Tesla’s Powerwall is already sold out through middle of 2016
On Tesla’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Elon Musk announced “crazy off the hook” demand for its just-announced Powerwall battery product. He said over 38,000 reservations have been received, which should take up the expected production through mid-2016, and demand is high enough to account for all of the Gigafactory’s production if they devoted it just to stationary batteries. That includes some 2,500 companies that are interested in the Powerpack (with orders averaging around 10 units each), and Musk said he estimates that commercial interest in Tesla Energy will account for 5-10 more megawatt hours than residential. To clear up one question about the Powerwall, he mentioned that while it doesn’t have a DC-to-AC inverter included, it does have a DC-to-DC unit built in.
Developing…
As far as Tesla’s car business, Musk targeted the gullwing door-equipped Model X SUV for Q3 of this year. Apparently he rode in the latest prototype just today and called it “the best SUV.” Those self-driving autopilot features are promised for Q2 and “complete battery manufacturing” at the Gigafactory is on schedule for next year.
Filed under: Household, Transportation
Source: Tesla
Using ‘Dark Souls 2’ mods on PC? That’s a dealbreaker
The Dark Souls series’ relationship with PC gamers has been contentious at best. The vanilla versions of the first two games weren’t unplayable per se, but if it weren’t for the enterprising community of modders around the franchise it’d look and run kind of, well, crappy. This apparently extends to the recently released Scholar of the First Sin as well. But there’s a twist this time: Players installing the popular “DS2fix” softmod that addresses weapons durability glitches and save corruptions have found that they aren’t able to easily summon other players into their game for help or adversarial combat. As Kotaku reports, the players aren’t hacking in a nefarious way, they’re just using a patch that makes the game work better on their platform of choice. Instead of pulling “undead” (how the series refers to its protagonists) from a general population, it’s grabbing them from a comparatively smaller pool of other players that’ve been deemed cheaters for using DS2fix.
It’s a “softban” versus prohibiting people from playing outright. Souls developer From Software’s response to fans is that by using soft-mods you’ve violated the mandatory end user license agreement that requires consent for online play, and basically you’re on your own here. A company representative says that the best way to avoid softbans is to not install any mods at all, explicitly calling out DS2fix.
On one hand, that’s technically correct, but it’s a blanket policy that sounds like it could use some serious oversight or revision. That’s doubly true when the games have relied on community modifications to fix issues that From either isn’t worried about or simply doesn’t care to address. The problem is that there really isn’t a way to prove that players only have DS2fix installed exclusively. A possible way to sidestep that would be for From to issue a patch that recognized the helpful mod and whitelist it. If that’ll actually happen is anyone’s guess at this point. For the developer’s full response, head over to Kotaku and for our playthrough of the PlayStation 4 version, check out the video below.
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Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Kotaku
Rumors that the Snapdragon 810 overheats are rubbish, says Qualcomm
We’ve certainly heard a lot about Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 810 chip over the past few months. From early reports claiming that the SoC has some overheating issues to a big device manufacturer deciding to pass on the chip, there have been many rumors regarding whether or not the Snapdragon 810 overheats or not. So to lay those rumors to rest, Qualcomm’s Vice President of marketing Tim McDonough spoke out to Forbes, outlining the reasons these reports are false.
See for yourself!
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According to McDonough, the rumors surrounding the 810’s overheating issues are “rubbish”, and that there are no problems with overheating on commercial devices. But while the HTC One M9 did in fact end up getting a little warm to the touch in our full review (every metal HTC One device we’ve reviewed has gotten a little warm), McDonough explains that this is because the processors in review units weren’t final, commercial versions of the chipset.
McDonough goes on to say:
…we all build pre-released products to find bugs and do performance optimization. So when pre-released hardware doesn’t act like commercial hardware, it’s just part of the development process. I think someone very artfully took that and used it to fuel the rumours and took something that’s completely normal and sent it to some less sophisticated news outlets to give them a story.
No matter what side you’re on, there’s no doubting that this has truth to it. About a week after we first told you about the HTC One M9 overheating report, Tweakers, the Dutch website who initiated the overheating claims, updated their findings after the One M9 received a big software update. Once the software was updated to a more final version, the same benchmark tests were performed on the One M9, warranting no overheating issues.
…who stands to gain from the rumor?
After denying the claims, McDonough posed the question, “Who stands to gain from this rumor?” Forbes notes that the obvious answer to the question is Samsung. There’s not doubt that the timing of this rumor lining up perfectly with the launch of Samsung’s Exynos 7420 processor is coincidental, and that a damaging rumor to one of Samsung’s biggest competitors could be detrimental.
A damaging rumor to one of Samsung’s biggest competitors could be detrimental
Circling back to LG’s previous claims that the Snapdragon 808 processor was chosen for the LG G4 almost a year in advance, McDonough relays the same message:
These decisions get made 18 months before a phone shows its face. When we were working with LG on the G flex 2 and G4, Qualcomm produced the 810 and 808 around the same time. The simple reason is the design goals of the G4 2k experience.
With all of this said, unfortunately Qualcomm may have been too late to publish a big denial on these claims. Just last week we reported that the company is beginning to scale back its outlook for the rest of 2015 due to losing business with one of its biggest customers. Samsung passing on the 810 with the Galaxy S6 was particularly damaging to Qualcomm’s marketshare over the past few months, so perhaps it would be a good idea for Qualcomm to put its best foot forward and focus on what’s coming in the future.
If you’re interested in checking out the full interview, head to the source link below.
In not so shocking news, Android M will be announced at I/O
Earlier today when Google released its schedule for I/O 2015, the search giant accidentally — and in subtle fashion — let loose that they would be announcing Android M. While this may sound like big news, it really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; as the company tends to announce such things at I/O each year.
From what we see, Android M will bring the “power of Android” to workplaces. From 2:30 – 3 p.m. on May 28, Android for Work will showcase what Android M has in store. Not only that, but there’s a What’s New in Android session at 1 p.m. that day that also adds some weight to the fact that a new version of Android is upon us.
Given people’s lack of love for Lollipop and the issues it’s been plagued with, this could very well be a bug fixing update with a few added benefits. What would you like to see from Android M?
source: Android Police
Come comment on this article: In not so shocking news, Android M will be announced at I/O
New ‘blow your socks off’ wearables coming to I/O 2015
From what we’re seeing so far, it appears that I/O 2015 is shaping up to be a good time. Not only will we see the announcement of Android M, but it looks like Google will be showcasing something else as well. That’s right, coming from Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division, will be new wearables that are geared to “blow your socks off.”
On May 29, Google will be having an I/O session with a description of “Badass and beautiful. Tech and human. Love and work. ATAP.” It will take place at 9 a.m. that day and last for about 75 minutes. In that session we’ll see Project Ara, a new Spotlight story filmed in 360 degrees — complete with 3D sound, and other wearables.
“We mean this more literally than you might think,” Google adds. “Our goal: break the tension between the ever-shrinking screen sizes necessary to make electronics wearable and our ability to have rich interactions with them. Why can’t you have both?”
We’re not sure just what they mean, but one thing is for certain, I/O 2015 is shaping up to be one hell of an event.
source: Cult of Android
Come comment on this article: New ‘blow your socks off’ wearables coming to I/O 2015
Apple Releases Safari 8.0.6 With Security Improvements [Mac Blog]
Apple today released Safari 8.0.6 for OS X Yosemite, bringing new security fixes to the browser. There’s little information about the update in the release notes, but Apple continually releases updates to its browser to address vulnerabilities. Apple has also released Safari 7.1.6 for Mavericks users and Safari 6.2.6 for Mountain Lion users.
The Safari 8.0.6 update is recommended for all OS X Yosemite users and contains improvements to security.
Today’s Safari 8.0.6 update is recommended for all OS X Yosemite users and can be downloaded using the software update mechanism in the Mac App Store.
The Safari 8.0.6 update comes almost a month after the launch of Safari 8.0.5, which was bundled into the OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 release on April 8.
Google I/O 2015 schedule now available
Google on Wednesday released the preliminary schedule for its annual Google I/O conference. Head to the website today and you’ll find a wide range of sessions to choose from. Touching on just about every fact of Google, the calendar is full of Android, Chrome, wearables, Project Tango, and much more.
It’s worth noting that the schedule is subject to change and that Google has not revealed everything. They do, of course, have to keep a few things secret until after the keynote address on day one.
Not attending the developer conference in person? Not to worry, there’s plenty of livestreamed stuff to watch from the comfy confines of your home or office.
The post Google I/O 2015 schedule now available appeared first on AndroidGuys.
NVIDIA is getting rid of its cellular chip business
Alas, NVIDIA’s one-time dream of hitting it big in the cellular chip world is not to be. The company is planning to “wind down” its Icera modem business in the second fiscal quarter of the year (that is, no later than July), which could include selling it off. Simply put, NVIDIA’s priorities have changed — it’s focused on those areas where its signature graphics and mobile processors tend to thrive, including cars, gaming and the cloud. It’s an understandable move given the lack of traction for Icera’s parts (Qualcomm virtually dominates the modem landscape), but it’s unfortunate for the roughly 500 staffers who may find themselves out of work in a few months.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, NVIDIA
Via: Talk Android
Source: NVIDIA
Swatch is working on a smartwatch battery that lasts six months
Smartwatches have yet to solve the riddle of battery life, but Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek says his company is hard at work on a solution. Speaking with the Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung, the chief executive revealed that not only with the watchmaker put out a smartwatch next year, but that it will feature “a revolutionary battery.” Belenos, Swatch’s research arm, and battery maker Penata are hard a work on the tech. The company announced last year that it would begin packing fitness-tracking tools inside its Touch line of watches, beginning with the Touch Zero for volleyball players earlier this year. What’s more, the fruits of the long-lasting battery project will also be used in cars. “Whoever brings a battery for a smartwatch to the market that you don’t need to charge for six months has a competitive advantage,” Hayek said during the interview. For reference, battery life for both the Apple Watch and Moto 360 hovers around a day.
[Image credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Reuters
Google will use robot-crane hybrids to build new Mountain View HQ
“Crabots” will help build Google’s sprawling Mountain View campus. According to Architects Journal’s latest report, these robot-crane hybrids will play a specific role in the construction of the Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Heatherwick designed structure. The UK publication is privy to detailed planning documents that the tech giant submitted to the City of Mountain View Council in Silicon Valley. The papers include mock-ups of the machines that will lift and shift the block-like “pre-fabricated” components inside the structure. The objective, according the report, is “to create a solution that can be assembled efficiently and economically within pre-erected canopy structures by means of small, easily manoeuvrable cranes.”
As opposed to the dense corporate headquarters that have been the norm, initial plans of the campus reveal a light and airy structure that is covered with a massive see-through canopy. “Crabots” are expected to move freely inside the covers to help set up the insides of the four buildings on site. As expected, precise plans of the campus have been under wraps until now. But the report reveals specifics of the sprawling structure, which is said to be flexible, even “hackable”, so the space will be one giant, customizable office space for about 20,000 Google employees.
[Image credit: AJ]
Source: Architects Journal
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