Mini-fridge disguised as a life-size, mobile R2-D2 is up for pre-order
Yes, these are full-scale R2-D2s replete with a moving head and flashing lights. They’re not loaded with a super-intelligent AI and they don’t project holograms, but they can chill your beer and even bring it to you while you put your feet up on the Ottoman. We’re assuming you have an Ottoman (a fancy one, even) if you get one, because this mini-fridge costs almost $9,000… and that’s not including the fees you have to pay to import it from Japan. According to our friends from Engadget JP, these remote-controlled AQUA R2-D2s made by Haier Asia are now up for pre-order. Unfortunately, you’ll need a Japanese address, as you can see on its Star Wars-themed reservation page. If you do have a way to buy one, you might get it just in time for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, since units will start shipping out in December 2015. Take note that it can fit a few cans of beer at most, but hey, we doubt you’ll get it to use as an actual mini-fridge anyway.
Source: Engadget Japan
[Deal] Snag some great Inateck gear in this Halloween promotion
Halloween is almost upon us, and accessory maker, Inateck, is joining the party with some howling good discounts for a number of its products ranging from Bluetooth speakers to headphones to desktop chargers. Join us after the break for the discount codes.
- Inateck Bluetooth 4.1 Weatherproof Stereo In-ear Headphones ($ 32.99): Use promo code 5QQAWHVN for $10 off [Amazon] (You can check out our review of this product here)
- Inateck Aries Premium Genuine Wood In-Ear Noise-isolating Headphones ($23.99): Use promo code D6BO5RI5 for $5 off [Amazon]
- Inateck Lacerta Dual Dynamic Driver In-Ear Noise-isolating HiFi Headphones ($25.99): Use promo code: NIJKEEVD for $5 off [Amazon]
- Inateck 2.4GHZ Wireless Pointer Control Powerpoint Presentation Remote Control ($12.99): Use promo code UV3VPQZT for $3 off [Amazon]
- Inateck Dual-Driver Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker with Stand ($29.99): Use promo code: 5AERJM5O for $5 off [Amazon]
- Inateck Ultra-Portable Aluminum Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker ($45.99): Use promo code: KA9U67XB for $11 off [Amazon]
- Inateck MarsBox Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker ($49.99): Use 8VD6I9RX for $13 off [Amazon]
- Inateck Portable Hi-Fi Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker ($39.99): Use promo code IJKGJLTZ for $10 off [Amazon]
- Inateck 40W 5-Port High-Speed Desktop USB Charger ($19.99): Use promo code W5K5Q4Z3 for $4 off [Amazon]
Come comment on this article: [Deal] Snag some great Inateck gear in this Halloween promotion
OnePlus brings unique photography app ‘Reflexion’ to the Play Store
OnePlus has been quite busy lately, launching the OnePlus X this week and now a new application inspired by the budget phone. Dubbed Reflexion, it aims to be a easy-to-use photography app that takes advantage of some unique post-production work for both Android and iOS platforms.
It’s different in that it takes advantage of both front and rear camera stills. Open Reflexion and you can snap a photo with the front camera and then the rear camera. After some automated post-production, Reflexion takes the two photos and transforms them into a creative and beautiful composition. OnePlus has set up an Instagram page for photos taken with the Reflexion app, and there’s actually some really beautiful stills on there. As users begin to use Reflexion, it’ll be interesting to see what type of compositions pop up.
Click here to view the embedded video.
It’s definitely one of the more unique photography applications available, and you can potentially make some unique creations. The video shown above shows off a couple of neat examples. If you’re interested, be sure to hit the download link below.
source: OnePlus
Come comment on this article: OnePlus brings unique photography app ‘Reflexion’ to the Play Store
Alphabet divisions are free to return to China, implies Brin
Google has not had the best relationship with China, having argued over censorship and been on the receiving end of hacking cases. As a result, the company has been absent from China since 2010. However, restructuring under the new Alphabet umbrella could mean that divisions are free to return to the country, should they choose to do so.
Speaking on Wednesday, Google co-founder Sergey Brin stated that each Alphabet business is free to make its own decisions about which countries they operate in, which opens the door to divisions going back to work in China or any other region of their choice. Countries, timings or divisions were not specifically mentioned, but the statement came at an event for Google’s Project Loon balloon-based internet service.
“Each Alphabet business can make its own decisions on which countries to operate in,” – Google co-founder Sergey Brin
Brin mentioned that China is one of the countries that is interested in expanding its internet coverage by using Loon technology, which could bring web access to the country’s large rural population. Last month, sources also suggested that Google may be looking at coming back to the Chinese mobile market with a specific Chinese version of the Google Play Store, which may comply with some of the country’s stricter rules on censorship.
See also: Google reportedly plans to re-enter mainland China through the Google Play Store
Google has been more open about its interests in China since appointing Sundar Pichai as CEO. The reorganization under Alphabet also means that separate projects from advertising, Search, YouTube, and upcoming ideas from Nest of the X Lab now have more autonomy over how they conduct their operations.
Given the fast growth in Chinese smartphone and consumer electronics industries, and many more consumers coming online, Google has good reasons to get back into China.
4K and 5K iMacs Support 10-Bit Color Depth on OS X El Capitan
Apple’s latest 4K and 5K iMacs support a 10-bit graphics driver on OS X El Capitan, allowing for smoother color transitions, according to German website Mac & i. The 10-bit color output enables 1024 gradations per color channel, a significant increase from 256 with 8-bit depth on previous iMacs.
30 bit pixel depth — 10 bit for each RGB color (Image: cinema5D)
Digital filmmaking news website cinema5D explains the technical benefits of 10-bit color depth for professional colorists, photographers and editors:
Professionals know that 10-bit screen color is the desired color depth for serious color correction. When you work in 8-bit you often see banding artefacts and lose detail on soft gradients which makes editing harder and less accurate.
This is not to be confused with the bit depth of your source files. We all know that working with video DSLRs or other heavily compressed video footage that is limited to 8 bit color depth gives you less options during grading and 10 bit, 12 bit or even 16 bit color photos and videos are better. On the screen side 10 bit is the desired depth to let you view the end result without gradation steps.
The new 10-bit color depth reportedly only works within the Preview and Photos applications for now, but other third-party software should eventually take advantage of the technology. The 2014 5K iMac also supports 10-bit color depth on OS X El Capitan, according to these reports.
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Apple’s Culture of Secrecy Slowing its Artificial Intelligence Development
Apple’s strict adherence to an environment of secrecy and privacy in regards to its software and hardware development has been suggested as a major blow to the company’s potential for growth in the field of artificial intelligence. In a new article by Bloomberg, Apple was noted as a non-attendee at the Neural Information Processing Systems conference, an annual confluence of companies including Google and Microsoft where researches get together to discuss the progress and development of AI technologies.
In years past, Apple has attended the conference, but its emissaries were known to keep “a low profile” during the proceedings. In the midst of a mass sharing and celebration of discoveries and findings in the world of AI, many remain unsure of the Cupertino company’s continued success in such departments if it remains attached to such strict secrecy rules. “They’re completely out of the loop,” said Richard Zemel, a professor in the computer science department at the University of Toronto.
The biggest threat posed to Apple due to this level of secrecy, according to Trevor Darrell, managing director of a machine-learning research center at the University of California at Berkeley, is the barrier to entry it creates for graduate students fresh out of college. The stagnant environment and closed-off atmosphere inhibits the company’s employees from interacting with the rest of the scientific community, an issue that most potential hires may not be entirely comfortable with.
“There’s no way they can just observe and not be part of the community and take advantage of what is going on,” says Yoshua Bengio, a professor of computer science at the University of Montreal. “I believe if they don’t change their attitude, they will stay behind.”
“The really strong people don’t want to go into a closed environment where it’s all secret,” Bengio says. “The differentiating factors are, ‘Who are you going to be working with?’ ‘Am I going to stay a part of the scientific community?’ ‘How much freedom will I have?’”
Earlier in the month, Apple acquired two artificial intelligence-related start-ups: VocalIQ and Perceptio. VocalIQ’s natural language API hints at a more naturalistic version of Siri in the future, and even possible integration into the rumored Apple car project. Perceptio suggests the possibility of a more expansive and robust AI system for Apple, without the compromise of the company’s in-depth privacy policies that pull Siri back from services like Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana.
All the same, Bloomberg‘s story suggests that despite Apple’s enthusiasm to innovate in the artificial intelligence sector, the company could continue to lag behind in certain departments — Apple Maps, for example — due to its stances on secrecy and privacy.
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Apple unlocks ‘billions’ more colors in latest iMacs
The latest retina iMacs already display colors very accurately, but with El Capitan, Apple now uses their their full potential. According to German publication Mac & i, the new OS X version now outputs 30-bits of color instead of 24-bits. That means that you’ll now see over a billion colors instead of 16 million on 2014 or 2015 5K iMacs, according to tests by Mac & i, though it may also work on other models. The feature only supports Apple’s Preview and Photos for now, but may come to Final Cut Pro and other apps that can take advantage of it.
Via: Cinema 5D
Source: Mac & i
Google Nexus 6P’s display will be tough to replace
Google’s new big phone, the Nexus 6P, has no separate display assembly: that’s what iFixit has discovered when it tore its first Huawei-made device down. Upon pulling the phone apart, almost all its internal components besides the NFC antenna came right off in one piece. The team was able to separate the parts from each other (and some were pretty easy to pry off), but that means anyone repairing a damaged display will have to dig through the whole phone. Troublesome, since display issues are one of the most common problems. iFixit also notes that it’s “very difficult” not to injure the camera cover when opening the device, and it will be hard putting in replacement components in general due to the 6P’s unibody design. Nevertheless, the team says the phone feels durable, has a humongous battery and has all the other components Google says it does — you just have to be careful not to break it.
Source: iFixit
‘Dreams’ isn’t an enigma, it’s ‘LittleBigPlanet’ reborn
Sony hasn’t worked out how to explain Dreams, the new title from LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway creator Media Molecule. Its debut at E3 was exciting but enigmatic, with a focus on player-driven creation and animation mechanics. At Sony’s Paris Games Week press conference on Tuesday, the studio showed off a little more of Dreams. But it still wasn’t clear how exactly what was shown on screen would work in practice — we’ve seen a lot of creation tools, but not a lot of gameplay. Luckily, Media Molecule took some time after the event to talk us through its grand vision for Dreams. And, despite the confusion, it most definitely will be a game.
TalkTalk says ‘less than 1.2 million’ customer details stolen in hack
Exactly one week ago TalkTalk revealed that it had been hit by a “significant and sustained cyberattack,” resulting in a wealth of customer data being stolen. Millions of users were potentially affected; a couple of days later, TalkTalk stressed that the amount of financial information obtained was “materially lower than initially believed.” So how much information was actually taken? Well, today TalkTalk is ready to talk numbers. For starters, it says “less than 1.2 million” customer email addresses, name and phone numbers were accessed by the attacker(s). Similarly, less than 28,000 obscured credit and debit card details — the middle six digits shouldn’t have been visible — and less than 21,000 bank account numbers and sort codes. Finally, the company believes less than 15,000 customer dates of birth were taken in the attack. TalkTalk’s careful wording means it’s difficult to know exactly how many customers were affected, but at least we have some ballpark figures now.
Source: TalkTalk
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