What’s on your HDTV: ‘The Revenant,’ ‘Better Call Saul,’ ‘Game of Thrones’

As the NBA and NHL playoffs get into gear, it’s also time for the second season of Better Call Saul to wrap up. Meanwhile, The Revenant is ready on both Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray, while Star Fox Zero is coming home on Wii U. Of course, the big hitters this week are HBO’s Game of Thrones and Silicon Valley, but before those arrive Sunday night we can expect the full third season of Deadbeat on Hulu, Thunderbirds are Go on Amazon, and a new Patton Oswalt comedy special on Netflix. Finally, after the season finale of Broad City, check out Ilana Glazer in the Time Traveling Bong mini-series. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• The Revenant (4K)
• Ip Man 3
• Silicon Valley (S2)
• Love 3D
• Haven (final season)
• Veep (S4)
• And Then There Were None
• Dirt Rally (PS4, Xbox One)
• Invisible Inc. (PS4)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Eclipse DLC (PS4)
• Galaga (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Dig Dug (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Ms. Pac-Man (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Overpower (PC – Early Access)
• Don’t Starve Together (PC – Linux, Mac & Windows)
• Lumo (PS4, Xbox One)
• Star Fox Zero (Wii U)

Monday

• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (season finale), CW, 8PM
• Supergirl (season finale), CBS, 8PM
• Dancing with the Stars, ABC, 8PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• American Dad, TBS, 8:30PM
• 12 Monkeys (season premiere), Syfy, 9PM
• Mapplethorpe, HBO, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Damien, A&E, 10PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 10PM
• Better Call Saul (season finale), AMC, 10PM
• Billion Dollar Wreck, History, 10PM
• Talking Saul, AMC, 11PM
• Bitten, Syfy, 11PM

Tuesday

• New Girl, Fox, 8 & 8:30PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8PM
• The Flash, CW, 8PM
• Real O’Neals, ABC, 8:30PM
• Containment (series premiere), CW, 9PM
• Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine (season finale), Fox, 9PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9PM
• The Outsiders (season finale), WGN, 9PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• The Grinder, Fox, 9:30PM
• The Night Manager (miniseries premiere), AMC, 10PM
• Stitchers, Freeform, 10PM
• Awkward, MTV, 10PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10PM
• Beyond the Tank, ABC, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Faking It, MTV, 10:30PM

Wednesday

• Deadbeat (S3), Hulu, 3AM
• The Path, Hulu, 3AM
• The Fashion Fund, Amazon Prime, 3AM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Rosewood, Fox, 8PM
• Heartbeat, NBC, 8PM
• Empire, Fox, 9PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM
• The Americans, FX, 10PM
• The Last Panthers, Sundance, 10PM
• Catfish, MTV, 10PM
• Broad City (season finale), Comedy Central, 10PM
• Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, CBS, 10PM
• Nashville, ABC, 10PM
• Underground, WGN, 10PM
• Time Traveling Bong (series premiere), Comedy Central, 10:30PM

Thursday

• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
• Strong, NBC, 8PM
• Bones, Fox, 8PM
• WWE SmackDown, USA, 8PM
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 8PM
• The Odd Couple, CBS, 8:30PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• The Blacklist, NBC, 9PM
• The Eighties, CNN, 9PM
• Mom, CBS, 9PM
• 2 Broke Girls, CBS, 9:30PM
• Inside Amy Schumer (season premiere), Comedy Central, 10PM
• Archer, FX, 10PM
• Rush Hour, CBS, 10PM
• The Catch, ABC, 10PM
• The Real World, MTV, 10PM
• Orphan Black, BBC America, 10PM
• The Vikings (spring finale), History, 10PM
• Time Traveling Bong, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Adam Devine’s House Party, Comedy Central, 12:30aM

Friday

• Thunderbirds Are Go (S1), Amazon, 3AM
• Patton Oswalt: Talking for Clapping, Netflix, 3AM
• The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
• The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
• Caught on Camera, NBC, 8PM
• Last Man Standing (season finale), ABC, 8PM
• Dr, Ken (season finale)
• Grimm, NBC, 9PM
• Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9PM
• Motive, USA, 10PM
• Banshee, Cinemax, 10PM
• Time Traveling Bong (season finale),. Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Vice, HBO, 11PM

Saturday

• Outlander, Starz, 9PM
• Amy Schumer presents Rachel Feinstein: Only Whores Wear Purple, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Party Over Here, Fox, 11PM

Sunday

• Bordertown, Fox, 7PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8PM
• Little Big Shots, NBC, 8PM
• Call the Midwife, PBS, 8PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 8PM
• The Girlfriend Experience, Starz, 8PM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 8:30PM
• Game of Thrones (season premiere), HBO, 9PM
• Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (season premiere), CNN, 9PM
• Rebellion (Part 1 of 3), Sundance, 9PM
• House of Lies, Showtime, 9PM
• Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
• The Family, ABC, 9PM
• Grantchester, PBS, 9PM
• The Carmichael Show, NBC, 9PM
• The Good Wife, CBS, 9PM
• Crowded, NBC, 9:30PM
• Dice, Showtime, 9:30PM
• Silicon Valley (season premiere), HBO,10PM
• United Shades of America (series premiere), CNN, 10PM
• The Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30PM
• Mr. Selfridge, PBS, 10PM
• Elementary, CBS, 10PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Quantico ABC, 10PM
• Veep (season premiere), HBO, 10:30PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

(All times listed are ET)

Apple Pay Expands to Singapore Through American Express Partnership, Visa Support Coming Soon

Apple today updated its website and its Apple Pay support document to note the expansion of the Apple Pay payment service to Singapore. With the addition of Singapore, Apple Pay is now available in six countries, including Canada, China, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Apple Pay is available in Singapore through a partnership with American Express, first announced by Apple in October of 2015. By partnering with American Express, Apple has brought Apple Pay to Singapore, Canada, and Australia and will expand it to Hong Kong and Spain later this year.

According to Apple’s Singapore website, Apple Pay is currently available to American Express users in the country. American Express cardholders can add their credit cards to the Wallet app by opening the app and tapping on the “+” button or using Settings and tapping “Add Credit or Debit Card.”

Apple Pay is limited to cards issued by American Express, but the website says Apple Pay support will expand to major credit and debit cards from top banks “soon.” Visa is listed as a credit card partner that will support Apple Pay in Singapore in the future, as are the following banks: DBS, UOB, and Standard Chartered.

Apple Pay is available in a range of retail locations in Singapore, including Starbucks, FairPrice, StarHub, Uniqlo, TopShop, and Shaw Theaters, along with other stores that have NFC-equipped payment terminals. Additional partners like BreadTalk, Cold Storage, FoodRepublic, Giant, and more will be adding support for Apple Pay soon.

Apple Pay will also soon be available within apps, with Uber and HomeAway Asia set to be two of the first apps that will offer Apple Pay support in Singapore.

iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, and SE users can now use Apple Pay in retail stores, and with the Apple Watch, Apple Pay is extended to the iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s. Apple Pay within apps is available on the iPhone 6, 6s, 6 Plus, 6s Plus, SE, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 4, and both iPad Pro models.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Apple Celebrates Earth Day With Selection of Apple Music Playlists

Apple kicked off its Earth Day celebrations last Thursday, outfitting retail employees with green shirts, decorating Apple Store logos with green leaves, and launching an “Apps for Earth” promotion that will see in-app purchases from partner apps donated to the World Wildlife Fund.

Apple is also celebrating Earth Day, which takes place on Friday, April 22, with a selection of Earth-inspired Apple Music playlists. There are five playlists available, each with a collection of 22 to 25 songs spanning a wide range of genres and musical tastes, as outlined below.

• Celebrating Mother Earth – From sun and sky to seas and trees, musicians pay tribute to the natural world in this set of uplifting tunes. Songs included are from artists like The Beatles, Coldplay, U2, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, John Denver, and Cat Stevens.
• Power Off – Laidback, moody, contemplative tunes for when it’s time to chill. Songs included are from artists like Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Sia, Adele, Maroon 5, Ryan Adams, and Alicia Keys.
• From the Roots – Rustic. Earthy. Unplugged. Timeless. Revel in this mix of straight up classics from rock’s most iconic artists and their acoustic guitars. Songs included are from artists like Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bon Iver, Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen, and The Who.
• Recycle: Covers – Anything goes when these legendary tunes are given a brand-new touch. Songs include well-known covers from a number of artists like The White Stripes, David Bowie, Adele, Johnny Cash, Yo La Tengo, Saint Etienne, and Smashing Pumpkins.
• Amor a La Naturaleza – What better way to pay homage to the natural world than with songs that celebrate the wonder all around us? In honor of Earth Day, these eclectic, electrifying Latin alternative artists do just that. Songs included are from artists like Alex Ferreira, Ana Tijoux, Ekhymosis, Nicola Cruz, Astro, Bomba Estéreo, and Chancha via Circuito.

The five Earth Day Apple Music playlists are available to all Apple Music subscribers and can be found under the “New” section.

Tag: Apple Music
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U.S. Cellular embraces secure messaging with TigerText partnership

U.S. Cellular has announced that it will offer its customers a new, easy method of secure messaging, provided by TigerText. Specializing in enterprise messaging, TigerText is offering its secure messaging solutions to both individual and corporate U.S. Cellular customers. Participating customers will be able to pay for the service directly through their bills.

This move comes at a time of heightened awareness surrounding digital security and encryption, and concern over who may have access to our data. Earlier this month, WhatsApp turned on end-to-end encryption across the entire service, following a public fight over encryption between the FBI and Apple.

You can grab the TigerText app from the Google Play Store now.

Press release:

TIGERTEXT TO OFFER SECURE MESSAGING SERVICES TO U.S. CELLULAR CUSTOMERS

Secure Messaging Solution Now Available to U.S. Cellular Customers Protects Confidential Conversations and Accelerates Workflows

SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 18, 2016 – TigerText today announced they have begun offering its secure messaging enterprise technology, to the customers of U.S. Cellular (NYSE: USM). This secure messaging solution enables customers to protect private and restricted conversations and accelerate workflows via text messaging with the security and confidentiality required by legal and regulatory standards, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

“We’re excited to be working with U.S. Cellular to bring secure messaging solutions to a growing number of businesses and individuals who need them to communicate and do their jobs more efficiently,” said Brad Brooks, TigerText co-founder and president. “As companies and individuals face the growing challenge of streamlining communication while keeping their information secure, we’ve seen an increased demand for TigerText’s messaging solutions.”

U.S. Cellular customers can access TigerText’s secure and private network directly from their smartphones. TigerText service fees will be conveniently added onto their monthly U.S. Cellular bill, allowing customers to view and pay their bill all in one place.

“With heightened concerns around privacy and related regulations, it’s critical that our customers can rely on U.S. Cellular to offer a text messaging option for businesses and governments to safeguard their secure conversations and communications,” said Scott Scheuber, Director of Product Management at U.S. Cellular. “TigerText services are an ideal solution for our customers who require secure messaging and communications for their enterprises and beyond.”

Secure messaging has become a widely used form of communication within healthcare organizations where patient care teams benefit from real-time communication, but must comply with HIPAA regulations. HIPAA encompasses a wide-range of security and privacy measures create to protect health information (PHI) whether in transit or storage. It applies to health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and any healthcare provider who handles PHI. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, any person who knowingly obtains or discloses individually identifiable health information in violation of HIPAA may face civil or criminal penalties.

TigerText is the only secure messaging provider that offers a $1 million HIPAA compliance guarantee to its customers, demonstrating its high level of protection and assurance that every message sent on its platform is safe and secure. In addition, the TigerText messaging platform is in compliance with regulations required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Data charges may apply.

Tesla now offers 1-month free Autopilot trial to Model S and X owners

Those of you who didn’t buy the Autopilot upgrade with your new Model S or Model X can now snag the option as a $3,000 in-car purchase after first testing a 1-month free trial that Tesla has quietly started offering.

When configuring your Model S or Model X, you can add Autopilot for $2,500. Tesla has sold all Model S and Model X cars since late 2014 with the hardware required to power its self-driving functions. A software update is also needed for the feature to be enabled, however, and that costs $2,500 at purchase.

If you decided against getting the software at purchase, you’ll be glad to know Tesla is now offering you a second chance. You can now join a one-month free Autopilot trial. Should you like Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving features after your trial is over, you can buy the option for $3,000 as an in-car purchase.

Reddit

Although Tesla hasn’t officially announced its free-trial offer, Electrek shared an image of what looks like a pop-up message on the Model S center console, which alerts drivers of the following free-trial offer:

“Experience Tesla Autopilot: Try Autopilot Convenience Features and experience a stress-free commute. This one-month free trial enables automatic steering, speed, lane changing, and parking with Summon. Once your trial begins, you’ll receive an email with instructions for permanently upgrading your Tesla.”

Tesla in October first started rolling out Autopilot to Model S and Model X vehicles with its 7.0 software update. It’s crazy to think we now live in a world where such a powerful feature can be enabled just a few months after launch in the same fashion as an in-app purchase (albeit a pricey in-app purchase).

YouTube now offers live streaming of 360-degree videos, spatial audio

YouTube doesn’t just want you to experience all angles of scene; it wants you to do so as the action unfolds.

Google-owned YouTube first launched support for 360-degree videos in early 2015, but now, just in time for the Coachella music festival in the US, it has announced support for 360-degree live stream videos, allowing wannabe concert-goers to experience the event not only from the comfort of their own homes but also in real time.

“After years of live streaming Coachella for fans around the world who can’t attend the festival, this year we’re bringing you the festival like never before by live streaming select artist performances in 360 degrees this weekend,” Google announced. “Starting today, we’re also launching spatial audio for on-demand YouTube videos.”

So, alongside this new live-streaming capability, YouTube is launching spatial audio, which will bring sound depth and more, making it seem like you’re immersed in the immersive video. This added-dimension is exclusive to Android devices for now. This playlist on YouTube has a bunch of 360-degree videos examples with spatial audio.

Speaking of devices, all you need is your phone or web browser to watch 360-degree videos. And with the right 360-degree camera and bandwidth, broadcasters can stream 1440p video at 60 frames per second.

Pocket-lint has a round-up of the best equipment out there right now for this – no matter your budget.

Track all your partner’s infidelities with this smart mattress

Having failed at marketing their internet-connected mattress for babies, Spanish company Durmet has flipped the pillow talk on their WiFi-enabled “Smarttress.” The device now comes in an adult-sized version with what Durmet sees as its newest killer feature: a “Lover Detection System” that will buzz your phone every time it detects suspicious activity.

With 24 ultrasonic sensors embedded in the springs, the mattress can detect… action across multiple contact zones and “sends an alert to your mobile phone whenever someone is using your bed in a questionable way.” But the questionably smart mattress offers more than just simple alarms. According to the dramatically soundtracked promotional video, the app also delivers creepily specific bedtime analytics like a “Speedometer” and “Intensity and impact per minute” metrics. That means you, the paranoid buyer of smart mattresses, won’t just be spying on your cheating partner, you’ll also be able to monitor their performance.

While the Smarttress is far from the first device designed to keep tabs on bedroom activity or quantify your sex life, this is certainly one of the first to do it without giving your partner a heads up first. Ignoring the privacy (and trust) issues that come along with push notifications for your partner’s horizontal habits, there’s still the possibility that your bed could run out of batteries at an inopportune time, leaving you with what appears to be a generic, $1,750 spring-based mattress.

And, let’s be honest, if you’ve secretly swapped out your mattress for one that periodically needs a little juice from a USB port, maybe your relationship could stand a little more open communication and a little less spying-via-app?

Congressman calls for probe of longstanding mobile security flaw

It’s no secret that Signaling System 7 — a set of crucial protocols that define how phone calls, messages and data are routed through networks — is flawed. Thanks to a recent report by 60 Minutes, though, at least one member of Congress was spooked enough to try and do something about it. According to The Daily Dot, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is now calling for a full investigation into the flaw that let a well-known security researcher track his movement through Los Angeles and record his phone calls without his knowledge.

“The applications for this vulnerability are seemingly limitless, from criminals monitoring individual targets to foreign entities conducting economic espionage on American companies to nation states monitoring US government officials,” Lieu wrote in a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Curiously, Lieu didn’t raise the possibility of governments quietly eavesdropping on its own citizens — maybe that was already a given.

In case you missed it, Lieu was given an off-the-shelf iPhone by the 60 Minutes crew, and then proceeded to use it for work calls… with the express understanding that it might be hacked. Not long after, Security Research Labs’ Karsten Nohl — who brought the SS7 flaw to prominence about two years ago — was able to access the congressman’s privileged information. Lieu was right to have been concerned: because the SS7 protocols dictate how networks deal with routing text messages, roaming and more, the flaw can leave phones open to snooping regardless of what operating system they run. For now, the only real way to keep your dispatches safe is to use apps — like Signal and now WhatsApp — that encrypt your communications end-to-end.

Via: The Daily Dot

DARPA’s wild 24-fan aircraft flies for the first time

DARPA’s plan for a 24-fan VTOL aircraft (vertical takeoff and landing) sounds ridiculous on the surface, but it really does work — at least, in testing. Aurora Flight Sciences has flown a small-scale demonstrator version of the LightningStrike vehicle to show that its aerodynamics and flight control systems are working. It’s only a fifth the size of the full prototype arriving in 2018, but it proves that the concept is already viable. The bigger challenge may be translating this to the finished machine. The prototype is expected to haul at least 4,000lbs of cargo and travel at up to 400 knots (460MPH), which is no mean feat for brand new VTOL technology.

Via: The Verge

Source: Aurora Flight Sciences (PDF), (Vimeo)

Watch a robotic snake swim eerily like the real thing

Don’t be shocked if you see a mechanical snake swimming around undersea equipment in the near future… it (probably) isn’t there to kill you. Eelume, Kongsberg Maritime and Statoil are building a robotic snake worker that will inspect (and occasionally fix) underwater gear. Robot snakes are nothing new, but this serpent is both production-ready and almost uncanny in how it moves. By itself, it slithers as if it’s stalking prey. Throw in thrusters, however, and it’s something else — it can quickly twist around pipes as if they were only minor obstacles.

The snake isn’t yet in service, but it could do a lot to help underwater work when it arrives. The plan is to permanently install these robots on the seabed, where they’ll ideally cover the majority of tasks. If all goes well, companies with sea-based operations (such as oil rigs and wind farms) won’t need to roll out human-operated vehicles unless there’s a serious problem.

Source: Kongsberg