Apple, Google and Microsoft back EPA’s emissions strategy

The White House and Environmental Protection Agency may have their plans for carbon dioxide emissions reduction hanging by a thread in court, but they’re getting some big allies in their corner. Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft have submitted a joint legal brief supporting the EPA’s Clean Power Plan following a challenge by 29 states. They argue that the emissions regulation is not only realistic, but makes good business sense. Prices for solar and wind power are coming down, and their energy is a hedge against both volatile fuel prices and outages — you can store unused power to ride out a storm, for instance.

The companies add that the same things they’ve done to shift to clean power aren’t going away under the Clean Power Plan. You can still build your own facilities or buy electricity from eco-friendly providers, they say.

It’s relatively easy for these companies to lend their support, since they have the cash and motivations to switch to emissions-free energy. It’s not so simple for states like West Virginia, where coal and other polluting energy sources still dominate. Even so, the brief could help remind the court that tougher emissions controls aren’t necessarily bad for business.

Via: 9to5Mac

Source: EDF (PDF)

This is what it looks like when a neural net colorizes photos

We’ve seen the horrific results of Google’s servers taking acid and interpreting photos with DeepDream, but what happens when a neural network does something altogether less terrifying with snapshots? It’ll go all Ted Turner and colorize black and white images with what it thinks are the right chroma values based on analyzing countless similar photos. At least that’s what a team of University of California at Berkeley researchers experimented with in their paper Colorful Image Colorization (PDF).

The results are all over the map, but a few of the test images — like the puppy and Monarch butterfly above — look pretty good. The algorithms work using a few common sense rules (the sky is typically blue, dirt roads are usually brown and have a similar texture), and “hallucinating” a plausible colorized photo. But the results are far from perfect. For example, the neural net has a hard time coloring within the lines with more complex subjects like vegetables on a plate or keeping a heron bright white.

When it does hit the mark, however, it’s impressive. In fact, 20 percent of the folks surveyed for a “colorization Turing test” were fooled into thinking that the images weren’t monochrome to start. Unless you want to cry yourself to sleep though, don’t look at what the algorithms do with anything from Ansel Adams. Trust me.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: arXiv (PDF), Rich Zhang (GitHub)

Feds promise to help local authorities unlock devices

The FBI has promised local authorities that it’ll help them crack encrypted devices, so long as it’s allowed by law, in a letter obtained by Reuters and Buzzfeed News. Just a few days ago, the agency agreed to open an iPhone and an iPod for an Arkansas prosecutor’s case. Now the feds are assuring local law enforcement agencies they they’ve got their backs, as well. “Please know that we will continue to do everything we can to help you consistent with our legal and policy constraints… We are in this together,” the missive said.

It’s unclear what method the feds plan to use to unlock phones, media players and tablets confiscated as evidence. According to The Washington Post, though, the Department of Justice is debating whether it can legally share the tool it used to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone 5c with local authorities.

If you’ll recall, the DOJ went after Apple for several months in an effort to get the company to unlock the shooter’s phone. Apple held its ground and parried the feds’ demands with strongly worded responses of its own. But in the end, the department dropped its case, because a third-party firm stepped forward to crack the phone’s encryption. The DOJ paid that firm a one-time flat fee for the tool it used, the Post said, and chose to make it classified.

Even if the DOJ lends the tool to local law enforcement, it likely won’t work for every Apple device and will probably be viable only for a short period of time. It was tailored for an iPhone 5c running iOS 9, after all. Tim Cook and his crew could soon find (and issue a patch for) the hole that allowed feds entry to the phone. That means the agency’s fight with Apple could resume at a later time, unless it manages to break through the mobile platform’s defenses again and again, with or without help from outside parties.

Here’s the full letter posted by Buzzfeed News:

“Since recovering an iPhone from one of the San Bernardino shooters on December 3, 2015, the FBI sought methods to gain access to the data stored on it. As the FBI continued to conduct its own research, and as a result of the worldwide publicity and attention generated by the litigation with Apple, others outside the U.S. government continued to contact the U.S. government offering avenues of possible research. In mid-March, an outside party demonstrated to the FBI a possible method for unlocking the iPhone. That method for unlocking that specific iPhone proved successful.

We know that the absence of lawful, critical investigative tools due to the “Going Dark” problem is a substantial state and local law enforcement challenge that you face daily. As has been our longstanding policy, the FBI will of course consider any tool that might be helpful to our partners. Please know that we will continue to do everything we can to help you consistent with our legal and policy constraints. You have our commitment that we will maintain an open dialogue with you. We are in this together.”

Kerry Sleeper
Assistant Director
Office of Partner Engagement
FBI

Source: Reuters, The Washington Post

Oculus Rift and HTC Vive buyers face shipping headaches

Your gleaming vision of a virtual reality future may have to wait a while. Both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive buyers are facing delays and other headaches that are preventing them from getting their VR headsets as quickly as expected. In the case of the Rift, Oculus is telling pre-order customers that there was an “unexpected component shortage” that’s pushing back delivery. The company is promising free shipping to these early adopters as compensation, but they won’t get updated shipping statuses until April 12th — not fun if you were previously poised to get one within days.

Would-be Vive owners, meanwhile, report that their credit cards were declined and didn’t get subsequent attempts. The hiccup led to some buyers either losing their orders or being bumped back in the queue, which is bound to trigger a heart attack if you rushed to spend $799. HTC pins the problem on “processing issues” at banks and is aiming to resume orders in the right order, but it doesn’t have a solid time frame for when everything will be fixed. Look at it this way, though: if you’re a Vive buyer, you can at least take comfort in knowing that your Oculus Rift brethren aren’t faring much better.

Via: Polygon

Source: Brendan Iribe (Twitter), Palmer Luckey (Reddit), HTC

Illinois school district to issue Chromebooks to high school students this fall

Starting with the 2016-2017 school year, freshmen and sophomore high school students in Grayslake, Illinois will be issued Chromebooks for their schoolwork as part of a new 1-to-1 device program. Following a number of device pilot programs and network infrastructure expansion, Grayslake Community High School District 127 settled on Chromebooks as the best digital tool for their system. Students will use the computers with a wide range of web apps designed around their lessons.

From the Chicago Tribune:

“Our goal as a high school district is to always find the best possible instructional resource,” Finger said. “We gave ourselves some time to find the right tool, and I’m really glad we’re going with the Chromebooks.”

Initially, the district will purchase 1,425 Chromebooks for their students, who will in turn be able to purchase them by making payments year to year. The payments for a Chromebook will amount to around $380.

Before deciding on Chromebooks, the Grayslake district conducted pilots with iPads, phones, and other devices. It was not specified which Chromebook models had been purchased by the district.

Oculus offers free shipping on current Rift orders following delays

While pre-orders for the Oculus Rift are now shipping, many customers have found themselves frustrated thanks to delayed delivery estimates for recent orders. It seems that these delays are due to shortages on the components necessary to build the headset. To make up for the inconvenience, Oculus will now be covering the shipping costs for current Rift units that have not yet shipped.

According to an email obtained by PCGamesN, Oculus will provide an update on shipping in mid-April:

We’re working hard to up-to-date ship windows, and you should expect to see your oder status updated on oculus.com by Tuesday, April 12. Although many Rifts will be arriving on schedule and in line with original estimates, we’ll be covering the shipping and handling costs for all orders placed through today.

Just to be clear, this does not mean that Oculus will cover the shipping on new orders. But existing orders should have those costs covered.

Have you received your Rift pre-order yet, or are you still anxiously awaiting its arrival? Let us know in the comments.

HTC working to fix automatic cancellation issues for Vive pre-orders

HTC says that it is working to resolve issues that cropped up with Vive pre-orders earlier this week, when customers saw orders cancelled after the $800+ charge was declined by some financial institutions. HTC says that they have already reinstated some orders that had been cancelled due to these issues.

In a statement, an HTC spokesperson said:

While fulfilling this week’s orders for HTC Vive, a limited number of individuals were affected by auto cancellations due to processing issues with financial institutions. We’re actively working to resolve this, and have already reinstated orders for some customers. We want to assure our customers that we’ll work with them to process their payment so they can receive their Vive when they were expecting it. If you pre-ordered a Vive, we encourage you to contact your financial institution to notify them of upcoming charges.

Shipping for the HTC Vive is expected to begin next week. If you’ve experienced an auto cancellation for your order, you can contact your financial institution, and can 888.216.4736 to contact HTC directly about your order.

Meet the Silicon Valley company bringing electricity to motorcross

Brisbane is a quiet community nestled between San Francisco and the awkwardly named South San Francisco. It consists of drab commercial parks that Highway 101 commuters overlook while heading in and out of Silicon Valley. In one of these gray buildings sits Alta Motors. Like the rest of its neighbors, its exterior calm is only interrupted by the occasional car driving by. But soon, this tiny factory will be bustling with the production of off-road motorcycles and supermoto bikes. They won’t be as quiet as their surroundings, but they’ll be pretty close.

Alta Motors is the brainchild of motorcycle enthusiasts Derek Dorresteyn and Jeff Sand. Their goal is to build electric motorcycles that go fast. That’s far from unique in the two-wheeled world. Even building a electric bike isn’t all that special. What Alta has going for it, though, is that it wants its riders to hit dirt jumps at full speed on muddy tracks without compromise while surrounded by other racers. It wants you and its bikes on a track and in the winner’s circle.

In fact, that’s what the internal ride team has been doing: entering into races. “We’re not looking for the traditional technology early adopter, the technophile, or even the environmentalist. We’re looking for the motorcycle early adopter,” CEO Marc Fenigstein said. The best place to find those folks is at the track where the company has been entering races with pre-production and near-production units.

Alta wants its customers to also be competing against gas motorcycles — especially in motocross. Without a transmission, the Redshift MX (and its SM counterpart) has instant access to torque, which translates into quicker turns and less frustration on rutted tracks. If you’re not worried about shifting, you’re freed up to hit the accelerator and brake to navigate tough conditions.

There’s also the side benefit of riding a dirt bike that’s quiet. Traditional motocross bikes are loud. The decibel-spewing machines aren’t welcome in neighborhoods or parks where the constant racket frightens humans, wild animals, horses and generally just pisses off anyone else on that trail. Although the Redshift bikes aren’t completely silent, they’re quiet enough that if you a prefer cruising on dirt trails you won’t scare away every creature within a two-mile radius.

Of course, as with all electric vehicalss there’s the premium price to consider. The MX will cost $15,000 while the SM will retail from $15,500. But, you also won’t have to buy gas or worry about a transmission, engine or exhaust maintenance. And while the SM’s obvious competitor is the Zero FXS, the company is also going up against industry giant KTM.

Indeed, with its own version of electric motocross and supermoto bikes, KTM could be a formidable opponent. That is, if it announces when these bikes would be available outside of Europe. Alta isn’t worried. It says its bikes are lighter and have more battery capacity (the company sources its cells from the same partners Tesla uses).

“We’re ready to actually go head-to-head with them,” Fenigstein told Engadget. Alta figures it has a head start. Larger companies — like Honda, BMW and Yamaha — move slowly and cautiously into new markets while the Redshift bikes are already being track tested and fine-tuned for production.

But before you see a Redshift bike popping wheelies out of a dealer, the company needs to actually start mass production. It’s a tough path, according to Fenigstein. “Most of us underestimate the challenges that hardware startups [face] getting something to market,” he told me during a tour of the factory. “What we’re showing you today is the difference between a beautiful well-functioning prototype that looks market ready and actual commercial production.”

As Alta works out the kinks of building motorcycles, it’ll slowly ramp up production. The company expects that by next year, it will pump out 200 bikes a month along an assembly line manned by humans instead of robots. It’s something that would have been unheard just a few years ago.

While Northern California is known for app and service startups, it’s also become home to electric vehicle manufacturing. Tesla and Zero both build their vehicles there. Plus there’s Apple rumored foray into the automobile world. CTO Dorresteyn notes that the Bay Area is the where the best EV talent resides, but it’s also about frame of mind. It’s not the concentration of expertise that makes Silicon Valley the ideal test bed; it’s the “culture of risk-tolerant shooting-for-the-stars big aspirations,” he says

Alta hopes that while executives at larger motorcycle companies look at spreadsheets and do market research, it can bring its bike to market quickly. It might not be the first, but it’ll be one of the first. In both business and on the track, that can be enough.

Mini review video: Our verdict on the Oculus Rift in a minute

We’re only three months into 2016, but it’s already safe to say that the Oculus Rift will have been one of the most hotly anticipated products of the year. The virtual realty headset, which began shipping a week ago, debuted to mostly positive reviews this week, including on Engadget. Our own Devindra Hardawar concluded that the headset is immersive, comfortable to wear, and boasts an impressive catalog of games and apps, even at launch.

As a first-generation product, though, it’s not without its flaws. At $599 for the headset alone it’s pricey, and it requires a powerful PC that’s probably expensive in its own right. Motion sickness will also be an issue for some, and the device can be cumbersome to take and off if you wear glasses. That said, despite these growing pains — and the considerable expense — it’s worth it if you want an early taste of the future.

Tesla seriously underestimated Model 3 demand

It won’t shock you to hear that Tesla low-balled demand for the Model 3, but by how much? Er… quite a bit, actually. Elon Musk has revealed that his company expected “1/4 to 1/2” of the pre-orders it got (252,000 worldwide as of this writing) for its first semi-affordable electric car. While he’d expected lineups at Tesla stores, he figured that there would be “maybe 20-30 people” in queue at a given shop — not the hundreds that showed up at some places. As a token of appreciation, Tesla plans to give those in-person customers an extra reward on top of what every pre-order customer will get.

There’s no doubt that Tesla is delighted with the interest, but the data also raises a few questions. How long will it take for Tesla to fulfill all those extra orders? And will demand keep up when the US’ $7,500 EV tax credit (which only applies to the first 200,000 qualifying cars from a brand) runs out? As much as Tesla will likely enjoy having this problem, it won’t be so hot if it means that drivers wait months longer and pay more.

@34thrain Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of what happened. No one at Tesla thought it would be this high before part 2 of the unveil.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2016

Token of appreciation for those who lined up coming via mail. Thought maybe 20-30 people per store would line up, not 800. Gifts on order.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2016

Source: Elon Musk (Twitter 1), (2), (3)