HTC’s Vive VR headsets are now with developers

And the development phase for HTC’s virtual reality headset goes into full swing. The Valve and HTC-made Vive has finally started making its way to developers. The developer kits are being shipped to the likes of movie studios and game developers with key components like two Lighthouse base stations, which is the mounted hardware the Vive needs to locate and track users in a room; two wireless Steam VR handheld controllers; cables; and “everything else needed to get started.”

Although it is a bit worrying when it comes to the timeframe these developer kits started to arrive to the developers. HTC Vive was touted with a late 2015 release so with half of the year done, there isn’t that much time left to ship the apps. All we can do now is wait and see.

Source: ReadWrite.com

The reason behind DJ Zane Lowe’s move to Apple

It was evident when BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe announced he was moving to Apple that it had something to do with the Cupertino-based company’s new music platform. What wasn’t clear was what he was doing exactly. Curate playlists for them? Well, with the announcement of Apple Music we could see that he will be the main man for Apple’s new Beats 1, live radio station. The first-ever radio station from Apple will pump out music 24/7 to over 100 countries starting June 30^th. He’ll be fronting the show in Los Angeles, Ebro Darden will be doing that from New York, and Julie Adenuga from London. Beats 1 will be free for all listeners. It won’t be hidden behind the subscription paywall. So, users on iOS and Android will be able to listen to Lowe and his fellow DJs dish out the latest tunes from popular artists and up-and-coming musicians.

Source: Engadget

Sony Music CEO confirms Apple’s new music streaming service ahead of WWDC

It seems to be Apple is cooking up their new music streaming service, at least according to Sony Music CEO Doug Morris. He confirmed rumours about this service just ahead of WWDC keynote tomorrow. Morris made the announcement while speaking at the Midem music industry conference in Cannes, France and while he didn’t talk about the specifics, it definitely points to a high probability that a music related announcement is coming.

Morris believes that Apple’s entry into the music streaming game might boost the business for the company and its competitors. “My guess is that Apple will promote this like crazy and I think that will have a halo effect on the streaming business,” he said. 

Source: VentureBeat | Via: MacWorld

Google will release monthly report cards for self-driving cars

Google wants the public and its shareholders to continue supporting “moonshot” projects by being transparent about them. One such example is releasing a monthly report card for their self-driving cars. The May 2015 release covers 12 accidents that the fleet has been involved in in the past six years. The latest crash took place last week when an autonomous prototype Lexus SUV was rear-ended at around 1mph by another car. No injuries were reported from both sides though and the self-driving car wasn’t at fault. Actually, only one out of the 12 accidents were caused by the driver operating the Google car and he was doing it manually as well as it drove back into another vehicle.

This report will also show how Google can expound more on self-driving technology, such as how the system can identify a passing emergency vehicle at a junction and will remain at a halt even though their lane is the one in favor to move.

Source: Google Monthly Reports | Via: SlashGear