hud

Put your phone into 'car mode' with these dashboard apps

My first Android phone, the original Motorola Droid, was one of the first phones to debut Google Maps Navigation. Now, Google knew that this feature would get drivers interested in using their Android phones in the car and that the tiny virtual buttons and shortcuts that worked well when the device was handheld wouldn't cut it behind the wheel. So, when users popped their Droids into their car docks, they were presented with a simplified interface with large shortcut buttons to car-centric apps, designed for safer use while driving.

Smartphones have come a long way since I retired my … Read more

Turn your Android phone into a speedometer with SpeedView

Tracking your car's trip data can be fun and interesting, but not all cars come with an advanced trip computer. Using your Android phone's GPS sensor, SpeedView can act as a speedometer with some additional data functions.

The main screen of SpeedView displays a linear compass at the top, an analog speedometer, trip information and a speed graph. You can tap on the analog speedometer to switch to the numeric speedometer, while tapping on the trip data allows you to choose which information you want to display. You can choose between time, average speed, maximum speed, elevation, and … Read more

The 404 1,093: Where we're monitoring that scan you just interfaced (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 show:

- Guy gets butt kicked for wearing digital eye glasses inside McDonald's.

- Burger King employee stands on lettuce, gets busted by Internet.

- This is how you paint a 150-foot Batman.

- Does this photo of yesterday's storm in New York deserve an Instagram filter?… Read more

Low Latency No. 20: What are you looking at?

We here at Low Latency can barely walk and chew gum at the same time, so it should be no shock that we were a bit fearful for our immediate safety when Google's Project Glass video hit a few weeks ago.

The plan for Project Glass is to create a real-life head-up display for your face, allowing people to interact with the real world through the pervasive Google ecosystem. But it also got us thinking -- if we're so preoccupied with our texting, mapping, and other augmented reality antics, who's gonna make sure we're watching where we're going?

If you have an idea for another Project Glass test trial disaster, make sure to let us know in the comments section below.… Read more

The 404 1,026: Where we were monitoring that scan (podcast)

Are you disappointed or psyched that so many new technologies draw inspiration directly from films and TV? First it was Samsung citing "2001: A Space Odyssey" as an influence for their Samsung Galaxy tablet and all the reports of "Minority Report" tech coming soon. And now Google looks like it watched too many Star Trek episodes while designing its augmented-reality glasses.… Read more

Google glasses likely coming soon

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Google's HUD glasses expected to go on sale this year

More rumblings about Google's Heads-Up Display Glasses materializing sometime in the near future were heard today. According to The New York Times, the public will be able to buy these high-tech glasses by the end of the year and they will cost somewhere between $250 and $600.

Rumors that the HUD Google Glasses were in the works have been brewing for the past couple of months. After accounts that Google was finishing up the prototype in December, tech news site 9to5Google reported that a tipster actually saw the glasses.

The prototype apparently resembles Oakley's Thump glasses but functions … Read more

The 404 989: Where a rose can bloom in the desert (podcast)

Simpsons fans in Los Angeles are meeting up today to kick off the Ultimate Fan Marathon Challenge in an effort to beat the world record for consecutive TV watching currently set at 86 hours, 6 minutes, and 41 seconds. On today's show, we'll discuss the challenge and propose one of our own that may be a little more difficult to achieve.… Read more

Google's HUD glasses have been sighted

The prototype for Google's HUD glasses has been seen, according to tech news site 9to5Google. And, supposedly they resemble Oakley's Thump glasses, which makes them look a lot like something the Terminator might wear.

But, it's not just how Google's glasses look, their function also mirrors something out of the Terminator trilogy.

In December, rumors spread that Google was finishing up a prototype on high-tech glasses known as wearable head-up displays (HUD) that could tap into Google's cloud-based location services and detail users' surroundings. The information would then appear as an augmented reality computer display. … Read more

Heads up, Linux fans, Ubuntu's ditching menus

Ubuntu has announced a change to its version of Linux that ought to get hot-key junkies and voice-control enthusiasts alike to raise their heads with glee.

Ubuntu 12.04 will introduce in April a new Heads-Up Display for interacting with the operating system, wrote Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth. The HUD will allow you to "express your intent" with the operating system and the programs running on it, wrote Shuttleworth.

Currently, it's activated by hitting the Alt key, which opens a translucent box into which you can speak or type your commands. As you start to type the … Read more