Cheap satellite-launching rocket fails on its maiden flight
Satellite-launching rocket programs like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are household names thanks to the larger-than-life personalities behind them. But you may not know about a modest program called Super Strypi. Developed by the University of Hawaii, Sandia National Laboratories and Aerojet Rocketdyne, it aims to use a small, three-stage “sounding rocket,” to launch 300 kilogram (660 pound) payloads into low-earth orbit. Now that you’re acquainted with it, we have bad news: It failed on its maiden launch in Kawaii. The official video (below) shows the rocket apparently losing control, while a spectator video shows the in-flight breakup about 60 seconds after launch.
Source: NASASpaceflight.com
Sprint to announce layoffs by Jan 30 in bid save $2 billion in costs
By now you are probably aware that Sprint is planning on laying off a number of workers in the next month or two in its bid to return to profitability for the first time in 11 years. While Sprint’s parent company, SoftBank, will continue to invest in the struggling US carrier, Sprint has been told to find ways to save on its expenditure, to the tune of $2 billion.
Part of the cost cutting includes workers having to take out their own trash and executives foregoing the use of private cars on call and using Uber instead. In a telephone interview with Re/code, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure has urged Sprint employees to take ownership with regards to costs, with the company’s finance department being responsible for reviewing and approving all expenditures.
As previously mentioned, all this cost cutting inevitably means there will be layoffs in the imminent future with the Wall Street Journal envisaging thousands of job cuts. The job cuts are expected to be announced before January 30, 2016, after which severance payments will be halved, another cost-cutting exercise.
Source: Softbank (PDF)
Via: Re/code
Come comment on this article: Sprint to announce layoffs by Jan 30 in bid save $2 billion in costs
Matias Duarte says Windows 10 looks like XP with a new skin
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Matias Duarte is a man most famous for bringing Material Design to our Android devices – he’s also the Vice President of Design at Google, so naturally, you’d expect him to have some pretty strong opinions about designs used in devices from Google’s competitors. The target of Duarte’s ire was Windows 10 today after the Googler managed to get his hands on a Microsoft Surface 4 Pro running Windows 10. It’s clear that Duarte wasn’t impressed, saying that Windows 10 was “basically XP with a flat design skin”, following up with:
#Windows10 ? More like Windows 10 years ago!
— Matias Duarte (@MatiasDuarte) November 2, 2015
http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
As is the way with social media, this elicited quite a strong response from Twitter. Some of the best comebacks comment on the lack of regular updates from Google, the dated design of ChromeOS, and the general crassness of the tweets. On realize his tweets had gotten quite a lot of (negative) attention, Duarte clarified his statements by saying that he only meant that he was disappointed how Windows 10 operated like Windows XP, not that he found the design lacking.
What do you think about Duarte’s comments? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The post Matias Duarte says Windows 10 looks like XP with a new skin appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Analyst predicts Samsung will be forced out of the smartphone market in 5 years
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There are quite a few signs that the smartphone industry is an increasingly difficult place to sell premium devices with premium price tags – and that’s even with smartphones being at their technological peak with every iteration. Naturally, a discussion about this phenomenon wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Samsung, who’s plight is the most dire considering its fall from grace in the premium sector. According to Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin, the situation is such that Samsung will be forced out of the smartphone market in 5 years.
Bajarin’s basis for this prediction stems from the fact that Samsung is currently suffering from “The Innovator’s Dilemma“, which describes how initially successful companies try to pander to their customer’s current needs rather than innovate to anticipate future needs, eventually falling behind and never being able to close the gap. Another thing influencing this is the fact Samsung is charging far too much for their flagship devices when consumers are perfectly happy with “good enough” devices in the mid-range market.
“Android devices in the $200-$400 range are good enough for the masses leaving Samsung’s $600 devices and above stranded on an island.”
Bajarin also makes the interesting comment that Samsung knew this was coming, hence its investment in the Tizen operating system, but was stuck between a rock and a hard place given how much momentum they had selling Android devices. Obviously we’ll have to wait and see whether this truly does come to pass, but if you really wanted to, you could start to see the signs of Samsung’s mobile business unfolding. For the rest of Bajarin’s analysis, be sure to hit the source link at the bottom of this post.
What do you think about the theory that Samsung will be forced out of the smartphone market in 5 years? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Techpinions via Phandroid
The post Analyst predicts Samsung will be forced out of the smartphone market in 5 years appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Hilton and MC Dean fined by the FCC for blocking guests’ WiFi
MC Dean and Hilton have joined Marriott in the FCC’s list of companies that block personal hotspots. In fact, the commission has proposed a $718,000 fine against MC Dean, Baltimore Convention Center’s sole WiFi provider. The investigation on MC Dean began last year when a company that sells equipment exhibitors can use to set up hotspots in convention centers filed a complaint. Apparently, the WiFi provider charges visitors as much as $1,095 per event for WiFi access, and it has since admitted that its system automatically blocks hotspots by default. Its blocking capability is so powerful, it even affects connections outside the convention center, even those inside passing vehicles.
Sprint faces ‘thousands’ of job cuts and price hikes
SoftBank, Sprint’s Japanese parent company, made a ton of profit over the last three months, but not as much profit as people were expecting. That’s largely due to it having to carry Sprint on its back, since the network has gone from plucky bronze medalist to sitting in the doldrums of fourth place in America’s hotly-contested carrier wars. In order to try and reduce the amount of red printer ink that Marcelo Claure (pictured, right) has to buy, SoftBank has ordered a “sustainable run rate reduction” of more than $2 billion. In order words, the company is about to have to learn how to do a lot more with a heck of a lot less cash.
Via: WSJ
Source: SoftBank (.PDF)
Game streamer Hitbox takes on Twitch with 4K eSports broadcasts
Pop quiz hotshot: Name a game broadcasting service that isn’t Twitch, YouTube Gaming or MLG.tv. Give up? You’re forgiven. Vienna-based Hitbox.tv is relatively new to the space and its looking to make a name for itself by offering features that the competition doesn’t. Like streaming eSports events in 4K at 60FPS starting this fall, for instance. As Twitch expands into more and more non-gaming avenues, Hitbox thinks it can serve the core crowd that might feel alienated by those moves. The Austrian company has picked up some new investments recently — most notably from the folks behind World of Tanks, Wargaming. A canned statement from the latter says that forthcoming games will “integrate game data” into broadcasts and that it should be pretty easy to do so. Hitbox also offers a wide-open revenue split system that every broadcaster has access to, rather than Twitch’s curated Partner program highlighting its top broadcasters.
Source: Hitbox.tv
Google founder believes Alphabet will kickstart innovation
Are you still wondering what the heck is up with all this Alphabet talk? It may seem confusing at first, but it’s really quite a simple concept.
As we explained in our thorough Alphabet run-down, this was pretty much done to separate Google from all its subsidiaries, as the Search Giant was getting too large for its own good. With each company operating on its own, under a different leadership and personalized strategies, each division can now thrive in a much more specialized manner.
Not to mention, investors would be more interested in small companies that will grow fast and strong. To a giant like Google, these smaller companies’ successes don’t mean as much in terms of revenue.
Read more:
- Alphabet divisions are free to return to China, implies Brin
- Alphabet announces Google’s Q3 results – revenue up
- Alphabet to expand its language
- Google owns Alphabet… the full domain and all!
But there is another factor to consider here, and it’s one our fellow dreamers at Google seem to be more focused on. Google founder Larry Page took the stage at a Fortune Magazine dinner in San Francisco to tell us a bit about what they want to see coming from Alphabet, and the key focus was innovation. Even more so than business or money (or so he says).
The major point here is that it would be a mess if Google tried to run all of its acquired companies. Aside from Search and Android, Google would have to operate Calico, Fiber, Ventures, Capital, Nest and many other subsidiaries to come. It’s just not what Google is “good at”, so they thought it was better to give these companies a bit of breathing space.
Under the Alphabet system, engineers and scientists would have more freedom to create the awesome products they impressed Google with, to begin with. Not to mention, these inventors probably don’t like the idea of working with a company, and would feel more inspired otherwise. There’s plenty of annoyances stapled to working with a large company like Google.
“Companies have pretty bad reputations. It’s not like a lot of people wake up in the morning and say, ‘I want to go work for a company.’ They do it because they have to.” -Larry Page, Google founder
The key point we have to take away from this is that the switch to Alphabet was not about the consumer; it was about employers and employees. This is why Google chose the name “Alphabet”, apparently. They didn’t want it to be too catchy for the user, as it could overshadow Google. As a consumer, you should see little to no difference in the way you interact with these services.
Now we just have to play the waiting game and see how all these Alphabet companies take advantage of their new freedoms. The future looks bright and full of letters. You can be sure we will spell them all here at Android Authority as soon as any detail emerges!
Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds (Review)
Exercise is a daily activity for many of us. Whether it be walks at the park, running at the track or lifting weights in the gym, we all try to get in exercise to improve our health. I am a regular gym user as I like to lift weights and perform cardio on indoor machines. Music is a must have for me. I have been working out for almost 20 years now, 5-7 days a week, for 45-90 minutes per session. Exercise makes me feel better, allows me to eat more( I love food) and also clears my head from a long day at work. Walking my dog every night is also something I do regularly.
I remember getting my first mp3 player in 2002 and having music with me whenever I hit the gym. Music helps pump me up and keep me going at a healthy pace. Having plug-in headphones is something I have learned to live with, but is something that can be a nuisance when the cord gets tangled and pulls the phone out of my pocket. Enter the Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds.
Design
The Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds are designed and optimized for fitness use. Exercise creates sweat which can can wreak havoc on electronics, but the Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds are designed to withstand the abuses associated with fitness training.
The earbuds come with soft plastic hooks that flex to wrap around your ears keeping them in place. They are connected by a roughly foot long rubberized cable, with an integrated inline remote control so you can turn up/down the volume, rewind/fast forward music, and also take phone calls. Everything you need is contained withing the Bluetooth connected headset to help keep your workout flowing.
The cable comes in three colors, yellow, blue or red and is also reflective as an added safety feature. Personally, I like the bright colors as it is easier to spot around my house.
Usage
Honestly, I didn’t expect much when it came to sound quality when I put on the Jabra Wireless Sport Pace earbuds. Last year I tried to use a name-brand set of wireless headphones(not Jabra) and was disappointed at the quality of sound they produced. Sound reproduction should be the focus of any earbuds as we want to truly enjoy our music. Having sound isolation and great sound reproduction is a must when it comes to fitness as music really can help you enjoy your workouts.
First and foremost the Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds sound fantastic. I know sound quality is purely subjective, but I have gone through my tests when it comes to earbuds. I have been a fan of them for years and was quite an active member of the audiophile site Headfi.org. It isn’t uncommon to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on earbuds and equipment dedicated to sound reproduction. Audiophiles can be quite snobby at times when it comes to earbuds, but my take on it is, if you like what you’re listening to, then go with it. And the Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds fit the bill.
If you workout for more than five hours at a time, then these earbuds aren’t for you. But I would guess that most of you keep your workouts to two hours or less, in which these can more than handle that amount of time. The Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds are rated at five-hours for talk time and I regularly used mine for two to three days of workouts without recharging them.
Since I claimed to be an audiophile, wireless earbuds haven’t been apart of my tech arsenal ever really. I gave them a shot last year, but have stuck with wired headsets because they sound better. Now that the sound quality has improved, wireless earbuds will now be my go to for workouts as the benefits are tremendous. The Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds are water-resistant(IP54 rating), come with a reflective coating for added visibility at night, and also stay out of my way when I am lifting weights. It’s so nice to avoid accidentally getting tangled in my earbud cord and ripping my phone from my pocket.
Also having inline remote controls is much easier than pulling out my phone, turning on the screen to fast-forward/rewind the song and to control the volume. All of those features are built into the inline remote along with a microphone for taking calls. I tried a few calls with my mom to test out the earbuds and they performed flawlessly.
If anyone is going to tell me she can’t hear me, it is my mother when she says “WHAT? You’re breaking up. Are you on a headset or something?” Not once did she say this in our hour long phone calls. Jabra has made me a fan.
As the days get dark quicker and nights get colder, I am frequently putting on hoodies now. It is really nice not to have to deal with unplugging my earbuds when I want to take my hoodie off. Wireless is truly the way to go for earbuds if you work out.
Specs
Summary
If you enjoy the fitness lifestyle and enjoy listening to music, the Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds are for you. They offer incredible sound quality, simplicity by removing your cord, added visibility if you are an outdoors buff and a wireless method for talking on the phone. For $99.99 I find these earbuds to be comfortable and light-weight. They offer an incredible value and I highly recommend them to you.
If you want to learn more head on over to Jabra.com or to Amazon.com to make a purchase.
The post Jabra Sport Pace Wireless earbuds (Review) appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Polaroid sues GoPro for copying a design patent
C&A Marketing Inc., the company that produces the Polaroid Cube, has filed a lawsuit against GoPro for releasing the Hero4 Session camera. On what grounds? Well, the two cameras look almost identical. Both are shaped like a cube with rounded edges, and even though the Session is able to shoot better quality video and is slightly larger than the 1.4-cubic-inch Cube, C&A is insisting that GoPro has infringed on the design patent that it received in May this year, preventing any other camera from copying the Cube’s unique look. GoPro had filed a patent related to its square camera’s design in March, but that specifically covered the camera’s housing.
Source: Wall Street Journal
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