UF researchers let people race drones using their minds

As drone racing gets faster, cheaper and more mainstream, it was only a matter of time before drone pilots ditched the controller and made the leap to an actual brain-computer interface, as these researchers from the University of Florida did last week.

BCI technology has been used in the past to control everything from novelty toys to artificial limbs for paraplegics, and researchers at the University of Minnesota were actually the first to show off a mind-controlled drone in 2013. But as TechCrunch points out, this brain-controlled drone competition is another first.

The low speeds and short, 10-yard indoor course might look a little tame compared to speeding through the woods in first person, but the emphasis here is on the control scheme rather thrill of the event. During the “race,” 16 pilots were rigged up with special electroencepholagram (EEG) headsets that translate their brainwaves into specific commands controlling a DJI Phantom. While these student-pilots look like they needed some intense concentration to get those quadcopters off the ground and moving forward, it’s not much of a stretch to visualize the next generation of pilots using their minds to blast specialized drones through race courses across the globe.

Comcast isn’t letting customers use Starz’s video service

Comcast isn’t exactly known for playing nicely with outside video services (just ask Roku owners), and that trend isn’t letting up anytime soon. Multichannel News notes that the cable giant isn’t letting its subscribers authenticate with the TV Everywhere side of Starz’ new streaming service, which would let customers watch at no charge beyond their existing TV subscriptions. Comcast is the only big TV provider that isn’t authenticating, so it’s clear that this isn’t a technical hurdle.

But why? On the record, the two sides will only say that they’re still “great partners” and hope to work something out. However, it’s no secret that Comcast objects to the all-inclusive nature of Starz’ apps. Unlike the splits in services like HBO Go and HBO Now, Starz lets both internet-only and TV Everywhere customers sign in through the same software — Comcast isn’t happy that cord cutting (or at least, scaling back your cable package) is just a few steps away. It’d rather steer you toward Xfinity TV and similar in-house services that keep you within the fold.

It’s not clear what Starz can do to make peace short of writing an app solely for TV subscribers. Whatever happens, it’s clear that telecom giants still hold many of the cards in the US. Even with net neutrality rules in place, companies can still use tactics to discourage competition and promote their own offerings.

Via: TechDirt

Source: Multichannel News

New 12-Inch Retina MacBook is Between 5% and 18% Faster Than 2015 Model

As customers begin receiving the new 12-inch Retina MacBook, more benchmark results for the Early 2016 model have been uploaded to Geekbench.

Based on the results, the new Skylake-based 12-inch MacBook models are between 5% and 18% faster than the original Broadwell-based models depending on whether you purchase the low-end 1.1GHz, mid-tier 1.2GHz, or top-end built-to-order 1.3GHz model. Geekbench scores vary and were therefore averaged.

The low-end Skylake-based 1.1GHz Intel Core m3 configuration earned average 64-bit single-core and multi-core scores of 2,534 and 5,025 respectively, which is between 5% and 10% faster CPU performance than the equivalent Broadwell-based 1.1GHz 12-inch MacBook released in 2015.

Geekbench 3 results for low-end 1.1GHz model
Geekbench results for the mid-tier Skylake-based 1.2GHz Intel Core m5 configuration surfaced last week, with the model earning single-core and multi-core scores of 2,894 and 5,845 respectively, which is between 15% and 18% faster than the equivalent Broadwell-based 1.2GHz model from 2015.

Geekbench 3 results for built-to-order 1.3GHz model
Meanwhile, the top-end Skylake-based 1.3GHz Intel Core m7 built-to-order configuration earned average 64-bit single-core and multi-core scores of 3,023 and 6,430 respectively, which is between 9% and 17% faster than the equivalent Broadwell-based 1.3GHz model released in 2015.

The 12-inch MacBook is now widely available for $1,299 (1.1 GHz) or $1,599 (1.2GHz), while the 1.3GHz processor is an optional $150 to $250 upgrade. Early reviews find much improved SSD performance, but the lack of ports, a 480p FaceTime camera, and no DDR4 RAM are viewed as drawbacks by some customers.

Related Roundup: Retina MacBook
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook (Buy Now)
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Apple CEO Tim Cook Auctions Apple HQ Charity Lunch for Fourth Year in a Row

For the fourth year in a row, Apple CEO Tim Cook is participating in a charity auction through CharityBuzz, offering whoever bids the most the chance to eat lunch with him at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino. As with last year’s auction, Cook is also offering tickets to an unspecified Apple keynote event.

Two people will be able to attend the lunch meeting with Cook, with the experience set to last for approximately one hour. Lunch is included in the price of the auction, but travel and accommodations are not. The offer expires on May 5, 2017, and will be scheduled at a “mutually agreed upon date.”

With the expiration date set to happen in May of 2017 and the second Apple campus set to be finished in late 2016, there’s a chance the auction winner could be invited to the second Apple Campus, though the auction makes no mention of this.

The auction, which will last until May 5, has an estimated value of $100,000, but bids have already reached $110,000. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human rights, a charity that aims to achieve a “just and peaceful world by partnering with human rights leaders, teaching social justice and advancing corporate responsibility.” Tim Cook has supported the RFK Center for several years running and was recently elected to the board of directors.

In 2015, Cook’s charity lunch raised $200,000, while the 2014 auction brought in $330,001 and the 2013 auction brought in $610,000.
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Immortal Fantasy: Close to reaching full potential (Review)

Overview

Travel the land to discover weapons, potions and armor while taking on various enemies all in an attempt to get the attention of the gods and become immortal.

Developer: F.B.apps

Cost: Free

Game Play

There are a lot of ins and outs to this game, so I’m only going give a brief overview of how

Creating a Character

to play. First you pick your character by choosing either one of the premade characters or you can create your own.  You have three races – Human, Dwarf, and Elf – to choose from. You may also choose from a few different classes as well as hairstyle, skin color, and sex.

Play begins when you pick a spot on the map to explore. Once you’re inside you go tile by tile and uncover various loot and enemies. Each card has an assigned value that tells you how strong that card is. If it’s a loot card simply tap it to add it to your cards if you are under your allowed card space – if not, pass by it. If you uncover an enemy, you fight it by activating weapon cards, spells, or other various cards. Then the dice gets rolled and if you roll higher than your opponent’s card value, you win.

There are three islands you must beat to win the game and lots of areas inside each island you must pass through.  In between each section of the map, you have a chance to level up certain attributes, buy extra cards, and train your character to make them stronger.

Review

There is a ton of potential in this game. The idea is awesome and unique. Unfortunately, the

Starting game play

graphics are what hold this game back. This game includes rolling dice that took me a while to realize because I couldn’t see them there. To me, it feels more like graphics from an older Playstation 2 game. In order to compete with the market of games that include cards and characters similar to this, it would be better to take a more cartoonish approach, perhaps. I am not sure if it’s within the budget of the developer to hire someone else, but that might be my first recommendation.

While playing the game I didn’t really feel challenged at first. It didn’t seem I could lose even when I tried. During the first island in the game I didn’t even need to use any weapon cards to progress. Once I moved to the second island it then became really hard to win. It can be quite boring and people could potentially quit while playing the first island because of the lack of challenge there. There needs to be a balancing out in that area. Also, they need to encourage buying cards to make yourself more powerful so when you make it to the second island you stand a chance.

Conclusion

Despite the problem areas in graphics and balance, I did enjoy the concept and very much hope improvements are made. I admire the fact that this is a free app with no ads and no in-app purchases; 100% free. I’m not sure if they intend to later add any of this, but for the time it’s free. I would really like to see this make it to the tabletop category sometime in the future. 

Download Immortal Fantasy in the Play Store

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Roundup: Essential apps for 140-character shenanigans (Twitter apps)

Twitter is my personal choice for Social Media. Restricting contact to 140 characters forces people – and, more importantly – news outlets – to really get to the point of their interactions. Headline tells you what to expect, and if you’re convinced you should read it, you can click the link. Simple. Clean. Easy. As such, I’ve gone through a ton of Twitter clients over the years; these are my favorites.

PrevNext

5. Talon

Talon was my first Twitter client not actually called Twitter. It was also, if I recall, the first Twitter client to support Google’s Material Design when it first debuted. Designed from the ground up by KlinkerApps, maker of the excellent EvolveSMS texting app, I always thought this client didn’t get the publicity it deserved because it focused on doing many things quite well, while not quite excelling in any one area. If there’s one area it does excel in, however, it’s style – there are many, many themes for Talon, both paid and free, that can really let you customize your look.

4. Plume

I adore Plume. There’s a single feature that really, truly could change the game for Twitter in general, and that’s an automatic “TweetLonger” expander integrated into the client. If a user has made use of the service in their long tweet, a tap on the tweet itself within the app will expand it to its full, longer-than-140-characters size. I think having the option to view long tweets could really expand Twitter’s use as a source of news and journalism, if only TweetLonger’s used was more widespread. Unfortunately, Plume’s other functionality is slightly less impressive, albeit perfectly competent.

3. Tweetings

Tweetings’ primary claim to fame is pretty simple – and yet very rare, in the Twitter client world; Push Notifications. I, personally prefer to have my Timeline on Manual updates only – but I like to get my Activity notifications in real time (yeah, I’m weird). This usually means that I have to either sacrifice automatic refresh of my mentions in favor of a manual refresh of the timeline, or risk not getting my notifications because the refresh is set to manual. With Tweetings, I don’t have to stress about that decision; it’s also got a solid UI and lots of great features, to boot. Give it a shot.

2. Fenix

In a comment on my “Day One Apps” post, I was referred to Fenix as a replacement for Tweetings; since switching, I’ve seen the light, so to speak – Fenix is an incredibly solid Twitter client with a great UI and a fantastic set of customization options. I do miss the true push notifications that Tweetings (and only Tweetings, as far as I can tell) boasts. Give Fenix a try – it’s worth the price tag.

1. Twitter

What, you thought you’d escape this list without seeing the official app that started it all? Think again, Sir-or-Madam. The first-party Twitter app has improved significantly since hiring Joaquim Vergès, developer of the still-fantastic Falcon Twitter client (see what I did there? Six apps instead of five this week). Many of Falcon’s features have been integrated into Twitter‘s app, and Vergès’ eye for detail is felt within the foundationally solid, if largely unexciting, client.

There you have it  – the five best Twitter apps for Android, in the eyes of the Android Guys. Think we missed one? Drop us a line in the comments.

AT&T vs. Sprint: Best family plan

Comparing data, to minutes, to cost, to perks, which carrier is right for your family?

Wireless carriers don’t necessarily make it easy for you to compare between their services. They all offer data, and minutes, and messaging, but the small details between them can mean a big difference on your monthly bill.

Choosing a shared plan for your family is a big decision. When you’re shopping between AT&T and Sprint it’s important to know how much data you need, how many devices will be on your account, and how much data you expect to use.

• What sharing plans are available?
• How many devices are allowed on a shared plan?
• How does data work on a shared plan
• How do talk and text work on a shared plan?
• What perks come with a shared plan?
• Which carrier’s shared plan is right for your family?

What sharing plans are available from AT&T and Sprint?

Sharing plans allow you to purchase one big chunk of data and divvy it up between all the phones and devices on your account.

AT&T offers their Mobile Share Value plans. These plans are different sizes and allow you to choose exactly how much data you and your family need to share each month.

Sprint used to offer something called the Family Share Pack, but have now eliminated that program in favor of a more simplified plan for individuals and families called the Better Choice plans, which allow you to share data between multiple devices, just like a familiy plan.

How many devices are allowed on a shared plan?

With both AT&T and Sprint you are charged for each device on your plan. Adding smartphones to your plan costs more than adding tablets or wearables, so knowing how many devices you want to share data with will impact your total bill each month.

AT&T cost per device

AT&T allows up to 10 devices to be on one of their shared plans. The cost of adding a device depends on how many GB of data you are sharing.

• $25/month/smartphone (on plans with 5 GB or less of data)
• $15/month/smartphone (on plans with 15 GB of data or more)
• $10/month/tablet (no data restrictions)
• $10/month/wearable (no data restrictions)
• $20/month/laptop or hotspot device

Sprint cost per device

With Sprint, the price per device depends on whether you lease your phone or pay in monthly installments, or if you’re on a two-year service agreement.

• $20/month/smartphone for non-discounted phones
• $40/month/smartphone on a two-year service agreement
• $10/month/tablet (at least one activated phone required)
• $10/month/mobile broadband device (at least one activated phone required)

Remember, if you’re not bringing your own phone, your carrier will also charge you a monthly fee to purchase one of their phones. Costs vary, but if you want the most up-to-date phone, you’ll be looking at about $25-$30 per month until the device is paid off.

How does data work on a shared plan with AT&T and Sprint?

Both AT&T and Sprint let you choose a set, monthly data amount for your family to share. If you go over your monthly allotment, you will be charged an overage fee with AT&T, but not with Sprint.

AT&T monthly data rates

• 300 mb, $20
• 2 GB, $30
• 5 GB, $50
• 15 GB, $100
• 20 GB, $140
• 25 GB, $175
• 30 GB, $225
• 40 GB, $300
• 50 GB, $375

Overage Charges: If you go over your allotted data on one of these plans you will be charged an additional $20/300 mb on the 300 mb plan, or $15/1 GB on all other plans.

Rollover Data: Unused data is rolled over into the next month and expires one month after rolling over.

Sprint monthly data rates

• 1 GB $20
• 3 GB $30
• 6 GB $45
• 12 GB $60
• 24 GB $80
• 40 GB $100

Sprint also offers an unlimited plan but the pricing structure is a little different than other plans. You pay $75 per month for unlimited data and a decreasing amount for each line you want to add bottoming out after your fifth line at $30 for each additional line added. Your data speed will be reduced after 23 GB are used in one month.

Overage Charges: All Sprint plans come with unlimited 2G data after you have used up your high speed allotment for the month. This means you will not be charged overage fees, but your data speed will slow way down if you go over your allotment.

Rollover Data: Sprint does not let you rollover your high speed data into the next billing cycle.

How do talk and text work on a shared plan on AT&T and Sprint?

Both AT&T and Sprint include unlimited talk and text with their shared plans.

With AT&T if you purchase a 15 GB or higher plan, you also get free talk and text to for Mexico and Canada.

Sprint offers free calling to Mexico and Canada when you’re in the U.S. Additionally, you can add the Open World plan to your account for free. This gives you unlimited calling and text while travelling in Mexico and Canada (as well as a few other countries) plus you get 1 GB of high-speed data while roaming.

What perks come with a shared plan from AT&T and Sprint?

Sometimes it’s tough to decide between one carrier or another, so each provider will offer something to sweeten the pot and hopefully make you choose them over someone else.

AT&T offers a popular TV service called DIRECTV, giving you access to local and network shows as well as a DVR. If you subscribe to this TV service, AT&T will give you unlimited data on for your cell phone, which could save you a lot of money each month depending on how much data your family uses. However, AT&T will slow down your connection if you use more than 22 GB of data between your mobile devices.

Sprint doesn’t have any perks comparable to AT&T, but if you have family living outside of the U.S. their above-mentioned Open World plan has some advantages.

Which carrier’s shared plan is right for your family?

There are a few important factors that will ultimately help you decide which carrier will get your business when it’s time to choose a shared plan for your family.

For comparison we’ll judge AT&T and Sprint on plans that share two smartphones and two tablets.

If you want the absolute cheapest plan, that can be built with Sprint. This plan would only come with 1 GB of data to share, but if we’re talking rock-bottom price for your family, Sprint has got it.

If you want the plan with most high speed data, you can get that with AT&T, but you’re going to pay through the nose for it.

If you want the best value for your data Sprint has some really great options whether you only need a little data or a lot.

If you have many devices consider Sprint if you’re planning on leasing your phone or paying for it in installments as their cost/device is low.

If you are concerned about overage fees then Sprint is the winner since they don’t have overage fees, your data just slows down.

If you’re primarily concerned with talk and text from your provider, Sprint has an advantage but only if you frequently talk to people outside of Canada and the U.S. and want that service for free. Otherwise their talk and text plans are both unlimited in the U.S.

If you already pay for TV service in your home you might find more value with AT&T since Sprint doesn’t offer any kind of bundling services.

Keep calm and carrier on

Ultimately choosing a shared plan for your family comes down to how many people are in your home, what devices they use, and what they use them for. AT&T and Sprint have slight advantages between each other depending on what category you look at.

Overall Sprint’s plan is the most straight-forward of the two and has really good value for the amount of data. Their rates and plans are dependent on you being in an area within their coverage map, so make sure to check that first, otherwise you would be charged fees for roaming on other carrier’s networks.

List reportedly containing hundreds of Spotify account credentials posted online

Login credentials for hundreds of Spotify accounts have reportedly been posted online, and many of those users have stated their accounts for the streaming music service have been breached.

According to TechCrunch, the accounts were posted on PasteBin and include emails and login info for accounts, along with the type of Spotify account and more. However, a spokesperson for the company claims it has not been hit by a cyberattack:

“Spotify has not been hacked and our user records are secure. We monitor Pastebin and other sites regularly. When we find Spotify credentials, we first verify that they are authentic, and if they are, we immediately notify affected users to change their passwords.”

It’s more than possible that these accounts were breached via social engineering techniques, rather than from a cyberattack.

Grab Coocheer’s Bluetooth speaker with built-in NFC for just $9 at Amazon with coupon

Right now you can pick up this Coocheer Bluetooth speaker for just $9 at Amazon with coupon code TUFIEZWH, a savings of $11. In addition to being Bluetooth, the speaker also has built-in NFC for quick and easy pairing to any phone that is compatible. The premium sound with bass enhance technology will give you a great quality of audio output for keeping the party going.

If you aren’t a fan of the song playing, you can skip it right from the speaker with the dial at the top. To ensure you are able to listen to your favorite tunes at nearly any time, the speaker is designed to last for up to 10 hours of playback per charge. Remember, you’ll need coupon code TUFIEZWH for the full savings here.

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Onkyo’s DP-X1 is an impressive Android music player for the more serious listener

It’ll still cost the same as a high-end smartphone, mind.

While the Onkyo DP-X1 is considered a more mid-range product in spec and price, it still commands a fairly high asking price. Or to the outsider it does, perhaps, since high-end audio equipment has always come with a price. We had chance to play around with the DP-X1 recently at CE China in Shenzhen, and it’s pretty impressive for what it is.

Let’s get the price out of the way up front. Onkyo says this is a ‘lower’ priced product and at around $760 it’s not at the very top end of the spectrum in this regard. Sony, for example, will happily sell you a high-end audio player based on Android for over $1,000. Some headline tech specs include:

• Dual SABRE DACs & Amps
• Standard Balanced and Active Control Ground (ACG) Modes
• 2.5mm 4-Pole (for balanced output) and 3.5mm 3-Pole Output
• Physical Buttons for Quick Music Control
• Support for up to 432GB of Storage
• Support for MQA
• Based on Android Lollipop with Access to Google Play
• Wi-Fi & Bluetooth

That large storage comes in no small part from the two microSD slots. The model we saw in China had 32GB of internal storage which is enough for some, but probably not all, of your lossless audio collection. And as a piece of hardware it’s a chunky, blocky affair. But it’s also not a phone, so it doesn’t necessarily need to be contoured to the palm of your hand since you’ll not be fondling it quite as often. It does have physical controls, though, for music playback and the fairly large volume dial which is impossible to miss.

Rather than transcribe, this is what Onkyo says about its DAC and Amp set up:

“The DP-X1 has two amps and two digital/analog convertors which allow for extreme power and signal control. The double ESS Sabre ES9018K2M DACs and double ESS Sabre 9601K amps make balanced output possible via 2.5 mm output. The DP-X1 is the only player with such an advanced configuration, and the result is unprecedented power and control.

The DP-X1 also has two types of balanced drives: ACG and BTL, for greater stability and clean, crystal clear sound.”

The DP-X1 is also, naturally, set up for audio prowess. You’ll be able to enjoy up to 384kHz/24-bit audio, with support for WAV, FLAC, ALAC, & AIFF. And since it’s an Android based player it opens up the possibility of using a streaming service like Spotify, Google Play Music, Tidal and a bunch more to get some tunes. Albeit tunes of a lesser quality, but you’re not limited at least to what you already own. You can get at pretty much anything you can get online.

With a decent audio player such as this one you also need a solid set of headphones. Onkyo was demoing its Maiden Audio Ed-Ph0n3s alongside the DP-X1, and immediately they’re exciting because, Iron Maiden. They’re over-ear cans designed for “fans of rock and metal music,” as if it’d be anything else.

Hardware wise this is what you’re looking at:

They’re very comfortable and they sound very good, especially with the sample tracks on offer from Iron Maidens latest album and the classic demo track, Hotel California. They’re also not an impulse buy item, with a $300 price tag in the U.S. But they’re pretty damn good for that asking price. And they definitely stand out in the crowd.

You can buy the headphones right now in the U.S. from Onkyo’s online store, and if you’re interested in finding out more about the DP-X1 it too is on sale now.

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