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Man Vs Tech: Gesture Controls For Your PC
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Man Vs Tech: Gesture Controls For Your PC

SWOOSH! ZOOM! CLICK! SCROLL! Gesture-Control Your Own PC

We’ve all watched?Minority Report and we’ve all waited, and waited – and waited – for something to give us true gesture control like Tom Cruise’s character John Anderton had in the film. Yes, there’s Nintendo Wii. Yes, there’s Kinect. And yes, there’s other stuff, too. But none of it has really allowed us to properly swoosh windows around. Now there’s something else… and it’s amazing.

Leap is from San Francisco-based tech start-up Leap Motion and works with a USB dongle you plug into your computer (PC or Mac). The Leap itself is a separate, small but highly clever box using sensors possibly only known to other dimensions that then translates your hand actions into things happening on the screen. Window swooshing included.

There’s the familiar pinch-to-zoom function, except you’ll be pinching in mid-air, remember. You can also click, grab, scroll, shoot stuff in games… even type. Yes, the Leap website confidently decrees you “Say goodbye to your mouse and keyboard”, which means that quite soon, I’ll be able to deliver Man vs Tech without tapping away at any real-world keys whatsoever. And that’s exciting. Better still, developers can get their hands on a free dev kit which will open up even more possibilities, which should take Leap to the next level.

Leap is, they claim, 200 times more accurate than anything else on the market, at any price point and is capable even of tracking individual fingers and movements to 1/100th of a millimetre. So now you’re thinking it costs a bomb. It doesn’t. Just $69.99, plus $12.99 for international shipping to our tiny island. That’s just a shade over ?50, in total. First batch hits December/Jan 2013. I’m pre-ordering. You should, too. Look…



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Sonos Sub breaks cover
Man vs Tech is a huge, huge fan of the Sonos multi-room audio system, because it’s simple. One small box connects to your router, your speakers (and you really can’t go wrong with the entry-level Play:3) go in different rooms plugged into the mains. That’s it. Control it all (Spotify, your iTunes library, streaming radio etc) from the smartphone, tablet or computer app.

So, it’s great. But now they’re making it even greater by beefing it up a notch with the launch of the Sonos sub, and that’s a welcome addition as the bass has never been gut-thumping. Even better, it works just like every other bit of the system: wirelessly.

Once you’ve plugged it in, press its only button and the sub connects to your ?system and auto-calibrates for the best organ failure-inducing bass regardless of where you’ve put it. And a word on that: it looks a lot like a something that found it’s way out of Tony Stark’s lab, so you can either proudly show off that fact with it upstanding, or lie it flat under the sofa out of sight. Either way you’ll get a gentle arm workout as it weighs 16kg.

Powered by two amps with digital signal processing, its two force-cancelling speakers are positioned face-to-face, which means all the sound and energy from the music comes through loud and clear, without any cabinet buzz or rattle. Ergo: it fills the room and not your floor with the bass.

The Sonos sub launches June 19 in time for all BBQ raves/pop-up home cinemas in flashy gloss black (?599). A matte black finish – the Man vs Tech pick – launches October (?499, and no I’ve no idea why it takes four months to make it less shiny). Watch the video and prepare to get excited.




It's Chelsea FC! Run!
Microsoft has signed up Chelsea stars including departing Champions League hero Didier Drogba to ‘capitalise’ on summer sporting events such as the Olympics and Euro 2012.

The ‘Summer of Sports’ campaign will run in conjunction with Right To Play – the charity that uses sport to educate and empower children facing adversity – and includes videos hitting your Xbox dashboard soon starring Drogba, Michael Essien, Petr Cech and Fernando Torres. There’s also ‘Game with Fame’ events where Xbox 360 owners can play Kinect Sports against Right To Play ambassadors. British 100-metre runner Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Olympic tennis hopeful Laura Robson and former world tennis number-one Martina Hingis will also be making an appearance, sports fans.

But the best bit? An attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest simultaneous 100-metre sprint, which will take place on either June 16 or 17 and which you’re all invited to. No word yet on where it will take place (look out for the videos) or which Chelsea stars might be present, but if the very well-rested John Terry makes an appearance, expect him on medal-winning form – ie, watches the entire race in his suit, then when it’s all over, changes into his sports kit, claims a medal and poses for the Guinness World Records picture front and centre.

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Beckham drums the Galaxy Note into us?
Olympics sponsor Samsung has already launched a unique London 2012 Games edition of its Galaxy Note with O2, offering you the chance to nab a Team GB experience. Now it’s ramping things up again by drafting in Olympic ambassador Beckham to sell us the behemoth phone-tablet with its 5.3-inch screen via a new video that’s all about drumming up interest. Literally.

The spot (below) stars Beckham – who had only two hours to film the shoot – strolling onto set with his enormo-Note and looking ever so slightly daft. Tired of getting an earful from Victoria (probably), he drops the call and spies his challenge. Becks is then shown, with arrows drawn onto the Note’s screen with its S Pen, exactly what to do, because you need to cover every base with David, see. Explain it like he’s a two-year-old. The result? Becks bashes out Beethoven’s Ode To Joy, posts an update on his Facebook and Samsung gets another viral video.

Alas, this still isn’t entirely convincing me to buy a Note. The Man vs Tech jury is out. What do you think?


And finally: Ignorify?
The app we all need. Remember: whatever you do, don’t look up…

xxfseo.com