Do We Need Specialized Hardware for the Deaf?

A company called Purple Communications this week unveiled a product called SmartVP. It’s a videophone with applications and features to help deaf people communicate. Purple says it’s the first videophone to feature “true HD quality.”
How do deaf people use the telephone? In the past, most used a typing system called TTY. Paging devices soon followed; the term became so fixed that the deaf community is said to still call all wireless devices, including iPhones, “pagers.”
But the age of the video call has changed all that. Now, the deaf and hard of hearing routinely communicate by simply using sign language over a video call. When a deaf person wants to communicate with a hearing person, there are “relay services,” involving live translators proficient in sign language.
One smart thing Purple’s doing is pursuing what they call a “five-screen strategy.” What this means is that their customers can use Purple’s relay service on PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or TV. Here’s a YouTube video pitching SmartVP. Refreshingly, it’s not full of over-the-top music, like the majority of tech promotional fare out there.
The question that interests me most is how long companies like Purple Communications will offer premium services that the deaf community will find worth shelling out extra money for. One of the surprises of the iPad, as I’ve written about elsewhere, is that though it was designed for a broad consumer market, those with disabilities have found it more useful (and certainly much cheaper) than more specialized equipment.
At the end of the day, SmartVP is a videophone with apps. Isn’t that what just about everything is these days?
SmartVP touts its hardware with its new release. But I can’t help but suspect that the era of manufacturing specific hardware for the disabled is slowly drawing to an end; or at least, that the market will be contracting. Tech companies that may have once provided both specialized hardware and software may increasingly be dealing only in the latter.
Increasingly, the core affordances that technology offers the deaf and hard of hearing may be built into hardware as it ships. As one deaf person has written: “I strongly believe that this technology would be the best possible choice for us deaf consumers as it provides everything we need while being compatible with ‘everyone else.’”
Bobby Cox, the author of that post several years ago, wasn’t writing about SmartVP. He was writing about iOS’s FaceTime.

Do We Need Specialized Hardware for the Deaf?
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Disney zaps in-house game development at LucasArts

IDG News Service - Walt Disney has shut down in-house development at LucasArts, the gaming arm of Lucasfilm, less than a year after buying its parent company.

The move shifts game development at the company, which included titles for both PCs and consoles, from an internal model to an outside licensing business. The company plans to pay third-party developers to make future games that would then be licensed by Lucasfilm.
Video games will still be part of Lucasfilm’s business but will be developed by outside companies, Lucasfilm spokeswoman Barbara Gamlen said. As to whether LucasArts will continue to exist as a licensing company or be shut down, “no decisions have been made yet,” she said.
“We’ve moved to a different structure and are considering whether we market under the LucasArts brand name,” Gamlen added.
The business model is aimed at “minimizing the company’s risk while achieving a broader portfolio of quality ‘Star Wars’ games,” LucasArts said in a statement.
Star Wars titles were a staple at LucasArts, which was founded in 1982 by filmmaker George Lucas. Recent titles included “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “Star Wars: The Old Republic” and “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.”
Other popular LucasArts titles included “Maniac Mansion,” “The Secret of Monkey Island” and “Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.”
The change will bring layoffs across the organization, though the specific number of employees losing their jobs was not immediately clear, Lucasfilm’s Gamlen said.
The decision to move LucasArts to an outside licensing model was made following George Lucas’ retirement from Lucasfilm and the appointment of film producer Kathleen Kennedy as president. The next trilogy of Star Wars films will also be a major focus of the company going forward, Gamlen said.
“Star Wars: 1313″ and “Star Wars: First Assault” have been hotly anticipated new game titles. Gamlen did not know whether those titles would be licensed out or if they would die.
Disney acquired Lucasfilm last October in a stock and cash transaction valued at US$4.05 billion.
Development facilities at LucasArts were located in San Francisco and Singapore.
Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach’s e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com

Disney zaps in-house game development at LucasArts
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Startup making cheap 3-D printers

(CNN) — There is no shortage of amazing industrial commercial applications for 3-D printing — internal organs, stem cells, artificial limbs, art, cars, customizable furniture.

But if you had a 3-D printer sitting on your desk at home, what would you make?

Some people know immediately: They’d create physical Minecraft models, make manga figurines, pop out replacement parts for a motorcycle. But most people will likely see a 3-D printer, think it’s cool, then have no idea what to do next and move on.

That could change, though, as dirt-cheap 3-D printers like the Printrbot or new MakiBox simplify the technology and put it in more people’s hands and home offices.

“The market for desktop 3-D printers right now is really makers, professional users and people who have a lot of patience and time,” said Jonathan Buford, the entrepreneur behind the $200 MakiBox 3-D printer.

The MakiBox attempts to simplify 3-D printing for a more consumer-friendly experience, by lowering the price and reducing the complexity of assembling the devices and minting objects. Amateurs, basement inventors and hobbyists with no experience printing in three dimensions can jump right in and start experimenting with minimal investment.

There are trade-offs, of course. The $200 version uses only the less expensive PLA plastic, which can melt at a lower temperature than other materials. A $300 version of the printer is available that can work with more substances. The final products will be a step down from what you could make with more professional machines.

“We’re not optimizing on quality because we think there’s actually room for ‘good enough,’” said Buford.

The idea for MakiBox grew out of the Makible crowdfunding site. The project’s goal was to connect the dots between product prototypes, crowdfunding, and the eventual manufacturing process. Say a product designer comes up with an idea for a pedometer armband. He could raise money from interested mall-walkers, then be guided through the product manufacturing process.

Buford has unique experience in all three areas. Based in Hong Kong, he studied mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University and has worked as a toy designer.

In 2005, he struck out on his own, crowdfunding a product before starting a co-working space in Hong Hong called Boot.hk. He launched Makible in 2011.

To get the ball rolling and generate interest in the site, Makible posted a seed project the team had been working on internally: a cheap and fast 3-D printer. Posted in January 2012, the MakiBox kit was priced at $350 and aimed at entry-level consumers who didn’t want to drop thousands of dollars on a higher-end desktop 3-D printer like the MakerBot Replicator ($2,000).

It quickly raised $100,000, and the team pushed aside the crowdsourcing idea to work full time on the 3-D printer.

Now a staff of six full-time employees is perfecting and shipping beta versions of the MakiBox A6 for $200, feeling out the nascent market for cheap 3-D printers.

Buford thinks that if the technology becomes more accessible, creative people will come up with broader applications we haven’t thought of yet, and desktop 3-D printer sales could take off.

Or the 3-D printer could go the way of the home photo printer. When personal photo printers first debuted, there was a spike in sales, but slowly the demand dropped. People weren’t printing out as many photos, and if they did it was generally cheaper and easier to have them done by one of the photo services with higher-end printers, such as Wal-Mart or Shutterfly.

Staples has already announced plans to offer 3-D printing services in some stores.

“I’m not really sure there is an established market for this or that people do know what they’re going to use it for,” said Buford. “It’s a Wild West market right now; we don’t really know where it’s going to end up.”

Over the next six months, Buford plans to contine rolling out the MaxiBox while also returning to the idea of connecting engineers, inventors and product developers to the sometimes confusing world of manufacturing. He’s already seeing a surge in everyday devices that connect to the Internet and is working with local entrepreneurs in Hong Kong.

“What we’re looking at doing is developing tech that bridges that gap between traditional manufacturing and 3-D printing,” Buford said.

Part-time inventors experimenting on cheap 3-D printers might be the next wave of people seeking out his help.

Startup making cheap 3-D printers
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China's Baidu developing digital eyewear similar to Google Glass

SHANGHAI |
Wed Apr 3, 2013 4:57am EDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Baidu Inc (BIDU.O), China’s largest search engine, is developing prototype digital eyewear similar to Google Inc’s (GOOG.O) Google Glass that will leverage Baidu’s strengths in image search and facial recognition, a Baidu spokesman said on Wednesday.

Internally known as project “Baidu Eye”, the glasses are being tested internally and it is not clear whether the product will ever be commercialized, said Kaiser Kuo, Baidu’s spokesman.

Kuo said the device will be mounted on a headset with a small LCD screen and will allow users to make image and voice searches as well as conduct facial recognition matches.

“What you are doing with your camera, for example, taking a picture of a celebrity and then checking on our database to see if we have a facial image match, you could do the same thing with a wearable visual device,” Kuo said.

Baidu’s first foray in wearable technology will draw comparisons to Google’s Google Glass product, which is a piece of electronic eyewear that can live-stream images and audio and perform computing tasks. Earlier this year Google launched the Google Glass Explorer program, opening up the eyewear for early enthusiasts to test.

Kuo said comparisons to Google Glass were premature as Baidu has not decided whether or not to commercialize the product.

“We haven’t decided whether it is going to be released in any commercial form right now, but we experiment with every kind of technology that is related to search,” Kuo said. Kuo declined to comment on the other functions of the Baidu Eye or whether Baidu is working on other forms of wearable technology.

Wearable technology is the latest technology initiative with many firms, including Google and Apple Inc (AAPL.O), set to roll out devices based on the belief that users will increasingly seek to stay connected without being tethered to a desktop, laptop or tablet computer.

Apple is experimenting with a device similar to a wristwatch that would operate on the same platform as the iPhone and would be made with curved glass, the New York Times reported in February.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Matt Driskill)

China’s Baidu developing digital eyewear similar to Google Glass
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What to Expect at Facebook's Event

Today the cellphone celebrates its 40th anniversary and tomorrow Facebook makes its foray into the cellphone market.
Or at least that’s what the rumors and reports point to. Tomorrow, April 4, Facebook has invited press to its Menlo Park, Calif., campus to show off its “new home on Android.” However, even before the announcement of the event last week, rumors had been swirling that social network was working on its own phone.
Here’s a guide to the latest speculation about Facebook’s plans. Will any of them hold true? We’ll know all for sure tomorrow when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stage to tell us what Facebook really has in store.
Facebook Home: Facebook’s New Android Software
Sources have reported that Facebook is going to unveil its own software that runs on top of Android. Similar to how HTC and Samsung reskin Google’s Android operating system on their phones, Facebook has been hard at work on a set of widgets and homescreens that put Facebook front and center on the phone.

According to 9to5Google, the software is actually called Facebook Home. Yes, Facebook’s clever “Come See Your Home on Android” invite was more cryptic than we thought. 9to5Google and Twitter user @evleaks have also posted some photos of the software. From the images it looks like Facebook has reworked the homescreen to focus on, well, Facebook. It appears that you can update your Facebook profile from any of the screens and see your newest messages or updates right on the main or lock screen.
HTC First: First Phone Made by HTC
But that software needs a home and it is reported by a number of outlets, including TechCrunch, The New York Times and 9to5Google that Facebook will announce that its new Facebook Home software will be available first on an HTC phone. It is said to be called the “HTC First” phone. HTC, a Taiwanese phone maker, made a phone in 2011 that focused on Facebook; it was called the HTC Status.
According to Android Police, the phone, which has been codenamed the HTC Myst, will have a dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel camera and a 4.3-inch 720p display. According to more photos that have been leaked by @evleaks, the phone will come in an assortment of colors.
Other Facebook Phones to Come
But the First will just be the first. According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook has been aiming to work with other phone makers. “The company now offers an app for Android devices, but through agreements with smartphone makers would make news feeds and other information immediately viewable,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
Tomorrow we’ll separate rumor from fact, when Facebook’s event kicks off at 10 a.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. ET.

What to Expect at Facebook’s Event
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Saudi orders telcos to ensure Skype, Whatsapp meet local laws

RIYADH |
Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:31am EDT

RIYADH (Reuters) – Some Internet-based communication tools such as Skype and Whatsapp flout Saudi Arabia’s telecom laws, the regulator said on Sunday, instructing telecom operators to quickly ensure these services comply.

The announcement from the kingdom’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) follows local newspaper reports last week that claimed the government had asked telecom companies to look at ways to monitor or block these services.
“It has become evident that some communication applications through (the) Internet don’t meet regulatory requirements,” CITC said in a statement on its website.
“The authority has informed licensed (telecom) providers of the need to work with the developers of these applications to quickly meet these requirements.”
The statement listed Voice over IP (VoIP) providers Skype and Viber as well as Internet-based instant messaging service Whatsapp.
But it did not state what laws these applications had flouted, how long they would be given to comply with the regulations or what action would be taken if they failed to heed the instruction.
The CITC said it was acting to “protect society from any negative aspects that could harm the public interest”.
Saudi’s three mobile operators – Saudi Telecom Co, Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi – were not immediately available for comment.
The kingdom appears to making a greater push for greater control over cyberspace as Internet and smart phone usage soars, in part due to strict laws that limit opportunities for people to mix.
Mobile penetration was 188 percent by the end of 2012, CITC data shows. Saudi now has 15.8 million Internet subscribers and the average user watches three times as many online videos per day as counterparts in the United States, according to YouTube.
On Saturday, the English-language Arab News daily said Saudi Arabia may try to end anonymity for Twitter users in the country by limiting access to the site to people who register their identification documents, although it was unclear how such restrictions could be enforced.
Telecom operators can block content and access to particular sites, but this becomes more difficult if a user already has the application installed on a device.
For example, Skype and other foreign-based VoIP providers are widely used in the neighboring United Arab Emirates, despite an official ban, with residents downloading the software via virtual private networks or while abroad. Once installed, these can be used inside the UAE.
(Reporting by Marwa Rashad and Reem Shamseddine; Writing by Matt Smith; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Saudi orders telcos to ensure Skype, Whatsapp meet local laws
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Facebook Photo Uploads Double for HRC's Equal Sign

By Joanna Stern
@joannastern
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Credit: Facebook

We knew that the Human Right Campaign’s (HRC) red and pink logo in support of gay marriage had spread across the web at a record pace, but Facebook is now confirming that with some numbers.
Facebook says that millions of people change their profile photos every day, but on Tuesday, March 26, the day the HRC asked gay marriage supporters to “paint the town red” with a new logo, 2.7 million  more users changed their photo compared with the previous Tuesday. Profile photo uploads were up by 120 percent, it says. Facebook has more than a billion users.
Facebook doesn’t have exact numbers on whether all those users changed it to the pink and red logo or some variation of it. Facebook did confirm that the rise in uploads occurred after the HRC released its status message encouraging people to change their pictures in support of gay marriage.
“We find that the increase in uploads does indeed start around the time when HRC began urging their Facebook followers to change their profile photos at 1 p.m. EST,” Facebook’s Data Science Team said in a blog post today.
RELATED SLIDESHOW: Pizza and Bacon: The Red Equality Symbols of Social Media
Wondering how old many of the profile photo-switchers were? Facebook also says that more people around age 30 changed their profile photo, in comparison to the previous Tuesday. According to the data, “roughly 3.5 percent of 30-year-old Facebook users updated their profiles in response to the events surrounding the HRC campaign.”
Counties with bolder colors had more photo-switchers. (Credit: Facebook)
According to the released data, support shown via the photo change was spread across the country, but a county in Michigan — Wahtenaw County — topped the list, with approximately 6.2 percent of people who logged in from that county changing their profile photo in response to the campaign. It also appears that people in college towns were more apt to change their photos; among the highest towns were Orange (University of North Carolina), Durham (Duke University) and Monroe (Indiana University). San Francisco County and Washington, D.C., also ranked highly.
Since being released on Tuesday, the logo has made its way around the web in many different incarnations.

Facebook Photo Uploads Double for HRC’s Equal Sign
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