Sony’s new smartphone camera sensor is smaller and cheaper

At this point, Sony’s more famous for the components that it makes for other people’s devices than their own phones. It’s certainly the case for its image sensors, which are now used by Apple, Huawei and, if the rumors are to be believed, Samsung. Just in time for MWC, the firm is releasing a new Exmor RS, the IMX318, that’s likely to pop up in plenty more devices in the next year or so. It’s a 1/2.6-inch stacked CMOS that has a maximum resolution of 22.5-megapixels and a hybrid autofocus that’ll focus in as little as 0.03 seconds. The sensor is a lot smaller than its predecessors, but now includes three-axis, electronic image stabilization that could do away with bulky OIS lenses.

If all of that jargon is too much to handle on a Tuesday, it’s probably easier to say that this is a very close cousin to the IMX300 we found in the Xperia Z5. That phone also came with similar features and makes a good case for being the best smartphone for photography that’s currently on the market. The hybrid autofocus that it was packing was devilishly quick and its low-light photography was pretty amazing. If that same technology is now available for non-Sony phones, the arguments about the quality of phone photography could soon be a thing of the past. The company thinks that it’ll be able to ship these sensors out by May, so expect it to pop up in plenty of other devices by the time the holidays come calling.

Source: Sony

Former Nokia music service MixRadio is shutting down

When Nokia signed a deal with Microsoft to license Windows Phone, the Finnish smartphone maker built a suite of apps to help lure iOS and Android users to the platform. It launched dedicated navigation and camera apps, but also a music app called MixRadio.

The free streaming service, which started life as Nokia Comes With Music in 2007, remained exclusive to Windows Phone until shortly after Microsoft acquired Nokia and the software giant deemed MixRadio surplus to requirements. After little more than a year, its current owner, Japanese messaging firm Line, has also decided enough is enough and announced today that will shut down the streaming service.

In a statement, Line hints that a lack of revenue was behind MixRadio’s closure: “After a careful assessment of the subsidiary’s overall performance, the financial challenges posed by the music streaming market, and priorities of LINE Corporation, LINE has determined that future growth would be difficult to ensure and decided to discontinue the MixRadio music streaming service.”

Although the service will be phased out in the “coming weeks,” Line says it will continue to offer music streaming via its Line Music app, which is currently live in Japan and Thailand. There’s no word on whether the company plans to widen the number of launch markets, so if you’re an existing MixRadio user, you may soon need to find a new streaming home.

Via: MusicAlly

Source: Line

The Spectrum could return as a handheld games console

A little over a year ago Retro Computers pitched a new version of the classic ZX Spectrum on Indiegogo. The console and controller hybrid allowed anyone to play 1,000 games such as Knight Lore and Underwurlde on their TV. Now, the startup has returned with the Vega+, a portable successor that trades the Spectrum’s classic looks for a sleeker and more modern package. It still comes with an extensive library, only this time you have the option of playing it on the go using the built-in display.

Retro Computers is backed by Sinclair Research, the company founded by ZX Spectrum inventor Sir Clive Sinclair. Like the original Vega, the handheld Vega+ has been unveiled as an Indiegogo project, which — as with all crowdfunding projects — means there’s no guarantee it’ll ever materialise. The portable’s predecessor did make it to market, however, so the Luton startup at least has a track record this time around.

For £100 you can back the project and reserve a Vega handheld in either blue, red or white. An extra £75 will upgrade your backer reward to the limited “BLACK” version, which also includes a tour around the company’s factory in Nottinghamshire. As for the console itself, well, the details are a little scarce at the moment. Retro Computers has shown off some renders — but no working product, notably — which reveal a basic D-pad, four circular face buttons and three “secondary action buttons.” Along the top you’ll find a microSD card slot for loading additional games, volume buttons and a headphone socket that doubles as the TV connection port.

It certainly looks the part, and Retro Computers says it has a “fully working prototype waiting to go into production.” If you can’t wait that long, there’s always the Recreated Sinclair ZX Spectrum, a Bluetooth keyboard that looks the part and syncs with an iOS or Android device.

Source: Sinclair ZX Spectrum Vega+ (Indiegogo)

‘Better Call Saul’ season 2 hits Netflix in the UK

Although Netflix is doubling down on original content, the streaming service still heavily relies on content produced by TV networks. AMC has proved a valuable partner, allowing the company to syndicate the final season of Breaking Bad and offer episodes soon after they aired in the US. The same can be said of its spin-off, Better Call Saul, which premiered on Netflix in February 2015 and has today returned for a second season.

Season 2 sees Jimmy McGill (played by Bob Odenkirk) continue to struggle with life as a lawyer and a con-man — making decisions that will ultimately see him ditch his name and become Saul Goodman. Due to licencing agreements, only the first episode is available today, with others appearing on a week-by-week basis. It’s a departure from Netflix’s Originals strategy, but it’ll ensure you’ll have content to watch once you’ve finished the second series of Daredevil.

Source: Netflix

Simon has evolved into a touch-free memory game

Hasbro reinvented Simon in 2014, using touchscreen displays to replace buttons and turn it into the Simon Swipe. Now, the famous American toymaker is gearing up to release a new version of the game, one that you don’t even need to touch to play. Simon Air still throws color sequences at you to remember, but it removes the need for pressing buttons. It senses your hand motions to determine the colors you choose in the sequences you choose them.

Due to the way it works, Hasbro slotted in some sequences where you have to sweep your hand across several colors. Also, you can team up with friends for especially difficult moves. Simon Air isn’t available yet, but you can get one for your kid (or yourself) sometime this fall for $20. Besides the touch-free game, Hasbro is also releasing a new Monopoly and a new Bop It!, which (of course) comes with a task called “selfie it.”

The big VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu merger is still on

We’ve been reporting on rumors that three of Japan’s PC makers, VAIO, Toshiba and Fujitsu are planning to merge their computing divisions for a while. Now, Bloomberg has apparently received confirmation that a deal is on the cards thanks to Hidemi Moue, CEO of Vaio’s parent company. If the news organization is to be believed, the agreement to bring together the three businesses will be signed by the end of March. The new firm (which is likely to be called VAIO) will control more than 30 percent of Japan’s market, making it bigger than current number one Lenovo.

As we said back in December, the deal makes sense since all are too sickly and weak to remain relevant on their own. In addition, each one has strengths that the others do not, VAIO with the remnants of Sony’s branding, Toshiba’s foothold in North America and Fujitsu’s pull in Europe. Pooling resources will also enable all three to save bundles of cash on manufacturing and jobs where effort is currently duplicated across all three firms. Of course, Bloomberg’s analysts are less optimistic about the move, with one source saying that the new outfit will be strong in Japan, but weak elsewhere in the world.

Source: Bloomberg

Coleco’s Chameleon retro game console will soon hit Kickstarter

Coleco’s Chameleon console promises a true old-school gaming experience. That means its games will look and feel like the titles you might have played decades ago, and they absolutely won’t release wallet-thinning DLCs. They’re not computers in a console’s body like modern models. Its developer, Retro Video Game Systems, Inc., plans to release new games (in cartridge form, of course) by indie developers and SNES titles ported for the system. But before that happens it still has to raise funds via Kickstarter, beginning on February, 26th 2016.

The upcoming crowdfunding campaign won’t be this console’s first rodeo. As Gizmodo Toyland notes, the company tried to raise funds for the console last year via Indiegogo, when it was still simply called Retro VGS. It had an ambitious funding goal — $1,950,000 — but only raised a bit over $80,000. It’s called Coleco Chameleon now, as the company signed a deal with the old gaming company. Coleco used to make handhelds and mini-arcades for Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, among other games, back in 80’s.

According to the developer’s Facebook page, you can get a Chameleon if you pledge at least $135. It’ll come with a controller and some cables, including HDMI and A/V jacks, since it works with a wide range of displays. The best thing about it, though, is that you won’t need to download a Day One patch and can start playing as soon as you get it… assuming it makes its way to backers this time around.

Via: Gizmodo Toyland

Source: Retro Video Game Systems, Inc.

UK proposes to starve porn sites that don’t verify age

The UK has banded about the idea of forcing porn sites to implement age gates for some time now, and today it’s turning that talk into walk. New legislation proposed by the government would require any provider of adult content to verify the age of visitors, or face attacks on their revenue streams and other services that keep them online.

In doing so, it hopes to protect the innocence of youth by bringing internet pornography in line with other mediums, such as top-shelf magazines, adult DVDs and linear TV broadcasts. Age verification is already mandatory for UK-based porn sites, but under the new proposals, the UK government wants to hold the whole internet to account.

The legislation would offer a fairly simple ultimatum: implement “robust” age verification checks, or suffer the consequences. Should a site not comply with this order, the designated regulator would go about starving the provider of the funds that keep it afloat. Those that rely on advertising revenue would see demand for their banner spots plummet — the police use an identical strategy to put the squeeze on piracy-promoting sites — and subscription services would find their payment providers (e.g. PayPal) withdraw support.

The regulator could also target “ancillary services” that keep the site running, ordering the relevant web hosting company to simply take it down, for example. Obviously, these tactics require the intervention of third-party service providers, and under the proposed legislation, their cooperation will be mandatory. The government hasn’t got it all figured out just yet, though, such as what method of age verification would be the most appropriate.

Age gates that simply ask you to confirm you’re over 18, or require you to input a date of birth, aren’t “robust” enough, the government argues — though this seems to be all that’s required of UK-based porn sites currently. Parroting Ofcom’s guidance on acceptable measures, age verification could take the form of a credit card check, identity corroboration using a database like the electoral roll, or any other proof of age like a pay-monthly mobile phone contract, which are only available to over 18s. The government admits that it may be unfair to ask site visitors to expose their identity in order to prove they’re an adult, though, so what type of age gate might be appropriate is still very much up for debate.

It’s no secret blocking torrent sites at the ISP level is almost a pointless exercise, and the government is well aware of the sheer volume of porn available online. It’ll be impossible to get every provider to pay heed to UK law and some sites will no doubt adapt and survive, even if the government does manage to choke their ad revenue or get their payment processor to pull out. But 70 percent of all UK porn traffic is shouldered by only 50 websites, and they’ll be targeted as a priority.

Plenty of finer details need to be ironed out before the legislation can be put up for approval, and the government is running a public consultation on the proposals until mid-April. These mandatory age gates are part of a broader agenda to protect children from age-inappropriate content online. The government established a system for adding age ratings to UK music videos last year, for instance, and the major ISPs are required to push adult content filters at the router level. The latter initiative wasn’t exactly proving popular, however, leading several providers to turn these filters from opt-in to opt-out to improve adoption.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: UK Government

ICYMI: Spacey HoloLens use, spy submarines and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: DARPA is about to start testing an autonomous submarine called Sea Hunter, designed to find and trail larger submarines for weeks at a time.
NASA is using HoloLens technology to communicate with other scientists in different locations. Using augmented reality and collaboration software, they can all look at project designs or challenges together.

A Samsung-backed startup is launching athletic shoes with pressure sensors inside that can track your posture and balance. It has a companion app to coach you through workouts because dumb shoes won’t be enough anymore.

Nissan’s new video demonstrates the company’s parking assist feature with office chairs. Once someone claps, all the chairs return themselves to their proper tucked-in locations. It’s cool to see but also sadly, most likely a stunt to promote actual cars.

As always, please share any interesting science or tech videos, anytime! Just tweet us with the #ICYMI hashtag to @mskerryd.

Weekly Poll Followup: Leave your Chromecast at home

Last week we asked if you travel with your Chromecast. The Chromecast is small and portable, so it’s easy to understand why you might want to pack one up in your travel bag. This is especially true if you find yourself traveling more often than you find yourself at home. With that in mind we wanted to know just how many of you actually travel with your Chromecast!

You had four choices in last week’s poll: “My Chromecast stays at home”, “I bought a spare just for travel”, “I take my Chromecast everywhere” and “I don’t have a Chromecast.”

This week’s winner with 49 percent of the overall vote, was “I leave my Chromecast at home”. In second place with 27 percent, or 1096 individual votes, was “I don’t own a Chromecast”. With 13 percent of the vote, “I take my Chromecast everywhere” came in third place. In last place with a solid 12 percent of the vote, was “I bought a spare just for travel”.

Do you leave your Chromecast at home, or keep it with you? Let us know where you use your Chromecast in the comments below!