On this day in 1963, American folk group, Peter, Paul and Mary, released their beloved single, “Puff The Magic Dragon.” The lyrics of the song were written by Leonard Lipton, a friend of Peter’s at Cornell University, back in 1959 while they were in school. “Puff” recounts the story of a little boy, Jackie Paper, and his imaginary dragon friend, Puff, who go on adventures together during Jackie’s childhood. But eventually, Jackie grows up, leaving Puff to retreat back into his cave, awaiting his next child companion. The song was an instant success, reaching number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming another standard in a broad series of Peter, Paul and Mary folk hits that dominated the 1960s. However, as early as 1964, speculation over the song’s true meaning arose, leading many to believe that the seemingly innocent lyrics about childhood and growing up actually serve as a veiled metaphor for smoking marijuana. The group, as well as the lyricist Lipton, have since vehemently denied the allegations. But the song, to this day, remains heavily associated with drug culture.

In the wake of the sudden passing of Prince last year, there has been an overwhelming demand for the legendary music icon’s body of work to be made available on music streaming services. As of February 12, many fans got their wish. Warner Bros, who owns the rights to much of the late musician’s work, including renowned albums 1999, Purple Rain, and Dirty Mind, has reached an agreement with Prince’s estate to allow all his music (released prior to his 1996 split with Warner Bros) to be made available on music streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and Pandora. The February 12 release date coincided with the Grammy Awards, which honored Prince with a tribute performance by The Time and Bruno Mars.

Warner Bros has also announced that, on June 9th, they will release a remastered version of Purple Rain, as well as two previously unreleased Prince albums and two concert films from Prince’s personal vault at his Paisley Park recording complex.

Prince did once have his music available for streaming on some digital platforms, but, with the exception of Jay Z’s Tidal (which gives artists a larger share of profits) took his music down in 2015. An advocate for artist rights, Prince split with his long-time record label, Warner Bros, in 1996 because, as a prolific songwriter, Prince wanted to release new music as soon as it was ready, but Warner Bros refused his request. This dispute and eventual split was what prompted the singer’s infamous name change to the un-pronounceable emblem combining the astrologically inspired Mars-male and Venus-female symbols. In a press release at that time, Prince wrote: “Warner Bros took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music I wrote…The company owns the name Prince and all related music marketed under Prince. I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros.”

Once the Warner Bros contract expired in the year 2000, Prince went back to using his name, creating his own record label and innovating new ways for fans to access his work, becoming one of the first artists to sell their albums online.

Listen to Prince on Spotify here.

Indie rock “goofball” Mac DeMarco has announced the release of his forthcoming album, “This Old Dog,” out May 5, 2017. With the announcement of the album’s release date, the 26 year-old singer-songwriter previewed its title track, a groovy, mellow jam about getting older and settling down. Simultaneously, DeMarco released the track “My Old Man” from the upcoming album, which is a surprisingly upbeat ode about age, turning into your parents, and following in their footsteps – for better, or, begrudgingly, for worse.

As a lifelong gamer, I’ve had the good fortune to work with several talented development teams at Razer, Corsair and Logitech that have contributed to the evolution of gaming control over the last 20 years. So, with all the excitement for the annual Game Developers Conference (GDC) taking place in San Francisco this week, I’m sharing my thoughts on the most discussed technology in the gaming industry today: Virtual Reality (VR). What does VR look like currently? What are some problems VR Pioneers are facing? And what can we, as users, expect from VR in the future?

Imagine scoring front row seats to a sold out concert, strolling atop the Great Wall of China, or test driving a sports car, all without ever leaving your living room. If that sounds like Sci-Fi Fantasy, you’re right. This is a very special case of life imitating art: developers and manufacturers are hard at work to make our VR dreams of the last century a reality. Storytellers, movie makers, and artists are already tapping into the virtual field to bring their work to life – for several years now, the annual Sundance Film Festival has exhibited Virtual Reality films and art installations as part of their New Frontier initiative. Like with the introduction of film and the Cinema over 100 years ago, creative visionaries are exploring ways to develop their art alongside an emerging technology.

The non-technical press increasingly confuses Virtual Reality (think Tron) with Augmented Reality (think Minority Report). Virtual Reality immerses a user with a digitally rendered, three dimensional world while wearing a head-mounted display (HMD). Augmented Reality, (AR) superimposes a digital rendering over the world visible in front of us – and at its most basic, just uses the screen of a smartphone. AR has already found many applications in productivity and collaborative design, and makes use of similar technologies, however, VR will likely have an overall greater impact on the world of gaming and entertainment in the near future.

Virtual Reality has bifurcated into two adjacent entertainment technologies: mobile VR and PC-based tethered VR. Mobile VR relies on smartphones (mainly Android) to do the heavy computation, and can’t match the responsiveness and graphical detail of a powerful gaming PC or gaming console, such as the PS4 or Xbox.

The cheapest, and therefore, most accessible, mobile VR option is Google Cardboard, which is, quite literally, a piece of cardboard with embedded lenses that folds into a box you can use to cover your eyes and create a VR headset. Although the graphics are only as good as the smartphone you’re using, Google Cardboard is completely wireless (mobile), so it can be used just about anywhere, and its minimalist design and minimal cost make it very accessible. In 2016, Google unveiled Google Daydream, a more high-end VR headset that is currently only compatible with a small selection of smartphones. However, the top mobile VR headset is the Samsung Gear VR, which already boasts a relatively large library of apps and games, such as Minecraft. The primary applications for mobile VR are currently non-interactive virtual “showrooming” and social, shared-viewing experiences.

PC-based VR not only has sensors for head-tracking, but (crucially), absolute position detection for hand tracking, which allows users to pick up and manipulate objects in the virtual world, thus enabling more interactive applications and a more immersive experience. Ultimately, “Room-Scale” VR allows us to freely wander around a rendered universe (“freely” meaning the way a Jules Verne era diver might wander around with tubes sticking out of his head). The industry leader in room scale VR is the SteamVR-powered HTC Vive system, but it was Oculus Rift that started the buzz when it was bought by Facebook in 2014 for $2B. Content for Oculus has been slow coming, and the company is rapidly losing ground and influence in the industry to the HTC Vive system, and to the lower-cost, but less ambitious Sony Playstation VR.

The HTC Vive gives users the most complete VR experience currently on the market. Although you are tethered to a gaming PC, the Vive lets you walk around (after you clear your living room furniture, of course), as well as reach out and grab objects in the virtual reality space using controllers. The HTC Vive controllers can become a paintbrush, cartoon hands, and most usually, guns. Until recently, Oculus Rift was using Xbox controllers to navigate through their system but the company has started shipping the much anticipated Oculus Touch to close the gap between them and the HTC Vive experience.

But the most significant entrant is PlayStation VR, the new market leader with an estimated 800,000 units shipped last year. PlayStation VR is a more affordable alternative to the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive because it works with the PlayStation 4 console, as opposed to a costly gaming PC. Although, the Playstation 4 can’t create the same high-res experience as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, Sony has more control over both the hardware (Playstation VR) and the software (Sony Interactive Entertainment [SIE]), which gives them usability advantage over the other VR ecosystems.

Before Q1 of last year ended, 2016 was already being dubbed “The Year of Virtual Reality”, with roughly 2 million VR headsets shipped in 2016, and 5 million units projected to ship by the end of 2017 (Canalys). Despite this, the brand-new gaming and entertainment platform still didn’t meet  the immense expectations of many investors. In our reality, VR is undergoing impressively steady growth. Although with the technology in its infancy, and manufacturers hyping up their “first gen’s” potential to generate media attention and sales, Virtual Reality has got a long way to go before becoming a household item.

In next week’s blog post, I’ll share my thoughts on the commercial and technical problems facing VR technology.  

Blackfire Research wishes you a very happy Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re in love with your wireless home theater, surround sound system, or the ease of streaming music wirelessly from your smartphone to portable speakers, celebrate today by snuggling up on the couch and enjoying unrivaled audio enabled by Blackfire’s patented technology. (Because flowers and chocolates are so overrated.)

Once again, Netflix is rolling out fresh, original content for the new month. And once again, we at Blackfire Research are excited. Is this list of new shows and movies worthy of your surround sound system? There’s only one way to find out.

Coming up for full streaming on February 3 is the debut season of the Netflix Original Series “Santa Clarita Diet.” Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star as Sheila and Joel in this dark, offbeat comedy about a pair of LA realtors whose lives take a sudden, unusual turn after their daughter makes a huge life decision.

Watch the Trailer here:

On February 10, “Abstract: The Art of Design,” a Netflix Original Documentary Series, premieres. This series will explore modern art and will give viewers an in-depth look into how artists render computer design, as well as contemporary art inspired by the computer age. Special guests will include some of the world’s most prolific designers and artists. Also on February 10, British actor and comedian, Ricky Gervais, reprises his role as hopelessly awkward David Brent, former branch manager of a midsized paper supplier company, Wernam Hogg. Now, years later, Brent is back in “David Brent: Life on the Road.” This “mockumentary” film follows Brent on tour with his new band, exclusively on Netflix.

Watch the Trailer here:

Another film is premiering this month on Netflix beginning February 24. “I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore” was picked up by the streaming giant from The Sundance Film Festival. Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood play Ruth and Tony, neighbors who decide to track down local thieves after Ruth is burglarized. However they soon find out they are dangerously in over their heads against a gang of criminals.

These are some of the Netflix shows and movies debuting in Feburary. For a complete list of upcoming Netflix content for 2017, click here.

There’s been a great deal of talk (and hype) recently over 4K UHD TVs and 4K UHD programing. Most new televisions have 4K capability, and streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Instant Video (with Prime membership) are promising an increase in 4K content within the coming years. In fact, it’s been estimated that, by 2025, more than half of US households are expected to own at least one 4K-capable TV.

But, what even is 4K?

To summarize, 4K – or, Ultra High Definition – gives you current technology’s best quality picture on an electronic display, such as a television, iPad, or laptop. 4K UHD gives you four times as high a resolution as “Full HD.” It’s name refers to (roughly) the amount of pixels on the horizontal side of the screen you’re watching. To learn more about 4K technology and how it creates such a great quality picture, I suggest checking out this short article and video posted by CNET.

Currently, there’s not much programming in Ultra High Definition, and it will be quite some time before you can watch all of your favorite shows on the platform, including broadcast television. However, if you subscribe to Netflix and have an Amazon Prime membership, some 4K content is available to you, granted you have a 4K capable TV.

Netflix

The majority of what Netflix offers in 4K UHD is original content, such as “House of Cards,” “Marco Polo,” “The Crown,” “Chef’s Table,” “Sense8,” and “Bloodline.” Non-original shows in 4K UHD are harder to come by: so far, they only offer “Breaking Bad,” and “The Blacklist” in Ultra High Definition. Netflix has also teamed with Louie Schwartzberg, an award winning producer, director and cinematographer to create a four-part nature documentary series called “Moving Art,” presented in 4K UHD.

If you’re interested in checking out any of these titles in 4K, here’s what you’ll need:

• A 4K capable TV
• A compatible streaming device, such as a Roku 4, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere+, Roku Ultra, Amazon Fire TV (Second Generation), Nvidia Shield, TiVo Bolts, or most 4K Smart TVs
• The most expensive package on Netflix ($11.99/month) – it’s the highest tier they offer and it allows you to stream in UHD, as well as on four simultaneous screens
• Good internet connection –Netflix recommends 25 megabits per second or higher
• Streaming quality set to “High” on your Netflix account

To browse for Ultra HD content on Netflix, type “4K” or “UHD” into the search menu. Updated versions of the streaming service and supported TVs will also display a row dedicated to 4K content on the app.

Amazon Instant Video

Like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video offers some original content in 4K, such as “One Mississippi,” “The Man in the High Castle,” “Good Girls Revolt,” and “Transparent.” Unlike Netflix, the majority of Amazon’s 4K UHD content is in film, like “Fury,” “Pineapple Express,” “The Patriot,” and “Men in Black 3.”

The good news about watching 4K on Amazon Instant Video is that you don’t need a special subscription plan – you can watch original content in 4K with your regular Prime membership. However, most of the newer movie titles available in 4K are pay-only – even to Prime members – for around $20 each. That could accumulate into a hefty bill over time.

System requirements to watch Ultra High Definition on Amazon is similar to that of Netflix, except that they recommend a high speed internet connection of 15 megabits per second.

If you have a second generation Amazon Fire TV, and it is connected to a compatible Ultra HD TV, the Movies and TV sections on your main menu will include “4K Ultra HD” categories where you can find and browse titles available in UHD.

Since there isn’t much 4K content available at the moment (or any solidified plans to make 4K available on broadcast television), buying a 4K UHD capable TV for the sake of being able to watch your favorite shows and some films in higher resolution doesn’t seem worth it (for now). However, if you are looking to purchase a new TV for the holidays, pretty much all your options are 4K friendly. Therefore, if you have the TV capability, as well as a streaming device that allows for UHD, it’s worth the investment. Netflix and Amazon have both promised to offer more 4K shows and movies on their streaming platforms in the coming years, and other streaming services are following suit.

Do you watch TV and movies in Ultra High Definition? Think it’s worth the investment? Tell us about your experiences with 4K UHD in the comments section below!

https://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-4k/