Jony Ive and Jimmy Iovine to Speak at Vanity Fair ‘New Establishment’ Summit in October
Vanity Fair today announced its speaker lineup for the 2015 New Establishment Summit, revealing that Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive as well as Beats cofounder Jimmy Iovine will be attending as speakers. This is the second year in a row Ive is attending as a speaker.
Last year, Ive detailed Apple’s design process in his talk, explaining that he and his fellow designers gather around tables like the ones in Apple retail stores to draw and meet three or four times a week. He also noted that their ideas don’t come along until after the team creates physical objects based on their drawings. Additionally, and perhaps most interesting, Ive said that when Chinese manufacturer Xioami copies its designs what it’s really doing is theft.
The summit takes place from October 5 to 7 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco and promises “two full days of inventive programming and inspiring conversations around the ideas and innovations shaping the future.” The summit will kick off with a showing of the new Steven Spielberg film “Bridge of Spies,” starring Tom Hanks. Other speakers include Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Disney’s Bob Iger, film director J.J. Abrams and Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson. The entire speaking lineup can be viewed at Vanity Fair’s website while a full schedule will be revealed soon.
Review – 1byone Portable battery that can charge your phone or jump start your car
Here at Androidguys, portable batteries are a dime a dozen. Most of us need extra juice from time to time as we rely on our smartphones for probably way too many things. Leave it to 1byone to send me a unique portable battery that can even jump start your car! When they offered me the opportunity to review this battery I just couldn’t say no.
In my lifetime, I have needed to get my car/truck jump started at least 10 times in my 19 years of driving. When I worked at an auto repair shop in my teens, jump starting tired batteries was a regular occurrence. Auto batteries simply die and you have no idea when it is going to happen. No car battery will last forever, as the power cells have a limited amount of charge cycles and factors such as weather can change the expected life expectancy of your battery. The only foolproof way to avoiding a dead battery is to have it replaced every 2-3 years before it has a chance to fail. For most people this is a waste of money, and many people either have some sort of roadside assistance like AAA or they carry jumper cables in hopes a good samaritan will give them a jump.
Being an avid fan of mobile technology I keep an external battery in my truck for rare occasions when I need portable power for my smartphone. Somedays I am out at the beach or at conferences where I won’t have an opportunity to charge up, and I hate conserving battery power. Given that I keep an external battery in my truck for my phone and I also keep jumper cables in the back, the 9000mAh 1byone Smart Portable Jump Starter seemed like the perfect companion to ride along with me everywhere I go.
Design
At 9000mAh, the 1byone portable jump starting battery can charge my Samsung Galaxy Note Edge 3 full times. Simply put, this portable battery had no issues charging my phone. Being that this battery is designed to jump start cars and other automobiles, you would expect it to be rugged. And rugged it is, as it comes with a solid matte plastic frame that feels quite sturdy. It comes in a durable plastic case with and inverter and battery clamps. It is definitely well designed and well built.
The 9000mAh battery is slightly larger than portable batteries designed solely for mobile products, but that is to be expected with the circuitry built-in to keep you safe when jump starting a vehicle. 1byone designed this battery to be safe and error-proof because jumpstarting a dead battery can be dangerous. Automotive batteries contain sulfuric acid which is also used to clean clogged drains, meaning if it explodes on you, you better get to a hospital ASAP. The 1byone battery has a power converter with well designed battery clamps, one in red for the positive terminal post, and one in black grounding to a bare piece of metal on your automobile. It also has a digital display on the front which shows the percentage of battery life remaining so you know when to recharge it.
The clamps are well designed so it is nearly impossible to create a spark by accidentally touching the two clamps together. In addition to the clamps, the battery also has a super bright LED built-in for dark situations or emergency events when you need an S.O.S. signal.
The circuitry within the battery also allows it to jump start your vehicle many times over as it draws the residual power from you automobile to recharge itself. This battery was not designed to jump start truly dead batteries, like ones that have been sitting unused in a field for 5 years. For those you need heavy duty battery chargers designed for that task. In addition, this battery cannot be charged with a simple USB plug, the circuitry requires the charger that ships with the device.
Exploded battery
Specs
- 9000mAh Li-Ion 12V battery
- USB outlet for mobile devices
- 1 year limited warranty
- LED light with three illumination modes
- Works on gas powered vehicles with engines up to 4.7L
- Works on diesel powered engines up to 2.0L
Usage
For the sake of this article, I left the lights on my truck overnight until my battery was drained to the point of not being able to start. I actually didn’t like doing this because I did have to drive to work the next day, but I live within walking distance so if I killed my battery it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
Making sure the 1byone battery was fully charged up, I connected the adapter to the battery and purposely hooked up the clamps to the wrong terminals. I got an annoying alarm which told me I needed to reverse the clamps. That is a GREAT feature because believe it or not, many people don’t know how to jump start a dead battery. And I know quite a few of them.
My truck has a 3.5L V6, and after hooking up the 1byone portable battery, I got back in my truck and guess what? It started right up. I took the battery off, let my battery charge while idling while I packed the battery away back into the case, and was back on the road in no time. No need to ask a friend for help and angling the fronts of our vehicles in weird positions to get the batteries to line-up. There was also no need to wait an hour for AAA to give me a jump start: down here in Southern California AAA can have some long wait times.
Summary
Like any typical Li-ion portable battery, this 1byone pack charged up my Note with ease. I was actually skeptical of this battery jump starting my truck. In my 5 years in the auto repair shop I never would have guessed this would have worked. I’ve seen countless dead batteries and all of them needed to be charged with a rolling charger designed for automobiles, or jumper cables from another vehicle with a large auto battery.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the 1byone portable jump starter battery start my truck up after a night of leaving my headlights on. At $76.99 on Amazon.com this portable battery is a little more expensive than portable batteries designed for mobile devices, but if you can throw out your jumper cables which typically cost upwards of $40 for a decent set, this battery is quite the bargain. I will be buying a couple extra to give away as birthday gifts to my friends who have a habit of leaving their headlights on. 1byone makes high-quality accessories you can trust and they offer a 1 year warranty to back their products up.
You can purchase the 1byone portable jump starting battery here at Amazon.com.
The post Review – 1byone Portable battery that can charge your phone or jump start your car appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Hands-on with Samsung’s shrunken-down Galaxy Tab S2
How do you follow up one of the best Android tablets? For Samsung, it’s by taking a completely different direction with its new Galaxy Tab S2. We adored last year’s model, primarily for its gorgeous quad HD display, and quite honestly, there wasn’t much that tablet lacked. So instead of just upping the specs (which it also did), Samsung reframed the Galaxy Tab S2 with a square 4×3 aspect ratio, making it better suited for browsing the web and reading e-books. In a briefing with press today, Samsung reps said they found customers did plenty more than just watch movies with their tablets, so a different aspect ratio was more appropriate. They also mentioned wanting to “standardize” with the market and avoid fragmentation among tablet display formats, which seemed likely a thinly veiled nod to Apple’s iPads, which all have 4×3 displays. Slideshow-315530
So was the change worth it? After handling the Galaxy Tab S2 for a few minutes, I can’t come up with a definitive answer yet. The new tablet certainly feels more comfortable than its widescreen predecessor, simply because it’s easier to hold a square display than a rectangular screen with one hand. It’s a tad thinner at 5.6 millimeters, and it’s also lighter than the last model, clocking in at 0.87 pounds. It feels freakishly light for a tablet with a 9.7-inch screen. The iPad Air 2, in comparison, weighs 0.96 pounds. I can’t imagine anyone can actually feel the difference between the two, but you can bet Samsung will take advantage of its bragging rights (until Apple inevitably debuts a lighter iPad Air 3).
From my short time with it, the Galaxy Tab S2 doesn’t seem like something owners of the previous Tab S should upgrade to, but it may be more compelling to everyone else. Samsung reworked its multitasking feature so that it now works more like the Galaxy Note phones. You can have several apps open at once on your screen — and, for the first time, you can also drag media and text between apps. So if there’s a photo on the web you want to mail to someone, you can drag it into your email app without switching screens. While the multitasking feature was mainly relegated to Samsung apps over the past few years, the company says more third parties are adopting it as well. One of the reps was surprised to learn from a customer that Spotify now supports it, for example.
Under the hood, the Galaxy Tab S2 is running a Samsung Exynos octa-core chip running at 1.9 GHz and 1.3 GHz, along with 3GB of RAM. It ships with 32GB of storage, but you can also slap in a 128GB memory card for a bit more space. The Tab S2 is running Android 5.1 Lollipop, and there’s also a fingerprint sensor just like the company’s recent smartphones.
Among other new features, you can also shoot video from the Galaxy Tab S2 to compatible smart TVs (it’ll work with sets from other manufacturers), and you can also pipe content from a modern Samsung smart TV to the tablet. The latter feature even allows you to turn your TV on and off remotely — perfect for when you want to finish that episode of Game of Thrones in bed.
Pre-orders for the Galaxy Tab S2 kick off today, with the Wi-Fi 9.7-inch model going for $499, and the smaller 8-inch version going for $399. They’ll officially start shipping on September 3. We’ve got a unit to test out, so check back for a deeper look.
Filed under:
Tablets, Mobile, Samsung
Tags: GalaxyTabS2, mobilepostcross, samsung
Infltr gives Instagram addicts millions of editing options
Photo-editing apps like Instagram are great, but usually the options are limited to a couple dozen or so filters. That’s not the case with Infltr, a $2 iOS app that claims 5.1 million unique hues. With this piece of mobile software, swiping across the edit screen traverses through the color wheel, applying various shades to your photo until you arrive at the perfect combo. There’s no tapping on presets here. Instead, the user interface relies on those swipes around an invisible color map to make edits to your snapshots. To keep track of what’s being applied as you move across the display, a small color bubble appears under your fingertip. What’s more, you choose a color to apply before you capture an image for a more accurate preview of the final result. Sure, it costs a couple bucks, but if you’re super into mobile photos, the app certainly offers a few more options to drive those creations. Slideshow-315518
Via:
Fast Company, New Scientist
Source:
iTunes
Tags: app, filter, infltr, ios, mobilepostcross, photoediting, photography, photos, software
New Evidence Points Towards Bill Graham Civic Auditorium as Location For September 9 Apple Event
Earlier this week, there was some speculation that Apple might be planning to hold its upcoming September 9 iPhone event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, and now there are new details that further hint towards Apple’s involvement with the site.
Beginning on Monday, SFPD officers and private security guards began patrolling the grounds at the auditorium, prompting San Francisco news site Hoodline to do some digging into what was going on. It turned out the auditorium was booked for a “trade show” set to run from September 4 until September 10, but because it was registered to a company called “Adams and Associates,” nothing linked the booking back to Apple.
A police officer outside the auditorium, via Hoodline
Hoodline now reports that a “trusted source” has confirmed the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium will indeed be used for Apple’s September iPhone event.
Our source, who wished to remain anonymous due to the extreme privacy surrounding the event, has shown us documentation from event logistics indicating that Apple is renting the building through September 12th. This timing is consistent with what we were told by a security guard on Monday.
Hoodline has also unearthed information on planned street closures that heavily lines up with the timeline when we expect Apple to hold its event. One street will be shut down from 6 p.m. on September 8th until 11:59 on September 10th, while another will be closed on Wednesday, September 9 between 4 a.m. and 11:59 p.m.
The mysteriousness surrounding the booking at the auditorium combined with the information obtained by Hoodline and the upcoming street closures all seems to point towards Apple, but there continues to be no concrete evidence Apple has rented the site for its iPhone event.
In an interview with SFGate, the project director for the Civic Center said he had no knowledge of what the building was being used for, while a spokeswoman for the Planning Department said the “trade show” information was all department was told.
“I’m even the landlord of the building, and they won’t tell me,” said Rob Reiter, project director for the Civic Center. “I’ve never seen anything like it before, but I’m just a guy in the basement,” he said of his office in the bowels of City Hall.
As was shared on Monday, the San Francisco Planning Department is involved because four window panels are set to be removed to accommodate an “exterior wall mounted star graphic sign,” which may be a placeholder for an Apple logo.
In past years, Apple’s iPhone-centric September events have been held at a variety of locations around the Bay Area, so it would not be a surprise to see the company hold its event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. With just two weeks to go until Apple’s September 9 event, it won’t be long before the company’s plans are unveiled. Media invites for the event will most likely be going out soon, confirming the event location.
Review: 1byone portable stereo turntable
With today’s technology we all have access to music pretty much anywhere we go, from our cars, computers, tablets and smartphones. With Google Play Music, Pandora, and the likes, we can listen to music for free or relatively cheap with a monthly subscription. But as great as digital music sounds, and as nice as it is to have access to any songs or albums anytime we want, I still miss listening to vinyl records.
Even the man who brought us the iTunes Store and iPod, Steve Jobs, “listened to vinyl” at home according to Neil Young. Some like Young tend to think digital media is degrading the “quality” of music and as an audiophile I tend to agree. Most of our music is compressed these days into MP3 files to minimize storage space and minimize streaming data. For most of us, we don’t care as music is simply playing in the background. But for those of us who love music and love the sound reproduction, vinyl is second to none which is why vinyl has made such a strong comeback.
In my own personal experience, I was recently visiting my parents in the Sacramento area. I went to a local music store who sold music and to my surprise there were two full rows dedicated to new vinyl record albums with one additional row for used vinyl albums. In addition to the music store, I had to go to a couple of local charities where I was donating my parents old stuff that they no longer used, and when I walked into the stores I found lots of used vinyl records. For many people they donated their old records, and luckily for me I picked up quite a few at a dollar a piece. No, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber were not available in vinyl at the thrift shops, but Chicago, Elvis Presley, The Doobie Brothers, Lionel Richie, Madonna, and Michael Jackson were to my delight.
1byone had just asked me if I wanted to review their portable turntable, and I jumped at the opportunity since I have been knackering to start listening to music the way good ol’ Steve Jobs did.
Design
The 1byone 3-speed portable turntable is the size of a standard briefcase and is not heavy by any means. My unit came in faux baby blue leather with chrome accents which gave it a nostalgic look from the 70’s and 80’s. I was born in 1980 and my entire family listened to vinyl so I was excited to see how well designed the portable turntable turned out. Everything is included from 1byone to start listening to music instantly.
Back in the day, we had record players but they were all hooked up to amplifiers which jacked up the signal to play through large speakers. 1byone included two front facing speakers in the briefcase so all you need to do is plug it into a wall outlet, put on a record and you’re instantly listening to music the way it should be. Music should be enjoyed. Take the time to listen to the words and the instruments. Sit down and relax with this vinyl player.
Included in the briefcase was an adapter for 45rom records, and I found my sister’s stash in the basement and did need this adapter. There’s even a holder for it on top of the briefcase so you don’t lose it.
On the side of the 1byone portable turntable is an audio out for connecting to an amplifier if you have a home stereo, an audio in for playing music through the built-in speakers, as well as the volume button and 3.5mm audio out jack for headphones. All in all, 1byone added everything needed to this briefcase to enjoy vinyl at home or on the go.
Specs
- 33/45/78 rpm speed setting
- Balanced tone arm with damping control
- Dual front-facing speakers
- RCA output
- Headphone out jack
Usage
In a simple phrase, I love this portable turntable. I forgot how much I missed vinyl records. The sound quality is just different, but to me it feels “alive”. Yes you hear the dust and pops on the record, but the music is just lovely when listening to the 1byone portable turntable. The dual speakers are more than adequate, as they do get quite loud, but at higher volumes they can get a bit too high toned for my ears.
Given that the speakers were made for portability, I tried hooking it up to my home audio system. In my home office I have an amplifier with two tower speakers with a 15″ subwoofer. Once I hooked it up to my home stereo I was rocking out like it was 1985. The sound was simply incredible and the record player is definitely worth the asking price of less than $100. I remember buying my own record player as a kid and spending over $300 dollars and that was in the 80’s when gas was something like 35 cents a gallon!
My mom also loved the record player so much so that I had to order her one with my own money. Her eyes lit up when I set it up for her and put on her favorite Barbra Streisand album I resurrected from the basement. She and I sat for hours enjoying listening to music together and that is a memory I will have for the rest of my life. I love making my mom happy and seeing her eyes light up made my day. We listened to Elvis, Chicago, Madonna, Doobie Brothers, Bee Gees and many more for the night.
Summary
Right now, 1byone has the portable turntable listed on Amazon.com for just $80.99. At that price this turntable is a steal. Some of you have vinyl records stored away at home somewhere, or you probably know someone who does that wouldn’t mind loaning you some records for your listening enjoyment. For others, you may have never heard a vinyl record play before and if you’re one of those, I highly suggest you give this portable player a try. Most new music is available on vinyl records as it has made a strong comeback, and those records usually come with a code so you can own the digital copy of the music as well.
The sound quality from this portable turntable by 1byone is top notch, and you cannot go wrong with the price point. For nostalgia, or listening to high quality music, you need one of these players in your music arsenal. I highly recommend it and I highly recommend taking the time out of your day to sit and enjoy your music.
If you’re interested in purchasing the portable turntable by 1byone, follow this link. And if you love vinyl records like I do, let me know in the comments below.
The post Review: 1byone portable stereo turntable appeared first on AndroidGuys.
The NVIDIA SHIELD and SHIELD Pro are now available in the Google Store
NVIDIA’s SHIELD and SHIELD Pro are now available for purchase through the Google Store. The SHIELD runs Android TV and starts at $199.99 for the base model and the Pro costs $299.99. The only difference is the SHIELD Pro has 500GB of built-in storage compared to 16GB for the standard version. Included in the purchase is the NVIDIA controller for gaming as the SHIELD is designed for not only Android TV but for gaming as well.
What makes the SHIELD unique is that is can display Ultra HD at 4k resolution from apps like Netflix and Youtube. You can even stream PC games from the cloud to your TV while using the precision controller to game your heart away. Included in the box is the SHIELD, AC adapter, HDMI cable, and USB cable. For 200 dollars this is quite a bundle.
Full Specs
| PROCESSOR | NVIDIA® Tegra® X1 processor with a 256-core GPU and 3 GB RAM |
| VIDEO FEATURES | 4K Ultra HD ready 4K playback at 60 FPS (VP9, H265, H264) 4K capture at 30 FPS (H264, H265) |
| AUDIO | 7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB Supports: AAC, MP3, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, PCM |
| STORAGE | 16 GB and 500 GB (Note: portion of storage occupied by system software) |
| WIRELESS | 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz Wi-Fi Bluetooth 4.1/BLE |
| INTERFACES | Gigabit Ethernet HDMI 2.0 Two USB 3.0 (Type A) Micro-USB 2.0 MicroSD slot IR receiver (compatible with Logitech Harmony) |
| WEIGHT AND SIZE | Weight: 23 oz / 654 g Height: 1.0 in / 25 mm Width: 8.3 in / 210 mm Depth: 5.1 in / 130 mm |
| OPERATING SYSTEM | Android 5.1 (Lollipop) powered by Android TV and Google Cast |
| SOFTWARE UPDATES | SHIELD software upgrades directly from NVIDIA |
| POWER | 40W power adapter (5-10 W typical consumption) |
| GAMING FEATURES | NVIDIA GRID™ game streaming service NVIDIA Share NVIDIA GameStream™ |
| INCLUDED APPS | Netflix Google Play Store YouTube Google Play Movies & TV Google Play Music Photos & Videos PLEX |
If you’re looking to purchase the SHIELD get it here from Google.
The post The NVIDIA SHIELD and SHIELD Pro are now available in the Google Store appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Web tool measures your Reddit friends’ bigotry
Let’s face it: while Reddit is a great overall place to visit, some of its users are nicer than others. But how do you discover this without creeping histories or lurking in unsavory subreddits? An unofficial web tool, Free Reddit Check, might just help. The website attempts to quantify the homophobia, racism and sexism of Reddit users based on both what they say as well as the subreddits they frequent. Want to find out if a friend’s off-color remark is just an isolated incident or a part of a larger pattern? This might help.
Of course, this kind of tool isn’t perfect. It’s possible to be horribly bigoted without using the kinds of slurs that raise red flags, and even the most vitriolic people can lower their “terrible” score if they make positive contributions in mainstream subreddits. Still, this might serve as a good cursory screening for potential Reddit buddies — you can find out if someone’s pleasant behavior in one area is really a mask for their hatred in another.
Filed under:
Internet
Via:
Motherboard
Source:
Free Reddit Check
Tags: bigotry, homophobia, internet, racism, reddit, sexism, socialnetwork, socialnetworking
Cult classic ‘Deadly Premonition’ gets deluxe PS3 box set
Deadly Premonition might not be a “good” game, technically speaking, but it’s wormed its way into the hearts of a very passionate cult following. With that in mind, this seemingly years-late collector’s edition of eccentric Japanese developer Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro for the PlayStation 3 (fits with the game’s weirdness, right?) is packed to the gills with goodies for the fans. Custom deck of playing cards? Check. A 30-page hardcover art book? Present and accounted for. There’s a soundtrack packed into the pretty swanky collector’s box, the game’s director’s cut and a download code for additional content so you can while away a few more hours with special agent York in this very Twin Peaks Pacific Northwest, too. Perhaps best of all? The Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut – Classified Edition will only run you $50 and it releases November 24th.
Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut – Classified Edition (PS3) up for preorder for $49.99 http://t.co/3Mk8pPJTki pic.twitter.com/JO8k3oRauK
— Wario64 (@Wario64) August 26, 2015
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Via:
Wario64 (Twitter)
Source:
NISA
Tags: boxset, collectorsedition, DeadlyPremonition, gaming, hd, hdpostcross, playstation, ps3, swery65
Have the Angry Birds lost their charm? Rovio cuts 1/3 of its workforce
What happens when almost your entire revenue is dependent on people happily flinging birds at pigs all day long (or buying plushed dolls..)? Apparently the answer is that you end up having to show half your employees the door. That’s the unfortunate case for Rovio at least, as the company behind Angry Birds has now cut 260 jobs from its workforce of originally 700.
Here’s the official statement from CEO Pekka Rantala:
This is personally a difficult decision. However, it is certain that a leaner and more agile Rovio is absolutely necessary to move forward and take the company to new successes in the future. We will work with and support all our employees through this period of change.
This isn’t the first time Rovio had to cut jobs, cutting 130 jobs back in October of 2014. Since then, Angry Birds 2 has arrived, and despite apparent success, it appears that Rovio felt a slimmed down staff was a necessary decision going forward. I’ve heard more than one person call Angry Birds the “Mario of mobile” in the past, as Angry Birds is an iconic franchise that many think of instantly when it comes to mobile gaming. Just like many think of Mario when it comes to Nintendo and old-school console gaming.
As Rovio continues to slim down its staff gradually, is this a sign that the beloved birds just don’t have the same kind of staying power as traditional gaming mascots like Mario, Zelda, Sonic, and others? Or maybe just that the mechanics of flinging birds need a bigger revamp? After all, despite keeping the same characters, Mario and the gang have arguably seen some dramatic changes to their gameplay styles over the decades.
What do you think of the Angry Birds franchise, and its latest effort with Angry Birds 2? Does it surprise you that Rovio is facing some financial challenges in the mobile world? Is the answer to Rovio’s woes to create a new non-bird franchise? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
AIVAnet 
