Project Tango will power NASA’s SPHERES robotic platform, will launch into space later this summer

While Project Ara is more immediately aimed at providing a commercial solution for improving the lives of smartphone users around the globe, the equally ambitious Project Tango is currently geared towards developers and organizations looking to find unique ways to make use a device that is essentially aware of its own surroundings.

Project Tango utilizes a pair of cameras and an infrared projector to measure depth and observe movement, and then takes this information and creates a 3D map of the space around it. Aside from this, the specs inside the Tango ‘phone’ aren’t much different from your typical handset, such as its quad-core SoC and 2GB of RAM.

Google and NASA are working to integrate Tango with NASA’s own robotic platform, SPHERES.

Project Tango has a lot of potential, and Google has already been releasing the device into the hands of various partners over the last couple months. One of these partners is NASA, and today Google revealed a bit about what NASA intends to do with Project Tango.

Project Tango and its role in SPHERES

Since the summer of 2013, Google ATAP’s Tango team has been working closely with a NASA team at the Ames Research Center. The focus of their relationship has been on working to integrate Tango with NASA’s own robotic platform, called SPHERES.

The goal of the SPHERES platform is basically to create autonomous robotic assistants that can eventually handle the more menial tasks for those aboard the ISS space station. Where does Tango play into all this? Basically the smartphone plugs into the SPHERES robotic prototype, providing it with the “eyes” needed to properly navigate around the space station.

When might SPHERES and Tango actually make their way beyond testing and into space? Sooner then you’d think. If all goes well, Project Tango and SPHERES should be launched into orbit later this summer. This is certainly a unique use of the technology behind Project Tango and makes it clear that Tango’s long-term effects could go way beyond simply giving us a cool 3D sensing handset to play around with.

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Age of Empires: World Domination coming to Android this summer

The ‘Age of Empires’ series is finally makes its move over to the world of mobile, thanks to a collaborative effort between Microsoft and Japanese-based Klab.

I still remember the first time I opened up that jewel case, took out the CD and promptly started loading up Ages of Empires onto my 75MHz Pentium-powered Compaq Pressario with the measly 8MB RAM. A lot has changed since my childhood days of playing Age of Empires, both in my life and in the world of technology. Still, some passions never die, and to this day I still enjoy the entire series and occasionally will still play around with Age of Empires III.

For fans like myself, you’ll be happy to know that the series is finally making its way over to the world of mobile, the form of Age of Empires: World Domination. Not a lot of details have been revealed about World Domination just yet, though Microsoft and Klab have announced the game will land on Android sometime this summer. There’s also a sneak-peak trailer, which you can see above.

While the trailer gives a vibe that’s (at least in my opinion) much more anime/cartoonish than the original, the little bits of in-game play that you can see suggests that at least the RTS style gameplay appears to still be in-tact. Now here’s to hoping that Microsoft does its best to stick to the gameplay mechanics and overall feel of the desktop series, instead of bringing us a mess that’s littered with in-app purchases (Dungeon Keeper?).

For now at least, I remain cautiously optimistic and look forward to giving the game a try. What do you think, interested in an Age of Empires spin-off for mobile? Plan on picking this one up, provided Microsoft does the game justice?

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LG G Watch reportedly coming in early summer for under £180 in the UK, or roughly $300

Back in March Google took the wraps off its new Android Wear platform, giving us a look at what the future of Android-powered watches will have in store for us. At the time, both LG and Motorola gave us early previews of their own Wear powered devices, the Moto 360 and LG G Watch.

Speaking of the latter device, LG originally promised the watch would be one of the first to Android Wear products to ship, with a 2nd quarter release target. Now LG has confirmed to Pocket-lint that the watch will arrive before July and will cost less than £180 in the UK (roughly $300). Considering U.S. pricing is often less than a device’s equivalent pricing in Europe, we wouldn’t be too surprised if the watch arrives around the $250 mark in North America, though that’s just speculation on our part.

Aside from the potential pricing and release details, LG also confirmed that the G Watch will offer user-changeable straps for those looking to further customize the look of their device. When it comes to more detailed specs, we really know little else about the LG G Watch, other than it will utilize Google’s new watch UI and software, giving us the power of Google Now right on our wrist.

Although many of us at Android Authority prefer the looks of the Moto 360, if the LG G Watch can offer similar functionality and specs in a cheaper (square) package — it could still prove to be a major success for the company.

What do you think of the Android Wear platform, and are you more interested in the G Watch or the Moto 360? Conversely, do you feel existing watches like the Gear 2 are still the better deal, based on what we currently know?

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Save Money on Your Summer Vacation by Renting a Room at a University

Did you know that some colleges and universities rent out their rooms in the summer? It makes sense for them because their lodging facilities are less crowded then—and it could mean big savings for you.

Frugal Travel Guy offers this tip of looking for summer housing rentals at universities around the world. Here's one example:

Not far from Paris's Orly Airport, you'll find lodging at Residence Universitaire Lanteri, Paris for around $65/night. Close to public transportation, breakfast is included as well as the option to purchase additional meals. Laundry facilities, activities room, TV, and internet are included.

Cheaper than a hotel and probably better than a hostel, often with lots of entertainment thrown in. (Drunken parties and obnoxious roommates not included, though.)

Cheap Summer Lodgings at Universities | Frugal Travel Guy

Photo by Lana Dyck.

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PlayStation 4 Supply Issues Will Be Fixed This Summer

Sony is selling its PS4 as fast as it can. But the company has experienced supply constraints ever since its launch in November 2013. And don’t expect to find a PS4 on your store shelf anytime soon — Sony told the WSJ that it doesn’t expect to meet demand before this summer.

Yet, the console only recently launched in Japan, its home country. While Sony managed to sell 300,000 consoles in its first week, sales in Japan dropped to less than 30,000 during its second week.

That’s why the company is reporting global sales numbers. So far, Sony has sold 6 million PS4 units. It’s a good start, better than the Xbox One and the Wii U. But it’s still too early to declare victory.

Overall, the console market is shrinking. As our own Natasha Lomas wrote, it will be hard to sell as many PS4s and Xbox Ones as PS3s and Xbox 360s. The last generation fared quite well. The Xbox 360 and PS3 sold around 80 million apiece.

When comparing the last generation console launch with this generation, the PS3 and Xbox 360 sold faster. Part of it can be explained by supply issues. But it’s a recurring issue with console launches.