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Virgin Orbit will launch small satellites for the UK military

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The unique feature of the Virgin Orbit program is how quickly a launch can be arranged. Typically, a launch takes years of planning and can only take place from certain sites which access particular orbits. This means that access to a given orbit can never be guaranteed on short notice. However, Virgin believes it can offer launches with as little as a week’s notice by making use of its customized 747-400 aircraft which acts as a “flying launch pad.”

This speed of deployment is a particular selling point for the military. “We’ve built a launch system to address commercial needs, but we’ve found it has enormous advantages for government customers,” said Dan Hart, President and CEO of Virgin Orbit.

The RAF’s Artemis project is not to be confused with NASA’s Artemis project. NASA’s Artemis is a commercial partnership for moon landings, and the RAF’s Artemis is a commercial partnership for launching satellites. Despite the similar names and fields, they are totally different projects.

Hart also expressed optimism that the project could support peaceful international relations in space: “Ultimately, we are hopeful that by demonstrating the capability to quickly and easily deploy and replace satellites in Low Earth Orbit we will be helping to remove the incentive for any nation to invest the money in harming another nation’s satellite.”

Virgin Orbit performed a successful drop test of its LauncherOne vehicle a few weeks ago. Now it will finalize assembly and testing of its orbital rocket before the first launch into space, scheduled for later this year.

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Google’s $10 Stadia Pro plan includes one free game per month

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Doronichev emphasized that the Pro service won’t be “all you can eat,” but that for $10 a month, subscribers will get some serious benefits. “To be clear, Stadia Pro is not ‘Netflix for Games’ like some people have mentioned,” he said. “A closer comparison would be like Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus. The Pro subscribers get 4K/HDR streaming, 5.1 sound, exclusive discounts and access to some free games. Roughly one free game per month give or take. Starting with Destiny 2.”

Users of the base plan won’t get the discounts or games, as expected. “But hey, Stadia Base gives you free access to the state-of-the-art gaming hardware in our datacenter,” said Doronichev. “You spend your money to buy games you want.”

To be clear, Stadia Pro is not ‘Netflix for Games’ like some people have mentioned. A closer comparison would be like Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus. The Pro subscribers get 4K/HDR streaming, 5.1 sound, exclusive discounts and access to some free games. Roughly one free game per month give or take. Starting with Destiny 2.

Another key takeaway is that Stadia’s controller won’t support Bluetooth Audio when the service launches in November. To start with, you’ll be forced to use wired headphones via a 3.5mm audio jack on the controller if you’re streaming on a Chromecast Ultra. If you’re playing on a Pixel Phone or PC, however, you’ll get wireless Bluetooth audio via those devices, bypassing the controller. On the Stadia controller product page, Google notes that while Bluetooth support will be switched off at launch, it may be enabled down the road.

Google re-emphasized that you’ll be able to use any games you purchase, even if Stadia is discontinued down the road. At the same time, Doronichev said Google is “super committed” to the platform. “We have hundreds of passionate people who have spent years building it. We’ve invested a ton in tech, infrastructure and content.”

As for the social aspect, Google is going all-in there, as well. At launch you’ll be able to manage your friends list, create parties and use platform-level voice chat,” he said. “And that’s just the beginning. We also have a healthy pipeline of social features going forward.” It will also include achievements similar to what’s available on other platforms. Stadia will eventually support Family Sharing early next year as well.

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Watch a behind-the-scenes look at ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’

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Cameron says the new film follows the tone of T1 and T2, promising a “fast, white-knuckle ride” with huge action sequences. Dark Fate is directed by Tim Miller, who also directed the first Deadpool film. Arnold Schwarzenegger is playing the original Terminator again, of course, and the film is also bringing back T2’s John Connor (Edward Furlong) after other actors, including Christian Bale, played the role in the previous sequels. The movie is slated to hit theaters worldwide on November 1st.



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London’s Tube will finally offer 4G coverage from next year

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From March 2020, 4G will be available on the platforms and tunnels of a section of the Jubilee line between Westminster and Canning Town. It will be available in ticket halls and corridors as well, except for the very busy London Bridge and Waterloo stations which may be added later in the year.

The Tube network is an infamous “not-spot” within the capital which the government has been trying to rectify since 2005 (for those keeping score, that’s 14 years ago). A major proposal was put forward in 2015 and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, promised to deliver 4G by 2019. There were high hopes when Transport for London (TfL) open bidding to build the infrastructure for the service in 2017, but it’s taken until now to get it off the ground.

The network of tunnels which form the Underground are hard to connect up because they are old and narrow and have many bends which disrupt signals. TfL have addressed this issue by installing hundreds of miles of cabling which acts as an aerial.

London’s Underground network currently offers WiFi provided by Virgin Media at over 260 stations, but this is only available to customers of certain carriers. The new 4G system should allow anyone with a connected device to access the internet, although the four biggest UK phone network operators are still in discussion with TfL about accessing the infrastructure.

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BBC and ITV streaming service BritBox is finally coming to the UK

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At launch, BritBox will host “thousands of hours of the nation’s favorite content from ITV and the BBC,” including plenty of archive material. In addition, recently-broadcast shows will be available on a catch-up basis, and BritBox’s own TV series will begin filtering through in 2020. What’s not clear is how BritBox will work with BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub, the pair’s own catch up and streaming services. The BBC has a public-service ethos and so will likely only put older content on BritBox, but ITV could dramatically reduce its free streaming to juice BritBox sales.

As we explained back in February, BritBox is the culmination of a project that began in 2007 between the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. The UK’s three biggest broadcasters wanted to work together on a service that looked a lot like Netflix before streaming video was widespread. Sadly, lobbying from Sky, which said the project would be anti-competitive, caused it to be killed, allowing rival brands to steal a lead. BritBox has already been a success in the US, where the BBC and ITV worked with AMC to put their own content on the streaming service.

One downside to BritBox is that while it is branded as a partnership between the BBC and ITV, it’s the latter that has control. ITV holds 90 percent of the shares, and ITV staffers will be in charge of curating and buying new content for the platform. That means that BritBox will likely reflect the very downmarket tastes of its parent channel, which makes a living on reality shows and soaps. The head of BritBox, Reemah Sakaan, will report to Kevin Lygo, head of programming at ITV — a man who recently said that sitcoms and other comedies weren’t worth bothering with, and people should watch the soap opera Coronation Street instead. ITV has also come under fire recently for its safeguarding practices around its reality TV shows, of which three participants have died by suicide.

It’s not clear to what extent the content library for BritBox in the US will come over to the UK version of the service. The crown jewel of the platform is the complete classic Doctor Who, which includes more than 40 years’ worth of material. It would be a surprise to see it make the journey over, if only because the BBC still makes plenty of money off the show through DVD and, now, Blu-ray sales.

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Loki is joining ‘Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3’ for Switch

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On August 30th, Cyclops and Colossus will be joining Thor’s brother and the rest of the alliance in a free update. Marvel Games will also roll out alternate outfits for the whole gang from launch through the first quarter of 2020.

Those who don’t mind shelling out $20 more for a paid Expansion Pass will be getting additional story content and playable characters from Fantastic Four, X-Men, Marvel Knights and other Marvel titles, as well. The pass will give players access to three DLC packs rolling out at different times — the first one, coming out this fall, will add Moon Knight, Blade, Punisher and Morbius to the game’s roster.

Check out the game’s trailer below:



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Tesla opens Vegas V3 Supercharger station powered by solar and battery

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In line with founder Elon Musk’s promise to take Supercharger stations off the grid, the Las Vegas site will rely on a combination of solar and battery power. A solar array will power the site during the day, and Powerpacks will provide energy at night. The station will contain a total of 24 stalls and 15 Wall Connectors.

The new V3 site will be capable of serving 1,500 owners per day — a significant increase in capacity given that the city’s Supercharger stations see about 6,500 sessions on average per month. While Sin City is still behind cities like San Diego and Los Angeles in electric vehicle ownership, a 2016 ChargePoint report listed it as the fastest growing city for sales. And with Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Reno, it’s clear that Nevada will play a huge role in the automaker’s future.

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SpaceX shows off a highlight reel of Crew Dragon parachute tests

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As SpaceX continues its progress toward a Demo-2 launch of its Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts aboard the company put together this reel of parachute tests. According to the tag, “SpaceX is returning human spaceflight capabilities to the United States with one of the safest, most advanced systems ever built.”

I didn’t spot a clip from the failed test in April, but that’s part of the reason why SpaceX is doing repeated tests from various heights and setups like the one it failed where one of the parachutes was intentionally disabled. It’s all to make sure that the system works when it’s called upon to provide a safe ocean landing for actual people. Boeing already announced the competing Starliner project has completed a qualification test for its parachute system, although both programs have faced technical issues, like the explosive incident SpaceX recently traced to an oxidizer leak.

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‘Cats’ movie trailer offers an odd look at the CG felines

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So far, reactions to the visual effects in Cats have been negative or mixed. CG often gets criticized for not being realistic enough or being too obvious. But hyper-realism isn’t the goal in a film like Cats (unlike, for example, the CG deployed in a film like The Lion King or a show like Game of Thrones). The Jellicle Cats in the stage play are not meant to resemble actual cats, and neither do the humanoid cats in the feature film.

Today the use of CG is a risky venture in any film — backlash from fans on social media can be instantaneous and unforgiving. Fans had negative reactions to the Scar character in The Lion King, and widespread hatred of the lead character in Sonic the Hedgehog forced the studio to make changes.

Even if the reaction to its visual effects is less than stellar, Cats still has an A-list cast to fall back on. The film will star Idris Elba, Dame Judi Dench, Taylor Swift, Ian McKellen, James Corden and Jennifer Hudson. The film is due to be released in theatres in December. You can watch the trailer below.

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Amazon Prime Day error put high-end camera gear on sale for peanuts

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One deal hunter spotted that Amazon discounted the Sony A6000 and 16-50mm bundle from $550 to $94.50 and shared the bargain on Slickdeals, a site on which people post amazing deals they happen across. Some shoppers spotted the same offer on Amazon and placed orders too, but others saw the regular price.

Nevertheless, inspired enthusiasts poked around Amazon and found much bigger deals on photography gear, many of which had the same $94.50 price tag. One claimed to have ordered a Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS lens at that price — it often sells for $13,000. Others picked up cameras that usually retail at more than $1,000 for under $100, including the Fujifilm X100F and the Canon EOS R.

Amazon honored many of the pricing errors, as bargain hunters posted tracking updates for their orders and photos of their goods when they arrived. Some even claimed to have price matched the apparent fire sale with other retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart. Many ordered goods are back ordered on Amazon, and there’s a chance the retailer might cancel them before they ship. Still, these impressive deal hunters showed that it’s often worth poking around during big sales as you might just unearth some incredible bargains.

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