Latest Sky+ update helps you discover new movies
The last update for Sky+HD boxes was all about keepings the kids entertained, so it’s only fair that the next give parents a few ideas of what to watch when the munchkins are all tucked up. Rolling out to set-top boxes from today (though it might take a few weeks to land on yours), the third Sky+ update this year is specifically aimed at Sky Movies customers. As part of continued efforts to make Sky+ more like Netflix and other streaming services by focusing on the discovery as much as the content, the new “More Like This” feature recommends other flicks based on your current selection.
And if a couple of those suggestions take your fancy, you can add them to your “Watchlist,” a new section where you make note of movies you’d like to see so you can jump straight into them when you next get the chance. Finally, if you stumble across a film on live TV that’s halfway through already, the new “Watch from Start” feature will download the movie to your Sky+HD box so you can catch it from the beginning. Oh, and later this year, Sky’s also adding a star-based rating system using audience scores from review site Rotten Tomatoes, at which point you’ll know whether that Watchlist of yours is full of classics or flops.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, Software, HD
Source:
Sky
Tags: hdpostcross, sky, sky+, sky+hd, skymovies, skyplus
Scientists have found a way to connect quantum electronics together
Scientists have found a way to connect quantum devices together, transmitting entanglement — and crucially the quantum properties that could deliver the next-generation of electronics. Sounds boring and complicated (it’s not too complicated), but it’s important, we promise. It all involves the interconnect, the part of electronics that links one component to another. As explained by Technology Review, this can often take up most of the space on silicon chip and the limits of the interconnect often form the limits of a computing system’s performance. At least, for now.
A team of scientists of around the world have managed to build and test a quantum interconnect that links two chips and carries both photons (and that entanglement) between them. Entanglement is where quantum particles share the same existence, even while apart: preserving this state is the hard part, and the scientists managed it using optical fiver and a quantum quirk where photons traveling along two channels overlap, entangling, and then carrying on. (Keep with us…) The science involved is a sort of polarization where those entangled photons affect newly created photons, entangling them on their way to a second silicon chip , which then reverses the trick. At the moment, the system isn’t all that efficient, but that there’s plenty left to optimize within the design. The real takeaway is that it’s at least possible to transmit these photons, which, as the rest of quantum computing develops, will liekly lead to more powerful, tinier electronics. And The Future.
Filed under:
Science
Source:
Technology Review
Tags: entanglement, interconnect, photons, quantum, QuantumEntanglement, QuantumPhysics
Andy Rubin’s Playground Global invests $15 million in CastAR augmented reality startup
You guys remember Andy Rubin, right? He was one of our favorites personalities, and he happened to also play a major role in the making of Android. It’s sad to no longer see him at Google, but you can be sure he is very active in the industry. Rubin launched an investing hardware incubator named Playground Global, and he is overlooking new companies from there.
We haven’t heard much about the company’s ventures since its inception, but today we are learning about a major investment they are making into CastAR. And they are getting no chump change; Rubin is investing a whopping $15 million on the augmented reality-focused startup. This funding comes in the form of cash, office space, knowledge and more.
So what does CastAR do? The company creates a set of glasses that can project holographic images in front of you, using your surroundings as a base. In essence, you would be seeing a digital layer on top of the real world. These glasses can be used for gaming, navigating, designing and more.
CastAR is not your usual startup, that’s for sure. They must be pretty special in order to catch Andy Rubin’s attention. It turns out Andy was not the only one impressed by the project, though. The company raised over $1 million on Kickstarter and was backed by 3,863 pledgers, back in 2013. This thing is a hit, and they have live working demos that prove how fun the CastAR glasses can be.
The best part? These are meant to be for the consumer. The pricing (unspecified) won’t be nuts and it will be unnecessary to have a super expensive computer to go with your lenses, like it is with certain other VR headsets.
“A $1,000 gaming PC to go with your lenses isn’t a consumer product” -David Henkel-Wallace, chief executive at CastAR
“They’re the only company I found to be simplifying the utility and application of augmented and virtual reality technology into a fun, accessible, and portable system that will wow kids and adults alike.” -Andy Rubin, managing director at Playground Global
With all this money in hand, that 11-person team is sure to expand. The design, technology and production should also receive its push, so expect to see these this company growing soon. What do you guys think? Would you buy a CastAR headset? What would be your ideal price?
Project Ara killing electropermanent magnets that hold device together
This week’s news on Project Ara were far from jolly. It’s never good to hear an awesome product has been delayed, but it’s even worse to learn the hesitation will be elongated for a whole year. Google’s modular phone isn’t expected to launch until 2016!
So what’s the problem with Project Ara? Google isn’t being specific on whatever issues they may be facing, but we may be getting a clue from today’s tweet, coming from the team’s official account. The social network publishing states the company is dropping (both literally and figuratively) electropermanent magnets. These are the parts that hold the modules and skeleton together. The tweet states the use of these magnets failed drop tests, so they are moving on to other techniques.
No more electropermanent magnets. #ProjectAra #FailedTheDropTest
— Project Ara (@ProjectAra) August 19, 2015
Though we saw the phone being assembled and functioning fully on stage, last May, it seems the mechanism just isn’t strong enough. This update doesn’t divulge much else, but we can assume that in order to make the contraption more solid, some convenience will have to be sacrificed. Switching modules will likely no longer be as simple as pulling off the piece at hand. It’s hard to assume, as the Project Ara team doesn’t give us much to speculate upon. We don’t even know what the exact shortcoming on these magnets were!
We will have to wait more to learn about Google’s plans on Project Ara. Here’s to hoping more details emerge before 2016, but at this rate we are beginning to think long waits are to come. Was Project Ara simply too much of an ambitious project?
Comcast is offering cheap internet for old folks
Comcast is launching pilot schemes for its low-cost internet service aimed senior citizens, coming to San Francisco and Palm Beach County, Florida. It forms part of Comcast’s Internet Essentials service that launched in 2011,offering cheaper internet connections to low-income families since 2011. Internet Essentials consists of a 10 Mbps connection (recently doubled) for just under $10. The expansion of the scheme should help to cover where are unable to get connectivity, while giving some welcome good publicity to, ugh, this company.Comcast says the scheme has so far “connected more than 500,000 families” to its service. The internet provider also references research from Pew that found that less than half of seniors (aged 65 and older) have high-speed Internet at home. At the same time, alongside improving the speed of the service, Comcast is offering a free WiFi router to existing Internet Essentials customers.
[Image credit: Flickr/ Dauno Settantatre]
Filed under:
Internet
Via:
The Verge
Source:
Comcast (1), (2)
Tags: comcast, elderly, highspeedinternet, InternetEssentials, seniorcitizens, seniors
Google Photos updated to 1.3 and brings ability to trim videos, reorder albums, and more
Google Photos has been updated to 1.3 and brings with it numerous new features. The main ones are the ability to trim movies, reorder content in albums, and sign in as a Google+ page.
A welcomed feature is you can now trim videos to be included in movies. Others are: you can reorder content in albums, login as a Google+ page, and Google Photos can now recognize collages or animations that Google Camera created.
I’m sure many businesses will be happy with the ability to sign in with their Google+ page while normal users should be excited about the ability to trim videos and move content in albums.
Come comment on this article: Google Photos updated to 1.3 and brings ability to trim videos, reorder albums, and more
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 does not have Google+ installed
Google has been phasing out parts of Google+, but it has come to our attention that it is not pre-loaded onto the Galaxy Note 5. You would think every Android phone would ship with all the main Google apps, but that doesn’t look to be the case.
The Note 5 does still come with all the other main Google apps as well as the new Google Photos app. The Galaxy A8 is another phone that Google+ is not pre-installed on.
I am sure a lot of users will be happy to see Samsung removing even more bloat from their phones. You can always download Google+ from the Play Store if you really want to use it.
Source: Android Central
Via: Sammobile
Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy Note 5 does not have Google+ installed
Contest: Win an Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 from Talk Android!
Off-contract phones are quite the craze this year. Companies are removing themselves from association with nasty carrier contracts to be more appealing to consumers. The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, which we reviewed in May, is among the finest off-contract phones on the market today. It has a vivid and bright display, consistent camera, and booming dual front-facing stereo speakers. What’s not to love? The build quality is solid, too, and the Idol 3 has Android 5.0.2 Lollipop behind a customer user interface that remains simple and follows the Material Design guidelines.
Right now, you can enter our contest to win an Idol 3!
Note: You must at least leave a comment to be entered.
Check back here on August 22 to see if you won… Good luck!
Come comment on this article: Contest: Win an Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 from Talk Android!
Leaked video of BlackBerry Venice shows us more of that slide-out keyboard
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You know, the BlackBerry Venice is starting to really grow on me. BlackBerry has all but disappeared from the smartphone arena (unless you’re an actual BlackBerry fan), but the rumours of an Android-powered smartphone has reignited interest in the once great manufacturer. Much has been made about the device using Android, but we also know that the device will have a slide-out keyboard, something that we haven’t seen in the Android world in quite some time now. Whether or not people would actually be using it or not, it’s still interesting to see what this looks like in this day and age. Naturally, its leaker @evleaks who is giving us a new look at the slide-out keyboard thanks to this short video:
Eye candy. pic.twitter.com/GtJwOfOus8
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 19, 2015
It’s not a long video, but you get a sense of how the device is going to end up looking – and yes, given how many leaks have emerged in the last few weeks, we’re pretty sure this device is going to happen. While BlackBerry is likely going to need to overcome the obvious barrier of being… well, BlackBerry, their device looks like it’s going to be a breath of fresh air in the Android ecosystem.
What do you think about the BlackBerry Venice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via Phone Arena
The post Leaked video of BlackBerry Venice shows us more of that slide-out keyboard appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
T-Mobile’s HTC One M9 receives Android 5.1 update, will include Stagefright fix
According to an HTC executive, Mo Versi, T-Mobile HTC One M9 users will soon get a patch for the Android Stagefright virus. The update is slated as Android 5.1, meaning it will also bring new enhancements to the Android system.
The update will be made available via OTA to T-Mobile One M9 users tomorrow. If you don’t feel like manually installing the update, you can wait for the notification or check in your About phone settings.
Included in the update will be a patch to the Stagefright virus along with a slew of other added features. With Android 5.1, One M9 users will now get access to a native battery saver in addition to new animations for quick settings. The new One M9 update will also include a new flashlight quick toggle.
The update is being sent out in waves so if you don’t get it tomorrow just be patient, it may be the next day. HTC recommends to charge your One M9 to at least 50% prior to installing the update and connect to a Wi-Fi network to prevent overages. It seems the update will take up a bit of storage.
Source: Mo Versi (Twitter)
Come comment on this article: T-Mobile’s HTC One M9 receives Android 5.1 update, will include Stagefright fix
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