The tech world is unsurprisingly quiet in the shadow of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 press conference on March 14, but South by Southwest is revealing some interesting bits of news.
1. Google hacks a shoe
Yes, you read that right, Google showed off its next wearable device at SXSW on Saturday: a shoe that communicated with a smartphone via Bluetooth.
The Adidas shoes contained a micro-controller and a speaker, letting the shoes give movement-based feedback to whoever happened to be wearing them.
For example, once programmed with an Android phone, the shoes could scold the wearer for not getting of the couch and encourage them to be more active. Or, inversely, the shoes could encourage lazy behavior.
A Google representative did stress the company “is not getting into the shoe business,” so don’t expect to see Google-branded kicks anytime soon.
Engadget has a nice video of the devices in action here.
2. Takes
Several developers displayed new apps at SXSW, but Takes is by far the most interesting.
This app lets users “take” short videos, then splices them together with music.
Think Vine, but without the six-second limit and with any music you want.
The cool about this app is how it handles shooting video. There’s a camera-like shutter button displayed that, when pressed, actually records video slightly before and after the actual button press. After you’ve gathered all the “takes” you want, that’s when you can start putting them together.
Takes is free from the Apple App Store.
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That’s all the news for Monday, March 11! Make sure to check back Thursday for more SXSW updates and a recap of Samsung’s press conference.