Amazing Optical Illusions

Loading Platform™ Version 3.0 has just been released!

Loading Platform™ Version 3.0 has just been released in Beta Mode!

Check it out now www.loading-lb.com and give us your feedback.

Matterform crowdfunds a simple, well-designed 3D scanner that could...

                         http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=trEZz6f4M-U

MakerBot has been the trailblazer when it comes to bringing 3D printing to the masses, but another company may beat it to the punch before it can do the same for 3D scanners. Matterform is looking to produce a simple, low-profile 3D scanner, and it's launched an Indiegogo campaign in support of the effort. The Photon 3D scanner appears to be about the size of a simple printer when shut, and then unfolds to reveal a scanning surface when being used. A circular tray rotates the object being scanned, while a camera and lasers collected data on the object over the course of about three minutes. It can scan objects as large as 9.75-inches tall and 7.5-inches wide, and it's being offered to backers for about $392.

Matterform is also building software that works alongside the Photon to facilite scanning. The company's emphasis is on making a scanner that's simple to use, which could help to make 3D printing more accessible. Consumers who aren't able to customize existing objects or create their own with modeling software may find limited use in a 3D printer, but owning both a 3D printer and a 3D scanner could allow replication of household or handmade items. Matterform estimates the earliest Photon deliveries will go out in July, but only if the company meets its nearly $80,000 goal — with 32 days remaining, the company still has about $60,000 to go.

Mobile internet users behavior in Lebanon!

Alfa Telecommunications released some nice infographic during Arabnet 2013 two weeks ago showing the most popular smart phones among their users along with the most visited websites and what services are mostly used.

Android up 13%, iOS down 7%, BlackBerry down 81% … and Windows Phone up a massive 52%!

The mobile operating system market share numbers are in for Kantar Worldpanel’s last quarter, and the numbers are shocking.

Not the Android and iOS numbers: Steady but unspectacular growth for Android and gradual but not catastrophic drops for Apple are pretty much in line with expectations.

But the BlackBerry and Windows Phone numbers are dramatic changes from the same quarter a year ago. Windows Phone looks to be finally taking off, with 52 percent growth December, January, and February of this year compared to the same three months in 2012. And BlackBerry is falling of a sales cliff, with an 81 percent plunge in sales.

The big kahuna, of course, is Android.

Google’s Android now owns more than half of U.S. smartphone sales, with 51.2 percent market share. That’s up from 45.4 percent in the quarter a year ago. Meanwhile, iOS is holding fairly steady at number two, with 43.5 percent, down slightly from last year’s 47 percent.

What’s interesting about the Windows numbers, even though they are on a much smaller installed base, is that Windows Phone is currently the fastest-growing mobile phone platform. At 4.1 percent of mobile operating system market share, Microsoft still has a very long ways to go, and growth rates could start to slow as it piles up share. But the numbers have to be encouraging for Redmond as it is finally gaining traction in a market that it once appeared to have completely lost.

And the international numbers contain pockets of even more good news, such as Italy, where Windows Phone now makes up 13.1 percent of new phone sales.

Apple’s mobile offerings are strongest with the two largest U.S. carriers, AT&T and Verizon. Both sell a majority of iOS smartphones, with AT&T selling 68.4 percent iOS versus 20.8 percent Android, and Verizon selling 55.1 percent iOS versus 43.4 percent Android.

Meanwhile, Samsung is continuing to expand its Android leadership, taking away market share from competitors LG and HTC:

“Of those who changed their phone over the last year to a Samsung smartphone, 19 percent had previously owned a Samsung feature phone, 15 percent owned a HTC smartphone, 14 percent owned an LG feature phone, 10 percent owned a Samsung smartphone, and 9 percent owned a BlackBerry,” said Kantar Worldpanel analyst Mary-Ann Parlato. “It’s apparent that Samsung is successful at capturing users from across the competitor set and not just gaining from their own loyalists.”

Kantar Worldpanel is the largest continuous consumer research mobile phone panel in the world, and conducts more than 240,000 interviews per year in the U.S. alone to determine what consumers are buying and using.

4D PRINTING SELF-BUILDING SPACE STATIONS!

Forget 3D, 4D is the future! The kinks are still being worked out, but this new technology could transform life here on Earth, and even outer space. Anthony tells us how.

Facebook smartphone with HTC launching soon, ad campaign in the works

Follow years of rumors and speculation, Facebook is finally readying an entry into the mobile phone market. The social network is again hooking up with HTC which will design the hardware. The two companies have been working on a major marketing campaign in Southern California in recent weeks.

According to people familiar with the development of the marketing campaign for the Facebook/HTC phone, the advertisements are designed to focus on the potential user of the device, not on the hardware or software. As a nod to this phone being a much expanded version of the Facebook application found on iOS and standard Android devices, one of the tag-lines for the device is “more than just an app”.

The idea is that Facebook and HTC are selling their phone and OS as a lifestyle brand, not specifically for its hardware or software. Facebook and HTC previously hooked up on the Salsa and Cha-cha devices which frankly flopped. This will be a deeper, forked version of Android rather than a Facebook-ified version of Sense.

Of course, the hardware and software for this phone are competitive with the current mobile device landscape. It is unclear if the company is announcing its phone at its event next week. TechCrunch says that the event will discuss a Facebook OS based on Android at the very least.

Sources who have seen the Facebook/HTC smartphone hardware in-person say it is reminiscent of an iPhone. It includes an iPhone-like “home button” on the bottom center, and this button is surrounded by horizontal function keys on the right and left side. These buttons are said to be capacitive.

Above the keys is a display slightly larger in size to the 4-inch display found on the iPhone 5. Recent rumors have pointed to a collaborative Facebook/HTC phone featuring a 4.3-inch display.

The phone hardware, itself, is said to be about the size of an iPhone 5. The phone sports rounded edges and the design is fairly beveled. UnwiredView previously claimed that the Facebook/HTC phone will feature a 1.5GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 5 megapixel rear camera, and a 1.6 megapixel front-facing camera.

The phone’s software is a forked version of the Android operating system. Facebook’s features, like messaging, photo uploading, and contacts integration is fully integrated throughout the operating system.

Our sources also say that it is likely Facebook and HTC are already in discussions with at least a couple of cellular carriers around the world about carrying the device.

Bloomberg previously reported that Facebook is working on a phone with HTC for a mid-2013 launch. They, and The New York Times, also said that Facebook has hired away multiple early Apple iOS developers to work on the project. AllThingsD previously reported multiple details about the project, including that the phone will be based on a modified version of Android.