If you’ve ever sheepishly held up your iPhone at a concert to record a video of your favorite band playing your favorite song, the day is likely coming soon when hitting record will result in nothing getting recorded. Why? Because Apple just patented a method to use invisible infrared signals to tell your phone that recording is a no-no at the big show. Or the movie theater. Or during your tour of Area 51.
The system works by using infrared light emitters that hit your phone’s camera system when you try to record something. However, the system also works in the reverse: it can trigger additional information to pop up on your screen when you’re using your camera, say, at a museum, or a trade show, or to pop open a map … of Area 51. These are also known as infrared beacons and Google is working on it as well, according to Patently Apple.
When this tech might show up in your phone is still unknown, but when it does, it looks like it’s back to stuffing a camcorder down your pants to get that Dave Matthews Band bootleg.
Apple axes headphone jack?
The question of whether Apple will or won’t delete the traditional headphone jack from the next iPhone rages on, but purported leaked photos of the next-gen Apple earbuds suggest it’s a goner.
The photos, which first appeared on Chinese social media, certainly could be a first-rate photoshop job, but if accurate, it looks like the iconic white earbuds will have a lightning connector in the next go-round. Blasphemy, you say? Hardly, since Apple has a well-documented habit of killing off legacy connectors that can’t keep up with ever-increasing performance demands, and let’s face it, the 3.5-millimeter headphone jack is ready for retirement.
High-res audio, augmented reality systems and even VR at some level can more easily be piped through a high-speed lightning cable – or the new USB-C port, if you’re not an iPhone fan. It was fun while it lasted, headphone jack, let’s just hope Apple puts an adapter in the iPhone box during the transition period. Yeah, we doubt they will too.
Save up! Playstation VR is coming
Speaking of VR, Playstation fans should start saving their nickels now for the new VR edition, which will launch on October 13th for 400 bucks. And what to play? How about Thumper, a music-based “rhythm violence” game that should sear your brain with both sound and surround vision. If you put your nose right next to the monitor while watching the trailer, you can kinda get an idea of how insane it will be to play in VR.
OK, clean that nose print off your monitor and set aside 20 bucks for Thumper, but if I were you, I’d plunk down $45 for the Collector’s Edition, which includes the game soundtrack by Brian Gibson on a lovely analog LP record – and a picture disc, no less. Because nothing says ironic like rocking the soundtrack to your new VR hotness on tech that dates back about 140 years.
