California’s new self-driving car regulations prohibit falling asleep at the wheel
California is fine with car makers test-driving autonomous vehicles on its roadways, but the DMV now has some rules on exactly how. Under new regulations, drivers (or riders as the case may be) will need to be official testers on a manufacturer’s payroll and go through a special training program to get a yearlong permit. They’ll also have to remain attentive behind the wheel — so no napping on the way to work yet — and notify the DMV if they’re in an accident or have to override the car’s manual controls for any reason. When it comes to cars, it’s not a free-for-all. Manufacturers will need to apply for a permit for each individual vehicle, and cars are required to have at least five million dollars worth of liability insurance.
Autonomous vehicles aren’t exactly new to California. They’ve been legal in the state since 2012, and Google has already started testing cars in its hometown of Mountain View. The new regulations created by the DMV are designed to put a few boundaries on that testing. While they’ve already been adopted, applications for the program won’t be accepted until July 1st, with the regulations officially going into effect September 14th.
[Image credit: Flickr/Stanford Center for Internet and Society]
Filed under: Transportation, Google
Via: Ars Technica
Source: CA DMV
Engadget HD Podcast 399 – 5.21.14
Things are heating up in the HD world this week, but definitely not enough to cook a pizza properly. AT&T is making a bid to buy DirecTV for a hefty sum, unless the company’s NFL Sunday Ticket portion doesn’t pan out, leaving them with an escape clause. Other deals afoot include the Comcast and Time Warner Cable merger, both of which are some of the most hated names in the industry. As for Pioneer’s beloved Kuro displays, it seems Ben’s had one in his home for longer than he’s willing to believe, leaving him in a nostalgic lurch. This gives Richard a chance to dish out all the new content that’s popped up on Hulu Plus and run down some Must See HDTV — don’t worry, no Game of Thrones spoilers. As always, there’s a ton of info to feed your brain with, so click on down to the streaming links and join us for this week’s episode!
Hosts: Richard Lawler, Ben Drawbaugh
Producer: Jon Turi
Hear the podcast:
02:54 – AT&T to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion
12:33 – AT&T’s multibillion dollar DirecTV purchase could hinge on… football?
20:46 – Comcast and TWC voted most-hated ISPs in America’s most-hated industry
22:47 – FCC votes in favor of new Net Neutrality rules, leaves room for ‘fast lanes’
32:45 – Virtual Joey app arrives with satellite TV for your PS3
34:33 – Brazilians will see every blade of World Cup grass on outdoor 4K screens
36:10 – Gadget Rewind 2007: Pioneer Kuro PDP-5080HD plasma
40:55 – Sony’s $700 4K streaming box gets a much needed pre-order discount
42:27 – Watch ‘Game of Thrones’ mysteries explained (or disproved) with science
47:01 – Sailor Moon arrives on Hulu Plus in its full, uncensored glory
49:04 – ‘Halo 5: Guardians’ and live-action Halo TV show set for fall 2015 launch
50:33 – Upcoming Xbox history show will let you ‘play TV’
55:24 – Must See HDTV for the week of May 19th: Indy 500, Monaco GP and no Game of Thrones
Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3).
[RSS – AAC] Enhanced feed, subscribe to this with iTunes.
[RSS – MP3] Add the Engadget HD Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator.
Contact the podcast:
SingStar for PS4 employs your smartphone for belting off-tune renditions
When SingStar arrives on PlayStation 4 consoles later this year, it won’t require shelling out extra dough for a shiny new microphone. Instead, the title will allow you to use your smartphone or tablet as the mic thanks to a free app for iOS and Android. The newfangled software will play nice with both PS3 and PS4 versions of the game with support for custom playlists built in. There’s also improved social sharing and song downloads from the SingStore. Heck, they’ve even added Bruno Mars tunes, so get your pompadour wig ready.
Source: PlayStation Blog
Verizon’s latest LTE test streams Indy 500 in-car video to phones in pit lane
As the Indy 500′s title sponsor this year, Verizon is bringing more than its name to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — it’s augmenting the venue with LTE Multicast service. The new tech allows many viewers to stream the same video at once, something that usually chokes networks but with multicast it’s more like watching a regular TV broadcast — the stream only has to be sent once for everyone to tune in. Teams using a special app on enhanced Galaxy Note 3 smartphones or other properly equipped tablets will be able to view live in-car cameras and other angles from cameras placed around the track. Unlike Verizon’s Super Bowl test, this is running on the company’s commercial network and it won’t be a one-time deal, either: LTE Multicast will be used at multiple IndyCar events and venues throughout the year. Here’s hoping fans can get in on the action (the official IndyCar 14 app lets Verizon customers watch video over regular internet streams wherever they are) soon.
[Image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy]
Filed under: Transportation, HD, Mobile, Verizon
Source: Verizon Wireless
Virtual weed farms and the sticky state of Apple’s App Store restrictions
I was just about to tell you about Weed Firm, an insanely addictive app that tasks you with building a marijuana empire from your house in the suburbs, but I feel a little bad about gushing… because it’s no longer available to download. Yes, it’s been pulled from the App Store. (It’s also been removed from Google Play, but for unrelated reasons.) As recently as yesterday, the free app held the number two position on the charts in Apple’s store, and it’s almost guaranteed that it disappeared due to concerns about illegal or otherwise “controversial” content. (Apple’s famously mum about the reasons behind booting certain apps.)
Even though the Weed Firm app includes a disclaimer about not encouraging illegal activities, the fact is you’re growing Purple Haze, smoking up customers, paying off crooked cops and probably loving every minute of it. It seemed a bit strange that Apple — not to mention Google — approved the app in the first place, but considering how many weed-related apps are still available for download through Apple, it’s a bit odd that it’s now gone.
According to a statement released by Manitoba Games, the studio behind Weed Firm, the game may have been pulled because of its material — combined with the fact that it became so successful so quickly:
“We guess the problem was that the game was just too good and got to number one in All Categories, since there are certainly a great number of weed-based apps still available, as well as games promoting other so-called illegal activities such as shooting people, crashing cars and throwing birds at buildings.”
Throwing birds at buildings might not be exactly the same as growing and selling a drug that’s illegal in most countries, but you get the point. While we’ll likely never know exactly why Apple pulled the plug, it’s worth noting that other apps have never even made it into the App Store despite containing no illegal content. HappyPlayTime, which teaches women about their bodies via an anthropomorphized cartoon vulva, was recently rejected, even though racier apps are available for download.
Tina Gong, who created HappyPlayTime, said that she would focus on developing a web-based version of the app instead. And the makers of Weed Firm may do the same; while explaining that content may need to be adjusted to meet the App Store’s standards, the devs also talk about taking the game elsewhere:
“As for the other platforms, we will endeavor to make it as censorship-free as possible while assigning the highest maturity rating to the game. We do not want kids playing Weed Firm, but we firmly believe that adults should have a choice to do whatever the hell they want as long as they are not hurting anybody in the process.”
Like it or not, the App Store is Apple’s to regulate, so while these titles may seem fairly innocuous, you may have to start looking elsewhere to get your fix. Manitoba Games says Weed Firm should be back on Google Play pending a change in publisher, but iPhone users may be going through withdrawals for a bit longer. Of course, you always have the option of sideloading apps provided you can find the .APK files online. And now’s a better time than ever to back up the apps you’ve been lucky enough to snag while they’re still available.
Filed under: Software, Apple, Google
Source: Manitoba Games
Apple Renews Rights to Liquidmetal Technologies’ Alloys for Consumer Products
Apple has renewed exclusive rights to use Liquidmetal Technologies’ metal alloys in consumer electronics items, according to a filing with the SEC.
The rights were originally purchased back in 2010, to run through February 2014. The new renewal extends the agreement through February of 2015.
On May 19, 2014, Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) and Apple Inc. (“Apple”) entered into an second amendment (the “Second Amendment”) to the Master Transaction Agreement that was originally entered into on August 5, 2010 (the “MTA”) and amended on June 15, 2012 (the “First Amendment”). Under the MTA and the First Amendment, the Company was obligated to contribute to Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC, a special purpose subsidiary of the Company, all intellectual property acquired or developed by the Company from August 5, 2010 through February 5, 2014, and all intellectual property held by Crucible Intellectual Property, LLC was exclusively licensed on a perpetual basis to Apple for the field of use of consumer electronic products under the MTA. Under the Second Amendment, the parties agreed to amend the MTA and the First Amendment to extend the February 5, 2014 date to February 5, 2015.
According to a report from earlier this year, Apple is interested in using Liquidmetal’s alloys for home buttons, touch sensors and tamper-resistant screws. The allows possess a number of unique properties including high strength and corrosion resistance while remaining relatively light and able to cast into a variety of forms.
Recalled ‘Nest Protect’ Smoke Detectors Returning to Store Shelves Soon [iOS Blog]
The Nest Protect app-enabled smoke detector will be returning to store shelves soon, the company said today, after being pulled off the market and recalled because of a potential safety issue last month.
The company, which was acquired by Google earlier this year for $3.2 billion, stopped selling the Nest Protect last month after laboratory testing determined that the Nest Wave feature could potentially malfunction. The Nest Wave allows users to silence false alarms by wave at the detector rather than requiring them to manually press a button, which could be inconvenient for those with high ceilings.
The company has stated that there were no cases of smoke detectors turning off in customer homes, but that it wanted to be extremely cautious with such an important consumer device.
Nest and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have issued a “recall” to ensure that all affected Protects receive a software update to disable the feature. Purchased devices do not need to be returned to Nest and will continue to function normally, albeit with the Wave feature disabled.
Nest told The Guardian that the Nest Protect will be going “back on the market in a few weeks.”
Read the news with style with Yahoo News Digest [App of the Day]
The App of the Day today goes to Yahoo News Digest, the new app from Yahoo designed to give you some of the world’s most important news in the morning and in the evening. While this may seem like any other news app out there, Yahoo has shown with this app that they can create a unique news reading experience with cool animations that’ll make you keep going back to it.
On average, the app will give you 8-12 stories in the morning and evening, all from different categories. It will also notify you when the stories are ready to read – a feature many news readers don’t have.
Each article also contains multiple sources for you to read from other writers to get a broader view of the issue and multiple viewpoints. The app tallies how many of the articles you have read, and once you have read all of them, a fun little animation will bring you to a fun fact about one of the articles and a link that lets you read more news for today. Seriously, I love the animations in this app.
If you haven’t already, check Yahoo’s new app out in the Play Store.
The post Read the news with style with Yahoo News Digest [App of the Day] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra, E1 and M2 Slated for KitKat in July
Earlier this morning Sony announced that four devices (Xperia Z, ZL, ZR and Tablet Z) all have Android 4.4 KitKat updates rolling out. In the end of their announcement found on their blog they also let loose a few other devices that will be picking up some KitKat goodness.
The Sony Xperia T2 Ultra, Xperia E1 and Xperia M2 (and dual variants) are all slated for a KitKat update sometime in July. Those three devices will most likely end up with many of the same functions and features that are built into the currently rolling KitKat update like the revamped UI, Status Bar and Quick Settings menu. It certainly seems like Sony has really been stepping up its game in the software update depart over the last year. It is a nice surprise to see, now if the carriers all get on board to push the update is a different story.
Via Sony Blog
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Here Comes the Bling: Gold Galaxy S5 to Hit All Major US Carriers May 30th
If you have been holding out on picking up a Galaxy S5 because you really wanted a gold brink in your hand, then your dream will be coming true soon. We caught news that T-Mobile and Sprint were bringing the gold color variant on May 30th, now we find out the real story, all major carriers will be bringing the gold variant on that day.
By all we mean that AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and US Cellular will be offering up the gold device together. A small note on the Verizon announcement from Samsung is a little comical though, Verizon Wireless (through select indirect retailers). Sounds like they won’t be finding their way to corporate stores right off the bat. I assume it could filter down to Boost, Virgin ad the likes in due time.
Personally, I am not a fan of the gold, but to each their own. I am however happy to see that this isn’t landing as some exclusive for a specific carrier.
Source: Samsung via AndroidPolice
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