Amazon removes device encryption from Fire OS 5 update
As the Apple/FBI encryption story continues to rage on, Amazon finds itself in a spotlight of its own.
The latest updates to Fire OS 5 which is pushing out to previous generation products is greeting Fire device owners with an unwelcome message that device encryption is being removed.
What?
Amazon is but one of the company’s that has joined an amicus brief alongside Apple, yet removing encryption from its own devices.
While Apple fights the good fight, @Amazon removes encryption as option from FireOS 5 | @csoghoian @normative @eff pic.twitter.com/nggBdtFG7j
— David Scovetta (@davidscovetta) March 3, 2016
Amazon’s latest generation products already shipped with Fire OS 5, which would mean, presumably, they’re already in this position. In an attempt to dampen down the uproar, Amazon issued a statement to Engadget
“In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using. All Fire tablets’ communication with Amazon’s cloud meet our high standards for privacy and security including appropriate use of encryption.”
So, you’re left with the choice to either accept the update and go down this path, or stay behind on Fire OS 4. It’s not a good headline for Amazon, though, regardless of its reasons for doing it.
More: Amazon Support Forums
OnePlus 2 update to OxygenOS 2.2.1 gives RAW support to its camera
The OnePlus 2 is getting a new software update that among other things adds RAW support to its camera. The OxygenOS 2.2.1 update is rolling out now, so owners should start to see it on their phones any time now.
It’s still a relatively small update, here’s the full list of whats new:
- RAW support in OnePlus Camera
- Bluetooth compatibility improvement
- Ultra SIM compatibility improvement
- GMS 3.0 upgrade
- Improvement for roaming issues
- Fix for occasional image corruption issue in OnePlus Camera
- Security patch update
- Romanian language support
Importantly this update also seems to include the February security patch from Google. So for now, at least, it’s up to date on that front. If you don’t see it right away, sit tight. These things usually take a few days to reach everyone. If you’ve already snagged it, let us know how you’re finding it in the comments below.
Source: OnePlus
The Honor 5X can be had for £150 at Clove for a limited time
If you’re in the UK and looking for a new phone for not a lot of money, the latest Honor 5X deal is worth checking out. If you head on over to online retailer, Clove, you’ll find a voucher code for £40 off the usual price, bringing it down to just £149.99.
Enter offer code “MAR5X16” at checkout to get your discount. The Honor 5X is the latest in Huawei’s sub-brand, that offers a lot of hardware inside a metal body for not a lot of money. And with this latest discount it’s even more of a steal. EMUI is still an acquired taste, but at this price it’s a crazy good deal. Hit the link below to grab one, they’re only this cheap until Sunday, March 6.
See at Clove
Honor 5X
- Current OS version: Android 5.1
- Current security: January 2016 (More info)
- Honor 5X review
- Honor 5X specs
- 7 things to know about the Honor 5X
- Join our Honor 5X forums
Newegg Amazon Honor
Best Samsung Galaxy S7 edge deals
Samsung’s Galaxy S7 edge will hit shelves on 11 March, with prices starting from £639 for the 32GB model. Pre-orders are already open across the networks though, with some offering incentives like a free Gear VR.
If you can afford to buy the new dual-edge device outright and then pick a SIM-only plan, that’s probably going to be your cheapest option. Some places are offering a free Gear VR here too, like Samsung itself so pick wisely if you’re going to splash the cash. You might as well get a bit more for your money if you can.
Want to know the cheapest way to get your hands on a 32GB Galaxy S7 edge, or some of the best deals for data? Read on.
EE
The cheapest plan on EE is an upfront cost of £99.99 followed by monthly payments of £44.99. Over the two-year contract, you’ll pay a total of £1179.95 and you’ll get 2GB of data, 1000 minutes and unlimited texts a month.
Upping monthly payments to £49.99 but dropping the upfront cost to £49.99 for a total payment of £1249.75 across the two years will give you 10GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts a month.
You could also pay an extra £20 upfront, stick to the £49.99 monthly payments but end up with 20GB data and unlimited minutes and texts for a total of £1269.75 across the two years. There are other deals surrounding these three, but none come with any freebies.
Click here to see the other pay monthly Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on EE
Vodafone
The cheapest plan on Vodafone requires an upfront cost of £199 with monthly payments of £32. Over the 24-month contract, you’ll pay a total of £967 but you’ll only get 500MB of data with 500 minutes and unlimited texts.
Paying an upfront cost of £99 with monthly payments of £45 will give you 6GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts. This costs a total of £1179 across the two-year period and if you pre-order, you get a free Gear VR with this plan too.
For even more data, you can opt for the £29 upfront cost, followed by £50 monthly payments meaning a total of £1229 for 20GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts. This plan also comes with a free Gear VR when you pre-order.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Vodafone
O2
The cheapest plan on O2 will cost you £79.99 upfront, followed by monthly payments of £38.50. This will equate to a total of £1003.99 across the two-year contract for which you will get 500MB data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts.
A £59.99 upfront cost with £46 monthly payments will take you to a total of £1163.99 over the 24 months but you’ll get 3GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts. This plan also comes with a free Jabra headset worth £149.99.
If you want more data, there is a 20GB plan with unlimited minutes and texts, as well as the free Jabra headset. This will cost you £39.99 upfront, followed by monthly payments of £54 for a total of £1335.99 across the 24-months.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on O2
Three
The cheapest plan from Three involves a £99 upfront cost with monthly payments of £41. It will cost a total of £1083 over the 24-month period and it offers 1GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts.
For 4GB of data, you’ll pay an upfront cost of £49 with monthly payments of £50, meaning a total of £1249.
Three also offers all-you-can-eat data for an upfront cost of £49, followed by monthly payments of £62. This plan would cost you a total of £1537 over two years. There are no freebies offered with the Three plans.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Three
Carphone Warehouse
Carphone Warehouse offers plenty of plans for the Galaxy S7 edge but one if the cheapest involves an upfront cost of £199 with monthly payments of £29, costing you a total of £895. This plan is with Vodafone and it provides 1GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts.
A slightly lower upfront cost of £129.99, but higher monthly payments of £36 with O2 will provide you with 3GB of data and unlimited minutes and texts. This plan works out to be a total of £993.99 over the two-year contract.
One of the best deals with more data comes from Vodafone however, with an upfront cost of £149.99, followed by monthly payments of £36. You’ll get 11GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts for a total of £1013.99 across the 24 months.
Pre-order through Carphone Warehouse and you will also get a free Gear VR too.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Carphone Warehouse
Tesco
Tesco doesn’t charge an upfront cost on any of its Samsung Galaxy S7 edge plans. The cheapest monthly payment plan is £41, meaning a total of £984 across the 24 months. You get 2GB of data, 2000 minutes and 5000 texts for that.
Step the monthly payment up to £50 a month, meaning a total of £1080 and you’ll get 6GB of data with 5000 texts and 5000 minutes.
You pay quite a bit more for more data however, with monthly payments creeping up to £60.50 for 20GB, 5000 messages and 5000 minutes. Across the two-year contract, this plan would cost you a total of £1452. There are no freebies with any of the Tesco plans.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Tesco
Virgin Media
Virgin Media offers the same tariffs whether you have TV or broadband with the company or not. The only difference is Virgin customers will get free unlimited calls to other Virgin Mobiles.
Like Tesco, there is no upfront costs. The cheapest monthly plan is £43 for 1GB of data, 2500 minutes and unlimited texts. This costs a total of £1032 across the two-year contract.
For £48 a month, a total of £1152, you will get 4GB of data with unlimited minutes and texts. Jump the monthly payments up to £56 and you’ll get double the data at 8GB. This is the most amount of data available on a plan and it will cost you a total of £1344 across the two-years.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Virgin Media
Giff Gaff
Giff Gaff hasn’t revealed its pay monthly plans yet, but we have worked out how much you would pay across two years with its SIM-only deals if you bought the smartphone outright.
The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge starts at £639. For 1GB of data, 500 minutes and unlimited texts, it will cost you £10 a month with Giff Gaff, for a combined total of £879.
For 6GB of data, 2000 minutes and unlimited texts, it will cost you £18 a month meaning a total of £1071. Giff Gaff also offers an “always on” data plan with unlimited minutes and texts for £20 a month, which with the phone cost would be a total of £1119 over the 24-months.
Click here to see the other Samsung Galaxy S7 edge tariffs on Giff Gaff
Best Samsung Galaxy S7 edge deals summary
If you want to pay nothing upfront, your options fall to Carphone Warehouse, Tesco and Virgin Media.
If you’re happy to pay a bulk upfront, the cheapest monthly plan across the board that isn’t SIM-only is offered by Carphone Warehouse at £29 a month for 24 months.
The cheapest way to get a Samsung Galaxy S7 edge overall with the combination of the upfront costs and monthly payments is also offered by Carphone Warehouse. Unless you can afford to buy the device outright, in which case a SIM-only contract should be cheaper overall.
If you want a free Gear VR when you pre-order, you’ll need to head to Vodafone or Carphone Warehouse. Vodafone is only offering the headset with its Red and Red Value plans however.
It is also worth noting that some networks offer special features, like EE and its Wi-Fi Calling, so be sure to check you will still get these if you don’t buy directly through the network for example.
Apple iPhone SE/5SE: What’s the story so far?
The Apple iPhone 5C was announced in September of 2013 as a cheaper, colourful and plastic iPhone option. It arrived alongside the iPhone 5S, but while the 5S has been succeeded with newer handsets, the iPhone 5C hasn’t been.
Apple stopped selling the iPhone 5C when it introduced the iPhone 6S in September this year, making the iPhone 5S the new cheap alternative. You can still get your hands on the iPhone 5C through other channels, but it’s now an old handset that is very much in need of an update.
That update has been rumoured for months now firstly in the form of the iPhone 6C, then the iPhone 5SE and more recently shifting names to iPhone SE, and that’s what this feature is all about. As usual it will be updated as new rumours appear but for now, here is everything we have heard so far about the iPhone SE, 5SE or 6C.
Apple iPhone SE: Release date
The iPhone 5C was announced in September 2013, which by all accounts is a pretty long time ago. Apple tends to stick to September for smartphone launches but we suspect that trend will be broken for the iPhone SE.
According to 9to5Mac, Apple’s next press event will occur on Tuesday 15 March. The publication claims the event will see the introduction of the iPhone SE as well as a second-generation Apple Watch and iPad Air 3. More recently however, AppleInsider claimed 21 March is the date to put in your diary. There have also been rumours of 22 March but either way, it looks like the third week of March is more likely than the middle.
Apple usually releases new iPhone models about two weeks after they’ve been unveiled and given an online pre-order period, though the iPad Pro took a whopping two months before it released. 9to5Mac said manufacturing of the new iPhone was ramped up in January. If that’s true, Apple likely has a healthy enough stock to begin selling the handset straightaway.
MyDrivers.com claims the iPhone SE will start at 4,000 yuan ($617/£416), meaning it will cost more than the iPhone 5S. It also supports the idea of a March event.
One More Thing
Apple iPhone SE: Design
The Apple iPhone SE is likely to remain at the smaller 4-inch size like the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C. Newer smartphones have all increased in size over the last couple of years, including the latest iPhones and while many of us love the big displays, they aren’t to everyone’s fancy. Analyst Kuo estimates a new 4-inch model will account for 20 million units next year.
We can’t see Apple increasing the size of the iPhone SE to the same as the iPhone 6S so we would bank on a 4-inch screen but a slimmer build is likely. It is expected to come with curved edges like the iPhone 6. That said, serial leaker, OnLeaks, posted a couple images of some alleged iPhone SE cases which suggest a similar shape to the iPhone 5S. OnLeaks claims his sources say it will be 7.6mm, which is the same as the iPhone 5S.
Apple posted a picture of what looked like the iPhone 5C with Touch ID a few months back, which sparked rumours of an iPhone 6C (as it was then called) with the same plastic build as its predecessor. Future Supplier also posted what it claimed was the rear housing of the iPhone SE, also suggesting a plastic build with a very similar appearance to the iPhone 5C. The only notable differences were the camera flash hole and the speaker holes at the bottom.
Other rumours have suggested Apple will ditch the plastic build for a metal build however, which we prefer the sound of and we also think is more likely. Kuo predicts there will be two to three colours available and more recently, we’ve seen more rumours that the iPhone 5SE would offer the same metal design and colours as the iPhone 6S, but in the smaller size – including a photo that suggests as much and a report from 9to5Mac. If this is the case, we can expect the iPhone SE to come in silver, space grey, gold and rose gold.
The metal build is supported by a video apparently leaked from Apple’s Foxconn manufacturing plant.
MyDrivers.com claimed the iPhone SE will pack a slightly curved “2.5D” glass, similar to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, but that the device itself should look largely like the iPhone 5S. It was believed that it would be called the iPhone 5SE because it’s an evolution of the 5S, although with yet another name change, that’s made that theory questionable.
Apple iPhone SE: Display
Apple’s smartphones have never had the sharpest displays according to the spec sheets, even if in reality, their resolutions do the job. In a nutshell however, don’t expect a Quad HD resolution or even Full HD resolution on the iPhone SE. The iPhone 5S has a 1136 x 640 pixel resolution across its 4-inch display so we would expect similar for the iPhone SE.
Both the new iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus arrived with pressure sensitive displays sporting a technology that Apple calls 3D Touch. Rumour has it the iPhone SE won’t be getting this new technology though.
Nowhereelse.fr recently republished a couple of shots of images of what is claimed to be the iPhone SE’s display next to the iPhone 6S’s display. The site marked where the 3D Touch sensors are on the iPhone 6S and where they are missing on the new 4-inch display, suggesting the idea of no 3D Touch is accurate, which makes perfect sense. If it is going to be the budget iPhone, Apple won’t be putting in the latest tech.
MyDrivers.com has claimed the iPhone SE will feature the same screen size found on the iPhone 5S and that’s been backed-up by 9to5Mac reports.
Apple iPhone SE: Camera
Just like the iPhone SE isn’t likely to come with 3D Touch, it also isn’t likely to come with the latest camera so you can expect the same as the iPhone 6 rather than the 12-megapixel number of the iPhone 6S.
This means the iPhone SE is probably going to come with an 8-megapixel rear snapper and a 1.2-megapixel front camera. The True Tone flash will be on board if this is the case, along with the rest of the features such as auto HDR, auto image stablisation and face detection.
MyDrivers.com also claimed the iPhone 6C will feature an 8-megapixel camera.
Apple iPhone SE: Hardware
The Apple iPhone SE, if it arrives, will more than likely sport the same hardware as the iPhone 6. This means the A8 chip and M8 motion coprocessor, which in turn will mean NFC and therefore support for Apple Pay. Kuo suggests the A9 chip, as does 9to5Mac and Bloomberg.
MyDrivers.com also claimed the iPhone SE will feature several internal upgrades, including more RAM. It could debut with 2GB of RAM, just like the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, as well as an A9 processor to make it as speedy as the iPhone 6S. It’s even speculated to sport a 1642mAh battery, which is 72mAh more than what the iPhone 5S offers.
Apple doesn’t do microSD expansion so don’t expect it to appear on the iPhone SE either, but we would expect the storage models to be 16GB and 32GB rather than the 16GB and 64GB of the iPhone 6.
Apple iPhone SE: Software
The Apple iPhone SE will come with iOS 9. Features like Live Photos as seen on the iPhone 6S probably won’t appear however as this is something that comes with the latest camera but you will be able to view Live Photos if someone sends you one.
Other than that and the shortcuts offered by the 3D Touch display, you can expect the same user experience as you would find on the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6 and iPhone 5S.
Apple iPhone SE: Conclusion
Whether or not the iPhone SE will actually appear at all is questionable but there is a valid argument for Apple to update the smaller handset and the rumours have been flying around for a while now. As it’s also being talked about as the iPhone 6C and the iPhone 5SE, we’re not immediately clear on what the name will be if it does appear.
We would like to see a colourful metal build with the same specs as the iPhone 6 but who knows whether Apple will move away from the plastic casing that the iPhone 5C is recognised for. The leaked video suggests it will, but we’re taking everything with a pinch of salt right now.
Should the device appear, you can expect it to be the cheapest iPhone available, run on iOS 9 and feature Touch ID with support for Apple Pay. Anything else is currently just speculation.
Forget what you know about air conditioning
For many of us, it’s hard to imagine summer without air conditioning. ACs make those hot days much more comfortable, they help us sleep, make us more productive and are vital for the elderly who struggle to cope with the effects of high temperatures.
In the US, ACs are often also used for winter heating and remain a must have device all year round.
tado
The challenge of air conditioning
But for all the good ACs have done for us there’s also a flip side – ACs consume a massive amount of energy. Americans use almost as much electricity for cooling than than the rest of the world combined. Almost 90 per cent of American households run ACs, which significantly contributes to the average annual US energy bill of $2,000, while emitting over 100 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.
Global warming is real. 14 of the 15 hottest years on record have occurred in the 21st Century, 2014 being the hottest of them all, until 2015 trumped it. Furthermore, the continued rise of global incomes is resulting in a tremendous growth and demand for air conditioners. A recent study by the University of Yale predicted that a tenfold increase of energy consumption for cooling could happen by 2050, driven primarily by the developing world.
The increasing use of air conditioning has the somewhat ironic cyclical effect of making our cities warmer. The hotter our cities get the more AC we use, the more AC we use the more hot air they pump out. Studies have shown that ACs alone can raise a city’s temperature by over 2°F (1.1°C) in the summer.
tado
A smart solution
For those who are concerned about global warming and their energy bill, but need air conditioning, there is a solution. With new smart technology becoming ever more available a huge opportunity has arisen to reduce our AC use without sacrificing our cool homes.
tado°’s Smart AC Control brings the Internet of Things (IoT) to your air conditioner for better energy efficiency and enhanced comfort and convenience. Through the use of your phone’s location, tado° automatically switches down the AC when the last person leaves the house and switches it back on again when it detects the first person heading home.
With the web-based service IFTTT, the tado° geolocation feature can also be used for purposes other than cooling. For example, when the last tado° user leaves the house, not only will the AC automatically go to savings mode, but simultaneously the lights and electric home appliances like the coffee machine or TV switch off, the alarm system activates and the front door locks.
The Smart AC Control works with all remote-controlled ACs. Whether you have a split, portable or in-window AC, tado° will connect to it by replacing your old remote control. If your AC also works as a heat pump then tado° can be used for your home heating as well as cooling.
It doesn’t matter if you’re at home, at work or on holiday, with the tado° app on your phone you’ll always know your home temperature and can easily change the settings via manual control on your Apple, Android or Windows phone, tablet or computer.
The Smart AC Control saves money and energy, allows for flexible schedules and serves those who want to ensure that their home is already cool once they step through the front door. Studies have shown this can reduce AC use by up to 40 per cent and works equally well for those whose priority is a cool and comfortable home as well as for those whose primary concern is living sustainably.
For more information visit: http://www.tado.com
About tado°
Headquartered in Munich, tado°, the European market leader in intelligent home climate control solutions, was founded in 2011. With its Smart Thermostat and Smart AC Control, tado° revolutionizes the way energy is consumed at home. Through the use of a geo-aware app, tado° automatically adjusts the temperature based on the residents’ locations, enabling households to save up to 31% on energy costs while reaching a higher level of comfort.
Best TV and movies to watch this weekend on Amazon, Netflix, Now TV and more: House of Cards Season 4…
There’s really only one major show dominating news from the streaming services world at the moment; House of Cards season four is now available to watch on Netflix in its entirety. But while we obviously focus on that as one of our streaming highlights for this weekend, there’s still plenty of other shows and films available on other services too.
Indeed, we scour the different apps and channels available on devices such as the Roku family of set-top-boxes to bring you our picks each week. And you certainly won’t be left with “nothing on the box” if you subscribe to any of the major providers.
We’ve also chucked in a show available for free, as long as you own a compatible device. And there’s a delightful Oscar-nominated movie to rent or purchase without a subscription for good measure.
Enjoy.
READ: Best TV shows on Netflix, Amazon Video and Now TV you can’t watch anywhere else
HBO
Vinyl
(Now TV)
Vinyl basically does for the music business what Mad Men did for advertising and Boardwalk Empire did for prohibition racketeering.
Executive produced by Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese, with the latter also directing the two-hour opening pilot episode, it spatters its fictional 70s-based, drug-fuelled tale with representations of real-life rock stars.
Wildgaze Films
Brooklyn
(Sky Store, Google Play, Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand, Amazon Video)
Although it missed out on the three Oscars it was nominated for, Brooklyn did grab a BAFTA for the best British film and rightly so.
It is moving and beautifully paced, with an excellent script by author Nick Hornby, who adapted the novel by Colm Tóibín. Lead actress Saoirse Ronan is also superb as Irish immigrant Eilis, as we follow her attempts to integrate into the New York lifestyle of the 1950s.
Netflix
House of Cards
(Netflix)
Season four of House of Cards is the most recent addition to the Netflix line-up and, excitingly, all 13 episodes are now available to view on Netflix.
Kevin Spacey once again steps into the leather brogues of President Frank Underwood although this time his wife Claire (played by the ever brilliant Robin Wright) can potentially throw so many spanners in the works, the metaphorical house of cards could collapse in spectacular fashion.
Red Wagon Entertainment
Insurgent
(Amazon Video)
The second movie in the Divergent trilogy hits Amazon Video for Prime members to stream as part of their subscription. The adaptations of Veronica Roth’s science fiction novels for young adults have not quite hit the heights of the Hunger Games flicks in box office success, but Insurgent and the original Divergent (also on Amazon for Prime members) are worth catching up on.
Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) continues her fight against the powers that be, with plenty of sci-fi action thrown in for good measure.
Universal Television
Heroes Reborn
(Demand 5)
Still awaiting a name change to My5 on Roku and similar devices, you should visit the older-styled Demand 5 nonetheless as it has the first three episodes of the long-awaited Heroes reboot series.
Few characters have made the transition since Heroes last aired but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This time we see a new breed of superpowered beings hunted by nefarious agents after a terrorist atrocity blamed on one of their kind.
With a Roku streaming player you can turn any TV into a Smart TV. Stream your favourite TV show or movie from one of the 1,700+ channels including Netflix, NOW TV, Sky Store, Google Play, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4, Demand 5 and many more. With a ton of great movies and TV shows available, you can find the perfect title to match your mood. Enjoy hundreds of free channels, your favourite subscription-based services, rent or buy. You choose what to watch, where to watch it, and how much to pay for it!
Don’t have a Roku streaming player yet? Shop now at Argos!
Virtuali-Tee AR t-shirts not for the squeamish, will take your kids on a fun, bloody ride
Engaging children in educational pursuits is a fickle old game. A popular route to success has been with edgy content from shows like Horrible Histories. Based on the books of the same name these highlight the gruesome side of life in the past, in a way that engages the younger members of a family.
This unusual approach not only makes the shows and books more popular but triggers children’s questions about history. It tricks them into thinking about what it would be like to live in a particular period of history.
A new piece of tech is doing a similar thing, but for biology. By wearing a special Virtuali-Tee t-shirt (or getting a parent to put one on) children can use a related app to view their or an adult’s insides in real time. This in itself is pretty impressive, but users can then zoom in and around each of the organs and see them working in full 3D.
The result has that same slightly squeamish, gruesome feel to it. Like Horrible Histories it completely changes how children experience the topic. Biology is no longer something learned at a distance from text books but is instantly applied to their or others’ bodies.
Curiscope
This “squeamification” of education is then taken to the next level by popping the smartphone in a VR device, like Mattel’s View Master or Google Cardboard. This provides a first-person view of the experience.
While the technology to achieve all this has existed for some time, it’s the combination of content and tech that makes the real difference here. In fact, children may not even see it as learning – it’s just a fun look at their insides.
Educationally this is substantial though. Not only does it offer a creative and unusual way to communicate the basic facts of anatomy but it delivers this as a lived experience rather than text or illustrations in a book.
Because the learning is about their own bodies, children instinctively apply it to themselves.
Seeing it in action ourselves, there are all sorts of extensions and applications that spring to mind. One mooted by the developer is to link the beating of the heart to a heart rate monitor on a smartwatch so it matches the wearer’s real heart.
If you want to get in early on Virtuali-Tee there is a Kickstarter project where you can back it.
At internetmatters.org parents can find all the advice they will need to keep their children safe online. Designed specifically for parents, the site offers a wealth of up-to-date, unbiased information and advice about how to deal with online safety. Parents can learn about the latest issues and technologies, get great tips on how to talk about online safety with their children and get the best advice on dealing with issues and taking action. Created with experts, Internet Matters provides detailed information, but also signposts to best-in-class resources from individual expert organisations. Our goal is to ensure parents can always access the information that they need, in a format that is clear and concise.
Robots could get soft, stretchable skin that changes colors
Researchers from Cornell University have developed a potential skin material that lights up and stretches to more than six times its original size. The so-called hyper-elastic, light-emitting capacitors (HLECs) are made from transparent hydrogel electrodes wrapped around an insulating dielectric sheet, allowing them to light up when stretched or rolled. Since the skin can handle twice as much strain as earlier materials, it could function as a skin for soft robots that light up to display “emotions.”
“We can take these pixels that change color and put them on these robots, and now we have the ability to change their color,” says lead researcher Rob Shepherd. “Why is that important? For one thing, when robots become more and more a part of our lives, the ability for them to have emotional connection with us will be important. So to be able to change their color in response to mood or the tone of the room we believe is going to be important for human-robot interactions.”
Another possible use for the material is in wearables, perhaps in conjunction with stretchable circuits. “You could be in a meeting and have a rubber band-like device on your arm and could be checking your email. That’s obviously in the future, but that’s the direction we’re looking in,” says researcher Chris Larson.
However, they also compared it to the skin of an octopus, saying the animal has “pigments that enable rapid and detailed camouflaging abilities.” Since their work is also supported by an Army Research office grant, we know what that means. When the robot revolution comes, the hunter droids will be able to use their stretchable, camouflaging skin to hide themselves in plain sight.
Via: Cornell Chronicle
Source: Science
Epic Games: Microsoft can’t be allowed to control PC gaming
Tim Sweeney, co-founder of Epic Games (Unreal Engine, Gears of War), has written a scathing op-ed about Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform initiative for The Guardian. Sweeney argues that Microsoft is creating a closed platform for Windows 10 “the first apparent step” towards locking down a monopoly on app distribution and commerce.
“In my view, this is most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made,” he continues. “Microsoft is moving against the entire PC industry –- including consumers (and gamers in particular), software developers such as Epic Games, publishers like EA and Activision, and distributors like Valve and Good Old Games.”
Sweeney’s issue isn’t with the Windows Store itself — “I believe Microsoft has every right to operate a PC app store, and to curate it how they choose” — instead, he’s angry that Microsoft is launching new Windows features exclusively to developers that participate in what he calls the “locked-down UWP ecosystem.”
UWP apps are intended to be purchased and updated through the Windows Store (which Microsoft takes a cut from). You don’t get a traditional .EXE file, and it’s difficult to sideload them. While right now it’s not a giant problem, as gamers are free to buy from Steam or GOG, but the fear is that Microsoft will continue to improve UWP while neglecting non-UWP apps, forcing developers to play by its rules. It’s a fear that Valve founder Gabe Newell expressed when Microsoft first added a store to Windows with Windows 8.
The solution, Sweeney says, is to make UWP more open. He wants to see UWP applications that you can download from the web or buy from Steam or GOG. Without that openness, either the PC gaming industry has to follow Microsoft to its closed store, or risk falling behind.
He closes the op-ed saying that Microsoft has been very willing to listen to his concerns over the past 18 months, but “Microsoft intentions must be judged by Microsoft’s actions, not Microsoft’s words.”
We’ll end with a full quote, which sums up his views pretty clearly:
“Their actions speak plainly enough: they are working to turn today’s open PC ecosystem into a closed, Microsoft-controlled distribution and commerce monopoly, over time, in a series of steps of which we’re seeing the very first. Unless Microsoft changes course, all of the independent companies comprising the PC ecosystem have a decision to make: to oppose this, or cede control of their existing customer relationships and commerce to Microsoft’s exclusive control.”
Microsoft responded to the allegations saying “The Universal Windows Platform is a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer, that can be supported by any store.” It also notes that it’s easy to rework UWP software for Android and iOS, and that it made sideloading apps easier in a recent update.
Source: The Guardian
AIVAnet 