Google’s self-driving cars to face their toughest test yet

Google is taking its self-driving cars to a fourth city in an expansion of its ongoing development. The latest location for testing is Phoenix, Arizona, which is significantly more arid than any city previously used as a proving ground.

Speaking to Reuters, Jennifer Haroon, Google’s head of business operations for the self-driving car project, noted that the desert conditions will further the company’s understanding of “how our sensors and cars handle extreme temperatures and dust in the air.” Modified Lexus SUVs have already begun to map the Phoenix area, checking for street layouts, lane markers, traffic signals and curb heights.

The move to Phoenix is the second new area for Google this year. In February, it began testing in Kirkland, Washington, which is significantly wetter than previous locations. Those previous locations were in California and Texas, though, so that’s not saying much — Kirkland is still dryer than the US average for inches of rainfall per year.

It’s suggested that, in addition to providing a new set of environmental challenges for self-driving cars, Arizona is potentially more open to the testing than California. Google’s home state recently proposed new rules that would require a wheel, pedals and a driver to be in self-driving cars — all things that are not present in Google’s current prototype.

Source: Reuters

T-Mobile Offering Two Lines With 6GB LTE Each for $80/Month

T-Mobile has announced a limited time promotion offering two lines, each with unlimited talk, text, and 6GB of LTE data, for $80 per month starting April 8. T-Mobile does not charge access or data overage fees, and instead limits each line to unlimited 2G data once the LTE data included has been used.

As a comparison, Verizon charges $100 per month for two lines with unlimited talk, text, and 6GB of LTE data combined — not per line. The cost breakdown is $60 per month for Verizon’s “large” 6GB data bucket, plus an access fee of $20 per month for each smartphone line. Data overages are charged at $15 per GB.

As with all Simple Choice plans, the two lines will both have access to T-Mobile’s unlimited video and music streaming incentives Binge On and Music Freedom. Data Stash also allows unused LTE data to roll over for up to one year for no additional charge. Other perks include Carrier Freedom and Mobile Without Borders.

Tag: T-Mobile
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FBI Director Says Method of Unlocking iPhone Can’t Be Used on iPhone 5s or Newer

After disclosing its method of accessing the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook to a few U.S. Senators, the FBI today released a new sliver of information regarding the highly secretive invasive steps the organization has taken to get into the iPhone in question.

FBI director James Comey gave a few hints about “a tool” from a private party that it used to gain access to Farook’s iPhone (via CNN).

In a speech at the Biennial Conference at Kenyon University, Comey mentioned that the tool purchased from the private party — reportedly Israeli mobile developer Cellebrite — only works on a “narrow slice of phones,” which does not include models of the iPhone 5s and after. Although that range allows the FBI to enter into Farook’s iPhone 5c, the beefed up security of the A7 chips of the 5s and onward limits the organization’s ability to use Cellebrite’s tool for any of its more recent security-locked iPhone cases.

After the FBI said it found a method of getting into the iPhone used in the San Bernardino terrorist attacks, the Cupertino company promised it would insist on obtaining the details of the exploit if the case were to move forward. Since the Justice Department officially dropped the case against Apple, the company can’t ask for that information, and Comey said the government is contemplating the pros and cons of looping Apple in on the situation.

“We tell Apple, then they’re going to fix it, then we’re back where we started from,” he said. “We may end up there, we just haven’t decided yet.”

Even though the official legal battle is over, Apple’s statement at the end of the lawsuit referred to the company’s continuing promise to “increase the security” of all its products as the threat against user data becomes “more frequent and more sophisticated.”

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Apple-FBI
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This is the Huawei P9 Lite, hands-on shots from behind closed doors

Huawei has now officially launched its P9 and P9 Plus smartphones, but the rumoured P9 Lite didn’t get mentioned at the main event. Now photos of the handset have appeared.

The Huawei P9 Lite, which has been rumoured for months now, appeared in hands-on photos on Russian tech site Hi-Tech Mail. The fact that this phone has had no other announcement suggests it will be limited to certain areas for release.

The P9 Lite appears to be a mid-range handset with just a single camera on the rear, unlike the dual-camera toting P9 and P9 Plus. The build quality appears to feature a metal bumper frame.

The specs are also less impressive than the flagship models. The screen is a 5.2-inch 1080p display, but there’s no mention of nits and colour levels. While processors were not mentioned there will be 2GB and 3GB RAM models available and 16GB storage with microSD expansion. Everything is powered by a 3000mAh battery.

The rear camera is a single 13-megapixel snapper while the front-facing selfie camera is 8-megapixels. On the rear is a new fingerprint scanner, likely the same as in the flagship P9.

Pricing, release date and even release location are unknown. Huawei hasn’t mentioned anything yet, although the Russian site still has the photos live suggesting it wasn’t just a leak.

READ: Huawei P9 preview: Monochrome is the new black

Apple iPhone SE review: Great things can come in small packages

There are two ways of looking at the iPhone SE, the “special edition” smaller-scale 4-inch iPhone.

One is that it’s Apple simply churning out a 2-year-old design with a spec update; the other is that it delivers what many people actually want: a small but powerful phone for those who believe the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus are just too big.

So should this £359 handset be given a look in, or does the more powerful iPhone 6S make it one to ignore? We’ve downsized for the week to find out.

iPhone SE review: Design

If the iPhone SE looks familiar, that’s because it features a near identical design to the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S. So no surprises here, other than the more recent colour options being available: silver, space grey, gold and rose gold (although we prefer the term “bros’ gold”).

It is so similar that it even fits cases built and made for the iPhone 5 range. And with a weight of just 113g, the SE is certainly small, light, and compact. Meaning it’s very pocketable – which is refreshing in among a world of gigantic phones.

	iPhone SE	iPhone 6S	iPhone 6S Plus
Dimensions (mm)	123.8 x 58.6	138.3 x 67.1	158.2 x 77.9
Thickness (mm)	7.6	7.1	7.3

The SE will fit most pockets without showing a bulge; fit in your running gear without weighing you down; and can comfortably be used one-handed without having to stretch or contort your thumb to the upper reaches of the screen like you need to with the 6S Plus.

Having used an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S for the last 2-years, downsizing to the SE has been a surprising breath of fresh air, without compromise to the modern power we’ve become used to. For all intents and purposes the SE is an iPhone 5S in design with a stack of iPhone 6S tech inside – which we’ll get to later.

And we’re okay with that. The iPhone 5S was a great phone that was critically well-received – and while most of us have moved on to bigger devices it is clear that many still want something small scale.

The main physical difference we’ve noticed between top-tier 6S and SE are the latter’s matte edges around the screen. And if we’re being particularly picky, we miss the curved edges of the glass screen on iPhone 6 and 6S over the defined edge of the screen on the SE – it’s not as smooth against your thumb when scrolling, but hey, we can live with that. Oh, and it stands upright due to that flat bottom. Little things, but such things makes us happy.

iPhone SE review: Screen

The iPhone SE sports the same 4-inch 1136 x 640 pixel screen as the iPhone 5S, which means that while it is lower in terms of resolution than the iPhone 6S, it is still just as sharp.

	iPhone SE	iPhone 6S	iPhone 6S Plus
Screen size	4-inch	4.7-inch	5.5-inch
Resolution	1136 x 640	1334 x 750	1920 x 1080
Pixel density	326ppi	326ppi	401ppi

It’s not the highest resolution on the market, which makes it sound like it’ll look well out of date, but with a pixel density of 326ppi it makes for ample sharpness. Just not class-leading sharpness. However, there is no blurriness or softness to the images, while colours are bright and exhibit natural tones. In some instances apps look better than they do on the iPhone 6S to our eyes.

Small scale and smaller price does come with some compromise in terms of feature set though. There’s no 3D Touch – Apple’s pressure-sensitive touchscreen technology – in the iPhone SE. If you’re an iPhone 5 or 5S user then you won’t have used it yet anyway, and if you’re particularly keen then you’ll just have to upsize to 6S and spend some more cash. Although we’re yet to hear from an 6S user that actively uses it all the time anyway – we think it’s down to habitual memory.

Pocket-lint

The biggest issue with the iPhone SE is trying to cram everything on screen. Apple’s iOS software has evolved and squeezing everything onto a 4-inch panel is hard – especially if you’re used to something larger. It’s tougher for reading long message conversations, once you’ve included the keyboard on screen, or simply reading emails and web pages. We’ve caught ourselves a couple of times rotating the phone landscape to read more, which is something we don’t do on the iPhone 6S. 

iPhone SE review: Performance

Where do we start? If you are still using the iPhone 5 range then the SE gives you 2-years worth of technical upgrades. Apple hasn’t held back, or made the SE a poor man’s version of the iPhone 6S, bringing virtually all the tech from its flagship device to the iPhone SE (ignoring the 3D Touch point).

	iPhone SE	iPhone 6S	iPhone 6S Plus
Chipset	Apple A9, dual-core 1.8Ghz	Apple A9, dual-core 1.8Ghz	Apple A9, dual-core 1.8Ghz
Graphics	PowerVR GT7600 (six-core)	PowerVR GT7600 (six-core)	PowerVR GT7600 (six-core)
RAM	2GB	2GB	2GB

That means you get the company’s A9 processor – effectively doubling the performance capability over the iPhone 5S – and M9 processor that improves on the motion-sensing capabilities too.

Apps load fast, menus are smooth, and the whole device is as quick as you would expect a phone to be from Apple regardless of whether you are editing photos or playing a game. At no point have we experienced lag or had the feeling that we were waiting for something to happen. It just works.

Pocket-lint

The powerful processor is there because of all the rest of the toys Apple has brought to the table. The SE comes with TouchID fingerprint recognition technology and support for Apple Pay (so you can pay for goods with a fingerprint at participating vendors).

READ: What is Apple Pay and how does it work?

There is faster LTE support, Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, although only standard antennas rather than the MIMO Wi-Fi ones found in the iPhone 6S. That final point is noticeable if you’ve got weak spots in your home Wi-Fi, certainly when you glance down and see your iPad has full bars and the SE doesn’t.

The battery capacity hasn’t been made any bigger than in the iPhone 5S, but due to savings from processor performance it should last longer than the older handset. And we’re easily getting a full day’s use out of the SE – getting to around 10pm with about 20 per cent of battery left, which is similar to a lot of competitor flagships these days.

That does vary based on not only what you do with the phone, but also your movements. Twitter and Facebook still kill battery like you’re attacking a free all-you-can-eat buffet with only 10 minutes before it closes. 

The bottom line is that the iPhone SE might look like it’s from 2014, but it is very much a 2016 phone in terms of performance. Just because it’s smaller scale doesn’t mean it’s not big on power.

Pocket-lint

iPhone SE review: Camera

Wow. The SE’s camera is great. It features the same 12-megapixel rear camera found on the iPhone 6S, giving any iPhone 5S users a huge leap from the 8-megapixel camera.

The new iPhone SE camera supports 4K video recording (3840 x 2160) at 30fps or 1080p HD video recording at 30fps or 60fps, as well as the huge 63MB panoramas introduced on the iPhone 6S in September 2015. You also get Apple’s TruTone flash for more natural photos in low-light situations and a bunch of other Apple photography enhancements and tweaks.

All those technologies, including Live Photos support, combined with a number of processing enhancements means you’ll visibly see the difference straight away if you are an iPhone 5 or 5S user.

Regardless of whether you are upgrading or moving to Apple for the first time, you get a cracking camera in your pocket. Photos are good in the sun, in the rain (we’ve had plenty of that during our testing), and low-light too. Skin tones are well catered for, and there’s not a bad thing to say about the quality.

This is effectively the same camera Apple has used for its huge global billboard campaign (“Shot by iPhone”) and if you like those pictures then you can expect the same creative potential here from the iPhone SE. And remember: the £359 price tag is about the same as a dedicated compact camera, not the £600-odd price tag of Apple’s and other makers’ flagship devices.

As for the front-facing camera, the SE has the Retina Flash which changes the screen to act as a flash, but the camera resolution is only 1.2-megapixels, and that is noticeable in its performance. It’s not a complete disaster, but shots taken with this camera look soft and lack detail. It’s a strange move to go so low-res, given that so many of us take selfies these days. This is really the only chink in Apple’s photography armor when it comes to the iPhone SE. We would have liked to have seen the 5 megapixel camera found on the iPhone 6S here too.

iPhone SE review: Software, iOS 9.3.1

The iPhone SE runs iOS 9.3 – taking full advantage of all the functionality of the company’s operating system.

READ: iOS 9.3 tips and tricks

Because the SE is as capable as the flagship models you get all the software toys including the newly added Night Shift that changes the screen colour to a warmer hue a night to stop you being kept awake by “blue light” and of course things like Apple Pay so you can pay at most contactless pay machines across the world.

The only thing we’ve noticed you don’t get is the double-tap feature to make the top of the screen accessible to your thumb. It’s not surprising given you can reach the top of the SE’s screen with your thumb anyway without having to change your grip.

Verdict

The iPhone SE is a great smartphone that brings plenty of power in a small package. It’s designed to appeal to those who aren’t fussed by today’s typically large flagship phones.

If you are upgrading from the iPhone 5S or iPhone 5 and don’t want a larger phone then the SE is a no-brainer. It’s faster in every aspect and delivers a phone that will feel familiar but deliver the goods at today’s current top-spec level.

Current Android users, too, looking to shift over but avoid inflated flagship costs or the large-scale budget pitfalls that swamp some poorly built and frustratingly sluggish mid-level devices may find recompense in Apple’s smaller-scale offering. Apple is hoping that by offering powerful, but small, it will appeal to those who haven’t gone to Sony.

While iPhone 6S users are likely to turn their noses up at the SE, during our review time we’ve really enjoyed the liberating dinkiness of the SE, especially when out running. Perhaps it’s a radical idea, but we can easily see some wealthier iPhone 6S and Plus users finding appeal in the iPhone SE being a weekend or running phone.

As far as shortcomings go, the SE lacks some of the top top spec features sound in the 6S, such as 3D Touch, while the front-facing camera isn’t particularly good. Plus, and it almost goes without saying, that 4-inch screen isn’t going to suit everyone.

Bigger is normally always better, but sometimes great things come in small packages too.

Apple iPhone 7 may censor your music to stop swearing

Apple is working on software capable of automatically censoring swear words out of music and audio books. The feature could appear in the next iOS update or with the launch of the iPhone 7.

Apple has a patent for a smart system that’s able to use metadata to recognise and remove offensive words in audio. It can replace those words with sounds, like a beep, or simply with silence. It may also be able to detect the music behind the words and continue playing seamlessly while only extracting the offensive words.

The question of whether there will be a choice or if this censorship will be automatically imposed is not clear. Apple’s Beats 1 streaming radio station only plays non-explicit versions of songs.

It’s likely Apple will add this as an option for parents who would like to control content that children are exposed to. Use of iPads in schools would likely also benefit from this new software.

The patent states that this will also apply to audio books. The software would access its library of offensive words and remove any deemed unsuitable.

Of course this is just a patent right now so may not appear soon, if at all. But it could be a useful tool to have, especially for parents.

READ: Apple Music: 8 tips to master before you start streaming

Business Insider

Best films to look forward to in 2016: Here are all the top movie trailers

The year 2016 is the year of the superhero movie.

Many of the biggest blockbusters are set to be focused on super-powered wonderment. Marvel and DC continue their respective expansions of both universes’ big screen outings.

But that’s not to say the year will be completely dominated by men and women in capes. There are plenty of other treats in store too. Movie versions of gaming giants, such as Assassin’s Creed and Warcraft, are also going to be unleashed on the world in 2016. So could there finally be a few genuinely good game-to-movie adaptations?

Then we’ve got the inevitable reboots with a potentially hilarious Ghostbusters due to land with an all female Ghostbuster cast. 

We’ve rounded up all the best trailers that are available so far, for you to glimpse at what’s coming in 2016. And in all cases we feature the best quality option currently available – often Ultra HD 4K, for those with a monitor good enough. We also occasionally have a featurette instead of a trailer.

We even have teasers shot on a mobile phone in closed-door events, but will replace either when the real deal arrives. Plus, we’ll update with new trailers as they arrive, so keep checking back.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Premiere: 16 DecemberDirector: Gareth EdwardsStars: Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk

Star Trek Beyond

Premiere: 22 JulyDirector: Justin LinStars: Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, Idris Elba

Captain America: Civil War

Premiere: 6 MayDirector: Anthony and Joe RussoStars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Premiere: 25 MarchDirector: Zack SnyderStars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg

X-Men: Apocalypse

Premiere: 27 MayDirector: Bryan SingerStars: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Munn

Suicide Squad

Premiere: 5 AugustDirector: David AyerStars: Jared Leto, Ben Affleck, Will Smith

Deadpool

Premiere: 12 FebruaryDirector: Tim MillerStars: Ryan Reynolds, Gina Carano, Morena Baccarin

Doctor Strange

Premiere: 4 November 2016Director: Scott DerricksonStars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton

Warcraft

Premiere: 10 JuneDirector: Duncan JonesStars: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Daniel Wu, Ben Foster

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Premiere: 16 DecemberDirector: Gareth EdwardsStars: Mads Mikkelsen, Felicity Jones, Alan Tudyk

Snowden

Premiere: 13 MayDirector: Oliver StoneStars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scott Eastwood, Shailene Woodley

Pride and Prejudice Zombies

Premiere: 5 FebruaryDirector: Burr SteelsStars: Lily James, Lena Headey, Matt Smith

Independence Day: Resurgence

Premiere: 24 JuneDirector: Roland EmmerichStars: Liam Hemsworth, Joey King, Maika Monroe

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Premiere: 27 MayDirector: James BobinStars: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter

The Jungle Book

Premiere: 15 AprilDirector: Jon FavreauStars: Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Bill Murray

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Premiere: 3 JuneDirector: Dave GreenStars: Megan Fox, Johnny Knoxville, Will Arnett

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

Premiere: 26 February (in select cinemas and on Netflix)Director: Woo-Ping YuenStars: Donnie Yen, Michelle Yeoh

Zoolander 2

Premiere: 12 FebruaryDirector: Ben StillerStars: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell, Penelope Cruz

The Revenant

Premiere: 8 JanuaryDirector: Alejandro González IñárrituStars: Tom Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio, Domhnall Gleeson

The Hateful Eight

Premiere: 1 JanuaryDirector: Quentin TarantinoStars: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Channing Tatum, Samuel L. Jackson

Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them

Premiere: 18 NovemberDirector: David YatesStars: Ezra Miller, Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell

Watch the first trailer for ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’

It’s been barely three months since Star Wars: The Force Awakens swept into theaters, showing the world what’s become of the far-flung galaxy since Return of the Jedi. Now that the film is available to purchase, the folks at Disney and Lucasfilm are turning their attention to Rogue One, starting with a brand new teaser trailer. Set before A New Hope, the film follows a group of Rebel rogues trying to steal the plans for the original Death Star. As such, you can expect plenty of throwbacks to the original trilogy, including classic stormtroopers, X-wing starfighters and Star Destroyers.

Felicity Jones’ character is the focal point of the trailer, painting her as a rebellious type that frequently breaks the law. She’s brought before the Rebel Alliance and described as “reckless, aggressive and undisciplined.” Clearly, they need her help though, as she’s later shown in the battlefield taking down Empire goons and running towards AT-AT walkers. We also get a glimpse of some secondary characters, including an Empire general that’s undoubtedly the main villain. It’s tense, exhilarating stuff, with plenty of explosions and blaster fire to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Rogue One is being directed by Gareth Edwards, who worked on Monsters in 2010 and the Godzilla reboot in 2014. It’s one of many standalone Star Wars films that include a Han Solo origin story and a (likely) exploration of Boba Fett. Rogue One comes out on December 16th, before Rey, Finn and the gang return to our screens for Episode VIII on December 15th, 2017.

Source: YouTube

First official look at GoPro’s ‘Omni’ VR camera rig

It was almost a year ago we learned that GoPro was planning a spherical camera rig for VR. Back then, that was pretty much all we knew. The announcement came at the same time that CEO Nick Woodman confirmed the rumors his company was working on a drone (that we’re still eagerly waiting for). We’d seen some prototypes of the rig before, but it wasn’t until February, GoPro gave finally it a name: Omni. Today, for the first time, we get to see what the final product actually looks like (hint, much like the last prototype as most of the updates are internal, but that’s it above). And we’ve got a sample of the sort of image you might expect from it below.

You may remember, this isn’t GoPro’s first VR-friendly camera tool. A day after we learned about the spherical array, GoPro unveiled Odyssey, a 16-camera rig designed in partnership with Google’s Jump VR platform. That beast (once you included all the cameras you needed) cost a budget-melting $15,000 and is only available in limited numbers. Omni, on the other hand, should be a little more accessible, and is an all-GoPro product.

Omni uses six GoPro Black cameras — a cost of $3,000 if bought separately. That said, pro, or pro-sumer users — to whom this should appeal most — are the ones most likely to already have a number of GoPros in their kit bag. If that still sounds expensive, that’s the name of the game it seems. Other spherical rigs like Nokia’s Ozo at the top end costs a whopping $60,000. Or unproven names like Orah at $3,600. Unlike Odyssey, Omni won’t record in 3D, but the company claims that hardware inside the rig will ensure “pixel-level” synchronization between the cameras. It’s also designed to work seamlessly with Kolor, the VR-video software company GoPro bought last April. Right now, though, it doesn’t look like it’ll work with cameras in the waterproof housing, as earlier images suggested.

There are similar 3rd party mounts you can buy right now, of course. These tend to cost a couple of hundred bucks upwards, but you’re on your own when it comes to synching the cameras, and stitching the video together. You can even 3D print a basic rig for less than a dollar’s worth of filament. Omni is the first all-official spherical offering coming to market from the camera-maker itself though.

GoPro hasn’t shared details of the price of the Omni rig just yet. But it has confirmed you’ll be able to buy an all-in-one bundle with cables and cameras, or just buy the rig and use your existing GoPros. The company is showcasing it at NAB (April 16-21) along with a slew of spherical content and “other professional solutions” — which include its HEROCast wireless transmitter for broadcast. Pricing and pre-order info should be available before then.

With Omni out in the wild, there’s just one thing left in the GoPro workshop that we haven’t yet laid eyes on, and that of course is its Karma drone. Details of that still remain a mystery, though we do know it’ll work with existing GoPro cameras, and likely come in a foldable design. It could even work with Omni, but spherical video from up in the sky isn’t usually that effective. There’s no confirmed date for Karma yet, but if we were pinning the tail on that calendar-donkey, we’d aim it for somewhere just after June 9th.

Hermés will offer more straps for the Apple Watch

Apple and Hermés have revealed that the pair will introduce a raft of new strap options for the Apple Watch. According to Elle Australia, the new bands will launch on April 19th in a variety of pretentious-sounding color options. Users will have their pick of Bleu Paon, Bleu Saphir, Blanc and Feu — more commonly known as Green, Blue, White and Orange. At the same time, the pair will begin selling the bands separate from the smartwatch they connect to, enabling wealthy users to swap their strap to match their outfit. AppleInsider is reporting that the standalone bands will retail for $340 and $490, depending on if you want a 38 or 42mm band.

Source: AppleInsider, Elle Australia