Google's electronic eyewear gets 'OK Glass' voice commands

This Google Glass video, taken without the need to hold a camera, is part of a video-chat hangout.

(Credit: Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

"OK Glass."
Those are the two words that Google showed today will initiate a variety of commands for its Glass computerized eyewear.
In the Google Glass "How it Feels" video, people speak the words "OK Glass" and then pick from a list of featured voice commands to send a message, record a video, take a photo, launch a video-chat hangout, conduct a search, check the weather, or get driving directions.
The demo is a concrete illustration of how Google is evolving its technology from a mere search engine to a constant personal companion that augments your mind.
When Microsoft introduced Windows 95, its Start menu became the gateway for just about anything you could do with the operating system. Google -- expecting to advance computing beyond the era of PCs and even smartphones -- no doubt hopes that "OK Glass" will become as familiar.

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The Glass eyewear perches a screen just above a person's ordinary field of view; the device itself is equipped with a processor, camera, head-tracking orientation sensors, and other electronics drawn from the smartphone industry. Google began selling Glass developer prototypes called Explorer last year for $1,500 that are due to ship this year.
Google's site shows off Glass' GoPro-like videocamera abilities, with first-person views of table tennis, swordplay, trapeze acrobatics, jumping rope, sculpture carving, hot-air ballooning, and more. The company is trying to demonstrate it as a sort of real-time video Facebook you can use to share life with others as you experience what's going on around you.
Google's video and "what-it-does" explanation is very much from a first-person perspective, showing what it's like to wear the device. It makes for a very personal experience, reproducing what a person would see and adding an unobtrusive transparent Glass interface in the upper right.
But that's not the whole story of Glass, of course. Wearing the devices might be very personal for the user, but wearing Glass makes you look a bit cyborg. Surely many folks talking to a Glass-wearing person will be put off by the knowledge that there's a microphone and camera pointed right at them. Think of how differently people behave when the camera comes out for a photo op.
In time, people will adjust, as they have to people talking on phones as they walk down the street -- especially if Glass becomes mainstream. Google expects Glass will be ready for consumers in 2014.
Google also announced a promotion in which people who share interesting ideas about what to do with the device get the chance to become a "Glass Explorer," who can then pre-order a $1,500 prototype. The application deadline is February 27.

Google's Project Glass electronic eyewear is "strong and light," Google said.

(Credit: Google)

Updated at 6:30 a.m. PT with clarification on the Glass prototype promotion.

Sony to launch PlayStation 4 in November at $429, $529 -- report

by Don Reisinger

February 20, 2013 9:56 AM PST

Sony's PlayStation 4 event is today, but that hasn't stopped the rumor mill from continuing to churn out details.
The console, which hasn't been officially named but is expected to be called the PlayStation 4, will be made available in November in the United States, gaming blog Kotaku is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the company's plans. Those same sources told Kotaku that the console will ship in two different versions and cost $429 and $529, respectively.
Sony is holding a special PlayStation event in New York City today. So far, the company has been tight-lipped on what it will announce, but just about every rumor has suggested a new PlayStation will be unveiled.

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Earlier reports have suggested that the PlayStation 4 will run on an AMD processor, rather than the Cell chip in its PlayStation 3. In addition, the device could support the ability to stream PlayStation 3 games over the Web. Sony's controller will also come with a touchpad to enhance gaming, according to reports.
Speaking of controllers, Kotaku's sources also said that Sony is planning to allow PlayStation 4 owners to control their console with a tablet or smartphone. Those devices will be used to chat with other PlayStation owners and buy games that will be downloaded to the console.
If Kotaku's source is correct, Sony's console will be priced significantly higher than the first next-generation console launch, the Wii U. That device is currently on sale for $300 and $350 for the Basic set and Deluxe set, respectively. Nintendo has been pressed with questions on whether it should reduce the price of its console to boost demand, but so far, the company has balked, saying that the price is right. In January, Nintendo sold just 57,000 Wii U units.
Sony's PlayStation event kicks off at 3 p.m. PT today. CNET will be on hand to cover every last detail.

How Google is getting human with Google Glass

Action and human reaction all in one.

(Credit: Google/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

I've always felt a little skeptical about Google.
To be honest, not just about Google.
But in the case of the men from Mountain View, there's always been something so touchingly gauche about the way they've gone about their business.
None of this was assuaged by the recent sight of Google's Sergey Brin sitting on New York's subway wearing his Google glasses and looking like, well, a nerd on the subway wearing silly glasses.
I feared, therefore, for the world's nerve ends when I heard that Google had launched a site to promote those very glasses.
These were the ones that, I imagined, would create insurance company claims and lawsuits aplenty as people crashed into each other on the street, while being blindly focused on getting their glasses to Google "local restaurants."
Yet Google's new site is bathed in a subtle delight.
Not only is there a certain sophistication of style, it has a remarkably un-Googlie sense of priorities.
For the first thing you read isn't "What Google Glass Does." Instead, it's "How It Feels."

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This is a monstrously intelligent, sensitive, and human breakthrough.
The mere idea that Google's first concern is feelings makes me imagine Bill Gates suddenly standing up and declaring that his first concern was "Sesame Street."
It doesn't stop there, though. For the video that tries to explain how Google Glass will feel does an excellent job of making you believe that this clear attempt at mind control won't be nearly as obtrusive as you might have imagined.
Even the "What It Does" part of the site presents what could be feature-led, technobabble in large, involving pictures instead. It really is as if Spock has found himself a girlfriend who works at McDonald's.
Good Lord, these glasses even come in a range of colors. And lo, here's a rumor that Google wants them to look cool with the help of designer Warby Parker.
Now if only the company can take this revolutionary human attitude to the design of its purported new retail stores, you might almost imagine that Google is becoming a rather spirited neo-Apple.
Which might leave the question: What, in that case, is Apple becoming

Nicolaus Copernicus

Google Doodle to mark 540 th birthday of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus on Feb. 19, 2013. Copernicus was born in 1473. View full size image

In the early 1500s, famed Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus first proposed that the Earth was not the center of the universe — a revelation that, more than 500 years later, has catapulted the 16th century scientists into the center of the Google-verse.
The Internet search giant Google honored Copernicus' paradigm-shifting model of the cosmos today with a unique dynamic "doodle" that animates the motion of the solar system's planets around the sun. The Copernicus doodle went live on Copernicus' 540th birthday.
Nicolaus Copernicus was born on Feb. 19, 1473, and traveled to Italy at age 18 to attend university. At that time, the prevailing theory of the cosmos stated that the planets (not to mention the sun) all circled the Earth, which was at the center of the universe.

Nicolaus Copernicus
CREDIT: Public Domain

View full size image

At the University of Bologna, Copernicus studied astronomy under professor Domenico Maria de Novara, during which time he helped observe the night sky. After return to his native Poland to serve as a cleric in Frauenburg, he continued his astronomical observations using a observatory in the tower in which he lived. [The Greatest Astronomers of All Time]
Copernicus is perhaps best known for his work on the motion of solar system planets. The prevailing model — that the Earth was at the center of the universe — resulted in a complicated view of the solar system in order to account for the apparent backward motion of some planets across the sky. This "retrograde motion," as it was called, was explained by confusing circles within circles (called epicycles) by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy.
But Copernicus' model streamlined the solar system by proposing that the Earth was not the center of the universe — a heretical view at the time. Instead, Copernicus proposed that the center was near the sun, and that all the planets (Earth included) revolved around it. He also proposed that that it was the Earth's motion around the sun that caused other planets to appear as if they moved backward — a theory later proven correct.
The Copernican model of the solar system is also known as the heliocentric model. While Copernicus still got some details incorrect (he assumed the orbits of planets were perfect circles, not the ellipses we know today, which still required epicycles), it did lay the foundation for future astronomers.
Copernicus documented his theory in handwritten notes to friends in 1514, when he would have been about 41 years old. It was not until he was 70 and near death that Copernicus formally published his proposal in the book "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres."
Despite Copernicus' work, nearly 100 years later Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei found himself in trouble with Catholic church authorities in 1632 when he also proposed that Earth orbited the sun. Both astronomers were ultimately vindicated, leading to the modern understanding of solar system mechanics scientists have today.

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

Jerry Buss

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Before the Los Angeles Lakers could move on with the second half of the season following the All-Star break, on Tuesday they were left looking back at the life of legendary owner Dr. Jerry Buss.
"To me personally, he obviously believed in me from day one, being a 17-year-old kid to where I am now," Kobe Bryant said before practice, reflecting on Buss, who died Monday at the age of 80. "His competitive spirit, his vision of what this organization should be and how it should go beyond basketball, the global outreach that he had in his mind, we talked quite a bit about that. We talked about the old times, and he's obviously had a profound impact on my career, to say the least."

“ ... We talked about getting another championship and trying to put the Celtics in the rearview mirror. That's something that was driving him and that's something that continues to drive me.
” -- Kobe Bryant on Jerry Buss

The Lakers announced that a private memorial service will be held for Buss on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT at Nokia Theatre. The service will not be open to the public; however, it will be aired live on the team's television station, Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Countless fans have already flocked to show their support for the longtime Lakers owner who presided over 10 championships in his 34 years at the helm by leaving flowers and mementos by the Lakers statues in front of Staples Center. At L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles, well-wishers have been writing messages on a giant white banner that features a picture of Buss in the middle of it.
"Yesterday was an empty day," said Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, who also expressed his gratitude that Buss brought him to Los Angeles as a player 32 years ago and kept him in the organization all this time. "I couldn't seem to find a place where I was comfortable -- a room, a place, a car, a house. A major loss, personally, for obvious reasons."
While recognizing that Buss is gone, the Lakers were left acknowledging his children that still remain with the team -- particularly vice president of player personnel Jim Buss and vice president of business operations Jeanie Buss -- and the challenge they have to take up the torch from their father.

More on Jerry Buss from ESPN.com

Jerry Buss had vision unlike any other. From humble beginnings to the L.A. spotlight, he changed the game as owner of the Lakers, writes Ramona Shelburne. Story

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Jerry Buss admittedly loved winning with the Lakers, but he also certainly knew how to enjoy life and have fun along the way, writes J.A. Adande. Story

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Jerry Buss was a symbol of stability for a franchise that has had its fair share of Hollywood drama throughout the years, writes Dave McMenamin. Blog

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Current and former NBA players were among those remembering Lakers owner Jerry Buss on Twitter following his death Monday. Comment


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"I'm very confident," Bryant said when asked if he believed Buss' family could carry on his tradition of excellence. "You're following the greatest owner in sports. To try to match that or equal that, it's nearly an impossible task. But I think in their own way they'll have success, for sure."
Kupchak echoed Bryant's belief.
"Ownership will continue to carry on the brand of the organization," Kupchak said. "Nobody understands what this franchise means to Los Angeles more than Jeanie and Jimmy and the family. Nobody does. And to the extent that they'll let me [chart the Lakers' direction], after spending 32 years with Jerry, I think I have a feeling of what he wants too."
Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard shared fond memories of visiting with an ailing Buss in the hospital before the season. Gasol sadly recalled how Buss' goal to be out of the hospital in time for the Lakers' season opener in October was not met. Kupchak said there could have been a subconscious effort on Jim Buss' part to pursue the Howard and Steve Nash deals in the offseason in hopes of capturing one last championship while his father was still alive.
Bryant said winning another ring for Buss has been on his mind all season long.
"It's part of the reason why I try to drive so hard," Bryant said. "When we talked, we talked about getting another championship and trying to put the [Boston] Celtics in the rearview mirror. That's something that was driving him and that's something that continues to drive me."
The Celtics have 17 championships all time, just ahead of the Lakers' 16.
Gasol said he spent his final hospital visit with Buss watching college football and talking about the owner's beloved USC Trojans and how the college game was superior to the NFL. Kupchak shared how Buss rigged a system to be able to watch Lakers games on his iPad at the hospital while the team's local television deal was still being hammered out.
"He meant a lot to us," Gasol said. "He was a leader for our team, for this franchise, for this city, and he was a guy that you would enjoy being around. It's been a tough hit for us, even though we knew he was sick and battling hard for a while."

More on the Lakers

For more news, notes and analysis of the Lakers, check out the Lakers Index. Blog

Kupchak said Buss was very much involved in the decision to hire Mike D'Antoni after Mike Brown was fired just five games into the season. However, the owner's health was so bad by that point that D'Antoni never met Buss in person.
"One of the main reasons that Los Angeles has had all this success is he was like a magnet to players to get deals done and to be able to have the best franchise out there," D'Antoni said. "This went on for 30 years, so it wasn't a fluke."
Before Buss is laid to rest, the Lakers just so happen to play a game against the Celtics on Wednesday -- the team that Buss battled with for those 30 years, as his Lakers met the Celtics in the Finals five times in that span, winning three times. The Lakers will debut commemorative purple-and-gold "JB" patches on their uniforms against Boston and wear them for the rest of the season in remembrance of Buss.
"Just stay focused on the moment, have a good practice today and come out [Wednesday] night ready to put on a good show in his honor," Bryant said, planning an appropriate tribute to the man responsible for Showtime.

Bonnaroo Lineup to Feature Paul McCartney, Mumford & Sons, Wilco, R. Kelly

Paul McCartney Credit: Gary Miller/FilmMagic

Music fans, prepare to rock. Bonnaroo, the annual four-day festival held on a farm in Manchester, Tenn., has announced its lineup for 2013, and it's not just studded with stars -- it's swarming with them. Among the biggest headliners for this year's event, to be held June 13 through June 16, are Paul McCartney, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Wilco, and Album of the Year Grammy Award winners Mumford & Sons.
PHOTOS: Stars in concert
Hip hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan will also take the stage, along with R. Kelly, rapper Nas, Bjork, the National, Passion Pit, and the Lumineers, who were nominated for Best New Artist at this year's Grammys. Folk music and country fans can catch a performance by Dwight Yoakam or join The Office star Ed Helms at his Bluegrass Situation Superjam tent.

Mumford and Sons
Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

"Top to bottom, this is one of the strongest lineups we have ever had," Bonnaroo spokesman Jeff Cuellar told Reuters in an interview. "Looking at the festival landscape out there...no other American festival has Mumford & Sons, Paul McCartney, and Bjork all under one roof."
PHOTOS: Music's most stylish stars
The lineup was announced on Tuesday, Feb. 19, in an hour-long live telecast hosted by Weird Al Yankovic (among this year's festival acts). Bonnaroo performers Portugal. The Man also appeared, to sing "So American."
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Bonnaroo is one of the biggest live music festivals in the country, along with the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Up to 100,000 fans -- including many celebrities -- flock to Great Stage Park every year to see their favorite bands and comedians perform.

Paul McCartney tops Bonnaroo music festival lineup

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The front row at London Fashion Week.  Slideshow 

By Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tenn | Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:21pm EST

(Reuters) - Paul McCartney will perform at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee in June along with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mumford & Sons, Bjork and Wilco, festival organizers said on Tuesday.
"Top to bottom, this is one of the strongest lineups we have ever had," Bonnaroo spokesman Jeff Cuellar said in an interview. "Looking at the festival landscape out there ... no other American festival has Mumford & Sons, Paul McCartney and Bjork all under one roof."
Bonnaroo is among the top live music gatherings of the year, much like the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California and the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts in Britain.
Up to 100,000 fans flock to the annual festival in Manchester, Tennessee, to see singers, comedians, art and films.
The 2013 concert lineup announced on Tuesday also included R. Kelly, Wu-Tang Clan, David Byrne & St. Vincent, ZZ Top, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Gov't Mule and Dwight Yoakam.
Tickets for the festival go on sale February 23 on bonnaroo.com.
(Reporting by Tim Ghianni; Editing by David Bailey and Stacey Joyce)