Oculus to start selling hand controllers
SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook says it's working to make virtual reality more social as the industry gets more crowded.
With a host of leading tech companies now selling VR products, Facebook's Oculus division is hoping to distinguish its offerings with more interactive and social experiences. At an event Thursday, the company announced a long-awaited shipping date -- Dec. 6 -- for its Oculus Touch hand controllers, designed to let users make gestures and grasp virtual objects within the simulated worlds projected by Oculus Rift headsets.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, donned one of those headsets for an onstage demonstration in which he visited Mars, played virtual cards with two other people, then made a video call to his wife while standing in a digital simulation of his living room.
Zuckerberg said his company has invested $250 million to back developers building new games and other virtual-reality programs for Oculus, and is vowing to double that amount. He also said the company is working on a prototype for a mobile VR headset that doesn't have to be linked to a personal computer, which the Oculus Rift requires, while promising a better experience than current headsets powered by smartphones, like those sold by Samsung and Google.
Oculus has been showing prototypes of its Touch hand controllers since last year, but started shipping its high-end virtual-reality headsets without them this spring. Oculus will sell a pair of controllers, with a sensor device, for $199. Oculus says they're designed to be more comfortable and intuitive than traditional video game controllers, which can be purchased for less than $50.
-- The Associated Press
Satellite launcher picks rocket-maker
MOJAVE, Calif. -- Billionaire Paul Allen's Stratolaunch will use Orbital ATK Pegasus XL winged rockets for its airborne satellite launch system.
The choice was jointly announced last week by Stratolaunch Systems of Mojave, Calif., and Orbital ATK of Dulles, Va.
Stratolaunch is building a giant, six-engine jet that will release launch vehicles at high altitude. The twin-fuselage aircraft will be 238 feet long and have a wingspan of 385 feet.
The Pegasus XL is capable of carrying small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds into low Earth orbit. Pegasus XLs have placed more than 80 satellites into orbit.
Scott Lehr, president of Orbital ATK's Flight Systems Group, called the collaboration a first step in a long-term partnership.
-- The Associated Press
Spanish watchdog to look at data swap
MADRID -- Spain's data protection agency says it will investigate whether the recently announced exchange of personal data between WhatsApp and Facebook meets Spanish data protection legislation.
The watchdog body said it will study what information collected from WhatsApp users is sent to Facebook, for what purpose, how long it is kept and what options customers are offered if they wish to object.
It said it will coordinate with its counterparts in Germany, Italy and Britain, which have announced similar probes.
Facebook took over the WhatsApp messaging service two years ago and announced recently that WhatsApp would begin sharing user data with the social network as part of a program to synchronize the two businesses.
The agency announced its investigation in a statement last week.
-- The Associated Press
Verizon tests wireless-service drones
Verizon Communications Inc. is entering the drone race with a remote-controlled plane that has a 17-foot wingspan and is loaded with wireless antennas for extending service to areas beyond the reach of its cellular network.
Verizon joins a list of companies including Amazon.com Inc. that are testing how drones can help boost sales. A startup named Flirty delivers chili dogs in Nevada. Google's Project Wing drops off burritos in rural Virginia as part of an Alphabet Inc. experiment at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
And Facebook Inc. in June launched Aquila, the test of a solar-powered drone fleet designed to fly more than 10 miles above land and beam Internet access over a broad territory.
Wireless rival AT&T Inc. has been using camera-mounted drones to inspect cell towers and is also looking at possibly flying antennas over concerts and other big-crowd events to boost service. AT&T is also working to be the carrier that connects to drones, giving operators the ability to fly longer distances and manage flight paths.
-- Bloomberg News
Amazon Dash to scan groceries, more
NEW YORK -- Amazon has updated its barcode-scanning Dash shopping wand so users can now buy anything with it, not just groceries.
With the new Amazon Dash, users scan a product's barcode or say its name to add it to their Amazon shopping cart. The wand is meant as a quick way to reorder a product or order an item that's on the top of a customer's mind while at home.
Amazon's app already has a barcode-scanning feature called Flow. Carrying the Dash saves the trouble of opening the app, scanning the item with the phone's camera and then adding the item to the shopping cart.
The Dash is the latest hardware device Amazon is selling to try to rope shoppers in. Amazon's $190 Echo smart speaker performs a variety of tasks including ordering products. The company also has one-click Dash reordering buttons that can stick to any surface and can be used to instantly reorder household products like detergent or toilet paper. Unlike the wand, the buttons are tied to specific products.
With the update, consumers no longer need to be a member of Amazon's $299-a-year grocery delivery service Prime Fresh to buy a Dash wand, but they do need to be part of Amazon's $99-a-year Prime loyalty program. It costs $50, though Prime Fresh members can get it for $20, with a $20 credit included.
-- The Associated Press
Thomson Reuters execs shift to Toronto
Thomson Reuters Corp. said Chief Executive Officer Jim Smith and Chief Financial Officer Stephane Bello will move to Toronto as the financial data, news and analytics provider expands Canadian operations with a new technology center in the city.
The Toronto technology hub is expected to create 400 jobs in Canada over the next two years, with plans to grow to approximately 1,500 jobs over time, Thomson Reuters said in a statement Friday. The new tech center will focus on emerging skills such as cognitive computing, visualization, user experience and cloud development.
Smith and Bello are currently based in New York. Additional management roles will be relocated and recruited locally in Toronto over the next few years, the company said. Thomson Reuters was created by the acquisition of London-based Reuters by Canada's Thomson Corp. in 2008.
-- Bloomberg News
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