Philips’ new Hue light switches to warm temps at night to help you sleep

The tech industry is continuing its assault on cool, blue light.

Philips has announced a new smart lightbulb called Philips Hue White Ambiance. It’s part of the Hue ecosystem and promises to emit “every shade of white light” from colour temperatures of 6,500 k to 2,200k. Also, if you pair it with the Philips’ Hue app, you can use a feature called Routines to automatically change the colour temperature of the bulb throughout the day, so that it is cool in the afternoon and warm at night.

Warm light versus cool, blue light at night will supposedly help you sleep better. Apple recently introduced a Night Shift feature for its mobile devices that reduces the amount of blue light iPhones and iPads emit. Studies have shown blue light can negatively impact sleep by affecting the body’s circadian rhythm, but with Night Shift enabled, your device screen will instead emit warmer and, essentially, yellower colours.

These colours in the spectrum effectively cut down on the amount of blue light shining through at night. Apple was not the first company however to test such a feature or even launch it. Amazon offers a similar thing on its devices. The first major update to Fire OS 5 – a forked version of Android powering Amazon’s tablets – introduced something called Blue Shade last year.

It also changes display colour and brightness so Amazon’s tablets are optimised for nighttime. According to Amazon, many studies indicate that blue light coming from tablet displays suppress melatonin production at night. Philips hasn’t said if it scientifically studied the effect of its new buls, but it’s pushing the idea that White Ambiance will help you get a great night’s sleep.

Philips said it will offer individual bulbs, integrated lighting, and a starter kit with two bulbs, but there’s no word on pricing yet.

Next for iRobot, a cute $199 kitchen and bathroom mop bot

After tackling ever-complex vacuuming, sweeping and mopping bots for most of your house, iRobot took a surprising turn for its latest product: it went small and cheap. The company’s new $199 Bravaa Jet is a tiny thing meant to clean all of the nooks and crannies of your kitchen and bathroom. It’s basically a miniaturized version of the company’s Bravaa floor mopping robot (which itself is based on technology it acquired from Evolution Robotics, which used to make the Mint floor sweeping robot.)

Given its price and tiny size, the Bravaa Jet could open up the dream of automated home cleaning to consumers who’d scoff at the pricy entry point for Roombas (which is around $300 for an outdated model these days).

So why build a bathroom and kitchen cleaning robot in the first place? iRobot reps say there’s an increasing need among consumers to mop up uncarpeted floors, and, furthermore, they find that cleaning kitchens and bathrooms often takes up the most time. If you’re going to make those floors spotless, you’ll also need something a lot smaller than the company’s existing Bravaa bots, which are about the size of typical Roombas.

There aren’t many surprises with the Bravaa Jet. To use it, you just need to pour in a bit of water into its reservoir; slap on a cleaning pad for wet mopping, damp sweeping (for hardwood floors) or dry sweeping; place it on the floor, and set it on its way. The bot goes up and down your floors, mapping the path along the way. Reps say it can clean a 100 square foot area in around an hour, but it really depends on the cleaning pad you’re using. The wet mop pad can handle an area up to 150 square feet, while the dry sweeping pad can go up to 200 feet. The bot uses a lithium-ion battery that should last for around an hour and a half.

When it comes to wet mopping and damp sweeping, the Bravaa Jet spritzes out a bit of water, and then makes a back-and-forth mopping motion to clean the floor with the solution built into the pads. It takes three passes on your floor for a full round of wet mopping, and two for a round of damp sweeping. The latter pad is mainly meant for people with fancy floors that can’t get too wet. Most of us will rely on dry pads to sweep the floor first and the wet pads to finish the job.

You’ll get two of each single-use pad bundled with the robot, and you can buy replacements in packs of 10 for $7.99 from iRobot and its retail partners (Target, Best Buy and others). If you’re looking for a more sustainable alternative, you can also buy a box of two washable pads for $20. Those won’t include any cleaning solution, obviously, so you’ll have to supply your own.

During a brief demonstration in a high-end Manhattan hotel bathroom, the Bravaa Jet managed to clean up a freshly spilled coffee spill without leaving any residue behind. The dirty liquid it picks up is held in the pad, so it won’t just spread it all over your floor. The bot wasn’t very loud, either, so I wouldn’t imagine having a problem running it in my bathroom or kitchen for an hour or two.

Surprisingly, iRobot also included a bit of new technology in the Bravaa Jet: It can create its own virtual wall (a border that it won’t cross while cleaning) with the press of a few buttons. Roomba users, meanwhile, still have to rely on standalone, battery-powered virtual wall devices to do the same thing. iRobot reps say that the Bravaa Jet manages to do this because of how it maps your floor.

As someone who’s been using Roombas for the past 10 years, I’m excited to try out the Bravaa Jet soon to see if it’s actually a capable cleaning bot. I’m also the sort of weirdo who actually likes to clean my bathroom and kitchen by hand, so this bot has a high bar to pass. You’ll be able to snag a Bravaa Jet for $199 starting today, and it hits retail stores on April 1.

GM teams up with Lyft to offer drivers short-term rentals

If you’ve been eyeing the ride sharing economy but your car isn’t up to snuff Lyft and GM have teamed up to offer short-term rentals to would-be drivers. The Express Drive program is launching later this month in Chicago and will be launching shortly in Baltimore, Washington DC. and Boston.

The program will rent cars to Lyft drivers anywhere between one to eight weeks at a time. The cost of renting one of the Chevy Equinox crossovers will be based on how many trips the driver can secure. For less than 40 trips in a week, the cost will be $99 per week plus $.20 per mile. For more than 40 trips in a week, it costs only be $99 a week with no mileage fee. If the driver is able to pull off more than 65 trips in a single week, the weekly rate for the car will be waived.

The news comes only two months after GM invested $500 million in Lyft. The ride-share company has already teamed up with Hertz to offer short-term rentals. Now would-be drivers have an additional option.

Source: Lyft

Twitch wants developers to bake streaming directly into games

If Choice Chamber scratched the itch for audience participation in your Twitch streams, get ready for a whole lot more where that came from. The live-streaming juggernaut has announced Stream First, an initiative that it says is focused on making sure Twitch broadcasting is built into a game’s design process from the outset rather than shoehorned in later in development. Future in-stream participation could include anything from viewers choosing what happens next, a la Twitch Plays, gaining in-game experience simply by watching your favorite streamer play your (new) favorite game and a host of others.

There are a trio of Stream First games already in development: Superfight, Wastelanders and Streamline. In Superfight players create superheroes by drawing cards from a deck, arguing whose character would win in a fight and then letting the audience decide the victor. Wastelanders is a bit different, in that it’s a strategy game that has broadcasters and the audience playing together in battle against another streamer and his or her viewers. Lastly, Streamline pits streams against each other in arena games. Viewers can place bets on participants in the game and even vote for rule changes, to name a few bits of available interactivity.

You can bet that once Amazon’s Lumberyard game engine and its native Twitch integration starts gaining more traction that these types of games will only continue to flourish.

Source: Twitch Devs

iRobot Braava Jet 240 Mopping Robot Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Josh Miller/CNET

iRobot’s newest robot mop will focus on quality over quantity. The Braava Jet 240 can only cover 150 to 200 square feet, a big step down from the 300-to-1,000 sq. ft. range of its predecessor — the Braava 380t. But with a vibrating cleaning head to increase agitation, a water nozzle to spray the area it’s covering, and premixed detergent in its disposable pads, the Jet 240 should do a better job of scrubbing the smaller area it can reach.

The Braava Jet 240 goes on sale today on iRobot’s site for $200 — the cheapest robot cleaner the company’s released to date. Starting April 1, you’ll be able to purchase it from a variety of retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. The price converts to approximately £140 and AU$270 for our readers in the UK and Australia, respectively, and I’ll update the piece with specific availability in those regions once that info becomes available.

How it works

Designed around accessibility, the Jet only has one button that turns it on and starts it. It has three different modes — dry sweeping, damp sweeping and wet mopping — but you won’t have to adjust any settings yourself. Each mode has its own unique Swiffer-style cleaning pad. Slide the one you want into place, and the Jet will detect your selection.

You also won’t need to set up any sensors to help the Jet navigate. It uses a bumper to detect objects, a wheel count to tell how far it’s traveled, and a gyroscope to keep track of how much it turns. The Jet 240 will cover your floor one quadrant at a time — row by row like a Zamboni, slowly circling the objects it comes across.

Hands on with iRobot’s short range scrubber…
See full gallery

1 – 4 of 28

Next
Prev

For dry dusting, it’ll cover the room once with little overlap. The damp cycle covers everything twice, and wet mopping uses more water and goes over it all three times, hitting the lower end of the product’s area range as a result of the extra passes. During the demonstration, the wet mopping process looked less like a Zamboni in action and more like a person traditionally mopping, going back and forth over one spot then branching out from there.

Both the damp and wet modes employ the Jet’s water nozzle to spray the area in front of it. You’ll fill the reservoir with water before each run, which will activate the cleaning agent in those specific pads once they get wet. Cleverly, the bot will wipe an area, then back up and spray what it just covered before wiping it again, which helps it avoid accidentally spraying any furniture. The pads absorb liquid, so the floor should feel dry shortly after it’s done. And since the electronics of the Jet are sealed, you supposedly won’t have to worry about spilling and ruining your expensive new cleaner when you fill the reservoir.

Fill the reservoir before running a damp or wet cleaning cycle.

Josh Miller/CNET

Once the Jet finishes, you can hold it over a trash can and hit an eject lever to dump the disposable pad without needing to touch it. Two of each pad ship with the product, and they’re only meant to be used once, so you’ll need to buy replacement packs of ten each for $8 or reusable pads you can wash for $20 a piece.

Impressions

More robot moppers

• iRobot Scooba 450
• Techko Maid Smart Maid
• Yujin Robot iClebo Arte

The lower price helps mitigate this somewhat, but iRobot’s taking a big gamble here in reducing the range and run-time of this model. Basically, the Jet 240 is a one-room-at-a-time cleaner, and after each room, you’ll have to swap out the pad and charge the battery yourself, making the whole process much more hands-on than the latest Roombas, one of which can take care of a whole floor of your home with little to no supervision and can even find its docking station and charge itself when it necessary.

The improvements to the cleaning process sound promising, and they’re necessary, as the Braava 380 didn’t impress us in our review. The improved navigation should help the Jet efficiently cover a single room. It’ll detect carpet and use that as a boundary. You can also create virtual boundaries yourself by putting it on one side of a line you don’t want crossed and holding the start button.

The new Braava will need to clean well to be worth the price.

Josh Miller/CNET

Still, even though the price is in the range of a reasonable splurge, if it can’t mop as well as a human with an actual mop, it’ll have a hard time proving itself a worthwhile machine. Again, iRobot prioritized quality over quantity, so the quality aspect better pay off. During the demo, the Jet did a great job cleaning up dirt and even coffee stains, but couldn’t remove some tough rubber scruffs.

Outlook

iRobot’s aiming for accessibility and thoroughness here. A company representative said, “We hope to get to consumers who haven’t adopted robotic cleaning yet.” Given that we’ve yet to be impressed by any robot mops, maybe the “less is more” approach is the way to go. Once we get our hands on the Braava Jet, we’ll put it through a variety of cleaning tests to see where its cleaning limits lie.

Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine trailer is the best endorsement yet for the HTC Vive

Industrial Light and Magic — the special effects studio behind the Star Wars franchise — is working on a tie-in an experience for the HTC Vive that puts you in the center of the Star Wars universe. Dubbed a “cinematic virtual reality experiment,” Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine features R2-D2, the Millennium Falcon, and lots of lightsaber battles with Stormtroopers.

From the trailer, it looks like the experience will include both story-driven and gaming aspects, with players able to control lightsabers during the battle sequences using Vive’s position-tracking controllers. There’s no further information as to when the experience will be available, but it is likely that it will debut as a launch title for the Vive.

Pre-orders for the Vive are now live, and the headset will be available commercially starting next month with a retail price of $799.

See at HTC

MORE: First look at HTC Vive consumer version

Source: Road to VR

Comic-Con HQ explained: When will the new streaming service go live?

Comic-Con is getting its own subscription streaming service.

It’s called Comic-Con HQ. From what we can tell, it is trying to be a Netflix of sorts for comic-book geeks. It’s also trying to extend the Comic-Con experience from just a few days a year to 365 days a year by offering both archival and original programming to Comic-Con fans. The service was just announced, so details are scarce, but we’ve laid out everything we know below.

Comic-Con HQ: What is Comic-Con?

Comic-Con is a registered trademark owned by San Diego Comic-Con International, an organiser of comic book conventions held across the world. The San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) itself has been held annually in San Diego since 1970 and primarily focuses on showcasing comic books, science fiction/fantasy-related film and television, as well as toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels.

Comic-Con HQ: What is Comic-Con HQ?

In March 2016, San Diego Comic-Con International with Lionsgate announced the first details of a new video-on-demand streaming service called Comic-Con HQ. It is subscription-based, meaning you’ll have to pay a membership fee in order to access content, such as classic film and TV titles, behind-the-scenes access, live streams of SDCC panels, and original programming (scripted series and unscripted news).

Comic-Con HQ: When will it go live?

Comic-Con HQ launches on 7 May (also known as Free Comic Book Day) in beta form. Anyone can pre-register now for free beta access via the Comic-Con HQ website. An official premiere is scheduled for sometime in June, ahead of San Diego Comic-Con in late July.

We’re not sure yet if the service will be available outside of the US.

Comic-Con HQ: How much does it cost?

The ad-free service will be free during the beta but will require a paid subscription after June. Pricing as of March 2016 has yet to be announced.

Comic-Con HQ: Where can you access it?

According to SDCC, anyone who registered for free beta access can tune into the new streaming service via their “browsers and iOS/Android devices”, while a roll out across more connected devices is expected in the coming months. Example devices include Roku, AppleTV, and Xbox One, with “additional devices and distribution platforms becoming available throughout the year”.

SDCC

Comic-Con HQ: What can you expect?

According to SDCC, you can expect the following in terms of programming:

• Recurring daily and weekly programs. G4 alum Adam Sessler (X-Play) will executive produce programs on comics, science and gaming, along with hosting his own 1:1 interview series. G4 star Kevin Pereira (Attack of the Show) and his company Attack Media will executive produce an entertainment pop culture news show and a late night talk show format.
• Original scripted and unscripted series, such as the scripted comedy series Kings of Con (inspired by fan convention experiences from Supernatural stars Richard Speight and Rob Benedict), the science program Impossible Science starring illusionist Jason Latimer (he explores technologies capable of achieving his feats of magic with real science), and the unscripted series with fangirl fashion company Her Universe (hosted by founder Ashley Eckstein, who follows contestants as they design their couture concepts for the catwalk of a live San Diego Comic-Con fashion show in July).
• Live-streamed San Diego Comic-Con access with “CCHQ programming, airings of select Comic-Con panels, and immersive access to the convention floor and sanctionedevents never before available to the public”, as well as “interviews and previews available only on CCHQ in a growing library of new and archival panels, bonus features, behind-the-scenes previews and more. “
• A collection of licensed film and TV series featuring “genre greats and hidden gems from science-fiction, fantasy, cult classics, action/adventure and horror”.

Comic-Con HQ: Want to know more?

Check out Pocket-lint’s Comic-Con hub for related news.

Sony buys Michael Jackson stake in music venture for $750 million

Sony Corp. has reached an agreement with the estate of Michael Jackson to acquire the late music star’s interest in their joint music business for $750 million.

Terms of the deal call for Sony to pay $733 million for Jackson’s 50% stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, as well as previously announced distributions, with payments totaling $750 million.

Sony/ATV Music Publishing, established in 1995 as a joint venture between Sony and Jackson, touts itself as the world’s leading music publisher. Together with EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV owns or administers more than 3 million copyrights; it also controls “New York, New York,” “All You Need Is Love,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Moon River,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “The Mission Impossible Theme,” “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “Over the Rainbow,” “Stand By Me” and “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.”

“The entertainment businesses have long been a core part of Sony and are a key driver of our future growth,” said Kazuo Hirai, Sony president and CEO. “This agreement further demonstrates Sony’s commitment to the entertainment businesses and our firm belief that these businesses will continue to contribute to our success for years to come.”

The companies said in a joint release Monday that the sale is the culmination of a process that began in September when Sony exercised its right to purchase the other partner’s interest — a right that has existed since the joint venture was formed by Jackson and Sony in 1995.

The parties expect to reach a definitive agreement by March 31 and the closing is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Sony said the transaction will have no material impact on its consolidated results forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31. It also said the impact on Sony’s results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017, is currently being evaluated.

The estate said the transaction will not affect its continuing interests in other music assets, including all of Jackson’s master recordings as well as Mijac Music, the publishing company that owns all of the songs written by Jackson as well as songs by some of his favorite songwriters and artists that were acquired during his life. The estate will also retain its ownership interest in EMI Music Publishing.

“This transaction further allows us to continue our efforts of maximizing the value of Michael’s Estate for the benefit of his children,” said John Branca and John McClain, co-executors. “It also further validates Michael’s foresight and genius in investing in music publishing. His ATV catalogue, purchased in 1985 for a net acquisition cost of $41.5 million, was the cornerstone of the joint venture and, as evidenced by the value of this transaction, is considered one of the smartest investments in music history.”

Sony/ATV Music represents the copyrights of The Beatles, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Carole King, Kraftwerk, Joni Mitchell, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Richie Sambora, Sting, The Supremes, Wyclef Jean, Hank Williams and Stevie Wonder. Current artists include Akon, Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, P!nk, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.

“When Sony first partnered with Michael Jackson 21 years ago to create Sony/ATV Music Publishing, we knew that this company had the ability to reach great heights,” said Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment, Inc. “This acquisition will enable Sony to more quickly adapt to changes in the music publishing business, while at the same time continuing to be an unparalleled leader in the industry and a treasured home for artists and writers.”

The final Lee Sedol vs. AlphaGo match is about to start

By nabbing three straight wins to kick off a five match series, the Google DeepMind AI program AlphaGo established itself as a more than worthy adversary for legendary Go player Lee Sedol. Sedol rebounded, winning the fourth match Sunday after he pushed AlphaGo to make a mistake on move number 79. Even after the loss, AlphaGo has received an honorary “ninth-dan” rating (the same rating that Lee has earned as one of the game’s top players) by South Korea’s top Go federation, the Korea Baduk Association. Now, the two will square off for a fifth and final match at the Four Seasons hotel in Seoul. The match is scheduled to begin at midnight ET (you can watch the stream here or embedded below), and it will be interesting to see who maintains an edge after four games.

Game 5 starting in 30 mins: going to be really exciting to see if Lee Sedol can exploit the weakness in #AlphaGo’s play he found in game 4

— Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) March 15, 2016

Taken a quick look at the logs: AlphaGo gave a probability of <1 in 10000 for Lee’s brilliant move 78, so AG found this move very surprising

— Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) March 15, 2016

Mistake was on move 79, but #AlphaGo only came to that realisation on around move 87

— Demis Hassabis (@demishassabis) March 13, 2016

Source: Google Asia Pacific Blog

Ads on Apple’s news app will soon look like normal articles

Apple is planning to offer ads that look like typical articles inside its News app. Ads will be showed right in your content feed “inline with News articles”, looking almost indistinguishable from not paid-for articles. There will be a tiny “Sponsored” byline beneath article-ads, for easily fooled people like me. That said, advertisers can also choose to omit their name, and readers will simply see “sponsored” — someone’s paying for this placement, but you won’t know who. The new ad format was discovered in new developer documents recently updated here, and we’ve added an example ad after the break

Apple is looking to other ad possibilities after announcing plans to shutter its iAd network for apps — although it appears that this advertising option will appeal to a wider group than companies just looking to increase apps sales. It’s also a different way of making money from Apple News besides that rumored subscription option for Apple News — regardless of how many of you are actually using it. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment.

Source: Business Insider