Apple Music is ‘Distractingly Good’ for Taylor Swift in New Ad

Apple today debuted a new ad for its music streaming service Apple Music, this time centering around a workout session by artist Taylor Swift. The singer posted the 1-minute video on Twitter earlier this morning, captioning it as “based on true events.”

In the commercial, she begins preparing for a treadmill workout by browsing Apple Music for some workout-related songs. After navigating through the service’s recommended Activity Playlists and landing on the Running sub-category, Swift decides on a playlist called “#GYMFLOW” and begins listening to Drake & Future’s song “Jumpman.”

As the video continues, Swift gets really into the song and sings along with the lyrics, ultimately leading her to wipe out on the treadmill with the accompanying tagline for the video describing Apple Music as “distractingly good.”

Based on true events. #TAYLORvsTREADMILL @applemusic @Drake @1Futurehttps://t.co/ryUY3Yz7Prhttps://t.co/1eIHjoVIFU

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 1, 2016

Unlike the “For You” section of Apple Music, the pre-set playlists found on the service’s New tab are the same for every user and get specifically curated for different events — like a BBQ or studying — by Apple behind the scenes.

Tag: Apple Music
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Channel 4 adds live TV streaming to the All 4 Android app

Channel 4 retired its aging 4oD platform and replaced it with the new and shiny All 4 streaming service this time last year. All 4 finally put on-demand content, live channel feeds and sundries like web shorts in one place. Well, that was true of the All 4 site and iOS app at least, but Android users have been missing out on one key feature: live TV.

They needn’t turn to other services like TVPlayer any longer, though, as the All 4 Android app has now been updated with support for live channel streaming. The timing couldn’t be better as far as Channel 4 is concerned, since the feature has arrived just before the broadcaster’s first live Formula 1 event coverage airs this weekend. As you may remember, Channel 4 acquired certain Formula 1 broadcast rights last year, after the BBC decided it could no longer afford them.

Source: Channel 4, Google Play

Reddit probably got subpoena’d by the FBI or NSA

When companies receive National Security Letters (NSLs) from the FBI or a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) request from the NSA, they also get a gag order barring them from telling anyone. There is one way that websites can inform users that they’ve been subpoena’d without breaking the law, though: Using a “warrant canary.” Those are simply statements in transparent reports that indicate a site has not received a letter since a certain date. Reddit had one in its 2014 report (below), meaning it had never received a subpoena as of January 29th, 2015. Last year’s report, released yesterday, includes no such remark, meaning that the company did indeed receive the dreaded letter sometime last year.

Concerning the report, Reddit founder and CEO Steve “Spez” Huffman remarks, “I’ve been advised not to say anything one way or the other.” While that says a lot in itself, there’s no way to officially confirm the request or, obviously, know what data the FBI, NSA or other agency asked for.

Such letters are legally controversial, because they allow the recipient very little judicial recourse. Recently, however, a judge released details from an FBI NSL for the first time. It was challenged by internet service provider Nicolas Merrill with, with help from the ACLU. “I’ve now been under a broad gag order for three years, and other NSL recipients have been silenced for even longer. At some point — a point we passed long ago — the secrecy itself becomes a threat to our democracy.”

Via: Boing Boing

Source: Reddit

ICYMI: Health tech for VR sickness, smarter wifi and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: The Mayo Clinic is licensing a new system that uses electrodes to fool the brain from getting sick when it doesn’t detect movement while using a VR headset. New, open-source recycling machines will let makers transform plastics into whatever their hearts desire. And MIT designed a smarter wifi system that can tell who is inside a room and who is out, letting those in log on without needing a password.

If you’re into fire effects, check out Colin Furze’s YouTube channel for a crazy DIY’d thermite launcher. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

Sprint knows some iPhone users in SoCal can’t connect to LTE

iOS 9.3 didn’t only make it tough for a lot of users to open web links, it also rendered some Sprint subscribers unable to connect to the carrier’s LTE network. According to the social media posts by some of the carrier’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users in Southern California, they started grappling with the technical issue after updating their mobile OS. While Sprint hasn’t issued a fix yet, it says its “network team is aggressively working to resolve the issue.” The company adds that it “expects to have a solution in place as quickly as possible.”

Here is Sprint’s official statement:

“We have confirmed reports of some customers in Southern California on Apple 6s and 6s Plus devices with iOS 9.3 that may be experiencing a loss of LTE data connectivity. Our network team is aggressively working to resolve the issue and expects to have a solution in place as quickly as possible.”

To note, some users were able to solve their problem by rebooting and updating their preferred roaming list and data profile. That solution didn’t work for everyone in that Reddit thread, though, so anyone affected should keep an eye out for Sprint’s official update.

Via: Mac Rumors

Source: Sprint

Star Wars: The Force Awakens releases today on the Play Store

It’s April 1, and while that provides an excuse for Google to unleash Snoop Dogg on the Internet, today also marks the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on digital platforms. The latest instalment in the Star Wars series of movies will today be available for purchase on the Play Store.

As well as picking up the movie itself, fans who download a copy from the store will also have a bunch of extras to check out, including deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes and videos showcasing work that went on to get props and other elements ready for filming. It’s $14.99 for the SD version, while HD will set you back $19.99.

• Download Star Wars: The Force Awakens from Google Play

If physical is more your thing, you can see retailer listings for the upcoming April 5 launch:

• Pre-order at Amazon
• Pre-order at Target
• Pre-order at Best Buy
• Pre-order at Google Play

Surprise, surprise: The LG G5 isn’t as metal as you might think

When we first picked up the LG G5 at MWC 2016, we were surprised by the feel. We commented at the time that it had a finish that didn’t quite look and feel right.

This was something we echoed in our review having spent more time with the LG G5 – admittedly a pre-release device not running final software – where we say: “…it’s the only metal phone to feature a removable battery. That might sound like a winner but, like we say, the finish somehow looks and feels entirely plasticky.”

Well that’s because it is.

In a teardown of the new LG G5, available today in the US and launching in the UK on 8 April, it’s clear that the body of the phone is coated in fairly thick plastic. 

That perhaps explains the difference in feel between the LG G5 and something like the iPhone 6 or HTC One M9. Those latter phones are anodised and blasted smooth, resulting in a wonderful finish, whereas the LG G5 appears to have a metal core that’s then coated in plastic and painted.

This might come as something of a surprise, as LG’s language surrounding the LG G5 doesn’t quite reflect this. The company talks about “a sleek, metal uni-body” and “a sleek metal aluminum body”, but that’s not the feel you get, because you’re gripping a painted plastic coating.

The source of the teardown video, JerryRigEverything, spends some time looking at the build quality of the phone, and we’d encourage you to watch to the end for the final scratch down of the G5’s casing.

Whether this matters to you or not will very much depend on what you expect. The finish isn’t as premium as some metal unibody rivals, but then with a price of £499 SIM free, the LG G5 isn’t as expensive either. 

You can read up on our impressions of the LG G5 in our review – of course we didn’t cut the back of the phone to pieces to discover how it was made up.

READ: LG G5 review: Modular misfire?

Microsoft HoloLens preview: An augmented vision that’s still very much in the future

Microsoft HoloLens is the company’s stab at delivering what it believes is the next big thing. Rather than go down the virtual reality route favoured by Oculus, HTC, Samsung, Google and others, Microsoft believes augmenting our reality is the future.

But can a reality that is augmented deliver an experience that is better than a virtual one, and what is it like to use? First experienced by Pocket-lint at its launch in 2015 at Microsoft’s Build developer conference, we’ve come back for a second go with the hardware a year later – at Build 2016 – to see how the hardware and experience has changed.

Pocket-lint

HoloLens: Headset design

In comparison to virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the Microsoft HoloLens is fairly light and diminutive. That’s not to say you are going to enjoy wearing it for any length of time, but it is certainly not as isolating as a VR headset.

The HoloLens device is easy to place on your head and doesn’t come with cables coming out the back. That freedom of not being tethered to your computer by an umbilical cord is not only noticeable, but the most compelling feature of the device. You are free to get on the ground to look at things from a different angle, or just walk around the room without that underlying fear that you are about to trip over a cable dangling from the back of your head.

The HoloLens headset itself is fairly basic it is design. There is an adjusting back strap that works in a similar way to a bicycle helmet allowing you to dial in a snug fit, volume controls on right-hand side and brightness controls on the left.

Two speakers are placed just above your ears provide the sound and save you from having to wear additional headphones. 

Unlike Gear VR or Google Glass there are no complicated swipe commands to learn. HoloLens is controlled by gestures with your hands, your eyes, and your voice.  

The core of the engineering magic is at the front of the unit which can make the device feel a little front heavy in the same way head torches can. It can be pushed forward (away) or back (closer) to adjust the comfort and the visibility of the display. It also means glasses wearers are happily accommodated.

The entire weight rests on your forehead, the screen hovers over your face rather than resting on the bridge of your nose. In our two demo experiences we found ourselves fiddling and adjusting the headset a lot. Oculus and Vive both have fabric straps that go around and over the top of your head, an although the weight issue with HoloLens isn’t anywhere near the same as found in VR headsets, a strap would certainly help. The other help would be to shift as much as the computing hardware to the back of your head rather than the front. A good head torch has the batteries at the back of your head, and we can’t help feel Microsoft should take the same approach here to balance it out.

The main display is projected on the inside of a curved wraparound glass that covers most of your face. Like VR you aren’t going to look cool, but at least you can see when people are laughing at you.

Microsoft

HoloLens: The AR display

If you watch any of the visual demos showcased by Microsoft you get the feeling that the entire world around you is augmented, coffee tables become gaming landscapes, virtual cadavers are waiting to be dissected, and far off planets are ready to be explored.

In reality, and rather disappointingly, the screen is really only displayed on a faction of the wraparound glass you see in the hardware.

Unlike VR, you don’t get the augmented 3D objects within your complete field of vision. Like Google Glass in a way, you are faced with a screen that hovers in front of your face rather than wraps around the entire visor. This means that tall objects in a room can only be viewed in segments as you move your head around. It’s like watching everything through a letterbox. The picture above is what we were able to see when seeing the solar system demo, compared to what Microsoft wants you to believe you’ll see as in the lead picture at the top of this article. 

Stand back and you get to see more of the augmented reality in front of you, go close and your field of view is dramatically cropped.

The screen itself is crisp and clear, easily viewable in the environment we used it in, although we should add that was a fairly dark room with no natural light. Information is displayed on the screen and sensors monitor your eye movements so the system doesn’t get confused. Turning the brightness down does blur the lines of when the screen starts and stops, but then you lose detail because you can’t see everything especially when in a brighter environment.

If there is disappointment to be had, it is the size of the projected screen. In our two demoes it ruined a lot of the wow factor and the experience. For this to really work, and really wow, it needs to be fully immersive, and at the moment it is not.

HoloLens: Controls

Unlike VR that requires you to hold paddles or controllers to control the action, HoloLens is controlled by simply using your voice, eyes, and hands, or more specifically, a pinch of your finger and thumb in the air in front of you.

That, as you can imagine, frees the experience even more. There are no complicated controls to learn, and because the unit tracks your line of sight, your eyes are the controller of a virtual cursor. In the case of our demo that was represented by a fixed spot that you control by looking at what you wanted to action and then pinching your fingers, or as Microsoft calls it an “air tap” to action it or simply barking orders with set commands.

The system is incredibly responsive and the tracking spot on. There was no point where we felt we were having to wait for something to happen or for the system to catch up. This is fluid computing at its finest and works very well whether you are “actioning”, taking a picture, or firing a ball at a robotic avatar floating over someone else’s head.

HoloLens: Software demos

Microsoft has been keen to show off various demos of HoloLens ranging from using it as a medical training tool to be able to peel away at parts of the body to see where specific organs sit or nerve patterns form, to giving one to NASA for astronauts to use on the International Space Station.

For the Xbox Spring Showcase we played with Halo 5 on HoloLens and for Build 2016, Microsoft’s hands-on demos included a one and a half hour coding and experience demo dubbed the HoloLens Academy, and a partnership with NASA allowing participants to experience Mars.

Microsoft

HoloLens: Halo 5 demo 

After agreeing to leave our cameras and phones in our bags – hence no actual photography – we were lead into a holding area designed to look like the inside of a starship. After having our eyes measured for the device we were soon to don it, and thematically Microsoft had done a cracking job. Even the HoloLens units were painted a different colour and styled more like Master Chief’s helmet.

We had to then stand on a marker and wait for the unit to kick in. When it did there was a waypoint within our field of vision, seemingly placed 1.5 metres away. We walked towards it and suddenly an arrow pointed us to the left.

Inside the next chamber was a hexagonal briefing table – again sticking with the starship theme – and our briefing begun – in 3D and augmented in front of us much like the Death Star briefing in Star Wars.

Unfortunately, because you only see a small window of the hologram – a rectangular view with cut off points left, right, top and bottom – we had to keep looking up and down to get the entire 3D briefing map in view. That said though, the 3D models of foes and ships we would face in the coming game element looked great. And they were clear and well defined.

We also liked the graphical pointer that guided us to a comms chip (USB stick) sticking out of our part of the briefing table.

Microsoft

HoloLens: Destination Mars demo

Destination: Mars, will open at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida this summer, allowing you to “visit” several sites on Mars. Using real imagery from the Curiosity Mars Rover you’ll also get to see Buzz Aldrin – the Apollo 11 astronaut – as a holographic tour guide. The idea is to give space centre guests a “glimpse of Mars as seen by mission scientists,” according to NASA.  

The demo is clever, but hardly a good way to show off the full capability of HoloLens. It delivers an experience more like virtual reality and doesn’t really benefit from the augmented that HoloLens provides.

The demo consists of you in a black room of about 40m2, walking around discovering the Martian landscape. The freedom to walk around is the key selling point here and really plays to the HoloLens’ strength of being wireless, but it is an experience that would have been better suited to virtual reality and in particular the HTC Vive.

Having experienced Everest through Vive previously, it is a far more immersive experience than that of Destination: Mars.

To get any sense of immersion with HoloLens we had to stand back from the action. To get Buzz Aldrin in full frame (head to toe) for example, we had to stand about 10m back.  

Pocket-lint

HoloLens: The HoloLens Academy

The HoloLens Academy demo saw us “loosely” code our way through creating an app. The app in question involved creating an “energy hub” that we were able to place anywhere within our immediate vicinity and then interact with it from anywhere in the room. As the demo progressed we introduced virtual avatars that sat on the shoulders of other HoloLens users in the demo with us, and eventually use small metal looking balls to destroy them, before ending up destroying the “energy hub” to reveal a secret base that descended into the floor.

The clever part is the headset’s ability to place and track objects regardless of where you are, and that the experience can be shared over a number of headsets at the same time.

Although simple, it shows the huge potential for HoloLens, certainly in the collaboration space, but also in overlaying augmented experiences over everyday objects.

You can quickly imagine wearing this to understand how something needs to be fixed, or as in the case of the medical cadaver, where organs actually sit within the body.

If Microsoft can solve the small screen concerns and make this truly immersive then the possibilities would and could be endless.

First Impressions

There is no denying that what Microsoft has created is impressive, but there is also no denying that it is incredibly early days for the company’s augmented reality device.

As it stands there are so many barriers stopping the HoloLens becoming an instant success, that we suspect we are a good 3 to 5 years away from it becoming something you’ll be putting on your Christmas list.

For us the concept is sound, the technology works, and we like the freedom of movement and lack of controllers, but the hardware is not currently up to the job. The small screen really does hamper the experience, as does the goofy looking hardware.

There’s also the fact that a year in the experience doesn’t seem to have moved forward as much as we would have expected, certainly when compared to the development of HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.

The Microsoft HoloLens very much reminds us of VR headsets in the early days, the promise is there, but the reality is still out of reach.

At $3,000 for a developer unit, we suspect that this will follow the same path of Google Glass in terms of “publicity” and interest. Companies will dabble, consumers will be excited from afar, and a few will get to try it at places like the Kennedy Space Center. Microsoft’s task will be to make sure the HoloLens doesn’t befall the same fate.

For consumers this is a one to watch, but don’t worry about starting to save anytime soon.

Unique white dwarf will help clarify what happens to dying stars

Researchers have discovered a white dwarf (a dead star), with an oxygen atmosphere surrounding it — the first of its kind. Astronomers managed to pick up the star from spectral lines: colored trails that help show the composition of distant stars. Most white dwarfs have hydrogen or helium in their atmosphere, but this one was giving off a shade that corresponded to almost pure oxygen.

Astronomers had posed that this kind of white dwarf could exist, but this is the first real proof and it could change conventional theory on what happens when a star dies. When a star begins to collapse, the heat produced causes the outer parts to expand hugely.

“We don’t make models of things we don’t know exist. But now that we know this star exists, we have to calculate the model for it.”

These are then shed away to leave the bright glowing center; a white dwarf. This process leaves elements like hydrogen and helium in the atmosphere, because they’re lighter — so why does this particular star have so much (heavier) oxygen on show? As the study’s author, Kepler Oliveira, at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul said: “We don’t make models of things we don’t know exist. But now that we know this star exists, we have to calculate the model for it.” Currently, there are multiple theories, but now they have something to work with.

Via: The Verge

Source: Science

Kanye West’s new album arrives on Spotify and Apple Music

You can finally listen to Kanye West’s new album, The Life of Pablo, on a streaming service that isn’t Tidal, including Spotify, Apple Music and Google Play Music. The much-anticipated record has been a Tidal exclusive since February, although since then the rapper has been quietly tweaking and refining many of the headline tracks. It’s rare for an artist, especially one as big as Kanye, to fine-tune an album in such a public manner. Notably, The Life of Pablo is also available to purchase now — something the broke superstar had previously promised would never happen.

My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale… You can only get it on Tidal.

— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016

To buy a copy, you’ll need to go through Kanye’s website. Notably, there’s been no indication that the album will be sold through iTunes, Google Play Music and other digital stores at a later date. So if you manage a personal library through either iTunes or Play Music, your best bet is to buy the tracks and import them manually. It’s also unclear if The Life of Pablo will ever get a physical release — we wouldn’t count on it, although as with anything related to Kanye, it’s never outside the realm of possibility.

Source: Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music