Police has reported on a document that presents itself as a draft internal Service Manual for the Nexus 5 (LG-D821) — revealing a:

• 4.95 inch Nexus device
• 1080p display
• Snapdragon 800 processor
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 2300mAh battery
• 2GB RAM of memory
• 32GB internal storage
• 8-megapixel rear camera
• 1.3 megapixel front camera.

Take a look at the whole 281-page document below.

Document removed due to copyright infringement  

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Sorry, we can't display this document.

Google Chromecast - Easiest Way to Enjoy Online Video and Music on Your TV

Sit back, watch together

With Chromecast, you can easily enjoy your favorite online entertainment on your HDTV—movies, TV shows, music, and more from Netflix, YouTube, Google Play, and Chrome. No more huddling around small screens and tiny speakers. Chromecast automatically updates to work with a growing number of apps.

Remote free

Chromecast works with devices you already own, including Android tablets and smartphones, iPhones®, iPads®, Chrome for Mac® and Chrome for Windows®. Browse for what to watch, control playback, and adjust volume using your device. You won't have to learn anything new.

Plug in and play

Get started in 3 easy steps: plug Chromecast into any HDTV, connect it to WiFi, then send videos and more from your smartphone, tablet or laptop to your TV with the press of a button

Available now for only $35 at Best Buy and Amazon.com

Google Maps Is Back On iOS6, Apple Is Relieved

You won't be lost anymore, iPhone users.

The app should be rolling out worldwide in the App Store now, available in over 40 countries and 29 languages. It's compatible with iOS 5.1 and above, but sadly it's not designed to work on the iPad. Google says that will come later. Graf also said that the goal is to maintain a parity between iOS and Android going forward — which hopefully means that a few Android-specific features will come to iOS and that the clean design of this app will make its way back to Android.

Compared to Apple's Maps app, Google Maps clearly wins on the data front, with complete mass transit directions and fewer of the accuracy issues that have plagued the built-in app. What's more intriguing is that Google Maps also matches (or beats, depending on your taste) Apple Maps in its speed, design, and overall aesthetics. It's the combination of massive and accurate data with a well-made app that makes Google's offering so compelling.

Google Maps for iOS is the best-designed maps app on any platform and challenges even Google Maps on Android for speed. That sounds like hyperbole, but on the iPhone 5 the new Google Maps app seems faster and is definitely better-designed than even Google Maps on Android. If Apple CEO Tim Cook is looking for examples of how to do a maps app right on the iPhone — or on any platform — Google has provided the answer.

By Dieter Bohn
photo credit, the verge
video credit, the verge

Move Over Google Maps, Amazon Maps Is (Almost) Here

If Amazon has its way, Google Maps on your Kindle Fire won't be the default option for much longer. Back in September, the online retail giant introduced a beta version of its Amazon Maps API to see if it could go the Apple route by fleshing out its own maps platform. Now it's ready to take the API out of beta after several months of testing and a lot of developer interest -- Hipmunk, Evernote, Trulia and Zillow have already integrated it into their Kindle Fire apps. 

The API currently features interactive maps and customized overlays, and is now a part of the Amazon Mobile App SDK. It's early days yet for the mapping service and we're sure it doesn't have the bells and whistles of the one from Mountain View, but this does mean a further step toward differentiation from the Big "G."

Let's just hope this turns out better than iOS6 Maps and no one comes to regret it.

By Nicole Lee, engadget.com

New York Fashion Week Meets Google Glass (1st Video)

Experience the DVF Spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week through the eyes of the people who made it happen—the stylists, the models and Diane von Furstenberg herself. All the footage you see here was filmed using only Glass, Google's latest technology that lets you capture moments from a unique, new perspective. See what happens when fashion and technology come together like you've never seen before.

video courtesy of Diane von Furstenberg

Try Before You Buy: The Future of Online Shopping?

One of the biggest hurdles of buying stuff online is the inability to try products out first hand before knowing whether you want to purchase it or not. But increasingly, companies are getting around that by offering a try-before-you-buy option for online goods, something Warby Parker has done successfully with glasses. YBuy, a Southern California company, has built a monthly subscription service around the try-before-you-buy model for gadgets, appliances and other products and it’s getting a big name backer in Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Schmidt’s TomorrowVentures is leading a $1 million Series A round investment that also includes funding from David Hanna, Chairman and CEO of CompuCredit, and Jim Patterson, Chief Product Officer at Yammer. The money will help YBuy scale up to handle a waiting list of 50,000 people, who have signed up for the service. YBuy exited public beta in January but it has been limited to a smaller group of users so far.

YBuy users pay $24.95 to try out a curated list of products, things like the iPad 3, the Xbox 360, the Jawbone Jambox or Limewit's Sony and Dell Laptop batteries. Users have up to 30 days to try out the product. If they decide to buy it, the $24.95 gets applied to the purchase price. If they don’t, they just send it back and try out something new. Shipping is free both ways. The service curates a list of products based on the tastes of a user. In addition to gadgets, it also offers appliances, such as coffee makers and blenders, and sporting goods, such as golf drivers.

The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based company was started by Stephen Svajian, Kevin and Tim Wallin in 2009 and previously raised $750,000 from its founders and other angels.

Here's how Ybuy works:

1. Join the club

• Select products from a curated list
• Get a personal customer assistant

2. Try products

• Pay nothing until you choose your first product
• Skip a month at any time

3. Buy or return

• Return your product by the last day of the month
• Or, just keep the product and trial fees go toward the purchase

Is this the future of online shopping?

By Ryan Kim

Photo courtesy of Ybuy.com
Curated by Limewit Blog

Apple iOS 6 VS. Google's Jelly Bean: Which Is King?

Both Apple and Google have demonstrated and released betas of their new smartphone and tablet operating systems. The question everyone is wondering is, which of the two can be crowned King?

We are going to make this simple. No fancy graphs, no Cal Tech level talk, and no references to obscure operating systems or features from the past. Just photos and why one operating system is better than the other. Enjoy.

Siri vs. Google Now Voice Search | The Winner: Siri (iOS 6)
Both voice-controlled search functions work great if you know the limitations of each service. Siri is more attractive, but its social integration and app launching is what really gives it a leg up over Google Now.

  
Apple Maps vs. Google Maps | The Winner: Google Maps (Jelly Bean)
Apple’s first attempt at a home-grown mapping app is nice, but it can’t beat years of Google experience in building out a mapping infrastructure. In fact, we’re impatiently waiting for Google Maps to appear on iOS 6.

Notifications & Alerts | The Winner: Apple (iOS 6)
Google may have been first but Apple has mastered the game. Google needs to look beyond Google+.

On Being Social & Networking | The Winner: Google (Jelly Bean)