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Don’t Worry, Facebook Still Has No Clue How You Feel
The claim is as bold as it is creepy: “Emotional states can be transferred to others via emotional contagion, leading people to experience the same emotions without their awareness.” The data backing this claim—as you’ve likely heard by now—comes from an experiment conducted by Facebook on nearly 700,000 of its users without their knowledge. When […]
Exclusive: Fatima Al-Qadiri’s Adult Swim Single Fires the National Anthem Into Space
Al-Qadiri, who grew up in Kuwait during the Iraqi Occupation of the early 1990s, cooked up a spacey, synth-driven rendition of the U.S. national anthem. And if it sounds like it's telling you something, there's a reason for that.
BMW is 3D printing thumbs for its workers
3D printing and scanning is already commonplace in car production, but BMW is experimenting with upgrading its staff with the technology. A new trial at BMW's Munich plant is giving assembly workers individually-tailored thumb guards to help avoid over-stretching, having first scanned the digit with a portable 3D camera. The custom "orthotic devices" are intended to address a very unique … Continue reading
Bill Murray gets silly in trailer for St. Vincent
St. Vincent is a comedy about a fellow who is at war with the world in a very traditional way - it's a coming of age film about Bill Murray - what more do you want to know? In this film is Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, Chris O'Dowd, James 'Rhodey' Rhodes, and Selenis Leyva, whom you'll know best (at this … Continue reading
Samsung puts plasma TV out of its misery: Death this year
Lower the flags to half-mast: Samsung will stop producing plasma panels for TVs by the end of November, the company's display arm has confirmed, as interest in the screen type dwindles in the face of LCD and OLED. The decision follows in the footsteps of Panasonic, which opted to cut its own plasma production in 2013. According to Samsung SDI, … Continue reading
Watch Sunset Overdrive’s ultra-crazy multiplayer gameplay immediately
This morning the folks behind Sunset Overdrive have revealed a whole lot more about their multiplayer experience, starting with notes on how you'll be switching back and forth between single and multiplayer seamlessly. Your accomplishments in single-player move over to multiplayer and vice-versa, creating an excellent experience for those that play as much in one universe as they do in … Continue reading
Explore South Park in VR from your browser or Oculus Rift
It's finally time for you to gain a perfect understanding of how the town of South Park Colorado is set up. The developers at a group called "Tool" have created a VR experience out of the television show, allowing it to be seen by both the web browser and the VR headset Oculus Rift. It's open, it's free, and it's … Continue reading
Your next PureView Windows Phone might pack Canon tech
Microsoft and Canon have inked a new patent sharing deal, but before you yawn and roll over, the agreement could well make for even stronger PureView camera technology on future Windows Phones. The two firms have already joined forces on select R&D in the past, but the new collaboration covers "certain digital imaging and mobile consumer products" according to Microsoft. … Continue reading
Staples Connect hub updated as smart home gets lower point of entry
Staples is readying a refresh of its Staples Connect home automation system, with a new hub launching this fall packing more radios, and a price trimming for the existing model. The updated hardware - which adds ZigBee and Bluetooth LE, among other things - will arrive alongside a new in-store push for smart home tech, with Staples planning to put … Continue reading
T-Mobile Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 attracts consumers with “free” data
The latest in Galaxy Tab technology comes from Samsung to T-Mobile this summer in the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0. This device was first introduced in April of this year and hit Verizon this June. This version of the Tab will include T-Mobile apps and connectivity with T-Mobile's 4G LTE. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 has an 8-inch display … Continue reading
Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter tethers Apple’s tempting trashcan
Apple may have sneakily disguised the Mac Pro as a trashcan from 2001: A Space Odyssey to help it fly under the radar of thieves, but if you're still concerned then there's now a way to tie the cylindrical computer to your desk. A new Mac Pro Security Lock Adapter basically adds a Kensington lock connector to Apple's flagship desktop, … Continue reading
Lenovo Yoga 2 13 Review
Remember Lenovo's Yoga 2 Pro? The company has rolled out a similar model, the Yoga 2 13, featuring the same multi-mode design and similar specs. Aimed at the more casual user, the Yoga 2 13 rests on the foundation set by its higher-res sibling, but does it hold up to the Yoga device standards we've come to expect? Read our … Continue reading
LG G Watch easy to pry, Samsung Gear Live compact but complex
The first batch of Android Wear smartwatches isn't even out in the wild yet, and here we are seeing the first teardowns of the devices. Though it's not exactly the thorough iFixit treatment, it does give a bit of insight into the inner workings of these super small computers, particularly the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live, as … Continue reading
The Witcher Battle Arena MOBA mobile game coming soon
Fans of the The Witcher games on PCs and consoles will either be filled with anticipation or dread. The popular action RPG franchise is coming to mobile devices soon, but, unsurprisingly, it won't be the same type of game you might have grown to love. The Witcher Battle Arena will indeed drop you in the middle of the game's world, … Continue reading
Android L Project Volta gives batteries longer life
No, this isn't yet another strange device venture like Project Ara or Project Tango. "Project Volta" is simply the codename for the concerted effort within the Android development team to make sure that the next version of Android won't milk your battery dry in no time, giving you ample chance to reach for a wall socket or powerbank. Google seems … Continue reading
HummingBoard goes up for pre-order, takes on Raspberry Pi
SolidRun has put up a new device for pre-order, taking on the Raspberry Pi with its new HummingBoard computer. The ARM computer is available from the company's website starting at $45 USD, and includes a variety of ports, including powered USB. The board computer is aimed at those who prefer to go the DIY route, offering the ability to run … Continue reading
Crock-Pot Smart Slow Cooker gives you smartphone control
Crock-Pot has a new slow cooker up its sleeve, and while it might not make quite the same statement as a Hello Kitty cooker, it is thrice as functional. The Smart Slow Cooker is set to arrive with WeMo connectivity and accompanying smartphone apps. The Smart Slow Cooker from Crock-Pot will allow iPhone and Android users to connect with the … Continue reading
NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet might soon be upon us
The stars might be aligning and a new NVIDIA SHIELD device might soon be revealed, but this could be a rather strange beast. Based on a recent certification entry from the Global Certification Forume (GCF) and a recent sighting on NVIDIA's own website, the chipmaker's next SHIELD gaming machine won't be a handheld like before but will be a mid-sized … Continue reading
Galaxy Gear lambasted by Woz: “It was so worthless”
Smartwatches are somewhat polarizing: some view them as interesting, but ultimately useless, toys. Others are more forward-thinking, anticipating uses for the type of wearable that are beneficial both now and potentially in the future. Steve Wozniak generally falls into the latter group, but that doesn't mean he has taken kindly to all smartwatches on the market. At the Flying Car … Continue reading
Ultra Mobile starts offering unlimited international calling to 40 countries
Virtual mobile carrier Ultra Mobile has been giving its customers unlimited international texting for years, but this week it added unlimited international voice calling to landlines in 40 counties to the mix, making its service more compelling to its core market of expatriates and people with relatives overseas. Ultra also began offering LTE speeds to 4G-capable phones.
Subscribers of Ultra Mobile’s $29-a-month or higher plans will automatically be upgraded to the new international feature. The 40 countries include much of Europe, China and other countries in Asia as well as several Latin American countries, though keep in mind there are some caveats.
Source: Ultra Mobile
In most cases the unlimited plans apply only to calls made to landline phones, not mobile phones, because of the additional interconnection fees charged by mobile carriers in most countries. Also in Chile and Peru some rural numbers are excluded from the plan. For 45 other countries, Ultra includes a bucket of 1000 free minutes each month, and it charges cheap per-minute rates to calls made to the remaining regions of the world and mobile phones.
Ultra has also expanded its mobile virtual network operator agreement with T-Mobile to include access to its LTE network. Ultra offers data buckets ranging from 100 MB to 1 GB a month, but customers bring their own smartphones as Ultra only sells SIM cards.
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Wink wants to make great software for the smart home, but first it has to build hardware
Wink, the newly launched smart home spin out of product design shop Quirky, showed off an impressive list of partners and a new hub at an event on Tuesday in New York. But its new hub shows that even if you want to design software for the home you need to start with hardware.
In this case, Wink has a home hub that offers a variety of radios — including Lutron’s Clear Connect — that will sell for $79.99. The hub will go on sale July 7 at Home Depot stores, and I plan to pick one up to check out how Wink compares with all of the other efforts out there to integrate one-off connected devices and sensors into some unified system. As an FYI Home Depot will run special pricing through Labor Day the hub costing $49.99 alone, $24.99 if you buy the hub with one compatible product and 99 cents if you buy it with two or more connected products.
Wink’s software will work with a huge number of partners, including Bali (window shades), Kidde (smoke detectors), Kwikswet (locks), GE Ovens and Lighting, Lutron (lighting and shades), Schlage (locks), Chamberlain (garage door openers), Dropcam, Honeywell (thermostats), Rachio (sprinklers), Philips Hue (lights), Rheem (water heaters) and TCP (lights). These devices will rely on the hub to handle the radio conversions and shoot information back to the cloud, where the logic for the devices will live.
Without the hub, consumers can use the Wink app to control all GE/Quirky devices such as the Aros A/C unit, a newly launched, connected propane tank and others. After scanning the list of partners, I will say that the Wink hub looks like a good choice for someone who is interested in connecting their window shades. Both Lutron and Bali have connected, motorized shades and an adaptor that uses Zigbee or Z-wave (also supported by the hub) which could help update older Hunter Douglas shades that use the Somfy radios.
The Refuel $49.99 connected propane tank monitor may be useful for BBQ season.
Since a ton of people have asked me about my own connected shades (I use a $600 Zigbee converter for the Somfy connected to my SmartThings hub) I will warn people that connecting your shades takes something that is pretty expensive and makes it even more so, but ultimately it is worth it if you want to optimize natural light but live in a hot climate. The only other hub on the market supporting Lutron to my knowledge is the Staples connect gear, although Revolv does have a Lutron radio in its hub that isn’t active.
So stay tuned and in a week or two I’ll give a play-by-play on my life using the Wink system once I get a hub and some gear installed.
Update: I updated this story at 9 am PT to add more pricing details and correct the original hub price. It is $79.99 not $100.
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EU regulators give conditional approval to Telefonica’s E-Plus takeover
Telefonica’s takeover of KPN’s German carrier E-Plus has moved closer to finalization after the European Commission gave its blessing on Wednesday. However, the Commission’s approval is highly conditional – because the merger will reduce the number of network-owning German operators to three, Telefonica would need to sell 30 percent of the merged company’s network capacity to small virtual operators. It would also need to sell a new player some of its spectrum and other assets, and offer wholesale 4G services to “all interested players,” in order to preserve competition in the German market.
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Google’s killer Android L feature: Up to 36% more battery life thanks to Project Volta
When the next version of Android arrives, don’t be surprised if your phone can run longer on a single charge. Project Volta, part of Android L, is the reason. Google devoted an entire session at Google I/O to Project Volta, which optimizes power consumption on an Android device and also provides some developer tools to help make more battery-efficient apps.
While Android L is only available in a developer preview, we can already see the potential of Project Volta thanks to Ars Technica’s Ron Amadeo. He used the same standard and repeatable battery test Ars typically uses to measure Android device battery life. The findings with Android L? Amadeo’s Nexus 5 phone lasted two hours longer with Android L as compared to Android KitKat, a gain of 36 percent.
So what’s the secret sauce in Project Volta that makes Android L more power-efficient? It’s a number of different things that quickly add up to more battery life. In the Project Volta session at Google I/O, Google said it scrutinized how different components use power, and for how long, in various but typical circumstances.
Passing data through the cellular radio obviously causes a spike in power usage, for example, but the radio doesn’t drop back to a sleep state for several seconds. Turning on the phone’s display just to check for new notifications can quickly gobble up battery power as well. After examining these and other use-cases, Google determined that for every one second of “active” use on a typical phone, standby time is reduced by a full two minutes. If you have 50 apps that are active for a second, then — say for synching, polling or showing notifications — that’s 100 minutes of standby time gone.
Enter Project Volta, which groups and schedules certain tasks in a more efficient manner. It also includes new APIs for developers to take a similar approach and reduce the overall number of power-intensive activities needed for their apps to work. There’s a new network activity awareness API, for example, so that apps can determine if the cellular radio is active, in which case an app can “piggyback” on the connection instead of later waking up a sleeping radio.
That’s just one of many Project Volta enhancements; you can hear about all of them in this recording of the Project Volta session from Google I/O 2014.
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Lenovo chief says IBM server deal remains on track
If there is trouble behind the scenes of the sale of IBM’s X86 server biz to Lenovo, no one’s admitting it. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing told reporters Wednesday that there is “no change to the plan” which called for the deal to be done by year’s end, pending the approval processes in China and the U.S.
Yang spoke at a news conference after Lenovo’s shareholder meeting in Hong Kong, according to the Wall Street Journal (registration required.)
The Journal reported last week that the $2.3 billion server deal, announced in January, could be running into headwinds because of U.S. concerns that Chinese hackers could remotely access IBM servers — many of which run in U.S. government agencies.
Given all the Edward Snowden disclosures about NSA snooping on foreign nationals, it’s also clear that Chinese authorities and businesses have their own concerns about U.S.-bred technology.
Lenovo’s chief also said the company’s planned $2.91 billion purchase of Motorola’s mobility group from Google should also close as planned this year. He would not comment on regulatory matters but downplayed any concerns about security. Lenovo is used to this process. It bought IBM’s PC and laptop business in 2005 and faced similar questions then.
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Seats.io donates money to Chagos Islands charity over .io domain use
For my Monday article about how profits from sales of .io domains go to the UK – which kicked the Chagossian people off the islands that “.io” represents — I approached a Belgian startup called Seats.io for its take on the matter. The firm said it didn’t see .io as a geographical indicator, but on Wednesday it followed up with a blog post in which it explained itself and promised to help the Chagossians.
Hearteningly, the “seating as a service” service said that, while it won’t be changing its domain name, it will match any future renewal fees with a donation to a “Chagossian non-profit organization or cause” – the first one it’s donated to is an awareness-raising crowdfunding campaign for the Chagos Islands football team.
I personally think this is a great response. I was careful in my original article not to dictate what I thought the correct response would be, because these kinds of ethical decisions are quite personal. The information about where .io profits go also wasn’t public before – which is why I wrote the article – and those who have already bought a .io address have obviously made a branding investment. And, as Seats.io CEO Ben Verbeken said in Wednesday’s post, the company can’t un-purchase that address.
But they can help the Chagossians if they feel strongly about the issue, now that they know about it. As Verbeken wrote: “We still like the .io domain for its geek-factor, but we do understand it comes with social responsibility. And we hope that the Chagos Islands soccer team reaches its funding goal, perhaps even with support of other .io tech startups.”
Expect a new version of Office for Android tablets later this year
Sure, there’s a basic version of Office for Android phones, but heavy Office users might be looking with jealousy at iOS’s new touch-optimized version that works on the iPad. According to The Verge, Microsoft is preparing a new version of Office for Android, and is currently seeking beta-testers through a special pre-release program, ahead of a likely release later this year.
CEO Satya Nadella implied an Android version for tablets was in development when Office for iPad launched earlier this year. The current version of Office for Android is fairly bare bones: it doesn’t work on tablets at all and lacks any kind of local storage — so you wouldn’t be able to edit a document on a plane that has no internet service, for instance.
It’s expected the new Android version will require a Office 365 subscription to edit documents and will be heavily dependent on Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage. The new Android version would also likely share design elements with Office for iOS, which featured a redesigned touch interface when it was released earlier this year.
Earlier this week, Google announced its intention to pull its Microsoft Office-compatible QuickOffice suite from both major app stores in the “coming weeks.” However, it added Office file format support to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the Google Drive-compatible apps that replaced them.
While the sign-up option for the Android Office beta does not appear to be public, you can express interest in for Office pre-release programs in general at Microsoft’s Sharepoint site.
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Chrome Show: Making Chrome Apps on Chromebooks
Finally, the Chromebook Pixel has reached more of its potential. Actually, all Chromebooks have, now that you can create Chrome Apps in a new tool available from Google. The Chrome Dev Editor is in a preview mode but that doesn’t mean it’s not a capable piece of software. On this week’s podcast, we discuss why this tool is important and what it means in Google’s overall Chrome strategy. We also highlight a few new Chromebooks and revisit one firm’s claim that Chromecast usage is down. According to Google, who has the actual data, it’s up.
SHOW NOTES:
Hosts: Janko Roettgers and Kevin C. Tofel
There’s a new Chromebook available for schools
Yes, you can develop Chrome Apps (and even migrate them to an Android device) on a Chromebook
Legacy packaged apps must be migrated to the new Chrome Apps, says Google
Lenovo’s Ideapad 11 Chromebook is on Amazon for pre-order: $329 (Thanks, Brent!)
Google says Chromecast usage is actually up, not down.
Kevin bought a Raspberry Pi. It *could* run Chrome but…. it can also be a low-cost Google Cloud Print server.
Google Hangouts goes WebRTC / plug-in free on Chrome
App / extension of the week: Chrome Dev Editor
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Amazon exec on Hachette dispute: “It’s all about ebook pricing”
As Amazon and Hachette’s contract dispute wears on, Amazon has had little to say publicly about it: The company released an unattributed statement on the Kindle forums at the end of May, but until now no executive from the company had commented. That changed Tuesday, when Russ Grandinetti, Amazon’s VP of Kindle content, gave a few quotes to the Wall Street Journal.
Amazon has been criticized for tactics like turning off pre-orders on upcoming Hachette titles. Grandinetti told the WSJ that Amazon is working “in the long-term interest of our customers.” He also seemingly confirmed reports that Amazon is demanding a larger commission on ebook sales, up from the 30 percent it currently receives: “This discussion is all about ebook pricing. The terms under which we trade will determine how good the prices are that we can offer consumers.” Grandinetti seems to be arguing that if Amazon gets a bigger payment on each ebook it sells, it will pass those savings on to consumers.
This also means lower payments for authors: If a publisher makes less money on each ebook sale and the price of the ebook doesn’t change, the author takes home less. The article didn’t touch on that, though.
Separately, the New York Public Library hosted a panel discussion on Hachette vs. Amazon on Tuesday night which you can watch here. Over at The Bookseller, Porter Anderson has a good writeup. One oddity: Amazon declined to send an executive to speak but, Anderson writes, “”recommended that contract attorney and blogger (The Passive Voice) David Vandagriff be there. Vandagriff explained that he doesn’t work for Amazon but that he was flown to New York by the company to be on the panel.”
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