Google released the second version of their Cardboard VR viewer back in May. Sticking to their commitment to make the design of the handheld HMD completely open for third-party manufacturers, the company has now released the complete design specification for Cardboard v2.
Also: Kit For Google Cardboard 2 Now Free To Download
Epic has made 7,600 Infinity Blade assets free on the Unreal Engine marketplace.
The content will ship in eight different packs that are available for any developer to access and use in their game. Most of the released assets come from the cancelled Infinity Blade: Dungeons.
Assets available include audio files, sound cues, melee weaponry, numerous visual effects and game locations such as a castle with flowing lava and a wintery fort set within a glacial enclave,.
Altogether the assets are said to represent $3 million worth of investment in art and sound design.
You can view all the available content below. The packs can be downloaded on the Unreal Engine marketplace.
It's no secret that many tech companies hate video formats that are closed, cost money or both -- enough so that they'll drop popular standards and develop their own codecs. There hasn't been a concerted attempt to tackle this problem, however, which is why several industry giants have just launched the Alliance for Open Media. Founding members Amazon, Cisco, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla and Netflix are working on a future video format that should be royalty-free, open to anyone and playable on just about any modern device. It's still extremely early (the group hasn't even said how others can join), but you should hear more about their efforts later this year.
While it's not stated, the Alliance is effectively trying to make an end run around MPEG LA, the group that licenses big video formats like H.264 and H.265. If the Alliance can create a standard that catches on, it'd eliminate one of the common costs for offering video playback on devices and through the internet. However, that's a big "if." The tech industry is notorious for developing formats that either take ages to arrive or quickly fizzle out. Also, Apple isn't one of the founders. Unless the Alliance can convince Apple to hop aboard, it may have trouble reaching the widest possible audience -- just look at what happened when Cupertino refused to support Flash on its mobile hardware.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Intel
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Alliance for Open Media
Tags: allianceforopenmedia, amazon, cisco, google, hdpostcross, intel, internet, microsoft, mozilla, mpeg-la, mpegla, netflix, streaming, video, web
If you’re looking for the absolute best value Android smartphone out there: Yep. Yep, you should. The only hesitation you should feel in your heart is that Google will most likely be announcing two Nexus smartphones possibly by the end of the month. A Google Phone means two devices very similar to the Moto X, definitely getting upcoming Marshmallow update first, and ones that could even be a part of Google’s new Project Fi wireless service.
But what Nexus most likely won’t have is a look tailored specifically to you and legitimately useful Moto apps you’ll want to use. Pull the trigger or wait—it’s a win-win.
