Apple Shares ‘Pride’ Video Featuring Preparation for San Francisco Pride Parade
In late June, San Francisco held its 44th annual Pride parade, which saw several companies, including Apple, marching in support of the LGBT community.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attended the event and walked alongside Apple’s Environment Director Lisa Jackson and thousands of other Apple employees. Employees wore special T-shirts for the event and handed out iTunes gift cards good for a free song download.
Apple has now posted a new video of the event on its YouTube channel, depicting the company’s preparation for the parade, which included the aforementioned T-shirts, a pre-event celebration, special bicycles, and thousands of rainbow-colored flags. The song playing in the background of the video is Coldplay’s “A Sky Full of Stars.”
On June 29, thousands of Apple employees and their families marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They came from around the world — from cities as far as Munich, Paris, and Hong Kong — to celebrate Apple’s unwavering commitment to equality and diversity. Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation
Apple CEO Tim Cook has expressed a deep belief in equality in the past, supporting the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which successfully added LGBT individuals to the U.S.’s existing nondiscrimination law.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Mobile Wallet app ISIS working towards rebranding to avoid confusion with violent militant Group
Many of you are probably familiar with ISIS. At least the name, as it referrers to the mobile wallet application and service that AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon opted to adopt instead of Google Wallet. In other non-tech related news though, ISIS is known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. A fairly not so friendly militant group that has gained a lot of media attention. Obviously the media dubbed it ISIS and hence the latest announcement from ISIS (the mobile wallet ) chief executive officer Michael Abbott.
“Changing a brand is never easy, but we know this is the right decision – for our company, our partners and our customers.
We are actively working on a new brand, and I’ll share more with you as our journey progresses in the coming months.
In the meantime, we remain committed to growing the mobile payments ecosystem, and advancing our mobile wallet. Our focus on delivering a great product and platform to our customers hasn’t changed.”
It does seem like a good idea actually. I know when I was catching headlines earlier today and saw ISIS I thought, “What the heck? A wallet app is demolishing ancient mosques and temples?” Obviously all I did was glance at an article title and pulled out ISIS before I read it and figured out what was going on. Anywho, that was the first time I have really given ISIS a thought since the app went into a live beta version to the Play Store back in 2012.
Anyone out there use ISIS, or have you moved on to other services like Google Wallet. Obviously sacrificing the NFC tap-to-pay aspect.
Source: 9to5Google
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Don’t call it laser tag: this is a real-life version of ‘Left 4 Dead’
Every year we get another Call of Duty, but if you’ve given up hope waiting for a new Left 4 Dead, a Georgia-based company might have something a bit well, realer, to help tide you over. Blood, Guts ‘n Glory [sic] is looking to take the aforementioned games off of your TV and put them in the real world with the help of slick Hollywood-style production and some high-tech weaponry this October. In Apocalyptic Infested Horror, teams battle against hordes of zombies played by actors or Kickstarter backers, while War-torn Fallujah Battlefield has you facing off against “insurgents.” In terms of firepower, real weapons like the M4 assault rifle have been outfitted with infrared tech along the lines of what the military uses for training purposes, and the armaments apparently still sound like the real deal, have muzzle flash and require reloading. Authenticity above all, naturally. And thanks to a force feedback belt, you’ll feel each attack you’ve sustained too.
The way these events will play out should be pretty familiar if you’ve hopped into an online shooter recently: rescue a science team working on a cure for the zombie outbreak and drop the antigen in the city’s water supply before the other team does, while capture the flag and hard-point control are among orders of the day for the Fallujah mission. Winners can expect a room stocked with booze, “hot babes” (apparently someone hasn’t gotten the message yet) and as-of-yet unnamed VIPs, just for them. Each game is expected to last an hour, with the total experience, meaning gearing up and debriefing, pegged at three hours for each. Keeping with the video-game theme, the outfit is planning for 64-player rounds and stats like accuracy, kill-to-death ratio and how many secrets you’ve discovered in your game will all be tracked. If this sounds like something your usual squad would be up for, buy-in starts at $90 and group packages are available too.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Kickstarter
Source: Blood, Guts ‘n Glory
Thieves nab 40,000 Samsung devices through a daring Brazilian heist
When you think of gadget thefts, odds are that you picture muggings or smash-and-grabs at stores. Apparently, one group of thieves in Brazil had far more ambitious plans — it raided Samsung’s factory in Campinas (shown here) and stole more than 40,000 laptops, phones and tablets that police estimate are worth $36 million. Reportedly, the heist played out much like a movie. The bandits both hijacked a company shuttle to get inside and took some of the workers hostage, going so far as to confiscate phone batteries so that no one could alert the police.
None of the culprits have been identified, and Samsung contends that the actual value of the stolen goods is lower. However, authorities suspect that the crooks had inside help; they knew not just how to get in, but also where they would find certain valuables. Samsung will try to prevent a “repeat incident,” but a lot of damage has already been done. Those devices likely aren’t coming back, and future production runs might not be safe if the robbers really did get assistance from corrupt workers.
[Image credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Samsung
Source: MSN (translated)
BlackBerry tries to justify the square shape of its next big smartphone
If you’re anything like us, your reaction to the unveiling of BlackBerry’s upcoming Passport smartphone probably involved a few choice expletives — why the hell would you ship such a blocky device in 2014? Thankfully, the company is more than happy to explain in a new blog post. It argues that the rectangular shape of most smartphones is fine for video and quick chats, but lousy for work. The Passport’s square screen may look odd, but it’s supposedly ideal for reading documents; you won’t have to scroll quite so much when checking out a spreadsheet or writing a magnum opus. Logically, that hardware keyboard also keeps the interface out of the way as much as possible.
They’re interesting ideas, and the unusual form factor might just work for BlackBerry’s suit-and-tie audience. Having said this, extra-wide smartphones have rarely fared well in a market that currently favors tall designs; LG’s Vu series (aka Intuition) hasn’t had much of an audience outside of its native South Korea, and the Pantech Pocket quickly fizzled out. The crew in Waterloo may have to do a lot more than write a brief explainer to get people ditching rival devices that are gentler on their hands and pockets.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Blackberry
Source: Inside BlackBerry
Engadget Daily: the deal with DARPA, get paid to watch Netflix, and more!
Today, we dive into the world of DARPA, interview two people who cut ties with technology, take a look at the Mercedes Future Truck 2025 and imagine getting paid to watch Netflix. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
What you need to know about DARPA, the Pentagon’s mad science division
You probably know DARPA for its fleet of super-powered machines, but this agency’s reach extends far beyond military robotics. Read on as Mariella Moon breaks down everything you need to know about one of the Department of Defense’s most interesting operations.
How to Disappear (almost) Completely: living off the grid
Ditching social media is hard enough, but how about technology itself? In the final installment of How to Disappear, Dan Cooper interviews two people who cut their ties with the modern world and took up meager existences off the grid.
Netflix is looking to pay someone to watch Netflix all day
What’s better than binge-watching your favorite shows? Binge-watching them and getting paid for it, that’s what. Netflix is looking for “taggers” to view and analyze content all day long, and you could be one of them — so long as you live in the UK, anyway.
Mercedes’ semi-autonomous truck lets its driver relax on the highway
Forget smart cars: Smart trucks are where it’s at. With the semi-autonomous Future Truck 2025, Merecedes wants to empower long-haul drivers with tools to make better use of their time. And drive more safely, of course.
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Apple’s ‘Health’ App Gains Ability to Track Steps With M7 Motion Coprocessor in New iOS 8 Beta
iOS 8 beta 3, which was released to developers earlier today, allows Apple’s Health app to access the iPhone’s M7 motion coprocessor, letting the app natively track movement like steps taken.
Available in newer devices like the iPhone 5s, the iPad Air, and the Retina iPad mini, the M7 “motion coprocessor” functions alongside the A7 chip in those devices, measuring accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass data for enhanced fitness tracking capabilities.
As noted by 9to5Mac the Health app’s “Steps” section now tallies the number of steps a user has taken as measured by the iPhone 5s. Users accessing the Health app today will be able to access a full week’s worth of data on their devices.
The M7 has been leveraged by several third-party app developers, such as Nike and Strava, but this is the first time the data has been made available directly via Apple’s own Health app and it is also the first real data the Health app is able to display.
Along with M7 integration, the Health app also has a new “Caffeine” section in the Nutrition portion of the Health Data tab. This appears to track how much caffeine is consumed and will likely integrate with third-party caffeine tracking apps such as UP Coffee from Jawbone, which lets users track the amount of coffee, tea, and other caffeinated beverages that are consumed on a daily basis.
At the current point in time, the Health app is rather limited, but by the time iOS 8 is released, dozens of device manufacturers and app developers will likely have built HealthKit into their apps, allowing the Health app to aggregate data from multiple sources into one easy-to-access spot. Health is also rumored to be heavily tied to Apple’s upcoming health-tracking wearable device, the iWatch.
As described by Apple, Health aims to be a one-stop dashboard for health and fitness data, tracking metrics measured by various devices and apps, including heart rate, food consumed, cholesterol, sleep quality, and more. Apple’s iOS 8 Health page says “It might just be the beginning of a health revolution.”
iOS 8 is currently available only to registered developers and will likely be released to the public in the fall, after several more beta iterations to refine the look and feel of the operating system.
iPhone 6 Front Panel Subjected to Scratch Test, Significant Bending [iOS Blog]
Earlier today, we shared a video of what appeared to be the front panel of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 subjected to a limited bending stress test, but YouTube user Marques Brownlee has now acquired the same front panel and subjected it to additional stress tests, including more significant bending and scratching.
In the video, Brownlee scratches and stabs at the panel with a set of keys and a knife, but is unable to cause any discernible damage to the display. He then goes on to bend it quite forcefully, both with his hands and under a shoe, but the panel does not break.
Though Brownlee describes the front panel as being made of sapphire crystal in his video, there is no way to confirm that the panel, which has been seen in previous videos and images, is indeed made of sapphire. Corning’s Gorilla Glass, which is currently used in iOS devices, also has many of the same properties — it is both highly scratch resistant and somewhat flexible.
Rumors have suggested Apple plans to utilize a sapphire display in the iPhone 6 for increased durability and scratch resistance, but it has also been suggested that sapphire could be limited to the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 due to supply constraints. In that case, the front panel of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 would likely continue to use Gorilla Glass.
Apple’s 4.7-inch iPhone is expected to be released this fall, likely in September. A larger 5.5-inch iPhone is also in the works, but it is unknown whether the device will launch alongside the 4.7-inch version or later in the year. Both devices are said to include an A8 processor and camera improvements.
MIUI joins list of ROMS ported to OnePlus One
With the new OnePlus One running CyanogenMod out of the box, you can be sure the startup is open to its “flagship killer” supporting other custom ROMs as well. There are already ports of Paranoid Android, OmniROM and MoKee and now a video has been released of the device running MIUI V5 (Android 4.4.2 KitKat).
MIUI, pronounced “Me You I,” a version of Android from Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, is usually described as a mashup of the best of iOS and Android styling and relies on looks and stability more so than added features, compared to other custom ROMS.
In the video from Anexonel, it shows that the ROM is running smoothly and looking fairly stable for a beta version. It supports seven languages, of which English is one. The only issue that Anexonel notes is that HSPA+ isn’t working on his Chinese version of the OnePlus One, but gives a way to get it working. Other than that, if you’ve used MIUI before, you will be very familiar with this ROM.
I haven’t found a link to the ROM yet, but I’ll update the post once I find it. According to GizChina, the ROM comes from a Chinese modder and a video of it can also be found on the Chinese video hosting site Youku.
Be sure to check out both videos below.
VIA: @AnexonelHPLA, MIUI forum, OnePlus forum, GizChina
The post MIUI joins list of ROMS ported to OnePlus One appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Thule Atmos X3 Case for Samsung Galaxy S5: Review
Overall your looking at a case with no extras like a kickstand or blast proof protection, but a quality, simple all around protection package. My only gripe is that the case is not the most stylish, not in a bad way I just don’t think the Atmos X3 was meant to make a fashion statement. The Atmos X3 is a great option at 39.99 and we rate it a solid 4.5/5. If this sounds like the case for you you can place an order at Thule as the Atmos X3 is available now.
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AIVAnet 