Nokia is back, buying Withings to get into the health tracking wearable game

Just when you thought Nokia wasn’t going to be seen around much more, it’s announced it will buy wearable health tracking company Withings.

Nokia, most recently famous for the release of its Ozo professional grade virtual reality camera, is growing again. After selling its mobile division to Microsoft, Nokia Technologies has moved on from Lumia and is pushing growth, it would seem.

The planned purchase of French health tracking company Withings was announced but it won’t happen until later in the year. Products already on the market from the company include the analogue activity tracking Withings Activité watch plus the oxygen and movement tracking Withings Ox Pulse, to name a few.

Rajeev Suri, president & CEO of Nokia says: “With this acquisition, Nokia is strengthening its position in the Internet of Things in a way that leverages the power of our trusted brand.”

It’s not clear when Nokia made wearables will arrive, nor if they will be branded as such or still use the Withings name. Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies says: “Combining their award-winning products and talented people with the world-class expertise and innovation of Nokia Technologies uniquely positions us to lead the next wave of innovation in digital health.”

Withings is going to be bought for €170 million and the deal should go through early in the third quarter.

READ: Apple Watch 2 might pack cellular data connectivity, faster processor

Esports league bans porn site-sponsored team

Today I learned that porn site YouPorn has its own eSports team. Unfortunately for the site, I also learned that the Electronic Sports League (ESL) has decided that Team YP can’t compete in its eSport events, which include Street Fighter 5, Counter Strike and Starcraft. ESL told VentureBeat that “advertising pornography is not legal in the markets we operate in, and the vast majority of partners we’re working with have strict ‘no drugs, no alcohol, no pornography’ rules that we’ve contractually taken on board.”
“These aren’t new rules but ones that have been in our rulebooks for a long time. We have spoken to Team YP manager earlier this year, and in that conversation we’ve explained the situation and rules in detail and offered to look for potential alternatives in a bigger group. At the same time, we’re consulting with our legal teams about this.”

As Kotaku notes, eSports fans are mostly supportive of Team YP — and it’s not the only team with sketchy roots. G2A, which resells Steam keys, is a regular sponsor of ESL teams and events. And then there’s the gambling sites. It’s another bump in the road for a sport that’s still growing up — regardless of whether its viewers are old enough to watch pornography.

Via: Kotaku

Source: VentureBeat

Nokia will buy Withings for $191 million

Nokia has announced that it’s going to buy Withings for €170 million ($191 million). The French health and wearables company will become a division of Nokia Technologies, home to the Ozo Camera and N1 Tablet. It’s another step towards Nokia’s re-emergence as a consumer brand after Microsoft bought its phone division in 2013. In a statement, Nokia’s Ramzi Haidamus said that his company is now uniquely positioned “to lead the next wave of innovation in digital health.” Withings CEO Cedric Hutchings agrees, saying that he was “excited to join Nokia to help bring our vision of connected health to more people around the world.”

Given the high quality and ease-of-use that you find in most Withings products, $191 million seems like a total bargain. The purchase itself isn’t much of a surprise, since Nokia said that it wanted to branch out into health and wearables, as well as the internet of things market back in October. Withings kills both of those birds with one hefty stone, since in addition to connected scales and fitness tracking watches, Withings produces bed sensors and home monitoring cameras. The all-cash deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2016, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for the new partnership.

Source: Nokia

Former ‘Top Gear’ hosts plan DriveTribe motoring community

With an Amazon series well underway, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are turning their attention to other projects. As Variety reports, they’ve teamed up with entrepreneur Ernesto Shcmitt and Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman to build a community-driven motoring site. It’s called DriveTribe and will launch this fall with a team of 20 full-time employees. The specifics are a little woolly, but the idea is that each “tribe” will be managed by a celebrity, writer or filmer like the Clarkson crew, creating and curating content for their fellow motorheads.

So whether you’re into muscle cars or restored VW camper vans, the idea is that you’ll be able to sign up and find not only a stream of relevant news, photos and videos, but also likeminded fans. Users will be able to contribute to the “tribes” and even set up their own, if they feel their favorite segment of car culture is underserved. Hammond explains:

“Gamers have got Twitch, travelers have got TripAdvisor and fashion fans have got, oh, something or other too. But people who are into cars have got nowhere. There’s no grand-scale online motoring community where people can meet and share video, comments, information and opinion. DriveTribe will change that. And then some.”

Clarkson, Hammond and May are currently filming a new show for Amazon Video, which is expected to premiere this fall. Hammond says the group will always be focused on longform television, but admits DriveTribe is a reaction to the public’s desire for shorter, online-centric content. Top Gear might be popular, but it’s not the sort of video people like to watch while they’re waiting in line for a cup of coffee. DriveTribe could fill that void, and put the troublesome trio in front of even more eyeballs every day.

Via: Variety

Source: DriveTribe

Logitech’s ‘Logi BASE’ Stand Charges the iPad Pro Using the Smart Connector

The Smart Connector on the iPad Pro has thus far only been used for keyboard accessories including the Logitech Create and Apple’s own Smart Keyboard, but today, Logitech is debuting a new accessory that uses a little known functionality of the Smart Connector — charging.

Logitech’s new Logi BASE is a stand for the 9.7 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, allowing them to charge cable-free in landscape mode through the Smart Connector. Logitech sent MacRumors a Logi BASE ahead of its debut, so we were able to get a few days of hands-on time with it.

Made of solid aluminum matching the Silver iPad Pro models, the Logi BASE has a Lightning port on the back to accommodate a Lightning cable, which is used to power the accessory. On the front of the stand, there are three male Smart Connector prongs that fit into the Smart Connector port on the iPad Pro to deliver power to the tablet whenever it’s sitting in the stand. The Lightning port is located right in the middle of the stand, something that I found somewhat inconvenient for cable management when positioned on my desk.

A plastic lip holds the iPad Pro in place, and a rubber bottom ensures the stand stays firmly in place on a flat surface made of wood, metal, granite, or other similar hard material. The iPad Pro rests against aluminum in the back, and while this didn’t cause scratching during my limited testing period, it doesn’t seem as ideal as a rubber coating to protect the aluminum shell of the iPad.

Setting the iPad Pro on the Logi BASE with the Smart Connector lined up slots it right into place, making it much easier to dock the iPad Pro through the Smart Connector than fussing with a Lightning cable at the rear end. It clicks smoothly into place like a Smart Keyboard and I didn’t have any trouble getting it to align quickly.

The Logi BASE has an upright viewing angle that’s ideal for using the iPad Pro as a second screen or as a device for watching videos or other media, and as someone who often uses the iPad Pro this way – as a second screen — I found the Logi BASE to be convenient. Being able to stick the iPad Pro into a dedicated dock on my desk was quicker than plugging it in via the Lightning port and it keeps the power level topped up while the iPad Pro is in use.

Because of the rubber on the bottom and the generous size of the base piece, the stand is sturdy, but there’s not much holding the iPad Pro itself in place so it’s worth exercising some caution because it can be knocked out of place on accident. With an iPhone stand, the Lightning port provides some stability because there’s a stronger physical connection, but with the Smart Connector, it’s a contact connection offering no hold.

With the Logi BASE, the iPad Pro can only be positioned in landscape mode when charging because of the location of the Smart Connector, but it’ll also hold an iPad in place in portrait mode with no stability issues. On the BASE, the iPad Pro can’t be used with the Smart Keyboard, obviously, but it works well with standalone Bluetooth keyboards when docked. It also support iPads and iPhones without a Smart Connector, but it has no purpose beyond serving as a stand with those devices.

A major downside of the Logi BASE is its price. At $99, this is an accessory that’s pricer than a lot of other docks for Apple devices, but it is made from high-quality materials and it does have a built-in Smart Connector and Lightning port. Historically, licensing deals with Apple to use proprietary hardware haven’t come cheap.

As for charging speed, it was somewhat slower than the with the speeds I see when charging through Lightning. Charging the 12.9-inch iPad Pro through the Smart Connector using the standard Power Adapter and Lightning cable that shipped with the iPad Pro took more than six hours, longer than the typical five to five and a half hours that it takes to charge through the Lightning port.

When charging a dead 12.9-inch iPad Pro starting at 4:10 p.m., it was at 50 percent at 7:00 p.m., 93 percent at 10:00 p.m., and 100 percent at 10:35 p.m. According to Logitech, the Logi BASE will charge the iPad Pro about one to two hours slower through the Smart Connector than it takes to charge an iPad Pro with a Lightning cable.

On Apple’s purchase page for the Smart Keyboard, there’s a mention that the Smart Connector allows for a two-way exchange of power and data, but Apple’s marketing has focused on the Connector’s ability to provide power to accessories and not the other way around.

With rumors suggesting the iPhone 7 could potentially include a Smart Connector, accessories like the Logi BASE give a clear picture of the potential use cases of the port on a smaller device. With two-way power features, Apple and other third-party companies could build battery cases and wireless charging accessories able to deliver power without using the iPhone’s Lightning port.

The Logi BASE can be purchased from the Logitech website and Apple’s online store starting today for $99.

Note: Logitech provided a Logi BASE to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this hands-on post. No other compensation was received.

Tags: review, Logitech
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‘VR LAN party’ software launches for free on Thursday

Darshan Shankar has been working on bringing computer screens into a VR environment for two years, and on Thursday his BigScreen software will launch on Steam for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Beta testers have been using it for a couple of months, but once it launches anyone with those VR headsets (and a powerful PC) will have access for free. Users can bring anything that displays on their normal Windows desktop to screens in virtual reality, with up to four people sharing one environment at a time. It uses positional audio to let users talk to each other within VR, but shared audio from the desktops is a feature that will arrive later, along with customizable avatars and Vive controller support.

[Big News] BigScreen launching on Steam this Thursday. We’ve also decided to make it free! https://t.co/jFiC9yjsXs pic.twitter.com/4QD6zhQuF3

— BigScreen (@BigScreenVR) April 25, 2016

In a Reddit thread announcing the release, Shankar explains that its bandwidth and hardware requirements depend on the resolution users select, and how many people they’re sharing an environment with. Streams are peer-to-peer and encrypted, and there’s no latency for a viewer looking at their own screen. To stream a monitor in 1080p to three other people could require a 5 – 10Mb connection, for example. In the future, he envisions charging for upgrades on things like avatars and environments while the core product remains free, like Skype.

Source: Steam, r/Oculus

US government wants cyber forces that think like the enemy

Lawmakers want mandatory training for US military cybersecurity to act as the enemy in war games tailored to test the country’s cyber defenses. The suggestion was included in a recent defense bill. To ensure attacks aren’t confused with real (well, cyber) ones, agreements would be made with the Defense Secretary Ash Carter. One official described the training like the enemy squadrons used by the US Air Force during Red Flag — a flight exercise for fighter pilots.
The Armed Services Committee voted last week to create a training program for cyber opposition forces by the end of March 2016, while deploying cyber red teams against the US’ cyber defenses will need to be agreed upon by September next year. The military would run practice scenarios through out the year. “The committee recognizes that special arrangements will be needed to deconflict training from real-world activities that may happen on mission networks,” the lawmakers said.

US forces have already experienced periodic “red team” cyberattacks over time with positive results, according to Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s operational test and evaluation director.

Source: DefenseOne

AI will frag each other with rocket launchers in ‘Doom’

An AI learning to walk through a Doom-inspired maze by sight is one thing, but how can it handle live multiplayer mayhem? That’s what the “Visual Doom AI” competition this September hopes to discover. The first set of matches are limited to a dozen 10-minute rounds on a known map, with only one weapon: the rocket launcher. The AI “controllers” can pick up health packs and ammo, as well, and the winner will be picked by highest kill count.

The other round mixes it up a bit by allowing multiple weapons and items in full deathmatch on a trio of unknown maps. This is incredibly important for machine learning because rather than typical bots in a game, the controllers here don’t have access to the underlying code or map layout — everything is picked up by visual learning.

Submission deadline for the warmup round is May 31st, and the final competition will take place at this September’s Computational Intelligence and Games symposium in Greece. The real question here, though, is how long it’ll take before DeepMind starts camping with the BFG.

Via: Popular Science

Source: Visual Doom

Logitech’s Harmony app brings smart home control to Android TV

Logitech’s ill-fated Revue was one of the first devices with Google TV — how could we forget that ad campaign — and now it’s back in the fold with an Android TV app. Compatible with hub-based Harmony remotes, it brings control of Harmony Activities to the big screen. Given enough home automation tie-ins throughout your home, it can adjust the blinds, thermostat, speakers and lights to create the desired viewing experience. If you have a Harmony Hub and an Android TV device (like one of Sony’s smart TVs) on the same WiFi network then you’re ready to go, just install the app from the Play Store right here.

Via: Android Police, Android Headlines

Source: Google Play, Logitech

BMW’s EV tech is being used to resurrect the Karma

Saying that luxury electric-vehicle manufacturer Fisker was beleaguered before its demise a few years back would be a gross understatement. But despite the cars self-immolating and Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticizing everything but the Karma’s design, a Chinese auto parts manufacturer is resurrecting the brand under a different name: “Revero.” That’s according to a report from Wall Street Journal. Wanxiang Group is moving production to EV-hotbed California from Finland and will unveil its new ride either in July or August, but pricing hasn’t been announced yet. The previous Karma sold for $100,000.

Perhaps most interesting, though, is how it’s going to address the reliability issues that plagued the company’s predecessor. WSJ says that the automaker is licensing BMW’s electric vehicle control and charging systems — a deal finalized last year. “There are huge, serious, major upgrades throughout the electronics systems, wiring, charging, battery,” Karma’s chief marketing officer Jim Taylor says. In terms of looks, though, it doesn’t sound like you should expect anything to change in that department because the overhauls aren’t going to be visible, according to Taylor.

Wanxiang picked up Fisker’s remains for $149 million a few years back. This deal is important, especially for BMW: If the German automaker’s licensed tech can help Fisker outrun its smoky, checkered past, that’s a high-profile win for everyone involved.

Via: The Verge

Source: Wall Street Journal