Lenovo Ideacentre Y900 review – CNET

The Good The Lenovo Y900 includes the right processor/graphics card combo for virtual reality, offers easy access to its spacious interior and includes a premium keyboard and mouse.

The Bad The huge tower case is bland, with just enough gamer-centric touches to not blend in. No options for high-end features like liquid cooling.

The Bottom Line Hitting the sweet spot for price and performance in a VR-ready PC, the Lenovo Ideacentre Y900 is a safe mainstream choice to pair with your HTC Vive or Oculus Rift headset.

Lenovo has had a semisecret side business for years, selling decent gaming PCs at reasonable prices. The Lenovo Y-series gaming laptops have always been of interest to me, as they offered excellent value for a very mainstream combination of Core i7 processors and Nvidia 860M/960M mobile graphics cards, in a chassis that wasn’t as outrageously ugly as most gaming systems.

The desktops have been less interesting — similarly well-priced, but not as mainstream-looking, and gaming desktops just naturally appeal to a very small segment of the computer-buying public anyway. At least until now. There’s suddenly a renewed interest in desktop PCs with high-end gaming parts inside, thanks to just-released Oculus Rift and HTC Vive virtual-reality headsets.

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Lenovo’s VR-ready offering is the Ideacentre Y900, a hefty dark gray tower that adds just enough gamer-like design touches that you won’t mistake it for an office machine. It’s available in several configurations, but the one reviewed here hits what we call the VR sweet spot. It’s a $1,999 retail-only configuration with an Intel Core i7-6700K processor and an Nvidia GeForce 980 graphics card. Lenovo offers different configurations in the UK and Australia, starting at £1,499 and AU$1,999.

You could spend less on a VR-ready desktop (such as the $999-after-bundle-discount Dell XPS 8900), but trading down to a Core i5 processor or an Nvidia 970 GPU is just asking for trouble if you want a VR rig that will last at least a few years. For the launch of the Vive and Rift, however, any of the systems profiled in our guide to VR-ready PCs will run the first generation of apps and games at the required 90 frames per second per eye.

Lenovo Ideacentre Y900

Many gaming desktops dress up their bulky towers with flashing, pulsing light shows (as do some laptops, such as the Razer Blade Stealth). Here, there’s an attempt to add a bit of this, but it’s a halfhearted one. Red accent lights form a subtle design on the front panel, and a lighting control app can dim them or shut them off, but aside from that, there’s little in the way of lighting customization.

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Room to grow

A windowed side panel offers a glimpse inside the case, where there are four hard-drive bays and rooms for a second full-size video card (but for VR, stick with a single card for now — the major VR headsets don’t yet support multi-GPU setups). The panel pops off without a screwdriver, thanks to a button release on the top of the system, allowing for easy access. That’s a plus if you plan on adding bigger storage drives later on, or if Nvidia releases a new generation of desktop graphics cards and you want to stay on the cutting edge.

There’s no liquid cooling, a feature usually only found on specialized machines from boutique PC builders, and the chassis also lacks a top-mounted or opposite-side fan, but there is a top vent, however. Despite this, even in heavy use it never felt especially hot, as there’s a lot of empty space inside the large interior compartment to mitigate heat buildup.

Gmail now lets you ‘drop the mic’ on any conversation

If you’ve ever just wanted to put a stop to an email thread, but with a little added emphasis, Google has your back. Thanks to its new “Mic Drop” feature, Gmail users can now literally drop the mic on any conversation.

From Google:

Today, Gmail is making it easier to have the last word on any email with Mic Drop. Simply reply to any email using the new ‘Send + Mic Drop’ button. Everyone will get your message, but that’s the last you’ll ever hear about it. Yes, even if folks try to respond, you won’t see it.

Okay, so this is obviously another April Fools’ prank from the folks at Google. But like Emoji search in Google Photos, you can actually use this feature in Gmail — for the time being, that is.

Snag a free Moto 360 (2014) when you buy a 64GB Moto X Pure Edition or Droid Turbo 2

Motorola is currently throwing in a free Moto 360 (2014) with the purchase of a Moto X Pure Edition or Droid Turbo 2. The one caveat with the sale is that you’ll have to pick up the 64GB version of either phone to qualify, which puts your starting price at $499 for the Moto X Pure or $720 for the Droid Turbo 2.

If you’re interested in the offer, you can get started by heading to Motorola’s store and adding your choice of phone along with a Moto 360 (2014) to your cart. You’ll then see a $199.99 discount applied to your order to cover the cost of the Moto 360.

As Motorola notes, this deal is only good through April 1 at 10:59 a.m. CT/11:59 a.m. ET, so you’ll want to act fast.

See at Motorola

Thanks for the tip, Isaac!

Postmates adds ‘free delivery’ subscription for $10 a month

Attempting to bring the delivery fight to Amazon, Postmates is launching Plus Unlimited, a delivery subscription service that costs ten bucks a month and gives both customers and companies using it free delivery on all orders over $30. The delivery startup is also celebrating 1 million deliveries a month — so there’s definitely some demand. There’s no service fee if you’re paying monthly, and the company is promising no surge charging when all of a sudden, everyone in your neighborhood wants a burger.
That said, the company is limiting the service to deliveries under $30 so it’d have to be enough McD for a good chunk of the neighborhood in the first place. The company says overs over that amount account for 50 percent of its business. As TechCrunch notes, other companies like Sprig and Munchery have brought in subscriptions for its oft-repeating customers. Postmates is also attempting to give the service an initial boost, by offering free memberships to merchant partners, staff as well as senior drivers and riders that do the actual Postmates delivering.

Source: Postmates

Samsung reps can remote control your S7 for troubleshooting

You know those calls you get from a friend or family member who just can’t seem to figure out how to operate a smartphone? Samsung+ app’s new feature could save you the trouble of having to spend hours helping them figure out how to switch on their mobile data connection or to connect a pair of Bluetooth headphones. The app’s latest update adds a feature called “Assist,” which allows representatives to take over and troubleshoot their phone for them.

They will have to call or contact a rep via video chat on the app’s new live support feature to give him access. But once that’s done, the rep can take things into his own hands. Bad news is that Assist is only available on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge for now, though other devices will get it through carrier updates in the weeks to come. Those who don’t need a rep’s help — or those new to Samsung’s devices — however, can look at the app’s troubleshooting FAQ and tips and tricks library instead. The app’s latest version is now available, and those who don’t even have it yet can get it from Google Play.

Source: Samsung

Teardown Finds iPhone SE and iPhone 5s Displays Interchangeable

Yesterday, Chipworks’ teardown of the iPhone SE confirmed that the new device uses a potpourri of components from several past iPhones, including the iPhone 5s. iFixit has completed its own teardown of the device, and its findings show that the new device includes several components that are interchangeable with iPhone 5s parts.

iFixit found that the iPhone SE’s speaker, chassis, vibrator, SIM tray and display assembly, which includes the LCD, digitizer, front camera, earpiece speaker and proximity sensor are the same parts used in the iPhone 5s. According to iFixit’s testing, the components are easily swappable and work in a “plug and play” fashion.

The non-swappable parts include the logic board, rear-facing camera, Lightning connector assembly and battery. The iPhone SE’s battery comes in at 1,624 mAh, which is up from the iPhone 5s’ 1,560 mAh battery. However, iFixit notes that the SE’s battery comes with a different battery connector, so iPhone 5s users hoping to install a larger battery in their phones are out of luck.

The camera on the iPhone SE also comes with a different connector, using far fewer pins than the connector on the iPhone 5s’ camera. Other differences include a Lightning connector that’s a little different from the iPhone 5s’ Lightning connector, failing iFixit’s compatibility test. The power button bracket also has a contact cable “doohickey,” likely for grounding.

iFixit awarded the iPhone SE a repairability score of 6 out of 10, with 10 being the easiest to repair. While the iPhone SE’s similarities to the iPhone 5s make it easier to repair, it’s still difficult to open because of the Pentalobe screws on the device’s exterior. Like most iPhones, the Touch ID cable is also easily damaged if a user is not careful when opening the device.

Tags: iFixit, teardown
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StubHub app uses VR to show how good (or bad) your seats are

You’re about to buy tickets for an upcoming baseball game, but before you check out, you have to choose your seats. Should you cough up $100 more for club level or should you go for the bleachers and cross your fingers your view isn’t totally horrible? It’s a decision that many a sports fan have faced. But thankfully, StubHub is about to make the process a lot easier. Starting today, the online ticketing service is venturing forth into VR, letting customers get a 360-degree view from available seats before purchase.
You’ll be able to see said view from the StubHub app on Android and iOS, where you can swivel around to see what’s around your selected location. And if you want, you can pop your phone into a VR viewer like Cardboard to get a much more immersive feel. The experience is limited to just Houston’s NRG Stadium (just in time for the Final Four) and AT&T Park (for upcoming San Francisco Giants games) for now, but will likely expand to other venues depending on interest. It’s also worth noting that the “views” you get are just 3D renderings. Rukkus, another online ticketing firm, is working on a similar option but with panoramic photography instead.

“It’s not a feature; it is a platform,” said Devin Wenig, the CEO of eBay, to Re/Code (eBay is StubHub’s parent company). He also plans to bring the same VR tech to eBay itself. You could potentially take a close-up look of high-priced goods like cars or antiques, so you’d know you’re getting your money’s worth. “The plan is to start to attack some of those more emotionally driven categories where the trust gap is hard to bridge.”

Source: ReCode

Researchers believe they’ve discovered ‘anti-memories’

According to new research out of Oxford University, and published in the journal Neuron, a team of scientists believe that they’ve found the neurological equivalent of anti-matter. Just as anti-matter acts as the mirror image of subatomic particles, these “anti-memories” may exist as the bizarro versions of our memories.

Memories, at their fundamental level, are simply electrical connections between neurons. When you make a new memory, the connection between a set of neurons is strengthened. However, if that were the only mechanism in play, the development of new memories would eventually lead to runaway electrical activity in the brain. There must be, as the Oxford team hypothesizes, an inhibiting system that keeps that activity in check. And that’s where anti-memories come in.

These are neural connections that generate the opposite pattern of electrical impulses as the neurons creating the actual memory. This doesn’t impact the memory itself — that is, the physical connection between neurons — but rather it mutes the electrical activity that that connection generates. If it didn’t, memories could potentially trigger one another, resulting in a schizophrenic-like mental state.

Currently the researchers are relying on evidence derived from mouse-based experiments and theoretical models to support the hypothesis, though they have devised a means of testing it with humans. First, subjects are taught to make a connection between a red square and a green one, represented by the orange lines between them in the diagram above. Normally, an anti-memory (represented by the grey lines) would inhibit the memory’s electrical activity, however, if mild electrical stimulation is applied to the brain where the anti-memory is active, the original memory is revealed.

You can actually see that activity in the diagram’s lower row. The small squares represent the neurons associated with the memory. Initially, the neurons only fire when the subject thinks about the red box (A). But after making the new memory, the neurons fire for both the red and green boxes (B) — at least until the anti-memory kicks in and silences the extra activity (C). And when the researchers disrupt that anti-memory, the neurons will once again activate for both the red and green boxes (D).

While these are only preliminary results, they could potentially revolutionize the field of neuroscience. A number of psychological disorders — from schizophrenia to autism — are believed to be instigated by asymmetric electrical activity in the brain. This discovery could open a number of new research and treatment options.

Source: Neuron, The Conversation

Mortal Kombat eSports tournament has a $500,000 prize pool

If you need any more proof that eSports is getting bigger, here it is. Warner Bros. is launching a huge Mortal Kombat X eSports program in April, and the prize pot is just as big: $500,000. The project includes the third season of ESL Mortal Kombat X Pro League, which will pit the best players around the world against each other starting on April 3rd. The top sixteen players will then compete in front of a live audience on June 12, and the final eight finalists will play for a chunk ($200,000) of the prize pot.

They only get 200 grand, because Warner Bros. is also holding tournaments across North America, Europe, the Russian Commonwealth and Latin America. Plus, those who aren’t exactly ready to play against pros can still win money from the Challenger Cup’s online matches for PS4 and Xbox One gamers, which will begin on April 2nd. Bet you wish you took learning those crazy combos seriously now.

Whistle, maker of an activity tracker for dogs, acquired by Mars Petcare

Whistle, the maker of a GPS tracker and activity monitor for dogs, has been acquired by Mars Petcare. Speaking to TechCrunch, Whistle confirmed that it has indeed joined Mars’ pet divison:

“Whistle is excited to join the Mars Petcare family. This opportunity connects the industry’s global and technology leaders, enabling a new era of pet care,” the company tells TechCrunch. “Mars Petcare and Whistle shared a core belief around the importance of pets in our lives, and we look forward to connecting nutrition, healthcare, and technology to improve the lives of pets and their families.”

According to the report, Mars Petcare purchased Whistle in February for more than $100 million — though Whistle did not confirm the figure.

For those unfamiliar with Whistle, the company makes what has been called the “Fitbit for dogs.” Its activity tracker and GPS monitor can be attached to a dog’s collar, from which it then reports activity time, types of activity and more to a connected Android or iOS app.