Blog

Google Arts & Culture app lets you view ancient creatures in AR

[ad_1]

Google has spent years developing 3D models that you can view and manipulate in the real world using smartphone-based AR. Tigers, velociraptors, Iron Man and even Childish Gambino — I’ve enjoyed summoning them all from the comfort of my living room. A Cambropachycope, though? Thanks but no thanks. Google’s latest AR offering is an ancient crustacean with a large black eye covered in tiny lenses. It’s a fascinating piece of history that just so happens to be absolutely terrifying, too — especially when it’s sat on your desk or coffee table, staring at you like an abandoned design from Aliens or Prometheus.

If you’re a scaredy-cat like me, you might appreciate some of the other animals that Google has prepared in partnership with Moscow’s State Darwin Museum and London’s Natural History Museum. These include the Aegirocassis, a sea creature that lived 480 million years ago, a reef-dwelling spotted trunkfish, and a digital recreation of the whale skeleton that is currently suspended from the ceiling of the Natural History Museum’s Hintze Hall. All of these are available to view through the Google Arts & Culture app, an encyclopaedic piece of software that also offers art galleries, cave paintings and the Apollo 11 Command Module in AR.

[ad_2]

Source link

Firefox’s overhauled Android app adds the browser’s best desktop features

[ad_1]

Completely new to Firefox for Android is a feature called Collections that allows you to save and organize websites for later visits. If Collections sound a lot like your classic bookmarks, functionally they are, but there’s a good reason Mozilla developed the feature. According to Vesta Zare, the project’s manager, Collections came out of looking at the mental models people have built around tabs and bookmarks. She says the majority of Firefox users only bookmark the websites they think are really important to their life. A good example is your bank’s website. That’s something most people choose to bookmark because it has an almost permanent place in their lives, but when it comes to things like recipes and trip planning, the company found people using tabs as their “short-term memory,” leaving them open to clutter their tab bar.

Firefox for Android

Mozilla

“We saw the need for a middle ground,” said Zare. That’s where Collections come into the picture. The interface Mozilla built means they don’t get lost like tabs, but they’re also not meant to be permanent in the way people see bookmarks. You have multiple ways of sharing them and, in the future, the goal is to allow collaboration on Collections.

Another major feature the new release includes is better support for third-party add-ons. You could install extensions with the previous version of Firefox for Android, but, in the majority of cases, they weren’t optimized for mobile. That’s something Mozilla went out of its way to change with this release. You’ll only see about 10 currated add-ons initially, but each has had its interface optimized for mobile and Mozilla has certified that they work with its new engine. The company plans to add more add-ons as time goes on.

One other smaller but still notable new feature is the addition of picture-in-picture support for videos.

Under the hood, the new Firefox for Android is built on top of Mozilla’s GeckoView browser engine. The new backend brings with it a couple of advantages. According to Zare, most websites should load about 10 percent faster in the new Firefox for Android compared to the previous release. GeckoView also simplifies some of the foundations of the app that will make it easier for Mozilla to deliver timely updates. The company also makes a point of the fact Firefox for Android isn’t based on Blink, Google’s browsing engine. It says it built the engine with privacy in mind.

The new Firefox for Android is available to download today in Europe, with North American availability to follow on August 27th.

[ad_2]

Source link

The Logitech G Color Collection is made to look good on your stream

[ad_1]

How do you become a star on Twitch or one of the other streaming services? Some gaming skills and a distinctive personality are probably a good start, but just in case the real secret is colorful gear, then a new set of hardware from Logitech will help. The G-Series Color Collection includes a new wireless stereo headset with interchangeable elastic bands and microphone covers, plus a keyboard and two mouse options — wired or wireless.

The $130 G733 headset is the flagship product of the group. While it relies on DTS Headphone:X for surround sound effects from stereo audio, it has Lightspeed low-latency wireless tech, as well as customizable RGB lighting and voice filters to help keep your fans engaged once they find your stream. At 50 percent volume, Logitech says its battery will last for more than 29 hours, and it’s also compatible for use with the PlayStation 4.

[ad_2]

Source link

Bloomberg: Nintendo is working on a 4K-capable Switch for 2021

[ad_1]

Sony and Microsoft have shown off the 4K-ready consoles they’ll deliver later this year with the Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X, but what is Nintendo working on? According to sources cited in a report by Bloomberg, while its convertible console tops the sales charts along with hit games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the company is planning to release an upgraded version next year.

The only word on what those upgrades may include is a note that it will support 4K graphics, but it may get a boost from new games. The other part of the report is that a “slew of games from Nintendo itself and related outside studios” could turn around this year’s relatively light release schedule.

[ad_2]

Source link

iRobot’s Roomba and Bravaa mop get a huge intelligence boost

[ad_1]

iRobot has been moving towards making its devices more convenient over the past few years: the Roomba i7+ added a self-cleaning bin, while the s9+ added more intelligence to work alongside the company’s Bravaa Jet m6 mop. The only problem? They cost significantly more than previous models: the i7+ originally started at $949 (now it’s down to around $700 on sale), while the s9+ went for a whopping $1,299. As much I’ve liked those devices, they’ve been hard to recommend based on their price alone.

The Genius Home Intelligence platform could be good news for owners of cheaper bots, like the $249 Roomba 675. Slightly smarter scheduling could make them vastly more useful. It also gives iRobot another potential leg up over competitors like Eufy and Neato, who’ve been pumping out cheap robot vacuums for years. 

Still, the company is saving some of its best features for its most expensive devices. With the new iRobot Home app, the Roomba i7 and s9 can clean also be automated to clean specific areas of your home. Owners will be able to mark specific objects on their cleaning map and work those into the automated routines. So, for example, you could program your Roomba i7 to clean under the dining table every few nights after dinner. 

Additionally, those smarter Roombas can also automatically suggest cleaning zones, or areas where things are a bit dirtier than usual.  Once set up, you can tell your vacuum to clean a specific area on demand through the app, or through voice command integration with Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home. The i7 and s9 can also suggest keep out zones whenever they’re stuck somewhere multiple times. That’ll be particularly helpful if you can’t keep track of where your Roomba has trouble.

It’s too early to tell if the iRobot’s Genius Home Intelligence platform is enough to sway anyone who hasn’t yet picked up a robot vacuum. But it’s a useful upgrade for existing owners. And it puts the company in a place to add more smart features down the line. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we see similar intelligence in the company’s future projects, like the suspended (but not cancelled, Angle assures us) Terra lawnmower.

[ad_2]

Source link

MIT researchers use radio signals to detect everyday household activities

[ad_1]

The CSAIL team has already used the system in hospitals and assisted living facilities to monitor people for issues including Parkinson’s, dementia and COVID-19. The researchers have improved the system, which uses deep machine learning. It can identify activities, such as sleeping, reading, cooking and watching TV, and items like laptops. RF-Diary is accurate in classifying more than 30 household activities over 90 percent of the time, according to the researchers.

It uses a floor map of a subject’s living space to determine what actions they undertake in different parts of the home, and what objects they use to do so. To set up the system, the person who RF-Diary is monitoring has to carry out several actions. The system will also observe them walking around their living space to make sure it doesn’t monitor any locations the person doesn’t have access to, since radio signals can travel through walls.

Beyond protecting privacy, testing showed that the system is more effective at tracking someone’s activities in dark and “occluded” settings than video-based systems. Radio signals don’t need light, after all. The researchers plan to adapt the system for homes and hospitals, with the aim of selling it commercially.

[ad_2]

Source link

Windows 95 turned 25 today

[ad_1]

That’s right, 25 years ago Microsoft officially released Windows 95, an operating system that was far more consumer-focused and internet ready than its predecessors. It also licensed a Rolling Stones song to commemorate its new innovation, the Start menu. Instead of watching a goofy video of execs stumbling around to the music, though, Microsoft would probably rather see you mark the event with this quick clip showing the evolution of Windows over the years.

Features like Internet Explorer would arrive in the Plus! expansion pack, while Windows 98 pushed the bar even further when it came to being ready for your online life and new connectors like USB. Of course its Start menu isn’t the only decision that persists to this day — it’s possible the name itself is why the company is on Windows 10 instead of Windows 9 right now.

[ad_2]

Source link

Galaxy Note 20 teardown finds graphite cooling in some phones

[ad_1]

By most accounts, Samsung’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, is a by the numbers release. It features all the latest hardware you would expect from a high-end phone in 2020, but doesn’t do a lot to change the Note formula. However, in tearing down the device, iFixit found one surprise that could represent a new design direction for Samsung and other manufacturers. Underneath the phone’s motherboard, the company discovered a multilayered graphite thermal pad. 

It’s an interesting design change for a company that has employed copper heat pipes to cool its phones. What makes it more intriguing is that not every Note 20 unit features it. In some teardowns, the Note 20 Ultra includes the same cooper cooling setup that Samsung has employed for years. At first, iFixit thought this might have been a difference between the Snapdragon and Exynos variants of the Note 20. For those who don’t know, Samsung sources the processors for the US versions of its high-end Galaxy phones from Qualcomm. 



[ad_2]

Source link

'Airplane Mode' will let you relive the monotony of economy class this fall

[ad_1]

If you spend any time at all on social media, you may have seen how much people have fallen in love with Microsoft’s latest Flight Simulator release. And it’s easy to see why. Not only is it a well-made title, accidental 212-story monolith and all, b…

[ad_2]

Source link

‘PUBG Mobile’ is getting a massive update and new esports tournament

[ad_1]

The livestream mostly kept mum about new gameplay details; But it did promise a “mysterious surprise” that will be kept under wraps until the update goes live.

When it comes to its esports tournament, PUBG Mobile will be combining the existing World League and World Championship into one large “mega event,” said James Yang, Director of PUBG Mobile Global Esports. Pro teams from regions around the world will compete in the PUBG Mobile Global Championship, to be held in November. Due to coronavirus conditions influencing the unprecedented nature of the tournament, Yang said, this season has been dubbed “season zero.” The prize pool will be worth $2 million — the most PUBG Mobile has ever paid out.

PUBG Mobile earned $1.3 billion in 2019, according to data from Sensor Tower. Many businesses have taken a hit this year due to the pandemic, but games have still been selling. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is seeing more competition than ever before and losing traction on PC and consoles, thanks to the rise of other battle royale games like Fortnite. Considering this competition, plus Fortnite creator Epic Games’ current beef with Apple and Google, PUBG Mobile may be positioned to keep doing well.

[ad_2]

Source link