Google’s finally allowing customers in (some) countries outside the US to buy its Cardboard VR viewers directly from the Google Store .
Listed at £15 for a single Cardboard viewer in the UK, the company is also pushing a two-pack for £25. Exactly how much fun it will be to sit in headphones wearing a Cardboard viewer while someone sits next to you wearing the same I’m yet to be convinced of; it’s a dystopian vision of the future that’s as scary as it is potentially exciting.
There is, of course, a fairly high likelihood that anyone who was really keen to try Cardboard out has already gotten their hands on a third-party option. Nonetheless, there’s now a simple route for Google to get its VR viewer in the hands of as many people as possible.
In addition to the UK and US, the Cardboard viewer is available in Canada, France and Germany from the Google Store.
Wearing cardboard on your face isn’t the most comfortable VR option out there, but it’s also a pretty damn cheap way to dip a toe in the water.
Via The Verge
Google’s OnHub and IFTTT will now connect all of your dumb ‘smart home’ junk
Google’s cool OnHub router (no, really, it’s pretty neat for a router) now supports IFTTT, letting you automate just about anything connected in your home.
IFTTT lets users create ‘recipes’ that trigger actions based on initiators. When you arrive home, your phone may connect to Wi-Fi via OnHub. From there, it can do things like turn on connect Hue lights or send a message to your roommates or significant other that you’re home.
Of course, OnHub’s IFTTT recipes must be created manually, so there’s a bit of legwork involved.
IFTTT was always a workaround for direct automation, but it’s even more curious with OnHub. At Google I/O last year, Google announced Brillo and Weave , its own method for connecting smart devices together for this type of automation.
Either Google is giving up on Brillo and Weave (which they dubbed a ‘project’ at I/O, so that wouldn’t be surprising, but I really hope not ), or uptake has been slower than it likes. Either way, IFTTT is still a cool workaround, and is infinitely more useful than Brillo and Weave in today’s connected world.
LG cancels the first Android Wear smartwatch with LTE support over hardware issue
LG has announced that its canceling its Watch Urbane 2nd Edition , the world’s first Android Wear-based smartwatch to offer cellular connectivity , owing to an unspecified hardware problem.
Android Police heard from the company today, which noted that it’s canceling its rollout. There’s no word yet as to whether the wearable will be available later.
The device, which LG showed off in October , went on sale in the US and South Korea this month. In addition to being the first Android Wear watch with LTE support, the company claimed that its 348ppi display was also sharper than any other smartwatch on the market.
The wearable became available through AT&T for $199 last week, but it’s since been pulled from the carrier’s store. 9to5Google notes that AT&T has notified its retail stores and customers that owners of the latest Watch Urbane are eligible for a refund due to the “quality issue.”
That’s sure to deal a blow to Android Wear: in its ability to support cellular networks , Google’s OS for wearables had a trump card over Apple’s WatchOS. Of course, other Android Wear device makers can now take a crack at it, but they should learn from LG’s mistake and triple-check their phone-on-a-watch offerings.
➤ LG Cancels The Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE Indefinitely Because Of Unspecified, Complex “Hardware Issue” [Android Police]