Amazon bans crappy USB Type-C cables

One Google engineer’s quest to test USB-C cables sold on Amazon ended in a disaster when a particularly shoddy one fried his gadgets. Thankfully, Amazon has decided to take a stance against subpar adapters to prevent more people from going through the same thing. Benson Leung, the unfortunate engineer who sacrificed his Chromebook Pixel 2015 for our sake, reported on Google+ that the e-commerce website has officially banned substandard USB Type-C cables.

To be exact, the new line under the prohibited products list reads: “Any USB-C (or USB Type-C) cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications issued by ‘USB Implementers Forum Inc.’” It’s still very much possible for listings that sell offbrand (or even legit but faulty) cables to go through, though, so you shouldn’t stop reading product reviews because of this new rule. And in case you ever find yourself the recipient of a defective adapter, don’t forget that you can report the product to Amazon and get it kicked off the marketplace.

Via: Benson Leung (Google+)

Source: Amazon

Microsoft’s Tay AI makes brief, baffling return to Twitter

Microsoft’s Twitter AI experiment — Tay — briefly came back online this morning. Tay was initially switched off, after learning the hard way that, basically, we’re all terrible people, and cannot be trusted to guide even a virtual teenage mind. This morning, however, it looks like Microsoft temporarily flipped the switch, activating the account again. It didn’t take long before the Artificial Intelligence got itself in a bit of bother, by tweeting at itself, and instantly replying. The result? An infinite loop of telling itself “You are too fast, please take a rest…” Within minutes, Tay was offline again. Or rather, the account has now been made private.

It’s unclear whether Tay’s return was planned, perhaps as part of the planned testing to see whether it was ready to face the public again.For now, at least, the account is dormant again — unless you’re on the followers list already. Those awkward teenage years appear to be far from over for Tay, and like others are finding out, carelessly running your mouth on the internet can be a costly endeavour.

Amazon bans low-quality USB Type-C cables

Buying reliable USB-C cables has just gotten easier on Amazon, as the retailer has added non-compliant cables to the list of items prohibited for sale.

The note added to Amazon’s prohibited items page now lists the following:

Any USB-C™ (or USB Type-C™) cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications issued by “USB Implementers Forum Inc.”

Non-compliant USB-C cables can have adverse affects on a device, as Google engineer Benson Leung found out when a faulty cable destroyed his Chromebook Pixel. The engineer has since tested hundreds of cables, calling out vendors like OnePlus for not complying to USB Implementers Forum standards.

Commenting on Amazon’s decision, Leung said:

Really great news, but we all have to continue to be vigilant and call out any bad products we find on Amazon and other stores (both online and brick and mortar) as we find them.

For more on the USB Type-C standard and how it affects your devices, be sure to check out our extended coverage from the link below:

Everything you need to know about USB Type-C

Microsoft HoloLens may not reach consumers for a while, it has a hot issue to deal with

Today the Microsoft Build 2016 developer conference kicks off and there is expected to be plenty of HoloLens chat. Despite growing excitement, it could still be a while before we get past the stage of developer-only access to the augmented reality headset. Currently it overheats.

According to HoloLens game developer David Dedeine, talking to PC World, the Microsoft AR headset currently suffers from heat issues. So while the HoloLens is currently available to developers, for $3,000, it’s certainly not ready to start shipping alongside the Xbox One.

The HoloLens is an augmented reality headset, which is still in the early stages of development. What’s coming closer to the mainstream is virtual reality with headsets like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR all hitting shelves this year.

The problem with HoloLens, right now, is that the entire unit is a single untethered system. That means carrying a lot of processing power and batteries in one place that can get very hot. Dedeine points out that games are limited to 900MB and if they push the CPU too much the unit will actually shut down. He also points out that it’s important “to not make the whole thing get too hot, as it would be uncomfortable to the user.”

Since usage is limited to three hours, by battery life, hopefully keeping heat and processing down to eek out more juice will be a priority.

Here’s hoping Microsoft makes some announcements at Build 2016 later today that show signs of progress in this area.

READ: Build 2016: What to expect from Microsoft’s developer conference and how to watch the keynote

Which Apple Watch should you choose?

Apple Watch has been on sale for almost a year, with new models added to the line up a few months back in September 2015 and new straps added in March 2016. There are numerous models to choose from, with three main ranges available, two sizes in each range and multiple straps, making choosing the right one for you quite tricky.

With the additional models and straps, there are now 22 models to choose from in the Watch Sport range alone, 20 models in the Watch range, eight models in the Watch Edition range and 10 models in the Hermès range. Yes, 60 standard models in total, and if you mix and match by adding extra straps to the first three ranges, this figure quickly goes up.

Of course, it doesn’t just come down to which model you like the best in terms of the design because the one we like the most costs over £10,000. And no, we aren’t joking. This feature aims to make it easy for you to see what models are available, how much they cost and what the differences are between them all in order to find the right one for you and your budget.

Apple Watch Sport

The most affordable of the three ranges is the Apple Watch Sport. It costs £259 for the 38mm version and £299 for the 42mm version.

There are 22 models available comprising of four aluminium body colours, 38mm or 42mm sizes and various straps that come with respective models. All the Apple Watch Sport models come with a Sports Band included in the price, but you are restricted to the band Apple chooses with each model.

For example, the rose gold 38mm model comes with a Lavender Sports Band or the Royal Blue Woven Nylon strap. If you wanted a different colour Sports Band or Woven Nylon strap instead, you’d have to pay an extra £39 per strap, rather than swap it out.

View Watch Sport models 

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch models are the mid-range Apple Watch, opting for stainless steel body over the Sport’s aluminium. The Apple Watch models start at £479 for the 38mm model and £519 for the 42mm version, both of which come with a Sports Band or the Woven Nylon strap.

As we mentioned, there are 20 models available in total and as with the Apple Watch Sport, if you want a different strap, you’ll have to pay more. For example, a Classic Buckle or Leather Loop rather than a Sports Band will set you back £608 for the 38mm and £648 for the 42mm.

Top of the Apple Watch range is the 42mm Space Black stainless steel case with a Space Black Link Bracelet, which costs £949.

View Watch models

Apple Watch Edition

The Apple Watch Edition is the most expensive of the Apple Watch models available and as we said, it comes in eight models. The cheapest in this range is the 38mm 18-carat rose gold model that comes with a Sports Band and costs £8,000 in the UK, while the 42mm model costs £9,500.

Interestingly, the priciest models of this range are both 38mm options rather than 42mm. There is an 18-carat yellow gold model and an 18-carat rose gold model in both 38mm and 42mm but there is a £1,500 price difference.

The 38mm options come with Modern Buckles in Bright Red and Rose Grey respectively, while the 42mm models come with Classic Buckles in Black and Midnight Blue respectively. Despite the 42mm normally costing more however, the 38mm models are £13,500, while the 42mm are £12,000.

View Watch Edition models

Apple Watch Hermès

The Apple Watch Hermès is only available in selected locations and as you may have guessed from the name, it is a specifically-designed Apple Watch that has been created in collaboration with Paris fashion brand Hermès.

There are 10 models to choose from, as we mentioned, and along with a special Hermès watch face, the Apple Watch Hermès models also feature leather straps handmade by the fashion company’s artisans in France. Each Apple Watch Hermès has the Hermès logo on the underside of the watch body, as well as on the strap. You can read our hands-on here.

There is the Double Tour model for the 38mm size only, which comes in four strap colours and wraps twice around the wrist. The Single Tour model comes in 38mm and 42mm options, with the 42mm available in two colours and the 38mm in three colours. The last model is the Cuff, which is only available in 42mm and the Fauve colour. It features a strap within a strap. Prices start at £1,000 with the most expensive Apple Watch Hermès hitting £1,350 so significantly less than the Apple Watch Edition, but a little pricier than the mid-range.

View Watch Hermès models

Straps

There are seven straps available for the Apple Watch, each of which is compatible with all three of the main ranges.

The cheapest is the elastomer Sport Band and the Woven Nylon, both of which cost £39. The Sport Band comes in 22 colours, while the Woven Nylon comes in seven. The Milanese Loop, which is a flexible magnetic stainless steel mesh, costs £129 and comes in silver and Space Black. The traditional-designed Classic Buckle also costs £129 but this one comes in nine colours.

The Leather Loop is a soft, quilted leather that conceals magnets for quick fastening and adjustment. It comes in six colours and also costs £129, but it is only available for the 42mm model. The alternative for the 38mm is the Modern Buckle with two-piece magnetic closure that comes in seven colours but it’s a little more expensive at £209.

The most expensive strap is the 316L stainless steel alloy with custom butterfly closure Link Bracelet, which comes in Space Black for £449 and silver for £379.

View Watch straps

Best Apple Watch and strap combinations

Let’s quickly do the maths: the cheapest Apple Watch Sport is £259 (38mm) and the cheapest strap that isn’t a Sports Band is £129, a total of £388. That’s £91 cheaper than the most affordable Apple Watch, which starts at £479 (38mm) and also has the Sports Band.

If you can live with the aluminium body rather than stainless steel, then the Sport is cheapest route and with the choice of aluminium colours, it’s an appealing route too. For example, you could get the 38mm rose gold Apple Watch Sport with Modern Buckle for £468, which is a lot cheaper than the £13,500 lookalike. Granted the materials aren’t as premium, but we’re talking about £13,000 extra dollar in your pocket here.

Another good combination is the Space Black Apple Watch Sport 42mm with the Space Black Link Bracelet. The body costs £299 and the strap, which is now sold separately costs £449, for a total of £748. The black stainless steel option costs a total of £949 with the Space Black Link Bracelet so you save around £200 opting for aluminium over stainless steel.

The Watch Sport and its additional colours make the Apple Watch more accessible, but be prepared for splashing some cash if you want to upgrade it with a more premium strap as they don’t come cheap and are therefore the Sport isn’t always the better option. Head to the gallery to see all the standard available options and all the straps to see how you could mix and match.

Gionee’s latest flip phone offers two 720p displays, 4GB RAM, Helio P10 SoC

Samsung and LG aren’t the only vendors making high-end flip phones, as Gionee’s latest offering in this space ups the ante with 4GB of RAM and a faux leather back.

Dubbed the W909, the phone features two 4.2 720p IPS LCD displays, an octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 SoC, 64GB internal memory, microSD slot, 16MP camera at the back with PDAF, 5MP front camera, 2530mAh battery, USB Type-C connectivity, and a fingerprint sensor at the back. On the software front, you get the vendor’s Amigo UI atop Android 5.1.

The W909 is set to go on sale in China for ¥3,999 ($615). What do you guys think of the device?

Apple Will Provide MLB Teams With iPad Pros for Dugout Use

Apple and Major League Baseball have agreed to a deal that will see the sports league’s coaching staffs use iPad Pros in dugouts to make better use of data during games, according to The Wall Street Journal. Baseball managers and coaches have traditionally used notebooks, pieces of paper and binders to keep track of data.

A pitch frequency chart in the MLB Dugout app

Teams will be able sift through performance stats from current and past seasons, weigh potential pitcher-hitter matchups, look at “spray charts” showing where a player is likely to hit a ball, even cue up videos of plays from previous games.

Each team will receive 12.9-inch iPad Pros with rugged cases sporting the team’s logo. MLB’s Advanced Media division, with assistance from Apple, have built an app called MLB Dugout, which will serve as the central destination where managers and coaches can look at their data. “We’re not just replacing binders with tablets, we’re actually helping them do things that weren’t possible before,” Phil Schiller, Apple SVP of marketing, told the WSJ.

For instance, players will now be able to watch video of pitchers during the game rather than having to retreat to the locker room. New York Mets’ third-base coach Tim Teufel noted that the app will likely come in handy when the “game changes in unexpected ways,” like when a pinch hitter steps up to the plate or a relief pitcher subs in.

The Dugout app will serve up proprietary data for each franchise, which means each team will only draw upon their own data rather than league-wide data well. The app will be preloaded before each game, but the MLB eventually hopes to update the app so that data could be provided in real time. The app was tested during the postseason last year.

The deal is similar to the one Microsoft signed with the NFL, putting Microsoft Surface tablets in the hands of NFL coaches and players on the sidelines. That deal was initially marred by glitchy tablets and announcers repeatedly calling the devices “iPads” rather than Surfaces. While the NFL required that the Surface tablets be shown on the sideline during each game, the MLB is making iPad Pro use optional. However, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he thinks most teams will use them, saying that he hopes they’ll help speed up the game.

The MLB has embraced Apple’s technology before, adopting iBeacon technology in 2014 and outfitting 20 ballparks in time for that season.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Tag: MLB
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Robotic Guitarist – A feature rich tool for guitar players and enthusiasts [Review]

Overview Robotic Guitarist is a fully featured tool in a mobile package that is perfect for guitar players looking to have something available for guitar practice on the go. The app provides tools such as a tuner, metronome, custom chords, a virtual guitar, and even sound effects. Developer: Pedrocorp Price: Free (In-app purchases) Highlights Easy

NASA is building a new exoplanet-hunting tool

NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) are done forming the special team of astronomers to build their new, powerful exoplanet hunter. The scientists were selected after holding a national competition and will be led by Penn State University assistant professor Suvrath Mahadevan. They’ll now spend the next three years building the $10 million instrument called NN-EXPLORE Exoplanet Investigations with Doppler Spectroscopy (NEID) for the joint project. Once it’s finished, the instrument will be installed on the 3.5-meter WIYN observatory (pictured above) at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

NEID also means “to discover” in the language of the Tohono O’odham tribe who governs the land where Kitt Peak is located. It’s certainly a fitting name, since the instrument will allow scientists to search for exoplanets on the ground. The tool will hunt for planets, especially Earth-like ones orbiting stars that resemble our sun, by measuring a star’s “wobble.” This back-and-forth movement is typically caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet, so the size of the wobble can indicate the size of planet itself. NASA can then use the power of space telescopes to look into those systems further. The agency is hoping that the instrument can contribute to its efforts to find proof of life — certainly not an easy feat — elsewhere in the universe.

Source: Pennsylvania State University, Physorg, NASA

Scientists use lasers to sniff out E. coli on food

Scientists have developed a better sniff test for that plate of leftovers that’s been hanging out in your fridge. Researchers from the Korea Advanced Institutes of Science and Technology are using lasers (the jury is out on whether they’re of the “friggin’” variety or not) to determine just how much bacteria is crawling all over your stored food. MIT Technology Review says that by shooting a red, coherent laser at chicken breast coated with E. coli and Bacillus cereus, the Korean scientists were able to detect changes in laser refractions, indicating the bacteria’s presence.

Using a camera operating at 30 Hz, the researchers clearly identified the contaminated meat, but couldn’t separate one contaminant from the other. Unlike other advancements in the area, MIT reports that this process is the sort of thing that could go on food production lines or even in a refrigerator, requires no physical contact and works on foods under cellophane. This isn’t a silver bullet for food poisoning, though: It can’t see viral contaminants, or the toxins produced by bacteria that stick around even after the bugs die off.

Should you not have a red, coherent laser and a camera that fires 30 times a second, there’s always the low-tech rule of thumb: When in doubt, throw it out.

Via: MIT Technology Review

Source: arXiv