DARPA thinks it has the solution to satellite longevity

The government’s mad science wing has an eye on lowering the cost and extending the lifespan of the geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites that follow our planet during its rotation. DARPA has proposed a system dubbed Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS if you’re a fan of brevity) that’d essentially act as a lifeline for the satellites up above us. The program is still in its infancy but would “radically lower the risk and cost of operating in GEO,” according to the firm.

The RSGS units sound like they’d cure a lot of issues plaguing current satellites. DARPA says that correcting “mission-ending mechanical anomalies” that include problems with how their solar arrays and antennas deploy are among those fixes. The system would also deliver new upgrades to antennas currently in space. It’d do so with a robotic arm that the agency is calling “FREND” that will be capable of swapping to whatever tools are needed for the task at hand. Additionally, it’d also be capable of machine vision and delivering “high-fidelity spatial orientation information” that’s intrinsic to keeping the DARPA craft in orbit.

DARPA and the government would cover the cost of the launch, but after that it’d be up to the commercial service that needed the help to pick up the tab:

“Under the RSGS vision, a DARPA-developed modular toolkit, including hardware and software, would be joined to a privately developed spacecraft to create a commercially owned and operated robotic servicing vehicle (RSV) that could make house calls in space. DARPA would contribute the robotics technology, expertise, and a Government-provided launch.

The commercial partner would contribute the satellite to carry the robotic payload, integration of the payload onto it, and the mission operations center and staff. If successful, the joint effort could radically lower the risk and cost of operating in GEO.”

Program manager Gordon Roesler says that this is the sort of thing that both commercial and government have been clamoring for for decades and that the RSGS initiative would address that need. When can we expect this to happen? That isn’t clear yet as DARPA is still looking for the necessary commercial partner, but it estimates RSGS should be in place within five years time. For a better idea of what this would all look like, see the infographic below, or the video up above.

Source: DARPA

Amazon Echo can now control your Nest thermostat

In the latest update to the Amazon Echo platform, the connected speaker and digital assistant can now interact with your Nest thermostat. Once you’ve linked your Nest thermostat to your Echo through the Alexa app, you can control the temperature in your home with your voice by simply asking Alexa.

Amazon is also highlighting some sports-focused aspects of the Echo this week. Specifically, soccer (or football, if you prefer) fans can now keep track of English Premier League games by asking Alexa for scores and schedules for their favorite teams. Similarly, if you’re afflicted with March Madness, you can ask Alexa about your favorite teams as the NCAA tournament progresses.

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Pranksters scammed Nintendo fans with 3D printing and Photoshop

It’s getting tougher and tougher to determine what’s real on the Internet. Thanks to Photoshop and 3D printing you can create nearly anything. That’s exactly what two pranksters did using the upcoming Nintendo NX as a subject.

Last week a fuzzy photo of an unannounced Nintendo controller that resembles a Nintendo patent filing appeared on Reddit. Then a few days later crisper photos from a second user appeared. While redditors and newsrooms tried to determine if these were actually leaks of an upcoming console (Engadget decided not to cover the photos because they looked sketchy), the two folks responsible for the fakes decided to come clean.

The original image was created by David Im. He just added a 3D model to a photo in Photoshop. That’s it.

The second fake was created using Im’s original photo as inspiration. Frank Sandqvist who just happens to be the co-founder of CNC Design in Finland 3D printed the majority controller and used laser-cut black acrylic for the screen and front-facing camera. After hitting it with some black spray paint, adding the “display,” and adding a few labels he took a few photos and posted them to Reddit.

The guys actually worked independently of each other. One created the first fake and the second elaborated on the ruse. While some Nintendo fans might have gotten their hearts broken (or were relieved to know that the awkward controllers will never see the light of day), it’s nice to know the internet still brings people together.

Source: Polygon

Recently patched security flaw managed to beat OS X’s new defenses

Theoretically, the System Integrity Protection introduced in OS X El Capitan makes it very hard to completely compromise a Mac. The feature prevents software from modifying protected files even if you have root access, preventing most software-based attacks from working. However, it’s now clear that even this safeguard isn’t airtight. SentinelOne’s Pedro Vilaça has discovered a security flaw that — combined with access gained via another method, like a phishing attack or browser vulnerability — lets you run any code you like on a Mac, even with SIP in effect. The vulnerability takes advantage of a corruption bug in OS X to give a program full control over your system; since certain programs need full privileges for OS X to work (you couldn’t update your system otherwise), the intruder just has to target the right file to hijack your computer.

It’s more dangerous than some exploits, to boot. The technique is “extremely reliable,” and won’t give things away by crashing the computer. That’s potentially useful for state-sponsored attacks where stealthiness is important.

The good news? If you’re the type who updates software as soon as an upgrade is available, you’re safe. SentinelOne let Apple know about the bug in January, so OS X 10.11.4 and iOS 9.3 (conveniently released this week) both contain patches for it, although if you’re on an older version of OS X you are still potentially vulnerable. Having said this, the flaw remains a warning that SIP is merely another layer of defense, not a catch-all — it still helps to be vigilant and prevent this rogue code from touching your device in the first place.

Via: ZDNet

Source: SentinelOne, (PDF)

Fitbit Alta review – CNET

The Good The Fitbit Alta is a stylish fitness tracker with swappable bands, basic phone notifications and week-long battery life. The new “Move” alerts bring something new. Fitbit’s software is still one of our favorites, and has the largest social base as well.

The Bad There’s no heart-rate sensor, and it’s not water-resistant. The tracker is expensive for what it can do and so are the accessory straps. The display is difficult to see outdoors and is susceptible to scratches, and notifications are hard to read.

The Bottom Line While ultimately a more stylish (but heart-rate free) version of the older Charge HR, the Fitbit Alta is a winning fitness tracker with solid style appeal.

You can spot a Fitbit from across the room. The Fitbit Charge HR and Surge, the company’s two most popular trackers, aren’t exactly jewerly, and I would never be caught wearing one to a wedding or another formal event. But Fitbit is changing.

In addition to the new Fitbit Blaze smartwatch, the Alta is the company’s most visually appealing tracker thus far. It’s slim, has a nice big display, supports a variety of interchangeable bands and does all the basics (tracks steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes and sleep).

It would be my favorite Fitbit or quite possibly favorite tracker overall if it was a bit cheaper. The Fitbit Alta costs $130 (£100, AU$200). Initially that doesn’t sound too bad, but when you consider the older Charge HR is often discounted to around the same price, it makes you stop and think.

While the Alta can display calls, text message and calendar alerts from your iPhone or Android device, it doesn’t include a heart-rate sensor (like the aforementioned Charge HR), which can help provide a better estimate on calorie burn and sleep tracking. And it’s not water-resistant, so you can’t wear it in the shower or pool.

But for those who want a Fitbit that isn’t an eyesore, the Alta is worth a look, especially if you can find it on sale.

Hands-on with the Fitbit Alta (pictures)
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Stylish, but at what cost?

The Alta doesn’t discriminate against wrist size or gender. It looks nice on just about everyone, which can’t be said about the Charge HR and Garmin Vivosmart HR. It’s not as stylish as the Jawbone Up2, but it does add a display for showing real-time data on activities and notifications

The tracker features a quick-release mechanism that make it easy to swap out the bands. Fitbit offers multiple options that help you personalize the Alta. There’s a basic rubber strap in a variety of colors for day-to-day use, while the leather and metal options add some extra flair for a special night out.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

Unfortunately like the tracker itself, the accessory bands feel a bit overpriced. The rubber straps cost $30 (£20, AU$50), while the leather one goes for $60 (£50, AU$100) and the metal for $100 £80, AU$170). That would bring the total price of the Alta to $230 (£180, AU$370), which is absurd. At that price, you’re in Apple Watch or Fitbit Blaze territory.

All of the wristbands (with the exception of the metal bangle) have a two-button clasp rather than the watch-like buckle of the Charge HR. I’ve worn the Alta for more than a month and never had an issue with it falling off, but I still find myself constantly checking my wrist to make sure it’s actually there.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

There are no buttons on the Alta. It’s pretty sleek. The screen will turn on when you raise your wrist or when you tap the top of the strap. I have heard reports of some users having issues with the tapping gesture, but I haven’t experienced any.

But the screen isn’t perfect. It can be difficult to read when outdoors on sunny days. It’s nice and big, but unfortunately that has made it susceptible to scratching. There’s currently a small, yet noticeable scratch on my display, which is annoying.

What’s new?

The Alta can display notifications for incoming calls, text messages and upcoming calendar events from iPhone and Android phones. (Sorry, there’s no support for email.) Notifications are accompanied with a gentle vibration. That same vibration can also be used as a silent alarm to wake you up in the morning.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

I really liked being able to see who was calling, but this isn’t new. The Charge HR also has caller ID, as does the Vivosmart HR and a few others. I’m a big fan of text message notifications, but not the way Fitbit implemented it. Messages would simply scroll across the screen once and then never reappear. It was incredibly frustrating and difficult to read.

Oculus reduces latency with shiny new tech

Today Oculus announced that its SDK for the Rift supports Asynchronous Timewarp (ATW). While that sounds like something that keeps the TARDIS from smashing into a star, it’s actually going to make virtual reality seem so much smoother.

ATW not only renders a scene before it hits your eyes, but it also takes into account head movement and shifts that image before you see it. The result is lower latency, smoother movements and improved efficiency.

Oculus says it also reduces judder (shaking and vibration) that’s produced when a frame is displayed out of sync because the hardware was unable to render a frame quick enough. The company worked with Microsoft, NVIDIA and AMD to maximize GPU preemption (rendering a scene before it’s needed) for its updated SDK.

The best part for users and developers is that they won’t have to do anything to support ATW. But Oculus still recommends companies continue to target 90 frames-per-sec with their games. ATW will makes things smoother, but game makers still need to step up.

Source: Oculus

Why iBooks is a better file manager than e-book reader – CNET

The iPad isn’t my favorite e-book reader. After all, if you stare at a computer screen at work all day, the last thing you want to do when you get home is read a book on a glossy iPad screen.

But iBooks isn’t just for e-books. It can also be used to store PDF files, especially for reference documents like owner’s manuals. (If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to toss your paper owner’s manuals.)

Here’s how to download PDFs to iBooks on your iPad or iPhone and how to organize, rename and sync your PDFs.

How to save PDF documents to iBooks

The iPad is a great PDF viewer, but you can also use it to download and save PDFs. You likely come across PDFs in iOS as email attachments or on the Web. With the Mail app or Safari, it takes only a few taps to download a PDF to iBooks.

In Mail, tap a PDF attachment to download and then tap to open it. With the file open in Mail, tap the share button in the lower-left corner and then tap the Copy to iBooks button.

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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

In Safari, tap on the PDF you are viewing to bring up a banner at the top with Open in on the left side and Open in iBooks on the right. Tap the latter and you will download the PDF to iBooks.

Create a folder (aka Collections)

If you begin to use iBooks to collect PDFs, you’ll eventually reach a point where you’ll want to bring some order to iBooks’s shelves. You can organize your PDFs into folders, which iBooks calls Collections.

To create a Collection, tap All Books at the top and then tap New Collection and give it a name. This new Collection will then get added to the list.

The current collection you are viewing is listed at the top of iBooks, which includes four default collections and any you created. In fact, one of the default collections is titled PDFs, which automatically pulls in any PDFs you save to iBooks.

Add PDFs to a Collection

To move a PDF to a collection, go to the All Books view where all of your files in iBook are listed and tap Select in the upper-right corner. Next, tap the PDFs you want to move and then tap Move in the upper-left corner. After tapping Move, you can then choose a destination for the files you selected.

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Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

How to rename PDFs

The ability to rename PDFs is useful because the thumbnails iBooks are too small to see what each PDF is, especially on a small iPhone screen. And if you switch from the default grid view in iBooks to the list view that shows the file names of each file, it’s not that helpful because many PDFs have useless file names that give no clue to their topic or content.

To rename a PDF, you need to be using the list view instead of the default grid view.

• From the main Library view of iBooks, tap the button in the upper-left corner to toggle between list and grid views.
• Choose list view and then tap Select in the upper-right corner.
• Tap a PDF’s name from the list to call up the onscreen keyboard to rename it.

32 iOS 9 tips you should know (pictures)

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Sync your PDFs across all iOS devices

If you use iBooks on multiple devices, then you can sync iBooks between your iOS devices and Macs so your PDFs are available no matter which screen you’re staring at.

To sync iBooks across your Apple devices, first make sure each is running the latest version of iBooks. Also check to see that you are using the same Apple ID for each device.

With iBooks up-to-date and the same Apple ID used, you need to make sure iBooks’s sync settings are enabled. In iOS, go to Settings > iBooks and make sure Select Sync Collections and Sync Bookmarks and Notes are both turned on. On a Mac, open iBooks, go to iBooks > Preferences, and make sure the box is checked for Sync bookmarks, highlights, and collections across devices.

Now that I’ve started a collection of owner’s manuals in iBooks, I’m finding it’s useful for storing other PDFs as well, from school-related docs for my kids to work-related docs of my own.

Five tips to speed up your Mac – CNET

The only place I like seeing a beach ball is at a beach or in a stadium during a baseball game or concert. The one place I least like to see a beach ball is on my aging MacBook Pro, where the spinning beach ball has become an altogether too familiar a sight. If your Mac has become frustratingly slow, there are a number of ways you can speed it up again.

Before you engage in any maintenance, I would urge you to take caution and back up your data. For Macs, it’s easy: grab an external drive and run Time Machine. With your Mac’s drive freshly backed up, you may proceed.

1. Replace your Mac hard drive with an SSD

Moving from a traditional spinning hard drive to a solid-state drive (SSD) is the single best thing you can do to improve the performance of an aging MacBook. Follow Sharon Profis’s instructions on how to upgrade your MacBook Pro with an SSD. You’ll be shocked at not only how easy it is to do but also at the huge impact it has on performance.

Upgrade your MacBook to an SSD (pictures)

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I just performed the maneuver myself, replacing my 2011-era MacBook Pro’s 500GB hard drive with the 500GB Samsung 850 EVO . The Samsung SSD and a SATA-to-USB cable kit cost me just north of $200 on Amazon. And the whole procedure took less than an hour (not counting the half a day it took to clone my MacBook’s hard drive to the SSD).

Really, the hardest part of the whole thing was tracking down a size 6T torx-head screwdriver for the four torx screws that help hold the hard drive in place.

2. Add more memory (RAM)

While you have your MacBook opened to replace its hard drive, take the opportunity to add more memory. Like the replacing a hard drive, adding more memory is a straightforward, simple process.

First, you need to find the right type of memory for your specific MacBook model. The brand doesn’t matter much, just be sure to buy the right amount, type, and speed. Apple has a handy support page that shows the memory specifications for a variety of models, along with an illustrated guide to replacing the memory.

In my case, my early-2011 MacBook Pro has two DIMM slots, each of which is occupied by a 2GB module. Since I don’t have any free slots, I will need to replace those two modules with two 4GB modules. I need DDR3 memory with a speed of 1,333MHz.

After finding the right RAM for your MacBook, follow the photos below to install the new memory.

Add more RAM to your MacBook Pro (photos)

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3. Clean your Mac’s hard drive

Sometimes, all your MacBook needs is a data clean-up. Over the years, you’ve probably cluttered your Mac with files and applications you no longer use or need.

Uninstall old Mac apps

To get started, let’s look in the Applications and Downloads folders. If there are apps in there you can’t remember installing, odds are you can live without them. Move them to the Trash to reclaim some hard-drive space.

There are files associated with every application you install, however, and they are left behind when you simply move an application to the Trash. Since Mac OS X doesn’t have a built-in uninstaller, AppZapper can uninstall apps and the related files. It’s free for the first five zaps, after which you’ll need to pay $12.95.

Clean up applications you still use

Next, let’s clean up the applications you are keeping. When you install an app on your Mac, the piece of software arrives as part of a package of files, including permissions that tell OS X which users can do what things with specific files.

Over time, these permissions can get changed, resulting in your Mac lagging, freezing or crashing. Repairing these disk permissions, in the most basic terms, amounts to reshuffling and re-dealing these permissions so that they return to their rightful place. To address this, OS X has a built-in tool called Disk Utility that does just the trick.

Read my previous post on how to repair disk permissions for a step-by-step guide.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Find out which apps are using the most resources

If your Mac acts like it needs a nap every afternoon, when you are at the height of multitasking, there is an easy way to see which of your open applications is using the most system resources. Open the Activity Monitor.

The numbers are constantly fluctuating, but they show you the amount of CPU and memory resources each app is using. After watching the Activity Monitor for a while this morning, I see that Firefox generally takes up more CPU resources and more than triple the memory resources. Perhaps it’s time for me to abandon Firefox and use Chrome exclusively. Also, I found that the sluggish iTunes isn’t nearly the resource hog I thought it was. My apologies, iTunes.

Delete big, unused files

Now that you’ve paid some attention to your applications, it’s time to look at the files cluttering your drive. You can use Finder to search for huge files. To do so, open Finder and select the volume you’d like to search. Next, choose File > Find (or hit Command-F). Click on the Kind pull-down menu and select Other. When the Select a search attribute window opens, check the box for File Size, uncheck any other boxes, and click OK. Change the “equals” pull-down menu option to “is greater than” and then change KB to MB. Enter a minimum files file size such as, say, 100MB. You can then delete any files that show up on the list that you no longer need — or move them to an external drive at the very least.

4. Reduce login items

If your Mac is slow to boot up, the problem may be that there are too applications to open at startup. It’s likely you never set them to launch at startup — they launch by default.

• Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups and then click on the Login Items tab to see a list of the apps that open when you boot your Mac.
• Highlight the apps you don’t want to open at startup and click the minus-sign button below the list of apps.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

5. Keep current with OS X

Apple releases new versions of OS X as free upgrades, so there is no reason not to stay current. New versions of OS X contain performance enhancements and security improvements to keep your Mac running smoothly and safely.

Check in periodically with the Updates tab of the Mac App Store for OS X updates and don’t ignore notifications of updates that are ready to install.

Five things to consider before buying LED bulbs – CNET

Forever LED Light’s ine of bulbs have a lifetime guarantee. Apparently, that’s a first.Indiegogo

As your incandescents burn out, it’s a good time to consider switching to LED bulbs.

LEDs have an impressive lifespan (20-something years!) and are very cost-effective.

Now’s the right time to switch to LEDs. These bulbs have made significant advances over the last few years, finally delivering the warm light incandescents have comforted us with for decades.

Because there are so many LED varieties, choosing an LED is entirely different from picking up an incandescent. Before you head to the store, find out what you need to know about choosing the right LED bulbs.

Lumens, not watts

Forget what you know about incandescents — your watts are no good here.

When shopping for bulbs, you’re probably accustomed to looking for watts, an indication of how bright the bulb will be. The brightness of LEDs, however, is determined a little differently.

Contrary to common belief, wattage isn’t an indication of brightness, but a measurement of how much energy the bulb draws. For incandescents, there is an accepted correlation between the watts drawn and the brightness, but for LEDs, watts aren’t a great predictor of how bright the bulb will be. (The point, after all, is that they draw less energy.)

For example, an LED bulb with comparable brightness to a 60W incandescent is only 8 to 12 watts.

But don’t bother doing the math — there isn’t a uniform way to covert incandescent watts to LED watts. Instead, a different form of measurement should be used: lumens.

The lumen (lm) is the real measurement of brightness provided by a light bulb, and is the number you should look for when shopping for LEDs. For reference, here’s a chart that shows the watt-lumen conversion for incandescents and LEDs.

Sharon Vaknin/CNET

As you can see in the chart above, an incandescent can draw up to five times as many watts for the same number of lumens. Get a sense of the brightness (in lumens) you need before heading to the store, and throw away your affinity for watts.

Choosing the right color LED

You can always count on incandescents providing a warm, yellowish hue. But LEDs come in a wide range of colors.

Candace Lombardi/CNET

As shown off by the Philips Hue, LED bulbs are capable of displaying an impressive color range, from purple to red, to a spectrum of whites and yellows. For the home, however, you’re likely looking for something similar to the light that incandescents produce.

The popular colors available for LEDs are “warm white” or “soft white,” and “bright white.”

Warm white and soft white will produce a yellow hue, close to incandescents, while bulbs labeled as bright white will produce a whiter light, closer to daylight and similar to what you see in retail stores.

If you want to get technical, light color (color temperature) is measured in kelvins. The lower the number, the warmer (yellower) the light. So, your typical incandescent is somewhere between 2,700 and 3,500K. If that’s the color you’re going for, look for this range while shopping for LED bulbs.

You’ll pay more for an LED bulb

LED bulbs are like hybrid cars: cheaper to operate but pricey upfront.

When switching to LED bulbs, don’t expect to save buckets of cash. Instead, think of it as an investment. Luckily, competition has increased and LED bulbs have come down in price (like this $5 LED from Philips), but you should still expect to pay much more than an incandescent.

Eventually, the LED bulbs will pay off, and in the meantime, you’ll enjoy less heat production, longer bulb life, and even the option of controlling them with your smartphone.

Bottom line: unless you’re replacing many incandescent bulbs in a large house, you won’t see significant savings in your electricity bill.

For a detailed breakdown of the cost-effectiveness of LED bulbs, check out this useful post.

Watch out for non-dimmable LEDs

Because of their circuitry, LEDs are not always compatible with traditional dimming switches. In some cases, the switch must be replaced. Other times, you’ll pay a little more for a compatible LED.

Most dimmers, which were likely designed to work with incandescents, work by cutting off the amount of electricity sent to the bulb. The less electricity drawn, the dimmer the light. But with your newly acquired knowledge of LED lingo, you know that there is no direct correlation between LED brightness and energy drawn.

This guide explains why some LEDs will hum, flickr, or buzz when tied to a dimmer.

If you’d like your LED to be dimmable, you need to do one of two things: find LED bulbs compatible with traditional dimmers, or replace your current dimming switch with a leading-edge (LED-compatible) dimmer.

When shopping for LEDs, it helps to know what kind of dimming switch you have, but if you don’t know (or would rather not go through the trouble), simply search for LED bulbs compatible with standard incandescent dimmers. To make things easier for you, we tested a slew of them to find out which LED bulbs work best with dimmers.

Not all light fixtures should use LEDs

Knowing where it’s OK to place an LED will ensure that the bulb won’t fizzle ahead of its time.

You probably know that LED bulbs run dramatically cooler than their incandescent cousins, but that doesn’t mean they don’t produce heat. LED bulbs do get hot, but the heat is pulled away by a heat sink in the base of the bulb. From there, the heat dissipates into the air and the LED bulb stays cool, helping to keep its promise of a very long life.

And therein lies the problem: the bulb needs a way to dissipate the heat. If an LED bulb is placed in an enclosed housing, the heat won’t have anywhere to go, sending it right back to the bulb, and sentencing it to a slow and painful death.

Consider where you’d like to place your LED bulbs. If you have fully or semi-enclosed fixtures you need to light up, look for LEDs that are approved for recessed or enclosed spaces.

LG ordered to pay $3.5 million in damages to Core Wireless over patent violations

Core Wireless, a company which holds numerous patents for 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE network technologies, has been awarded $3.5 million in damages after a jury found the LG violated two patents owned by the company. The patents concerned smartphone user interfaces, and the jury awarded Core Wireless $0.10 in damages per unit.

From Core Wireless:

Core Wireless alleged that most of LG’s recent smartphones, including its leading LG G4 model, infringe two Core Wireless patents. The jury determined that the patents are infringed and not invalid and awarded Core Wireless past damages based on a reasonable royalty of $0.10 cents per unit, or $3.5 million.

Additionally, Core will ask the judge to order LG to pay a $0.10 per unit royalty on all future sales on infringing smartphones for the life of the patent, which ends in 2027.