Microsoft HoloLens preview: An augmented vision that’s still very much in the future

Microsoft HoloLens is the company’s stab at delivering what it believes is the next big thing. Rather than go down the virtual reality route favoured by Oculus, HTC, Samsung, Google and others, Microsoft believes augmenting our reality is the future.

But can a reality that is augmented deliver an experience that is better than a virtual one, and what is it like to use? First experienced by Pocket-lint at its launch in 2015 at Microsoft’s Build developer conference, we’ve come back for a second go with the hardware a year later – at Build 2016 – to see how the hardware and experience has changed.

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HoloLens: Headset design

In comparison to virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the Microsoft HoloLens is fairly light and diminutive. That’s not to say you are going to enjoy wearing it for any length of time, but it is certainly not as isolating as a VR headset.

The HoloLens device is easy to place on your head and doesn’t come with cables coming out the back. That freedom of not being tethered to your computer by an umbilical cord is not only noticeable, but the most compelling feature of the device. You are free to get on the ground to look at things from a different angle, or just walk around the room without that underlying fear that you are about to trip over a cable dangling from the back of your head.

The HoloLens headset itself is fairly basic it is design. There is an adjusting back strap that works in a similar way to a bicycle helmet allowing you to dial in a snug fit, volume controls on right-hand side and brightness controls on the left.

Two speakers are placed just above your ears provide the sound and save you from having to wear additional headphones. 

Unlike Gear VR or Google Glass there are no complicated swipe commands to learn. HoloLens is controlled by gestures with your hands, your eyes, and your voice.  

The core of the engineering magic is at the front of the unit which can make the device feel a little front heavy in the same way head torches can. It can be pushed forward (away) or back (closer) to adjust the comfort and the visibility of the display. It also means glasses wearers are happily accommodated.

The entire weight rests on your forehead, the screen hovers over your face rather than resting on the bridge of your nose. In our two demo experiences we found ourselves fiddling and adjusting the headset a lot. Oculus and Vive both have fabric straps that go around and over the top of your head, an although the weight issue with HoloLens isn’t anywhere near the same as found in VR headsets, a strap would certainly help. The other help would be to shift as much as the computing hardware to the back of your head rather than the front. A good head torch has the batteries at the back of your head, and we can’t help feel Microsoft should take the same approach here to balance it out.

The main display is projected on the inside of a curved wraparound glass that covers most of your face. Like VR you aren’t going to look cool, but at least you can see when people are laughing at you.

Microsoft

HoloLens: The AR display

If you watch any of the visual demos showcased by Microsoft you get the feeling that the entire world around you is augmented, coffee tables become gaming landscapes, virtual cadavers are waiting to be dissected, and far off planets are ready to be explored.

In reality, and rather disappointingly, the screen is really only displayed on a faction of the wraparound glass you see in the hardware.

Unlike VR, you don’t get the augmented 3D objects within your complete field of vision. Like Google Glass in a way, you are faced with a screen that hovers in front of your face rather than wraps around the entire visor. This means that tall objects in a room can only be viewed in segments as you move your head around. It’s like watching everything through a letterbox. The picture above is what we were able to see when seeing the solar system demo, compared to what Microsoft wants you to believe you’ll see as in the lead picture at the top of this article. 

Stand back and you get to see more of the augmented reality in front of you, go close and your field of view is dramatically cropped.

The screen itself is crisp and clear, easily viewable in the environment we used it in, although we should add that was a fairly dark room with no natural light. Information is displayed on the screen and sensors monitor your eye movements so the system doesn’t get confused. Turning the brightness down does blur the lines of when the screen starts and stops, but then you lose detail because you can’t see everything especially when in a brighter environment.

If there is disappointment to be had, it is the size of the projected screen. In our two demoes it ruined a lot of the wow factor and the experience. For this to really work, and really wow, it needs to be fully immersive, and at the moment it is not.

HoloLens: Controls

Unlike VR that requires you to hold paddles or controllers to control the action, HoloLens is controlled by simply using your voice, eyes, and hands, or more specifically, a pinch of your finger and thumb in the air in front of you.

That, as you can imagine, frees the experience even more. There are no complicated controls to learn, and because the unit tracks your line of sight, your eyes are the controller of a virtual cursor. In the case of our demo that was represented by a fixed spot that you control by looking at what you wanted to action and then pinching your fingers, or as Microsoft calls it an “air tap” to action it or simply barking orders with set commands.

The system is incredibly responsive and the tracking spot on. There was no point where we felt we were having to wait for something to happen or for the system to catch up. This is fluid computing at its finest and works very well whether you are “actioning”, taking a picture, or firing a ball at a robotic avatar floating over someone else’s head.

HoloLens: Software demos

Microsoft has been keen to show off various demos of HoloLens ranging from using it as a medical training tool to be able to peel away at parts of the body to see where specific organs sit or nerve patterns form, to giving one to NASA for astronauts to use on the International Space Station.

For the Xbox Spring Showcase we played with Halo 5 on HoloLens and for Build 2016, Microsoft’s hands-on demos included a one and a half hour coding and experience demo dubbed the HoloLens Academy, and a partnership with NASA allowing participants to experience Mars.

Microsoft

HoloLens: Halo 5 demo 

After agreeing to leave our cameras and phones in our bags – hence no actual photography – we were lead into a holding area designed to look like the inside of a starship. After having our eyes measured for the device we were soon to don it, and thematically Microsoft had done a cracking job. Even the HoloLens units were painted a different colour and styled more like Master Chief’s helmet.

We had to then stand on a marker and wait for the unit to kick in. When it did there was a waypoint within our field of vision, seemingly placed 1.5 metres away. We walked towards it and suddenly an arrow pointed us to the left.

Inside the next chamber was a hexagonal briefing table – again sticking with the starship theme – and our briefing begun – in 3D and augmented in front of us much like the Death Star briefing in Star Wars.

Unfortunately, because you only see a small window of the hologram – a rectangular view with cut off points left, right, top and bottom – we had to keep looking up and down to get the entire 3D briefing map in view. That said though, the 3D models of foes and ships we would face in the coming game element looked great. And they were clear and well defined.

We also liked the graphical pointer that guided us to a comms chip (USB stick) sticking out of our part of the briefing table.

Microsoft

HoloLens: Destination Mars demo

Destination: Mars, will open at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida this summer, allowing you to “visit” several sites on Mars. Using real imagery from the Curiosity Mars Rover you’ll also get to see Buzz Aldrin – the Apollo 11 astronaut – as a holographic tour guide. The idea is to give space centre guests a “glimpse of Mars as seen by mission scientists,” according to NASA.  

The demo is clever, but hardly a good way to show off the full capability of HoloLens. It delivers an experience more like virtual reality and doesn’t really benefit from the augmented that HoloLens provides.

The demo consists of you in a black room of about 40m2, walking around discovering the Martian landscape. The freedom to walk around is the key selling point here and really plays to the HoloLens’ strength of being wireless, but it is an experience that would have been better suited to virtual reality and in particular the HTC Vive.

Having experienced Everest through Vive previously, it is a far more immersive experience than that of Destination: Mars.

To get any sense of immersion with HoloLens we had to stand back from the action. To get Buzz Aldrin in full frame (head to toe) for example, we had to stand about 10m back.  

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HoloLens: The HoloLens Academy

The HoloLens Academy demo saw us “loosely” code our way through creating an app. The app in question involved creating an “energy hub” that we were able to place anywhere within our immediate vicinity and then interact with it from anywhere in the room. As the demo progressed we introduced virtual avatars that sat on the shoulders of other HoloLens users in the demo with us, and eventually use small metal looking balls to destroy them, before ending up destroying the “energy hub” to reveal a secret base that descended into the floor.

The clever part is the headset’s ability to place and track objects regardless of where you are, and that the experience can be shared over a number of headsets at the same time.

Although simple, it shows the huge potential for HoloLens, certainly in the collaboration space, but also in overlaying augmented experiences over everyday objects.

You can quickly imagine wearing this to understand how something needs to be fixed, or as in the case of the medical cadaver, where organs actually sit within the body.

If Microsoft can solve the small screen concerns and make this truly immersive then the possibilities would and could be endless.

First Impressions

There is no denying that what Microsoft has created is impressive, but there is also no denying that it is incredibly early days for the company’s augmented reality device.

As it stands there are so many barriers stopping the HoloLens becoming an instant success, that we suspect we are a good 3 to 5 years away from it becoming something you’ll be putting on your Christmas list.

For us the concept is sound, the technology works, and we like the freedom of movement and lack of controllers, but the hardware is not currently up to the job. The small screen really does hamper the experience, as does the goofy looking hardware.

There’s also the fact that a year in the experience doesn’t seem to have moved forward as much as we would have expected, certainly when compared to the development of HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.

The Microsoft HoloLens very much reminds us of VR headsets in the early days, the promise is there, but the reality is still out of reach.

At $3,000 for a developer unit, we suspect that this will follow the same path of Google Glass in terms of “publicity” and interest. Companies will dabble, consumers will be excited from afar, and a few will get to try it at places like the Kennedy Space Center. Microsoft’s task will be to make sure the HoloLens doesn’t befall the same fate.

For consumers this is a one to watch, but don’t worry about starting to save anytime soon.

Unique white dwarf will help clarify what happens to dying stars

Researchers have discovered a white dwarf (a dead star), with an oxygen atmosphere surrounding it — the first of its kind. Astronomers managed to pick up the star from spectral lines: colored trails that help show the composition of distant stars. Most white dwarfs have hydrogen or helium in their atmosphere, but this one was giving off a shade that corresponded to almost pure oxygen.

Astronomers had posed that this kind of white dwarf could exist, but this is the first real proof and it could change conventional theory on what happens when a star dies. When a star begins to collapse, the heat produced causes the outer parts to expand hugely.

“We don’t make models of things we don’t know exist. But now that we know this star exists, we have to calculate the model for it.”

These are then shed away to leave the bright glowing center; a white dwarf. This process leaves elements like hydrogen and helium in the atmosphere, because they’re lighter — so why does this particular star have so much (heavier) oxygen on show? As the study’s author, Kepler Oliveira, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul said: “We don’t make models of things we don’t know exist. But now that we know this star exists, we have to calculate the model for it.” Currently, there are multiple theories, but now they have something to work with.

Via: The Verge

Source: Science

Kanye West’s new album arrives on Spotify and Apple Music

You can finally listen to Kanye West’s new album, The Life of Pablo, on a streaming service that isn’t Tidal, including Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music. The much-anticipated record has been a Tidal exclusive since February, although since then the rapper has been quietly tweaking and refining many of the headline tracks. It’s rare for an artist, especially one as big as Kanye, to fine-tune an album in such a public manner. Notably, The Life of Pablo is also available to purchase now — something the broke superstar had previously promised would never happen.

My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale… You can only get it on Tidal.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

To buy a copy, you’ll need to go through Kanye’s website. Notably, there’s been no indication that the album will be sold through iTunes, Google Play Music and other digital stores at a later date. So if you manage a personal library through either iTunes or Play Music, your best bet is to buy the tracks and import them manually. It’s also unclear if The Life of Pablo will ever get a physical release — we wouldn’t count on it, although as with anything related to Kanye, it’s never outside the realm of possibility.

Source: Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music

BBC Bitesize app puts revision flashcards on your phone

It’s no secret that many teenagers, just like adults, are hopelessly addicted to their smartphones. With this in mind and exam season just around the corner, the BBC has launched an app for its popular Bitesize learning platform in the UK. It offers brief explainers and short, personalised revision flashcards for the core subjects — English, maths and science. These can include text, audio, video, infographics, quotes and quizzes. Whatever works best to make the information stick, basically.

For now the app is a supplement, rather than a replacement, for the Bitesize website, which offers a deeper and broader range of topics. The BBC says it will be updated over time, however, with additional subjects and new functionality. The advantage, of course, is that a mobile app should always be accessible, regardless of where the student is and how much time they have to kill. Instead of carrying a laptop or hefty revision textbook, they can pop open their smartphone while they’re waiting in line for…whatever it is students wait in line for these days. The cinema?

Via: BBC (Press Release)

Source: BBC Bitesize (Android)

LG’s Jason Statham ad is as weird as the G5

There’s no denying it: the LG G5 is weird. The Korean company is pitching its latest flagship as a do-everything device and selling a bunch of accessories called “Friends” that expand its capabilities. There’s a swappable battery, a camera grip, a VR headset, a VR camera, a high-res audio attachment and even a rolling robot. Our first impressions of the device, and its Friends, were good, but one question remained: How exactly would LG market the G5? The answer, at least initially, is an equally weird ad with Jason Statham:

Let’s unpack this. Throughout the minute-long spot, Statham’s face is literally everywhere. It starts with a bunch of Stathams huddled around an LG G5 on a crowded subway. A fight breaks out, before we randomly see the high-res audio attachment, and then switch to a Stathamized mother and baby. Cue cross-dressing Stathams played for laughs, and a quick shot of the camera grip.

A quick aside: Throughout the commercial, we see Statham clicking in modular accessories and batteries. In the real world, switching accessories (at least the ones that plug directly into the phone’s expansion port) requires the phone to turn off and boot up again. Small print on the ad points this out.

Some mayhem later, and the British model-turned-action-star’s face is now in a bank heist, where all the hostages are playing with G5s. We then briefly see the rolling robot and VR headset, before we switch to a Pamplona-esque running of the bulls, which is LG’s chance to highlight the VR camera:

Sorry, your browser doesn’t support HTML5 video.

It’s a terrible piece of filmmaking, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a terrible ad. It’s fun, and memorable — helped by the background track, Ievan Polkka, being one of the catchiest songs ever. The problem is, apart from a voiceover at the end stating that the phone has “a modular design,” it fails to explain why anyone would want a G5, or one its Friends.

Do you need to change the LG G5’s hardware to listen to music? What does that weird camera grip even do? Wait is that robot a camera? What’s that thing he holds up at the end? I know the answer to all those questions, but someone coming to the ad without knowing about the device will surely be confused. Hopefully LG follows up this spot with short looks at each of the accessories.

Tesla Unveils $35,000 Model 3 Electric Car, Shipping Late 2017

The highly anticipated Tesla Model 3 electric car was unveiled by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday night in a converted hangar in Los Angeles, California.

The company’s first mass-market electric car was driven onto a foggy stage in an extravagant unveiling, where Musk revealed that the Tesla Model 3 will seat five, and be able to cover at least 215 miles on one charge.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils the Model 3 in Los Angeles (Image: TechCrunch)
Musk said the standard Model 3 would be capable of zero to 60 miles per hour in less than 6 seconds, and will cost $35,000, which is half that of the company’s current flagship cars, the Model S sedan and Model X crossover.

Despite photo restrictions at the unveiling, TechCrunch was able to get some good shots of a red Model 3, which looks like a more sporty version of the company’s Model 5.

The Model 3 will also feature Autopilot for assisted driving and be future-proof for self-driving road use. Shipping begins late 2017, by which time Tesla says it will have doubled the number of charging stations worldwide and will include charging for free.

The Model 3 is Tesla’s attempt to bring electric cars to the mass market and is considered critical to the company’s future success.

Interest has been strong, with yesterday’s reservations for the Model 3 at Tesla stores and galleries – some of which are located directly adjacent to Apple retail stores – arguably eclipsing the launch of the iPhone SE. Musk later boasted on stage that the company had already secured 115,000 reservations before the car had even been revealed.

The full selection of photos of the red Model 3 is available on the TechCrunch site. The video below, posted by iVenyaWay, shows off Tesla’s new car in silver. A matte black option briefly features towards the end.

Apple is widely believed to be working on its own electric road vehicle, commonly referred to as the Apple Car, which Musk has called an “open secret” in the industry. According to Musk, the hundreds of engineers Apple has taken on make it clear there’s an electric car in the works.

Apple and Tesla have hired each other’s employees over the last couple of years, with Musk saying that Apple has hired away “very few people” from the car company despite offering $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary increases to its employees. Tesla meanwhile has hired nearly 150 Apple employees.

You can watch the full unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 here.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
Tag: Tesla
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Apple Patent Details Modular Smart Bands for Apple Watch

Apple has filed a patent application hinting that the company could be working on modular smart bands for the Apple Watch, allowing users to add functions such as wireless charging battery packs and GPS receivers to an existing timepiece (via AppleInsider).

The application, titled “Modular functional band links for wearable devices”, was published yesterday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and details strap designs with embedded electronic devices that connect via the Apple Watch’s diagnostics port.

Rather than building complex components into the Apple Watch chassis, the designs propose breaking functional units out into a range of separate watch band ‘links’ that can work serially or in parallel.

A number of Apple Watch accessories with added functionality are described in the patent, including batteries, displays, processors, electricity generators, GPS sensors, cameras, thermometers, blood pressure sensors, sweat sensors and speakers.

Arranged as links, the modules would connect to each other and to the 6-pin diagnostics port on the Apple Watch. In some cases, links also act as an external port for accepting electronic components, such as a SIM card or powered memory module.

Even before the launch of the Apple Watch, the inclusion of a diagnostics port on the device fueled speculation that Apple is planning to bring smart band accessories to market at some point in the future. However, if the patent is indicative of upcoming Apple Watch products, such a significant extension of functionality would more likely be held back for inclusion in a second-generation device. Apple Watch 2 is expected to launch later in the year.

Apple refreshed its Apple Watch lineup on March 21, 2016, introducing new spring colors in yellows, blues, and pinks, along with new Nylon Apple Watch bands.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2
Tag: appleinsider.com
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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Quantum Break review – CNET

The Good Quantum Break features a spectacular set of special effects and in-game visuals. The game’s time powers are undeniably cool. The TV show element provides a unique experience that connects the game’s complex story.

The Bad Although pretty to look at, a lot of the game’s action feels repetitive and uninspired. The TV show might not be for everyone.

The Bottom Line Quantum Break is a unique videogame/live-action TV show hybrid that features dazzling visual effects and presentation. Even though its gameplay falls a bit short the whole package is probably worth experiencing — just maybe not at full price.

A lot of Quantum Break is about the struggle of duality.

On one hand, the game is like nothing you’ve ever seen before, with its blend of time travel powers, striking visual effects and live action TV episodes. Yet on the other, it cowers into a trite presentation of cookie-cutter gameplay that painfully conflicts with its otherwise big ambitions.

I enjoyed playing through Quantum Break, but a part of me could not let go of what could have been.

Remedy Entertainment

In the game you play as Jack Joyce (played by Shawn Ashmore), who through an old friend (Aidan Gillen), finds himself at the center of a time travel experiment gone wrong. The accident leaves Joyce with powers that let him manipulate time. You’ll use these to get the drop on enemies and progress through some light puzzle solving.

These powers are meant to be chained together to pull off successions of great triumph, but they don’t always allow for the smoothest of transitions. While they look superb, they can also handcuff you at inopportune moments.

At its core, Quantum Break is a third-person-shooter. And just like developer Remedy Entertainment has done in the past (see Alan Wake and Max Payne), you’ll clear out area after area of enemies until a cutscene pushes the story further.

Almost immediately your character is pursued with deadly force by what appears to be some kind of SWAT team and you’re put into a situation where you must kill nearly everyone you come into contact with.

Remedy Entertainment

I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting the gameplay to boil down to, but it’s probably my biggest letdown with the title as a whole. It’s undeniably stunning to watch and can make for some really satisfying sequences, but about a third of the way through I started to feel like I was continuously witnessing rehashed gameplay wrapped up in dazzling particle and lighting effects.

Overall there is not a wide variety of enemies and some of them are victims of subpar AI — not to mention the heaviest soldiers are bested way too easily. There’s a light upgrade system in place that can flesh out your time powers, but you’ll quickly realize there’s only a few items you’ll need to max out.

So there you have it. Quantum Break beats a dead horse with its gameplay. But what about everything else?

Graphically, Quantum Break definitely impresses. You’re guaranteed to experience a handful of “whoa, cool,” moments for sure. There’s a rippling time glitch effect that’s used nearly every step of the way and it’s endlessly satisfying.

Performance-wise the game does well for the most part, but it’s obviously pushing the Xbox One to its edge. Quantum Break can feel sluggish at times and has a slight control latency that you’ll just need to get used to. For a shooter it’s a bit of a handicap.

Remedy Entertainment

On the narrative side, things are a bit of a mixed bag. No one would ever deny that Remedy Entertainment takes storytelling seriously, but the game’s relentless barrage of collectible emails and the like isn’t the way to do it anymore. In a game that features tons of exposition at every turn I just can’t bring myself to scroll through hundreds of pages of backstory.

Bose SoundTouch 10 review – CNET

The Good The Bose SoundTouch 10 is a very compact speaker that plays much bigger than its size would indicate, and it offers convenience features like Bluetooth and shortcut buttons. The app is pleasant to use and most functions are straightforward. The sound is impressive with surprisingly punchy bass (for a small speaker) and an articulate, exciting midrange.

The Bad The revealing nature of the speaker means some genres of music can sound a little harsh at higher volumes. There’s no mute button no integrated battery for on-the-go use. The competing Sonos offers more services over Wi-Fi, more sound-tailoring features and a superior app.

The Bottom Line The affordable Bose SoundTouch 10 is an impressive sounding compact Wi-Fi wireless speaker that also offers Bluetooth connectivity.

Bose’s SoundTouch 10 is the smallest and least expensive Wi-Fi speaker in the company’s line of DIY wireless multiroom audio systems, all of which added Bluetooth to their features list in late 2015.

At $200, £160 or AU$299, the SoundTouch 10 competes with Sonos’ Play:1 speaker. It’s similar in size, though the Bose is taller and thinner, measuring 8.34 by 5.56 by 3.43 inches (21.2 cm by 14.1 by 8.7 cm). It’s lighter, too, weighing 2.9 pounds (1.3 kg) compared to the Play:1’s 4.3 pounds (2 kg). Despite being compact, however, neither speaker has an integrated battery for on-the-go use; they must be plugged into an outlet. (Note that you can step up to SoundTouch 20 and SoundTouch 30 models — they’re bigger and pricier, but with identical features.)

Like Sonos, you connect SoundTouch speakers to your Wi-Fi network and control operation via a free app that’s available for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices. While your phone or tablet acts as remote Bose also includes a small remote control that mimics the six preset buttons on top of the speaker. Those presets can be mapped to playlists from various music sources, including Spotify, Pandora and Deezer, as well as Internet radio stations, though currently not the Apple Music service.

The Bose SoundTouch 10 has six ‘shortcut’ preset buttons on top of the speaker.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Early in 2016, Bose integrated the Spotify music streaming service into its SoundTouch app (you can also use Spotify Connect to stream music to a SoundTouch system directly from the Spotify app). Like Sonos, Bose keeps updating its app, adding new features, and improving the interface. It’s come a long way since its launch a few years ago and setting up the system is now significantly easier than it once was.

While Sonos’ remains a step ahead — we still prefer its app, and it has a wider selection of integrated streaming services — Bose has closed the gap and is now Sonos’ most serious competitor, with a wide range of speakers and home-theater systems that bear the SoundTouch name, all of which are able to interconnect as part of a whole-home multiroom audio system.

You can wirelessly link speakers to play the same music in separate rooms or have different music playing in different rooms. However, unlike Sonos, you currently can’t link two speakers and turn them into a true stereo pair, designating one speaker as left, the other as right. That may change in the future.

In terms of file compatibility, the speaker will stream music from your network and supports playback of MP3, WMA, AAC, Apple Lossless and FLAC. Audiophiles should be aware that like Sonos and Denon’s HEOS system it will only support CD-quality files and not 24-bit high-res files.

Gmail’s ‘mic drop’ pulled as minion GIFs infiltrate work emails

It’s all fun and games until a GIF loses you your job.

Perhaps Google should’ve seen this one coming. For April Fools Day, that annual celebration of brand desperation, Google’s Gmail team debuted the “Mic Drop” feature. A bright orange button next to the regular send button would let you send your message and attach a little GIF of a minion dropping the mic.

Hilarious! Except when you don’t see the pop-up warning and accidentally attach whimsical animations to an important work-related email. Gmail’s support forum is packed with posts from angry users, including some purporting to have missed out on career opportunities or even lost their job over an inappropriately timed dropping of the mic.

The situation wasn’t helped by the Mic Drop button having taken over the spot usually reserved for “Send and Archive” in Gmail’s web interface. If you’re used to hitting this button, muscle memory could have easily led you astray. When you’re talking about a service relied on by hundreds of millions of people, that’s a recipe for bad times.

As such, it’s now been pulled, leaving “Mic Drop” as yet another cautionary tale for major tech firms on April 1.

Stay safe out there.

MORE: Android-related brands attempt to do comedy