الكاتب: جود المطيري

Today at the Hubspace Fall Preview event, Home Depot unveiled several innovative smart home devices set to launch later this year. A standout product is the Smart Glass Door created by Feather River Doors, which allows you to switch between clear and opaque glass using voice commands. It is compatible with most smart home systems, enhancing accessibility and convenience. The retailer also introduced a smart lock, a smart freezer, decorative string lights, and a home alarm system—all fully integrated with the user-friendly Hubspace app.

The Smart Glass Door is undeniably the highlight of the new offerings. Priced starting at $798 and scheduled for release on September 30, it promises to bring cutting-edge features to your home. The door’s central glass panel can seamlessly transition between transparent and frosted options, controlled by voice commands or a manual button. This function allows you to let in natural light when desired, while preserving privacy with the opaque setting. Beyond Hubspace, this door is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant.

In addition to its smart features, the glass door boasts a fiberglass design that can be painted, a composite threshold, and a weather strip for enhanced insulation and durability.

Alongside the Smart Glass Door, Home Depot introduced the Defiant Hubspace Biometric Fingerprint Deadbolt. This standard smart lock offers access through a physical key, keypad, or fingerprint scanner, and allows users to program one master code along with ten additional user codes. The event log feature tracks when the lock is engaged or disengaged, and users can manage it via the Hubspace mobile app. The deadbolt is currently available for $120.

Other impressive gadgets showcased at the event include the Vissani Smart Chest Freezer, smart string lights, and the Defiant Smart Home Alarm Kit. The smart freezer will be released on September 26, priced at $300, while the smart string lights will be available later this year for $100. The Defiant Smart Home Alarm Kit is available now for $100.

Home Depot is making impressive strides in expanding its Hubspace product line, with over 100 gadgets now compatible with this smart home platform. In our earlier evaluations of the service, we found it to be a fantastic entry point for consumers looking to explore smart home technology.

The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses continue to make waves, showcasing a blend of style and cutting-edge technology. Meta is enhancing these glasses with an array of new features, including live translation, reminders, and a fresh clear frame option.

Thanks to their integrated camera and microphone, these glasses can see and hear, allowing Meta to utilize its advanced AI capabilities from the latest Llama 3.2 model for live translation. During a demonstration, Meta’s founder Mark Zuckerberg and Brandon Moreno engaged in a conversation, with their glasses seamlessly translating their English and Spanish dialogue in real-time.

While the translations had a slight delay of one to three seconds, this feature significantly benefits users. Zuckerberg highlighted that the technology supports translations for languages such as Spanish, French, and Italian, with more languages expected to be added shortly.

Another noteworthy upgrade provides the glasses with memory. Users will be able to ask their glasses to remind them of tasks, like where they parked their car or to buy certain items while shopping. This functionality makes the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses even more integral to daily activities.

The glasses are already capable of describing visual elements and answering questions about the user’s surroundings, all while taking photos with the built-in camera. With the advancements in multimodal AI, these features are becoming increasingly practical.

The latest updates also allow users to scan QR codes effortlessly and make phone calls to numbers printed in sight with simple voice commands. Additionally, these fashionable glasses can offer clothing and jewelry style tips as you select your outfit.

Additionally, the integration of the Be My Eyes service transforms the glasses into a powerful tool for individuals with low vision or blindness, enabling them to receive help from volunteers without the need for a smartphone.

These smart glasses can also replace earbuds, allowing for phone communication and music playback. Enhancements have been introduced for services like Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeart, with even more integrations planned for the future.

As improvements to the AI continue, the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are poised to become increasingly valuable in enhancing users’ lives.

To celebrate these advancements, Meta is set to introduce a limited-edition version of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses featuring clear frames. Previously worn by Meta’s CTO, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, these glasses will soon be accessible to the public.

The highly anticipated comeback of the Backyard Sports series is just around the corner, as it has been announced that Backyard Baseball ’97 will be available on October 10.

In August, a new entity called Playground Productions surfaced, proclaiming ownership of Humongous Entertainment’s Backyard Sports game series, with plans to breathe new life into the franchise across various media including games, movies, and television. Although they hinted at future re-releases, specifics were sparse. Now, we finally have some clarity: the initial offering will be the revival of these classic sports games on Steam.

Backyard Baseball ’97 will launch on October 10 with a price tag of $10. This release is a faithful reproduction of the original game that initiated the Backyard Sports franchise. Notably, there are no real MLB players or teams; instead, players form teams with a diverse group of kids as they navigate through a season. Although the original source code was lost, Playground Productions collaborated with Mega Cat Studios to recreate the game by utilizing a CD-ROM version, effectively crafting a new build suitable for modern PCs.

I had the opportunity to test Backyard Baseball ’97 ahead of its release, and I found it to be a straightforward reboot of a classic kids’ game, which still manages to resonate with players today.

This title doesn’t come packed with many features commonly found in modern remasters, such as bonus content or special editions. Mega Cat Studios successfully revived the original game, ensuring it operates seamlessly on today’s PCs, much like it did back in 1999. Although some players might wish for significant updates or additional features that evolved in later installments, I value its straightforwardness, especially given the effort Mega Cat Studios invested in bringing it back.

Players now have an official way to buy and enjoy the game through a leading digital distribution platform, eliminating any technical issues commonly associated with emulation. Despite its simplicity, the original Backyard Baseball still stands strong. The distinct art style and animation in Backyard Baseball ’97 maintain their charm, and the diverse cast of characters available for team selection is delightful. The game is designed to be accessible with just a mouse, offering a lighthearted experience that teaches young players the fundamentals of baseball or gives adults a chance to unwind during busy days.

The Backyard Baseball series has always had a special appeal, and the release of Backyard Baseball ’97 on Steam reinforces that charm. If Playground Productions is serious about reviving this beloved franchise, making the original titles accessible on contemporary PCs is a smart leap forward, even if it lacks the polish typical of releases by companies like Digital Eclipse or Limited Run Games. Let’s hope that titles like Backyard Soccer, Backyard Football, Backyard Basketball, and Backyard Hockey will follow in the same spirit soon.

Mark your calendars: Backyard Baseball ’97 will hit Steam on October 10, priced at $10.

In the event that a massive asteroid is detected on a collision path with Earth, we currently possess a proven technology that, if advanced further, could potentially avert the catastrophic consequences of such an impact.

This method was initially tested by NASA two years ago during an attempt to redirect a harmless asteroid by colliding a spacecraft with it. The mission, known as the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), was successful in changing the trajectory of the Dimorphos asteroid, which is about 525 feet (approximately 160 meters) wide and orbits the larger Didymos asteroid.

Researchers are eager to understand in greater detail how the impact influenced Dimorphos. To this end, the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to send a spacecraft to meet up with the asteroid during the upcoming Hera mission.

Scheduled for launch next month, ESA has released a video that explains how the mission will unfold and its objectives.

The Hera mission’s goals include the following:

• Gain insights into the exact mass and composition of Dimorphos
• More accurately assess the impact’s effects on the asteroid
• Determine whether an impact crater was formed or if Dimorphos fractured and is held together by its own weak gravitational pull
• If there is a crater, measure its size

The spacecraft will carry out observations from a safe distance away from the asteroid and its debris clouds, while also deploying smaller spacecraft for closer examination before landing on Dimorphos. This close flyby presents risks but offers the potential for valuable data collection.

ESA has expressed its desire to transform DART’s large-scale experiment into a well-understood and potentially repeatable strategy for planetary defense, aiming to safeguard Earth against potential asteroid threats.

“By the end of Hera’s observations, Dimorphos will be the most thoroughly studied asteroid in history,” according to ESA. “This is crucial because should an object of this size collide with Earth, it could obliterate an entire city. The dinosaurs lacked any means of defending against asteroids, as they had no space agency. However, through Hera, we are learning how to lessen this risk and make our celestial neighborhood safer.”