Items tagged with SDK
Microsoft has unveiled an SDK that is for dual-screen devices, like the upcoming Surface Duo. The SDK is meant to allow devs to start getting their apps and software ready for the dual-screen devices that will be launching down the road. While the SDK for the Microsoft Surface Duo is available now, the preview SDK for Windows 10X will launch "in the coming weeks." Microsoft has also announced new web standards proposals that will enable dual-screen experiences for websites and PWAs on Android and Windows 10X. The new standards that the software giant is proposing will provide developers with the capabilities and tools needed to develop for dual-screen devices. The preview SDK for the Surface...
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One of the most highly-requested features for the Nintendo Switch is something that arguably should have been included from the beginning (and is already possible with previous Nintendo handhelds) — the ability to transfer game save data to another device. In its current state, if your Switch has a major hardware malfunction or your device is lost, there is no way to recover any progress made in your library of games. This could be an absolutely dreadful experience if you have already devoted dozens of hours exploring Hyrule in Breath of the Wild. However, a new leaked document that allegedly pertains to the Switch SDK shows that support for game data backups is incoming. According to the documentation,...
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Security researchers thought that we were all rid of a pesky vulnerability that was initially patched over three years ago. The exploit takes advantage of code lurking within the “libupnp” library, which is included in the Portable SDK for UPnP Devices used for DLNA media playback. However, some lax vendors have failed to include newer versions of the SDK with an updated version of libupnp, leaving millions of devices that we use everyday exposed -- 6.1 million devices to be exact, including smartphones, routers and smart TVs. In addition to hardware vendors, it’s also been discovered that 547 apps use the outdated version of libupnp. Amazingly, over half, 326 apps, are available via the Google...
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When Microsoft told us that Windows 10 would run universal apps, we got the gist of what it meant. Developers would be able to create apps that ran on desktop, tablet, and smartphone version of Windows 10 with the same codebase. It makes for a streamlined app creation process for developers and gives Windows Phone users — who have traditionally been left in the dust when it comes to app support compared to iOS and Android platforms — hope that things will be different once Windows 10 comes around. However, today’s news from Microsoft – courtesy of BUILD 2015 -- was totally unexpected and quite frankly a game changer for anyone that has stuck by Microsoft’s side as its Windows Phone platform has...
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Microsoft, it seems, just can't catch a break. Days after a major hack took its servers offline on Christmas and after being lambasted in multiple stories for shipping games like Halo: The Master Chief Collection in nigh-unplayable condition, the company's Xbox One SDK has been leaked to the public by a group calling itself H4LT. H4LT, which apparently objects to being called a hacker group, offered this explanation when asked why it was distributing the SDK. The group claims that: We leaked it to the community because if something is shared then.. progress is achieved faster than alone. Something kept between us will not achieve anything. Share it with the community = creativity...
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What at first seemed like a “You’ve got to be kidding me” contraption from Google is actually turning out to be quite a surprise breakout for the search giant. Google announced this week that over 500,000 Cardboard virtual reality headset kits have ended up in the hands of consumers since it was first released earlier this year. It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out why Google Cardboard has been a success; the low-cost materials used in its construction allow the device to be sold for $20. And if you’re inventive enough, you can build your own from scratch using plans from Google. On the other end of the spectrum, a fully functional virtual reality headset from Samsung will cost you $199....
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Apple's aptly-named 'Watch' isn't slated for release until early 2015, but it'd be a horrible thing if the actual development kit wasn't released well before then. After all, if the Watch launches with a small collection of apps, hype could potentially die down to the level of non-existence. Well, during a briefing late last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook assured everyone that a kit was en route, and will be made available at some point in November. With this kit, developers will be able to begin working on apps exclusive for the Apple Watch, or make special versions of pre-existing apps that will take better advantage of the device and its much more restrictive display real estate. I'm sure there's...
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Microsoft’s Kinect for Windows v2 sensor has a release date; you can get yours starting on July 15th. It’s been available for preorder for a month, and you can still claim one early if you like for $199. This iteration of the Kinect for Windows has a new look that differentiates it from the first version, but Microsoft hopes devs see much more in v2. “The Kinect for Windows v2 sensor gives developers more of the precision, responsiveness, and intuitive capabilities they need to develop interactive voice- and gesture-based applications for the Windows desktop and Windows Store,” reads the product page. The Kinect for Windows blog is a fountain of optimism and excitement...
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If running around your house, office building, or a public space with your smartphone strapped into a gun-like gaming accessory while you and your pals engage in augmented reality video game that overlays gameplay in real time over whatever environment you’re in, you might be a person that wants to drop some cash on the Rescape project on Kickstarter. Rescape calls itself a Reality Gaming platform that offers mobile, multiplayer, immersive augmented reality games, and you can see some exciting stuff happening starting at about 45 seconds into the team’s promo video. Rescape uses former NASA technology that allows the smartphone to use its camera to map an environment while simultaneously...
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Google is looking to gain a huge chunk of the wearables market with an SDK--no not, the Google Glass GDK, which is still in the offing as a Developer Preview, but a more general SDK that could be used for just about anything that you can wear as a garment or accessory and has some sort of “smart” capabilities. The news was revealed by Google Senior VP Sundar Pichai at an event at SXSW. He told a crowd that the SDK will be available in about two weeks and will be based on Android, according to Re/code. “When we say wearables we think about it much more broadly,” he said. “It’s for partners and developers to figure out. It could be a jacket … with sensors....
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The completely connected home has long been a dream of futurists, and little by little that’s becoming a reality. The Internet of Things is growing, and smart TVs are a big part of that trend as they continue to ship with more and more intelligence baked in. Samsung’s latest SDK for its Smart TVs includes more than just the ability to pull in and view content from a multitude of sources; it ostensibly allows you to control appliances in your home. Samsung says that the new Smart TV SDK 5.0 will enable you to control the refrigerator, air conditioning, lighting, and so on with the Samsung Smart TV application. The SDK also offers the ability for developers to use HTML5 standards to...
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Google’s delightful Chromecast device was one of the more pleasant surprises of the the year in 2013. Up to now, though, Google has played things fairly close to the vest in terms of allowing others to develop for the streaming device, with just a smattering of available apps to date. In 2014, that’s all going to change. Google is planning to release a full SDK for the Chromecast soon. The company hosted a big hackathon for Chromecast earlier in the month in an effort to get closer to a final version. (As it turns out, there’s still no exact release date.) Google VP of Product Management Mario Queiroz told Gigaom that developers have been able to play with a preview SDK since...
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Google’s Chromecast streaming device struck a chord with consumers this summer when it debuted, with the company selling out of the $35 device within days. The company is about to turn things up a notch by soon releasing the official Chromecast SDK (called the “Google Cast SDK”). According to some developers who have shared their invitations, Google is hosting a two-day hackathon at the Googleplex on December 7-8 so developers can “test-drive the upcoming release of the Google Cast SDK”. Google engineers will be there to show off changes to the developer preview and discuss best practices. Although Chromecast apps are more of a feature to add rather than standalone...
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Amazon is expanding its cloud reach into the world of graphically intensive, 3D, GPU-accelerated applications in fields such as media creation, design, and even gaming with its Amazon AppStream. AppStream runs on Amazon’s EC2, which includes NVIDIA’s Kepler-based GRID GPUs (a G2 instance), and is designed to make it possible to run applications on devices that would not necessarily be able to handle the processing required. The service deploys and renders applications in the cloud and streams them to just about any device, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones. Currently, the Amazon AppStream SDK supports streaming from Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 to devices with Microsoft...
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The Pebble smartwatch is getting better, but it’s not the hardware that’s getting a bump, it’s the software. Pebble announced that the smartwatch is now fully integrated with iOS 7, and the second iteration of its SDK, the Pebble SDK 2.0, is coming as well. The iOS 7 integration provides a more seamless experience with the Notification Center. Any notification you get on your iPhone will pop up on your Pebble. That includes usual suspects such as calls, texts, and emails but also calendar items, social media, LinkedIn, Flickr, Dropbox, and more. The new capabilities will come via a new Pebble iOS app that the company says will be in the iTunes Store soon. (It’s still technically...
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At Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference in June, iOS 7 was unveiled to the world. While the masses were told they would have to wait until autumn to get their hands around it, developers were granted access to an early beta right away. As the days pass, Apple engineers are getting closer and closer to having a final version ready for release. The latest beta, v4, was just issued to devs globally, and it's arguably the biggest jump yet. Many developers are suggesting that iOS 7 Beta 4 finally feels polishing and nearly ready for release, and the hinted feature set is worth appreciating. For starters, the button layout has been tweaked in iOS 7 Beta 4, with slightly less transparency and more...
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Google posted a changelist of new features brought forth by the latest Google Glass APK (XE7), and they include expanded capabilities for the “OK, Glass” functionality, increased web browsing controls, the ability to call or send a message to anyone in your Google contacts, more refined voice search tools, and more. However, GitHub user zhuowei posted some additional “hidden” changes in XE7 that he found by digging through the code. The most interesting bit is called “Boutique”, which appears to be the beginnings of an application market. Google Glass "OK Glass" functions He notes that there’s currently no central repository for Google Glass apps and...
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Ever heard of Gracenote? Chances are your ears have heard its work, and your eyes have seen its magic, even if you weren't aware. Back in the day, those who popped CDs into CD-ROM drives and ripped 'em to iTunes would need Gracenote's expertise to automatically add metadata to those tracks. The company actually does quite a bit more than that these days, and it's about to put a lot of its future into the bright minds and able hands of developers. The Gracenote Developer program launched today, making the company's music APIs and SDKs available for developers. This opens the world's largest and most trusted source of music metadata and music recognition technology to developers who are building...
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While Smart TVs have improved over the years, one issue in particular has bothered us: there's no uniformity. Every single TV has their own user interface, and every single software back-end is written on a different platform. And how can you get developers to band together and help make an ecosystem better, if every single TV maker is courting devs to write a different program? Largely due to that, Smart TV usage hasn't taken off. Sure, people use things because they simply come with new HDTVs, but is there passion in the air about Smart TVs the way there is tablets? Not so much. But at CES 2013, the Smart TV Alliance is banding together to introduce five new members as well as an updated SDK....
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One of the biggest things that has set Android apart from iOS all these years is its openness - and that alone is a major reason that many who seek out free (as in libre) software have appreciated it. In fact, this could be one of the biggest reasons Android got off the ground so quickly, as I vividly remember around the time all of the excitement surrounding its focus on freedom. Sure - there have been other "free" mobile solutions, but few have succeeded in any real way. For all intents and purposes, Google seemed to have the right idea. However, things have just changed. Android's SDK - everything required to rebuild the OS - is now considered non-free software. This means the software cannot...
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AMD has just released an updated version of their APP SDK, bringing it up to version 2.5. This latest release features a number of performance enhancements designed to exploit the increased CPU to GPU bandwidth available in the company’s APUs, in some cases achieving effective data transfer rates as high as 15GB per second with the latest AMD A-Series APUs, per the press release. “Improving performance and programmability on AMD platforms is a key initiative for us, and we work closely with developers to help us make the APU the best possible development platform,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. “With these latest SDK refinements,...
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Microsoft's Surface never really became the next generation of tables. But it's 2011, and people are not only not flying around in Jetsons vehicles, but they're still driving the same cars they did a decade ago. Sometimes things move fast, and other times, well, you get the Surface. There's no question that the Surface is an amazing idea -- a touch screen table definitely sounds like something we could all use -- but prohibitive pricing and questionable development leads haven't helped. Instead, most newsworthy development is happening in the mobile space. But that might change. Microsoft's new Surface Input Simulator enables consumers and developers to write Surface applications on any Windows...
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