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From Engadget: Microsoft debuts on{X} for Android, promises to ‘automate your life’

This definitely reminds me of ifttt.com service!

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Microsoft debuts onX for Android, promises to 'automate your life'

Well, we can’t exactly say we saw this one coming. Microsoft has today taken the wraps off a rather ambitious project dubbed on{X}, which is available exclusively for Android smartphones initially (support for more platforms is planned), and offers a range of tools that promise to help “automate your life.” Developed by the company’s R&D Center in Israel, the service consists of a website and an app, the former of which lets you select from a variety of scripts (or “recipes,” as Microsoft calls them), while the latter executes them on your phone. The kicker is that anyone can create their own recipes and share them with others, and they can take all of the capabilities of a smartphone into account — performing an action when you arrive at a specific location, for instance, or setting reminders based on the weather forecast (all the actual processing is handled on the phone). Much like Kinect, Microsoft is hoping that folks will take the platform and run with it, developing new features that it hasn’t even thought of. Those interested can get started right now at the source link below, or get a taste of the service in the video after the break.

 

from Engadget

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From Geeks are Sexy Technology News: Move Over, Lightsabers…Meet the LaserSabers!

I was just about to be elated but then found out that there’s an enclosure of some kind… 🙁

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Wicked Lasers has created the LaserSaber, which utilizes optical elements, diffuser tubes, and magnets to create waving wands of laser light.

The parts are also interchangeable.

LaserSabers by Wicked Lasers contain a 32″ polycarbonate blade and an aircraft-grade aluminum hilt.

LaserSabers range from about $300 to a whopping $1,000, depending on the model.

View the official video below and see how they work.

**Just like any sword or saber, G.A.S. reminds you to please operate LaserSabers with care and respect and read the instructions.**

[Via GeekTyrant]

 

from Geeks are Sexy Technology News

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From Engadget: Blindsquare uses Foursquare data to guide the visually impaired

Blindsquare uses Foursquare data to guide the visually impaired

Blindsquare is giving guidance systems for the visually disabled a new twist with user-generated Foursquare data, text-to-speech, GPS and some OpenStreetMap mojo. While users are out and about, the app narrates their trip via headphones with information about nearby places, intersections or guidance to their destination. One shake of the iPhone or iPad gives users their current location and a second shake checks them in on Foursquare. The app can also be controlled via a Bluetooth remote while the device sits in a pocket or backpack. After going from concept to completion in six months, it’s now out of beta and available on the App Store for $14.99. Sonar gauntlets won’t let you check-in to your haunts? Hit the source link to step up that location-based social networking.

 

from Engadget

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From Engadget: NASA gets two ‘Hubble-class’ military telescopes, fist-pumps with joy

NASA gets two military 'Hubble-class' military telescopes, fist-pumps with joy

Imagine all you wanted for Christmas was a telescope. As you frantically peel off layer after layer of wrapping, there it is — your brother’s old one. Well, okay, if your brother was the National Reconnaissance Office (and you were NASA) this might not seem quite as unjust. Thankfully so, as that’s effectively what’s just happened. The NRO has given NASA two 2.4-meter “space qualified” telescopes and satellite casings for it to play with. The gifts — which can observe about 100 times the area of the Hubble telescope — could complement existing projects and provide much-needed resources at the space agency. As there is currently no funded mission for them, however, they’ll remain firmly on the ground for now, but at least this implies they’re not needed elsewhere — hinting at improved international relations. Unless the NRO just got an upgrade?

from Engadget