Discovery Communications is venturing into the supernatural for its latest virtual reality production: The Destination America network show “Ghost Asylum” is at the center of a new VR video that Discovery released simultaneously on DiscoveryVR.com, Littlstar and the Discovery VR Android and iOS apps Friday. Shorter version of the clip will also be distributed on Facebook 360 and YouTube. The six-minute clips take viewers straight into Preston Castle, a former reform school in Ione, California, where they will be hunting ghosts and spirits with the team of the Tennessee Wraith Chasers. The clip is an extension of an episode of the show’s next season, which will debut on Destination America on …

Taking full advantage of its economic leadership, Samsung and local SK Telecom (SKT) announced that they want to turn the manufacturing city of Daegu into an IoT test hub complete with modern infrastructure for connected cars and mobile health. Daegu is trying to pivot from its role as a manufacturing hub in the late 20th century. This initiative led by Korea’s largest technology company has the potential to complete that transition. Certain districts will be designated as “regulation-free zones.” The new communication infrastructure will incorporate cloud computing, and allow for heavier loads of data, smart energy systems for public utilities, and …

Wearable technology is becoming extremely popular, particularly when it comes to various types of health and fitness trackers, though smartwatches are slowly on their way in, as well. Ford hasn’t failed to notice this. Scientists and engineers working for the automaker are currently looking into ways to integrate wearable technology and vehicles in order to improve driver assist technologies in a way that is much more customized to the unique experience of the driver who is behind the wheel. Of particular interest to the researchers is the detection of a stressed or sleepy driver and ways to help to promote a safer road experience …

Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer is crafting a legend with the help of the New York Times’ virtual reality mobile application. The NYT VR app puts readers at the center of New York Times’ content, including what is produced by its brand partners, through immersive 360-degree video experiences that allow for an interactive narrative. LVMH-owned Tag Heuer is using the NYT VR app’s storytelling capabilities to share the heritage of its Carrera timepiece with New York Times’ audience, showing both its placement within the overall watch industry and its modernity.

It should come as little surprise that Google—which is slowly looking to play more in the Internet of Things space—is now looking to build its own competitor to Amazon's Echo. When the company released its OnHub router, which supports Google's own Thread and Weave protocols, in addition to Bluetooth 4.1, I half-expected the cylindrical device to come with support for voice commands. No luck there, but that doesn't mean Google is content to let Amazon lead the pack as far as virtual home assistants go. According to The Information, Google is working on a competing device. We don't know any details. Knowing Google, though, you …

A drone has successfully delivered a package to a residential location in a small Nevada town in what its maker and the governor of the state said Friday was the first fully autonomous urban drone delivery in the U.S. Flirtey CEO Matt Sweeney said the six-rotor drone flew about a half-mile along a pre-programmed delivery route on March 10 and lowered the package outside a vacant residence in an uninhabited area of Hawthorne, southeast of Reno.

Your Gear VR just became a very personal TV. Hulu has launched an app for Samsung's virtual reality headset that lets you watch conventional movies and TV shows alongside native VR video from the likes of Discovery, National Geographic, Showtime and Hulu itself. If you're watching plain 2D content, the app will plunk you into a customizable virtual viewing space, whether it's a posh living room or the beach. The app isn't that revolutionary -- we've seen virtual environments beforefrom Netflix and others, and the handful of VR-specific content (just 25 …

Sitting on the top floor of Hublot’s shiny black Baselworld stand, Jean-Claude Biver, the man at the head of LVMH’s watch division, is venting. I’ve asked him why the Swiss watch industry is flagging, and he’s not very happy about it. “The industry is not in trouble, the world is in trouble,” he says, thumping his fist on the table (which is made of pine and heat-stamped with a line drawing of a Hublot watch and what might be edelweiss). ‘And that’s very different. Syria is in trouble; the refugees are in trouble; Putin is in trouble; Ukraine is in …

Pebble is letting 40 people go -- that's 25% of its workforce -- because money. It illustrates the parlous state of the smartwatch market, where not even Apple or Samsung can shift the things. Only a few years ago, Pebble Technology Corporation was the darling of the crowdfunding crowd, having raised over $30 million on Kickstarter. But now the company finds it tough to keep the plates spinning. Pebble CEO Eric Migicovsky (pictured) confirmed the layoffs. He implied that VCs are now less keen on funding the smartwatch category.

A Macy’s executive at the Mobile Marketing Association’s Mobile Location Leadership Forum shared how the department store created a valuable consumer connection and drove application downloads during Black Friday weekend through a beacon-driven gaming campaign. During the “Unlocking New Location Marketing Opportunities” keynote session, the executive detailed Macy’s Black Friday in-store campaign in which customers were prompted to install its app and play a digital scratch off to win a wide range of significant products. After a massive beacon rollout in its department stores, the retailer focused on targeting customers during various micromoments throughout the customer journey and learned the key …