The first self-driving big rig licensed to operate in the US
A Daimler-built autonomous truck can now legally operate on the highways of Nevada. Gov. Brian Sandoval has officially granted the “Freightliner Inspiration Truck” a license for road use in the state, making it the first of its kind to navigate public roads in the US. The Inspiration’s “Highway Pilot system” is loaded with cameras, radars, other sensors and computer hardware like most autonomous vehicles. However, it’s not completely self-driving — it still needs a human driver behind the wheel.
According to the big rig’s official website, when the semi-autonomous system takes over, its sensors and computers are “responsible for maintaining legal speed, staying in the selected lane, keeping a safe braking distance from other vehicles, and slowing or stopping the vehicle based on traffic and road conditions.” That frees up the driver to do other tasks, like doing the inventory, route planning and scheduling. Certain conditions require it to transfer control back to the driver, though, particularly when exiting a highway, driving on local roads and docking to drop off deliveries.
The truck had to undergo rigorous testing before it was granted a license and had to drive over 10,000 miles on a circuit in Germany. At the moment, there are two operational Inspiration trucks, and it’s unclear if Daimler’s making more of them.
[Image credit: Freightliner Trucks/Instagram]
Source: Daimler, Freightliner (1), (2), (3)
Cox continues rolling out its gigabit internet to US cities
Last May, Cox Communications announced that it would join Google and AT&T in offering residential customers gigabit-fast wired internet service to Phoenix, Las Vegas and Omaha. Today the service, dubbed “G1GABLAST“, has finally arrived in Omaha and Las Vegas as well as parts of Orange County, California. “We started in Phoenix last fall, but we have not stopped there,” Cox President Pat Esser said in a statement. “We are excited to have the choice of gigabit speeds available to more customers today, and we’re adding new building projects every month.” To that end, Cox has already increased the speeds of its High Speed Internet (HSI) Essential and HSI Starter plans over the past few months and intends to similarly boost its HSI Ultimate package later this year. The company also announced that communities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Rhode Island, Oklahoma and Virginia will be offered gigabit speeds by this summer with Cox’s entire user base receiving the option by the end of 2016.
[Image Credit: The Associated Press]
Filed under: Internet, HD, Google, AT&T
Source: Cox Communications
FTC Also Investigating Apple’s Upcoming Music Streaming Service
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Apple’s efforts to set up deals with record labels as it prepares to launch its new music streaming service, a rebranded version of Beats Music, according to Bloomberg. This would make the FTC the third government body to look into the new music service after the U. S. Department of Justice and European Commission.
The FTC’s investigators, still in the early stages, of their inquiry, are asking whether Apple’s efforts will change the way music labels work with other streaming services, for example curtailing ad-supported music and pushing more songs into paid tiers of service at higher rates, according to one of the people.
A couple days ago, a report emerged that Apple was utilizing its power within the music industry to push record labels to stop licensing freemium tiers offered by Spotify and other music services. The Cupertino company also reportedly offered to pay YouTube’s licensing fee to Universal Music Group if the label stopped allowing its music on the website, which is a popular destination for music videos.
The FTC is speaking to multiple record labels about Apple’s practices. However, music-industry executives told Bloomberg that Apple has made no such demands. Similarly, the Department of Justice is also interviewing high-ranking music executives about Apple’s practices. The European Commission is doing the same, concerned that Apple will use its size to force record labels to stop supporting freemium music tiers.
Apple’s Beats-based music streaming service will reportedly launch in June at WWDC, though the company is still finalizing several streaming deals. It will reportedly be deeply integrated into iTunes for Mac and the stock music app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch while apps will also be available for Apple TV and Android, and Apple is aiming to offer exclusive content in the hopes of drawing people from other services. Last month, the company seeded iOS 8.4 beta to developers with a redesigned Music app featuring a new MiniPlayer, a redesigned look for “Now Playing”, and more.
Project Fi invites begin to roll out as new Google Voice information surfaces
While Project Fi was just officially announced a few weeks ago, Google has finally begun sending out invites to join its new service, according to a lucky Reddit user. We’re still patiently waiting for our invites here at Android Authority, but lucky for us, the Reddit user took screenshots of the entire setup process, revealing some interesting details on how Google plans to handle users’ Google Voice accounts with its new service.
For starters, if you’re just signing up for Project Fi with either a new phone number or a number that’s currently attached to a certain carrier, this process will be easy. Following the on-screen prompts to choose your data tier and phone number will be a breeze, according to the screenshots. But things get a little hazy when it comes to porting over your Google Voice number.
Google says that many aspects of Voice will carry over to your Project Fi service, and your Google Voice credit will be transferred to Project Fi, as well. If you choose to use your Voice number, though, there are a few important things you need to understand. Take a look at the screenshots below:
Here’s what we can tell so far: It’s looking like Google won’t let you activate a new phone number on Project Fi when you already have a Google Voice number attached to your email address. So, no matter how long you’ve had your GV number, you need to use it on Project Fi, or unfortunately, you’ll end up losing it.
We’re not entirely sure of all the details quite yet, but we’ll be certain to let you know when we get more information on the Google Voice situation. If you’re interested in checking out the rest of the setup process, take a look at the gallery attached below.
Any Google Voice users out there who were hoping to sign up for Project Fi?
EU court finds Skype’s name too similar to Sky broadcaster’s
Microsoft has lost another legal battle against British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB), after a European court found Skype’s name to be too similar to the latter’s. The judges also ruled that the service’s cloud-like logo “would further increase the likelihood of the element ‘Sky’ being recognized within the word element ‘Skype.’” Redmond lost a similar case to the same broadcaster in court years ago, prompting the company to completely change the name of its cloud service from SkyDrive to OneDrive. Fortunately for Microsoft, it doesn’t have to change Skype’s name this time around — it merely can’t file a trademark registration for the product’s name and logo.
“The case was not a legal challenge to Skype’s use of the mark, it was only against the registration,” an MS spokesperson said. “We’re confident that no confusion exists between these brands and services and will appeal. This decision does not require us to alter product names in any way.” The tech titan said it has other measures in place to prevent European companies from using the name and logo of its popular chat messenger, even if it can’t legally register them in the continent.
In addition to these two cases against Microsoft, BSkyB also took Livescribe to court for its Sky smartpens, forcing the company to pull the product from its UK store. Clearly, any company manufacturing a product with the word “sky” in its name may want to think of an alternative before releasing it in Europe… just in case.
Source: BBC
Daily Roundup: Steam Early Access, Microsoft Surface trade-in and more!
In today’s Daily Roundup, you can read all about how developers have embraced Steam’s Early Access program, learn about Microsoft’s new trade-in program for its old Surface tablets and find out how much money Comcast wasted trying to purchase Time Warner Cable. Find out all the details about these stories and more past the break.
Rockets, flirting and bruised egos on Steam Early Access
Steam launched its Early Access program in 2013, allowing developers to publish and sell incomplete, in-progress builds of their games on the internet’s largest digital distribution hub. And publish they did – by May 2014, more games had launched on Steam that year than in all of 2013, partially thanks to Early Access. This contributed to the gaming industry’s ongoing digital revolution, where publishers shifted away from shipping physical products, indies were on the rise and Kickstarter changed how everyday players interacted with game creators. The revolution continues to simmer today and developers, especially independent ones, are still figuring out what to do with all of these new tools – including Early Access.
Microsoft will give you cash to ditch your old Surface for a new one
Haven’t had much luck offloading your older Surface to help pay for a Surface 3? Microsoft thinks it can help. Similar to its Surface Pro-oriented effort from a few months ago, it’s launching a US trade-in program that will give you up to $150 toward a Surface 3 if you turn in a Surface RT or Surface 2. The discount likely won’t compare to what you’ll get if you drive a hard bargain on Craigslist or eBay, but it’s guaranteed cash – if you’re only concerned with upgrading to the latest tablet as painlessly as possible, it might do the trick. Just be sure to decide quickly, since you have to give up your old device by May 31st.
Comcast burned $336 million trying to buy Time Warner Cable
Comcast’s failed bid for Time Warner Cable didn’t just leave egg on the company’s face – it was also horrendously expensive. The cable giant’s latest earnings suggest that it chewed through a total of $336 million in “transaction-related costs” for the would-be merger, $99 million of which was spent in the last quarter alone. And, as Ars Technica notes, this only accounts for directly related costs like legal fees, hired contractors and immediately relevant lobbying efforts.
IBM’s big bet on Watson is paying off with more apps and DNA analysis
IBM’s cognitive computer Watson is on a roll. After spinning it out as a $1 billion division last year, IBM went on to give Watson a flashy new home in Manhattan, made it a more tool for doctors with Watson Health Cloud, and it even proved its culinary chops with a new cookbook. Today IBM showed off several more examples of the supercomputer’s growing ecosystem, including new Watson-powered apps that can do things like find you the ideal therapist, or help hotel staff better help guests. It’s also partnered with more than a dozen cancer institutes who will use Watson to analyze DNA and offer personalized treatment profiles for patients.
Which keyboards are worth buying?
When you consider how much time we spend in front of our computers, how we interact with them should be a key concern. That said, unless you’re a gamer or programmer, you probably haven’t done much shopping around. Last month, we took a look at some of the best gaming keyboards that have come out recently. Now, we turn our gaze to some newer models designed for uses other than playing your favorite PC games – including ones for work, controlling your home theater and portable units you can carry around in your bag for typing on the go.
NIH bans funding for genetic engineering of human embryos
Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China made headlines late last month upon announcing that they had successfully edited the genes of a human embryo. This revelation set off a firestorm of controversy as the scientific community took sides in the ethical debate of genetic manipulation. Now, the National Institute of Health has weighed in on the issue and is denying funding to research that involves meddling with the human germline.
New military goggles combine night vision and thermal imaging
Night vision and thermal imaging play similar – but very distinct – roles on the modern battlefield. Soldiers utilize night vision to illuminate their darkened surroundings while thermal imaging is employed to illuminate darkened targets. But until now, soldiers have had to carry separate imaging systems for each, which negatively impacts how quickly they can switch optics and acquire their targets. BAE Systems, however, announced Monday a new kind of optic that packs the functionality of both into a single unit.
Filed under: Misc
The clone that won’t disappear: ‘Threes’ vs. ‘2048’ on Google Play
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Google removed the quirky puzzle game Threes from the Play store on Tuesday. Its removal was unceremonious and sudden, but that’s not exactly why Threes creator Asher Vollmer found the situation frustrating. That came down to two reasons:
- A robot informed Vollmer that his game was removed from Google Play in a cold, automated message.
- Threes was removed from Google Play because it used “2048” as a keyword — and 2048 is a blatant, known clone of Threes.
Google — probably a human there, not a robot — reinstated Threes after just a few hours offline and following a stream of articles and Twitter activity around its removal. Of course, 2048 remained live on Google Play the entire time, alongside a bunch of other Threes clones. This string of events highlights one of the biggest differences between Google and Apple, and how they approach their app stores. “Apple’s policies are preventative and Google’s policies are retroactive,” Vollmer says. “You can probably figure out which one I prefer.”
Vollmer spoke with a few of his Android developer friends during the Threes blackout and they said his situation was fairly common.
“Google has bots that crawl over their store and look for instances of ‘keyword stuffing’ and then automatically take down the app,” Vollmer explains. “You then have to appeal to get the app back on the store, which can take two to three days. On the Apple app store every app goes through an approval process for a few weeks before it shows up on the store. On Google Play you can publish a game instantly, but you are at risk of Google pulling it at any moment.”
Vollmer has tried to fight against the wave of Threes clones, which popped up at a ridiculous rate starting just 21 days after the original game’s release. Threes took 14 months and more than 500 emails between Vollmer and artist Greg Wohlwend to plan and perfect, and these games took the idea and ran with it, often with a price tag of “free.” Threes, on the other hand, costs $1.99. At first, the developers tried to get rid of the clones whack-a-mole style — and then 2048 showed up.
“There was technically nothing wrong with it,” Vollmer says. “It didn’t steal our art or our name and the creator of the web version was so far removed from the game scene that he had never even heard of Threes. He cloned a clone without knowing.”
Google Play has taken Threes off the store because we used “2048” as a search keyword 😡
– Asher Vollmer (@AsherVo) May 5, 2015
The studio behind 2048 is a notorious clone-making machine, and it’s able to stay in business because it’s not technically breaking any rules.
“My copyright on Threes only covers the look and feel of the game, and 2048 looks very different,” Vollmer says. “My trademark only covers the icon and name, and 2048 has neither. My only hope of legal action would be to patent the game mechanics, which I will never do for a thousand different reasons. All I can do is treat 2048 like a healthy competitor — one that wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for me.”
According to Google Play, Threes has been installed 100,000 to 500,000 times, while 2048 has been installed 10 million to 50 million times.
Clearly, today, Threes was placed on the Google Play support fast-track once people there realized the mistake. This saved Vollmer a few days of not only inactivity, but of potential customers being directed to clones of his game. It was a mistake and at least it was handled quickly, but Google Play’s “publish now, pull later” philosophy remains. The Apple app store has its own issues as well, including oversaturation and pricing standards that feel like a race to the bottom. However, with the ironic removal of Threes, the oddity of Google Play’s app policies are currently on full display.
“I want Google to rely on humans and not on robots to make these decisions,” Vollmer says. “I want Google Play to at least issue warnings before they take these kinds of actions…. This was a completely tone-deaf move.”
Possible 3rd-gen Moto X specs leak, shows higher resolution screen and Snapdragon 808 CPU
If you’ve been holding off on taking advantage of one of Motorola’s deals on the Moto X for whatever they’re planning on introducing this year, we don’t blame you. Up until now, we hadn’t really heard anything about the upcoming third-generation Moto X, however, but thanks to a new leak we’ve got an idea of what kind of hardware to expect.
This leak shows some hardware similar to the Motorola manufactured Droid Turbo, including a 5.2-inch 1440 x 2560 resolution screen, a Snapdragon 808 processor, and a crazy 4 GB of RAM. The camera looks to be a 16 megapixel shooter, and you’ll have the option between 32 and 64 GB storage options. Plus, it’s a new Motorola phone, so expect normal MotoMaker customization, too.
Motorola will probably be showing this one off in September, so you’ve got a while to think on it. We’ll keep you updated as the leaks keep coming.
source: STJS Gadgets
via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: Possible 3rd-gen Moto X specs leak, shows higher resolution screen and Snapdragon 808 CPU
The 1st and 2nd generation Moto X should be receiving Android 5.1 soon
Motorola has released some support documents that seem to indicate that both the older and newer versions of the Moto X should be seeing the Android 5.1 update pretty soon. The original Moto X is currently on Android 4.4, so this update should leapfrog Google’s initial Lollipop update.
The documents show feature changes for the Moto X 2nd Gen, and the T-Mobile version of the same device. Another document does specifically mention the 1st generation device, and it obviously is seeing the bigger jump since it’s coming from KitKat.
There’s no word on exactly when these updates should start rolling out, but Motorola usually tries to be as timely as possible with their flagship phones, so hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later.
source: Moto X 2nd Gen
via: Android Police
Come comment on this article: The 1st and 2nd generation Moto X should be receiving Android 5.1 soon
Samsung’s Galaxy J1 headed to Verizon’s network
Samsung’s Galaxy J1 is a mid-range device, and one that typically doesn’t see its way onto many US carriers. However, it looks like the budget-friendly phone will find a home on Verizon’s network at some point this year. Interestingly, the normally 3G-only device appears to have 4G connectivity. Of course, you shouldn’t expect Verizon to launch any phones in 2015 without their signature 4G LTE branding, but it’s worth noting that this model will be slightly different than what Samsung has previously released.
Other hardware will probably be the same, including a 4.3-inch screen, 5 megapixel camera, and 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. It won’t blow you away, but it’ll also probably be pretty cheap, too. There’s a pretty good chance that this phone makes a solid addition to Big Red’s prepaid lineup.
source: Techno Buffalo
Come comment on this article: Samsung’s Galaxy J1 headed to Verizon’s network
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