NASA tests airplane wings that shrug off insect guts
You may not think of insects as a problem for aircraft (Bambi Meets Godzilla comes to mind), but they really are — the residue from those splattered bugs slows aircraft down and hikes fuel consumption. NASA may soon have a way to keep those critters from causing so much trouble, however. It recently conducted flight testing for a promised non-stick wing coating that stops ex-bugs from inducing drag. The layer, which combines a lotus leaf-inspired (“microscopically-rough”) repellant surface with anti-sticking chemicals, was good enough to cut back on the nasty organic residue by as much as 40 percent.
The real-world results support what researchers predicted in the lab, and they suggest that you could both improve the fuel use for existing aircraft and design smaller, more efficient flying machines. You could get away with a 17 percent tinier tail on an airliner like the trial run’s Boeing 757, for a start. Although it’ll take a while before you see these augmented wings at the local airport, they could eventually do a lot to help the environment… and save ground crews from rather disgusting clean-up jobs.
[Image credit: NASA Langley/Paul Bagby]
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Source: NASA
Apple Expands ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ Gallery With New Video Section
Apple today updated its “Shot on iPhone 6” microsite to include a new video section, entitled “World Gallery in motion.” The new section more heavily emphasizes the video taking capabilities of the iPhone 6, with a tagline that reads “The camera that changed photos does the same for video.”
The Shot on iPhone 6 site previously featured a few videos captured with the iPhone 6, but the newly introduced video-specific gallery includes a total of six videos that are new. The short 15-second videos, also available on YouTube, cover subjects ranging from birds, dogs, and bugs to landscapes. All are set to accompanying music and end with the text “Shot on iPhone 6.”
Several of the videos, including the one featured above, show off video-specific iPhone 6 features like slo-mo and timelapse, while others simply depict scenes with impressive colors and clarity. Like Apple’s “Shot on iPhone 6″ photos, the videos were shot by iPhone 6 users rather than professional videographers. Photos on Apple’s site include information on what filters were added, but these videos do not include details on software used for editing or changes made to coloration.
Apple first introduced its “Shot on iPhone 6″ photo gallery and microsite in March, showing off a selection of photos taken by iPhone 6 users in a range of countries around the world. Apple’s effort showcased the work of more than 70 photographers in 24 countries, with the photographs being used in print media, transit posters, and billboards across the world.
Huawei Mate 2 owners can now register to test Android 5.0 Lollipop update
Huawei is easily one of the best Chinese smartphone makers out there, and with recent products they have done a lot to push both hardware and design forward to levels that compete with more mainstream OEMs. One area of weakness, however, is the software. Not only is Huawei’s EMUI one of the more bloated software experiences out there, Huawei is also less than great when it comes to updating to newer versions of Android — as evidenced by the fact that my Mate 7 is still running on KitKat-based software. The good news for Mate 2 owners is that Lollipop is finally about to arrive.
The good news for Mate 2 owners is that Lollipop is finally about to arrive. As we speak, Huawei is allowing Mate 2 owners to register for the opportunity to test out an upgrade to Lollipop-based software. During the first testing phase only a select number of registrants will be chosen, though they will slowly roll out more invites as they come closer to the Mate 2’s full rollout next month.
It seems a bit ironic that the Mate 2 is now receiving Lollipop ahead of higher-end devices like the Mate 7, but it’s still great news to see Huawei supporting the Mate 2, especially considering it is one of the few Huawei devices officially available in the U.S. market. Mate 2 owners looking to register can do so from Huawei’s website.
Sony Mobile cuts 1000 workers in Sweden
Sony Mobile has certainly dropped from its previous high atop the smartphone pile and the Japanese manufacturer has announced that almost 1000 of its Swedish workforce will be let go as part of a wider restructuring initiative, which is designed to push the handset maker towards profitability.
The layoffs – at one of Sony’s key manufacturing and R&D centres – consists of 575 staff and 400 contract positions, covering both administrative positions and technical staff. The cuts will mean that Sony’s Swedish workforce will be reduced by almost half, with only 1200 employees remaining in the Scandinavian country.
setTimeout(function()
brightcove.createExperiences();
,
3000);
Earlier this year, the company announced that the handset maker would lay off 2100 employees in its mobile division, bringing the total to around 5000 employees and last week, the company announced that its North West Europe President was also leaving the company as part of the wider restructuring shuffle.
In a statement to TechCrunch, the company confirmed the cuts were part of the wider restructuring efforts:
As part of its ongoing measures to drive transformation into a profitable and sustainable company, Sony Mobile will change its organizational structure effectiveApril 1st, aiming to increase its operational efficiency and transitioning it to a leaner, more agile organization.
In relation to these changes to its organizational structure, Sony Mobile announced today that approximately 1,000 employees and consultants in Lund will be affected by job closures. This number is included in the approximately 2,100 global headcount reduction announced at Sony’s earnings announcement on February 4th, expected to be completed by the end of FY2015. Sony Mobile filed a redundancy notification (“varsel”) with the Swedish authorities today in this regard.
Lund will continue to be an important site for Sony Mobile, with its main focus on software development, and Customer Services.
.rvs_wrapper
width: 350px;
.rvs_wrapper.align_left
float: left;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right
float: right;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center,
.rvs_wrapper.align_none
width: 100%;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center
text-align: center;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center.cbc-latest-videos ul li
float: none;
display: inline-block;
vertical-align: top;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos:not(.align_none) ul li:nth-child(2n+1)
clear: both;
.rvs_title
font-weight: 600 !important;
margin: 0 !important;
font-size: 24px !important;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right .rvs_title
padding-left: 20px;
.rvs_title a
font-family: ‘Roboto Condensed’;
color: #3a3a3a;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul
padding-top: 10px;
.rvs_wrapper.align_left.cbc-latest-videos ul li,
.rvs_wrapper.align_none.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 15px 0 0;
.rvs_wrapper.align_right.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 0 0 15px;
float: right;
.rvs_wrapper.align_center.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 7px;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li > a
font-weight: 400;
.rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li > a .yt-thumbnail
margin-bottom: 0;
@media only screen and (max-width : 480px)
.rvs_wrapper
width: 100%;
text-align: center;
body .rvs_wrapper.cbc-latest-videos ul li
padding: 0 7px;
display: inline-block;
float: none;
vertical-align: top;
Sony have been widely reported to consider selling its smartphone division but the company has denied these claims. Earlier this year, Sony vowed to make the division profitable by next year and the company’s latest handset – the Xperia Z4 – was announced last month. The Xperia Z4 may be perfect for Japan but its European variant – which goes under the Xperia Z3+ moniker – is certainly not the flagship smartphone we were all waiting and hoping for.
Whether these improvements and changes are enough remains to be seen, but with the company dropping off the Top 10 global smartphone makers list, the immediate future certainly looks bleak.
Nintendo reveals a flood of new games ahead of E3 2015
The NX console isn’t the only product Nintendo’s working on behind the scenes, naturally. Via a Direct Micro video session, the company has now shared an outlook of its game plan for this year and beyond — though we’re sure it’s not telling us everything. Most notably, Nintendo revealed the Dr. Mario franchise is making a comeback with Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, which will be launching for the 3DS on June 11th (exclusively in the eShop). But there’s more: Bravely Second is finally coming to North America, where it’s going to be available on the 3DS sometime in 2016.
And looking ahead to the summer games in Brazil, Nintendo also announced Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games for Wii U and 3DS, featuring a slew of characters and playable sports. The best news, however, is that the legendary N-Zap ’85 is debuting tonight as an add-on for Splatoon, Nintendo’s wonderful third-person shooter. You can watch today’s Nintendo Direct Micro below.
The N-Zap ’85 is coming to #Splatoon, along with the new Port Mackerel map – and they’re coming TONIGHT! pic.twitter.com/BsIhFLL65T
– Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 1, 2015
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Nintendo
Source: Nintendo
Rumored Apple TV service isn’t ready for WWDC next week
Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference will kick off next week, on July 8th, and the company might announce a new music streaming service, a thinner set-top box and OS updates. You know what we might not see at the event, though? That subscription TV service Cupertino’s reportedly cooking up. According to Recode, Apple did plan to unveil the new product at WWDC, but it had to postpone as the company’s apparently not done negotiating financial terms and finalizing licensing deals with broadcasters yet. Even CBS CEO Les Moonves, who said last week at the Code Conference that his company will “probably” sign a deal with Apple, admitted that they’re not finished talking about money. In addition, Apple’s still working on the technology needed for broadcasters to deliver local programs to its Web TV service.
Cupertino hasn’t revealed any details about this new product yet, but according to earlier reports, that local TV integration is a part of why it’s different from the likes of Sling TV, or even PlayStation Vue which has local TV but is only available in a few cities. Apple wants to bundle channels (around 25 or so) for streaming for $30 to $40 a month, according to the WSJ, and to launch the service this fall. However, industry executives say even the launch date might be moved to much later this year, or even to 2016.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Apple
Source: Recode
HERE for Android adds Intel device support
Location company HERE has updated its Android application with support for devices based on Intel’s x86 architecture. Announcing the update on its blog, the company announced that the latest version of its application (version 1.1 on the Google Play Store) now supports the Vietnamese language and will be able to run on devices using Intel’s mobile processors, such as the Asus ZenFone 2.
HERE for Android brings the company’s location services – which includes offline mapping, voice navigation and point of interest information – to the Android platforms and offers a credible alternative to Google’s own Maps solution, which will gain offline mapping later this year. Point of interest info on HERE for Android comes with ratings and reviews from TripAdvisor and LonelyPlanet and also displays 3D indoor maps for popular POIs such as shopping centres and airports to help you find your way around.
setTimeout(function()
brightcove.createExperiences();
,
3000);
HERE for Android also offers real-time traffic and incident information in over 40 countries around the world, while offline maps are available for over 100 countries and public transport maps and schedules are available for over 20 countries. To download the update, head over to Google Play, Galaxy Apps or the Amazon AppStore.
Supreme Court: online threats must be intentional to be illegal
You can’t be sent to prison for kinda sorta threats in the real world, and that now applies to the internet as well. The US Supreme Court has overturned the conviction in Anthony Elonis v. United States on the grounds that online threats aren’t illegal unless they’re clearly intentional — not just that a “reasonable person” would see them as hostile. When Elonis raged against his ex-wife and the government through allegedly “therapeutic” rap lyrics on Facebook, the court says, it wasn’t absolutely certain that he actually wished harm. The man isn’t out of the woods yet (a lower court has to look at the case once again), but there’s now a higher standard for putting him behind bars.
Whether or not this is a smart decision depends on who you ask. The American Civil Liberties Union is a big fan of the ruling, since it acknowledges “centuries” of legal precedent that requires the government to prove there was criminal intent. At the least, it reduces the chances that you’ll be hauled off simply for writing a mean-spirited social network update or blog post.
However, both dissenting judges and women’s groups are more than a little nervous. The court didn’t set a clear standard for what constitutes intent, potentially creating a lot of ambiguity at trials. Would it be enough to know you were being reckless to be found guilty, for instance? Likewise, there’s a concern that this interpretation will let internet abusers skirt around the law by writing hate-filled posts that aren’t technically threats, but are still likely to scare their targets. The sites hosting this content can always ban the offenders and delete their material, but it may be tougher to convict someone whose digital attacks really are a precursor to physical violence.
[Image credit: Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Via: Slate
Source: Supreme Court (PDF)
Of course there’s a shark in this ‘Call of Duty’ Exo Zombies video
Carrier, the latest map for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare‘s Exo Zombies mode, is a seafaring vessel infested with hordes of ravenous former-humans. Since it’s on the open seas, of course the ship has a tank with a monstrous, toothy shark just chillin’ inside. The shark isn’t the intended star of this trailer — Bruce Campbell and the zombie-slaughtering gunplay is — but anything with that many teeth is sure to steal the show. See for yourself below. Exo Zombies Carrier is part of the Supremacy DLC pack, due to hit Xbox Live on June 2, with additional platforms to follow.
AirDog’s auto-following camera drone launches on August 31st
It’s been several months since AirDog’s namesake tag-along camera drone was originally expected to ship, but the award-winning robotic flyer is finally close to reaching your doorstep. The company has confirmed that its sports-oriented companion will officially launch on August 31st for $1,295, with crowdfunding backers getting the first batch. There are still some tweaks left (AirDog wants to improve the connection to the wearable “leash” that makes following work, for one thing), but it should otherwise be good to go. You will have to wait a bit longer if you want to check out the competition, though. The rival Hexo+ drone doesn’t ship until the fall, so you might want to postpone making that epic biking movie if you’re not sure which unmanned vehicle will deliver the best footage.
Source: AirDog
AIVAnet 
