Sony eyes ugly, Hello Barbie speaks, BlackBerry sues Seacrest, Bing brings the Oscars, Modern Family loves Apple, and the fake selfie marriage proposal.

Sony Introduces SmartEyeGlass

http://youtu.be/kYPWaMsarss

Sony has introduced its SmartEyeGlass to the world, releasing the official app through the Google Play App Store, and is accepting pre-orders for the developer edition of the hardware. Unfortunately, SmartEyeGlass looks even nerdier than Google Glass, which Google has now taken back to the drawing board.

Unlike Google Glass, SmartEyeGlass looks like regular glasses, with a full frame and transparent lenses. A monochrome UI fills your field of vision without obscuring it, meaning you should be able to focus on the real-world as and when needed.

Rather than featuring its own apps, SmartEyeGlass connects to your smartphone, with a wired controller being used to scroll and control the display. This controller, which clips onto your clothing, also contains the microphone, speaker, and battery (with a maximum life of 2.5 hours).

SmartEyeGlass is priced at $840, which, while cheaper than Google Glass, is still a hefty sum of money. Still, for those with money to spare, SmartEyeGlass is available to buy in the UK and Germany, with shipping set to begin in March. That is if anyone is actually interested in this ugly technology.

Hello Barbie Gets Her Smarts

http://youtu.be/RJMvmVCwoNM

Mattel is developing a new Barbie that can actually interact with her owners in a meaningful way. Hello Barbie, as the model is tentatively known, can converse with her owners using ToyTalk's PullString technology, which is similar to the technology used by Siri and Cortana.

ToyTalk CEO Oren Jacob revealed, "The most requested thing that kids have wanted to do with Barbie, and Mattel's done unbelievable amounts of research over the course of decades, is to talk to Barbie. That's the number one request over all demographics, over all geographies, of all time. For the first time we're doing that for real now."

Hello Barbie will recognize speech patterns and respond accordingly, even remembering past conversations to suggest she's getting to know her owner. According to Fast Company, Hello Barbie will be connected to the Internet and constantly updating to add new topics of conversation and pop culture references.

A prototype of Hello Barbie was on show at the North American International Toy Fair this past weekend, which is where ChipChick shot the video embedded above. Hello Barbie could be released in time for the 2015 holidays, with Mattel said to be chasing an aggressive timetable.

BlackBerry Sues Ryan Seacrest Again

Honestly I wish Blackberry coulda just allowed Ryan Seacrest to sell that iPhone keybad thingy. I'm tired of this touchscreen life.

— Code Architect (@codeArchie) February 11, 2015

BlackBerry is suing Ryan Seacrest and his startup Typo for a second time for infringing on its design patents. This time it's over the Typo 2, which Seacrest and his buddies clearly felt was different enough to avoid any legal issues. But no.

In its complaint, BlackBerry insists, "The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models."

BlackBerry originally sued Typo last year over its physical iPhone keyboard, and a court order barred Typo from selling any more of the cases. When Typo tried to get around the injunction, it was fined $860,000. BlackBerry is hoping to secure another injunction over the Typo 2.

Bing Predicts Academy Award Winners

http://youtu.be/S3wfVpmHR5E

The 87th Academy Awards are being held on Sunday (Feb. 22), and you can now get the information on all of the nominees thanks to Bing. Searching 'Oscars Nominations' on the Microsoft search engine reveals a wealth of information on all of the films, casts, and crews involved. Unoftunately, this seems to be reserved for U.S. visitors only.

In addition to the trailer, listings, and basic information about each movie, Bing is predicting the results. As an example, Bing predicts Birdman will edge out Boyhood to win Best Picture. Cortana was successful at predicting the results of the 2014 World Cup, so let's see how her older brother does here.

Modern Family Loves The MacBook Pro

Movies and TV shows filmed on iPhone look like they are filmed on a phone. What am I missing? http://t.co/1ZlgyVKYNO just a gimmick?

— Seth Weintraub (@llsethj) February 17, 2015

Modern Family is getting, well, more modern with a new episode airing on ABC on Feb. 25. Called Connection Lost, the episode takes place entirely on the MacBook Pro of one of the characters. The story focuses on Claire Dunphy, who tries to track her daughter down while waiting at an airport.

As well as the Mac, multiple iPhones and iPads were used to shoot the other side of the video chats that will appear on screen. While this will inevitably come across as product placement, the Modern Family producers insist Apple did nothing more than provide the products used.

This is the latest example of an emerging genre, with Unfriended being a full-length feature shot in the same way.

From Selfie To Marriage Proposal

http://youtu.be/uH_Qu4ohdY0

And finally, thanks to a wealth of modern technology, we get to see a guy propose to his girlfriend up close and personal. He uses a smartphone to lull her into a false sense of security, turning a simple selfie into a down-on-one-knee marriage proposal.

Thankfully, she says yes. But then if she had said no this video would never have turned up on YouTube in the first place. Still, as selfies go, this is a pretty adorable one. [H/T Reddit]

Your Views on Today’s Tech News

What do you think of Sony's SmartEyeGlass? Is BlackBerry right to sue Ryan Seacrest over Typo? Will you be watching the episode of Modern Family filmed on iPhones?

Let us know your thoughts on the Tech News of the day by posting to the comments section below. Because a healthy discussion is always welcome.