San Francisco mandates rooftop solar panels starting in 2017

San Francisco has been pushing toward 100 percent of its energy to come from renewable resources for a while now. And to further that, the city recently passed legislation that would require new construction to install solar panels on building roofs — an extension of existing legislation that stated 15 percent of a rooftop be reserved for solar use. The city says this is the first mandate of its kind, and that new buildings 10-stories tall or shorter will have to install photovoltaic panels or solar water heaters. The law won’t go into effect until January 1st next year.

However, this could just be seen as political grandstanding. The number of sub-10-floor buildings going up in San Francisco is pretty low, especially in terms of residential construction. More than that, buildings are already up against strong opposition from residents for blocking sunlight, so having anything blocking power sources could cause similar situations.

We’ve reached out to the San Francisco Planning Department and the city’s Department of Building Inspection for comment and will update this post should either respond.

Via: Business Insider

Source: Scott Weiner (Medium)

ICYMI: How cancer travels, true hoverboard and more

Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT researchers discovered that cancer cells can unclump to squeeze through teeny capillaries, then reassemble as cancer clumps on the other side. Zapata Racing has a prototype of a real hoverboard that can fly just like the Green Goblin’s, but only for 10 minutes at a time. And a smart toy for pets called PlayDate will let you play with your cat or dog remotely, by moving the ball around through an app and watching your pet’s reaction.

We also wanted you to see the video of some construction equipment in a Transformers-like battle, after the humans operating them got into some sort of argument and decided to settle it like Gladiators of road construction. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

The Pictar brings SLR-style camera controls to (most) iPhones

There’s no shortage of accessories that promised to turn iPhones into better cameras. But truly useful ones? Those can be hard to come by. Even so, Miggo, a startup best known for its SLR accessories, thinks it’s onto something with its $90 retro-styled camera grip. It’s called the Pictar, and it gives the iPhone 4 and up (except the 6 Plus and 6s Plus) the sort of physical controls that camera buffs just might go nuts over.

Curiously, you won’t find a Bluetooth transmitter or Lightning connector here. It instead communicates with the iPhone using ultrasound, a seemingly peculiar approach that’s actually rather clever. Each action (think: zooming, taking a photo, tweaking your ISO and more) is tied to a specific high-frequency tone. With the Pictar app installed, the phone listens for those tones and does what it’s told. More importantly, the team says the combination of inaudible sound and an algorithm that tells when the iPhone to listen for it enables a shooting experience that won’t burn through your battery.

Unlike, say, the LG G5’s Cam Plus add-on, the Pictar does an impressive job of replicating the manual controls of a proper SLR. In addition to a two-stage shutter button, there are three physical dials: a zoom ring on the front (just under the shutter button), an exposure compensation wheel and a scene select dial for switching between presets like Sports and Landscape mode. Thankfully, it’s fairly simple to re-map those wheels if you want more nuance — the version I played with was decidedly not done, but I could still change those two dials to let me fiddle with white balance and shutter speed. Throw in a cold shoe for accessories and a standard tripod mount and you’ve got a surprisingly well thought-out little package.

Physically, the Pictar grip itself is lightweight and fans of proper cameras will adapt to the control layout very quickly. It’s actually pretty too, with the sort of silver-and-black design that you might see on an old-school Nikon or Olympus. You probably won’t be squeezing this thing into your pockets, though: Its dimensions give it enough room for an easily replaceable AA battery (expect six to eight months of use off a single cell). That’s not to say it doesn’t need a little more finessing before launch, though.

There was a brief delay when trying to focus and snap a photo on the pre-production model, which I’m told was an issue with unfinished software. Apple doesn’t allow developers to leave an iPhone’s microphone on indefinitely, so the Pictar app periodically prompts it to listen for the grip’s telltale tones. At this early stage, it seemed like the microphone wasn’t listening as often as it should’ve been, but a Pictar spokesperson says the team is still doing some algorithmic fine-tuning. Still, if Miggo manages to iron out its software issues and polish up the chassis a bit, the company might have a promising future making more than just camera bags.

Nissan outs Mitsubishi for cheating fuel economy tests

Mitsubishi Motors has admitted to manipulating data in Japanese fuel efficiency tests in order to overstate the fuel efficiency of 625,000 cars.

Unlike the Volkswagen scandal, the cheating wasn’t spotted by officials, but rather Nissan, its partner in a minicar venture. Mitsubishi and Nissan have collaborated on kei minicars — tiny vehicles like the Nissan Dayz and Mitsubishi eK, which are very popular in Japan — since 2013, with the former doing the manufacturing.

Bloomberg says that the company modified the load weight of the cars during testing, which made them appear more efficient. Mitsubishi says that it used a different running resistance figure (a combination of resistance caused by tires and air when a car is moving) than mandated by Japan’s testing body.

Whether this involved physically changing the load weight, or simply changing the relevant figure in a spreadsheet is unclear, but regardless, Mitsubishi accepts that the testing method “provided more advantageous fuel consumption rates than the actual rates.” And it’s this discrepancy between the real-world figures and Mitsubishi’s claims that was picked up by Nissan during in-house testing.

This data manipulation is neither as high-tech nor as widespread as Volkswagen’s emission lies — the German company used software to change the way its diesel cars behaved during standard testing. Nonetheless, another car manufacturer being exposed for doctoring test results does not help engender faith in the auto industry.

Mitsubishi has halted production and sales of all the affected cars — the eK Wagon, eK Space, Dayz, and Dayz Roox — and Nissan has stopped selling the relevant Dayz models. In total, 157,000 Mitsubishi cars are affected, and 468,000 Nissan. The pair will hold talks regarding compensation. With Nissan seemingly the innocent party here, the size of that compensation is likely to be considerable.

Via: Bloomberg, The Verge

Source: Mitsubishi

‘Shazam for Brands’ Will Track User Activity to Launch Brand-Specific Ads

First making its name as the go-to app for music recognition software, Shazam has expanded into other media content like TV commercials, movie trailers, and radio ads in the past. This week, however, the company is officially announcing its push into brand-specific advertisement with a new initiative called “Shazam for Brands” (via AdAge).

Using data accumulated from how users interact with the app, and a company’s integrated brand advertisement, Shazam will attempt to pick out which artists and musical genre each brand should use to attract the widest swath of their particular audience. Before the official launch of Shazam for Brands, some of Shazam’s past partners have included Marvel Studios, Nike and Clinique. Those partners provided fans with experiences like Shazamable movie posters and interactive music videos.

“Advertising had always been secondary, but now we are putting it front and center,” said Greg Glenday, chief revenue officer at Shazam. “We are taking advertising seriously by adding stock and people. We sold ourselves short with the advertising industry by just selling banner ads and being transactional.”

With such data, a brand will be able to purchase the landing page of a specific Shazam, called “clickable listening screens,” so that their products can be displayed in conjunction with the a particular artist’s song. Glenday said the new ad-push for the company won’t bring any noticeable changes on the user side of things, and that all of Shazam’s fans “will still receive the results they want without interruption.”

Shazam for Brands will also allow the company’s partners to incorporate Shazam’s technology — using the same, traditional Shazam app — into their own marketing materials. For example, earlier in the month Coca-Cola introduced a Shazamable bottle design that prompted users to film a video of themselves lip-syncing to one of a handful of songs displayed on the drink’s label.

Furthermore, the company is looking to get into the live-event business, in a festival centered around up-and-coming artists set to open later in the year. Shazam intends to use beacon technology to create an event where each performer will be able to be discovered by the app. Following today’s launch, the company hasn’t said who its next major advertising and brand partner will be, but it has created a new Shazam for Brands Twitter account so users can follow its progress on the social network.

Shazam is available on the App Store for free [Direct Link]. Users can also download Shazam Encore for $6.99 [Direct Link], negating all of the company’s attempted advertisements.

Tag: Shazam
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Apple Watch Hermès Now Available in 17 More Cities

Apple Watch Hermès can now be purchased at Apple and Hermès stores, and select fashion boutiques, in an additional 17 cities as of this week.

In the U.S., the models are now available in Bellevue, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Portland, and Washington D.C. In Europe, the new cities include Barcelona, Brussels, Florence, Madrid, and Manchester.

Apple Watch Hermès has also expanded to Guangzhou, Macau, and Shenzhen in China, in addition to Melbourne, Australia and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Apple Watch Hermès has also been available for purchase online since January, while Apple began selling standalone Apple Watch Hermès bands through its online store yesterday for between $340 and $690 based on U.S. pricing.

(Thanks, Alan!)

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2
Tag: Apple Watch Hermès
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories takes fantasy farming to a whole new level

Harvest Moon: Seeds of Memories has made its debut on the Play Store, bringing the classic farming simulator to Android devices. You’re tasked with running a farm, which entails growing crops, flowers, and trees, as well as raising livestock, starting a family, upgrading your home, and much more.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Grow a variety of crops, flowers, and trees! See if you can discover new kinds of mutations!
• Raise livestock like cows, sheep, and chickens!
• Take your horse for a jaunt around town!
• Take care of pets like your trusty dog!
• With 10 marriageable candidates — 5 guys and 5 gals — everyone will be able to find that special someone they’re looking for!
• Upgrade your tools to find the highest-quality items!
• Participate in contests and festivals like the Cooking Contest and Starry Night Festival!
• Excavate rare ore and crafting materials in the mine. How far can you go?

The game is now available on the Play Store for $10.

EU files formal antitrust charges against Google

The European Union has filed formal antitrust charges against Google regarding its Android operating system. The regulators state that by bundling its own services and making Google Search the default search engine on Android, Google has abused its dominant position, preventing other companies from competing in these segments.

From the press release:

The Commission’s preliminary view is that Google has implemented a strategy on mobile devices to preserve and strengthen its dominance in general internet search. First, the practices mean that Google Search is pre-installed and set as the default, or exclusive, search service on most Android devices sold in Europe.

Second, the practices appear to close off ways for rival search engines to access the market, via competing mobile browsers and operating systems. In addition, they also seem to harm consumers by stifling competition and restricting innovation in the wider mobile space.

A competitive mobile Internet sector is increasingly important for consumers and businesses in Europe. Based on our investigation thus far, we believe that Google’s behavior denies consumers a wider choice of mobile apps and services and stands in the way of innovation by other players.

The charges are the latest in a series of antitrust investigations the EU has aimed at Google. Last year, regulators accused Google of abusing its market position in online search, stating that the search giant favored its own comparison shopping service over the competition.

Today’s charges pose a significant threat to Google, as they target its mobile search business, which accounts for nearly half of its overall ad revenue. The EU has the power to fine Google up to 10% of its annual revenues, which could amount to a total of over $14 billion on these two cases.

Latest HTC 10 ad showcases the display, cameras and sound quality

It won’t be long before you can get your hands on an HTC 10, and the company is continuing to push out new marketing material for it. The latest ad shows off the best features of the smartphone, like the display, cameras and sound quality. Between the dramatic music and flashy animations, the video captures your attention and leaves you wanting more information.

Check out our HTC 10 review!

If you are interested in the HTC 10, you can already pre-order one for yourself from HTC directly. If you are waiting for it to arrive at your carrier, you’ll have a longer wait. Be sure to check out where you can buy an HTC 10 in the U.S., where to buy it in Canada, as well as in the UK.

Tech companies express ‘deep concerns’ about encryption bill in open letter to Senators

Four big tech coalitions have teamed up to write an open letter to two senators in opposition to a bill that would require smartphone manufacturers to decrypt data for law enforcement on demand. Apple, Google, and Facebook are amongst the companies that these coalitions represent, and the letter expresses their “deep concerns” surrounding the proposed bill.

The letter is addressed to Senators Richard Burr and Dianne Feinstein, and is signed by Reform Government Surveillance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, and the Entertainment Software Association. The full letter, which was posted online to the Reform Government Surveillance blog (via The Verge), can be read below.

Letter to Chairman Burr and Vice-Chairman Feinstein Regarding Encryption

April 19, 2016

The Honorable Richard Burr
Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Vice-Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Burr and Vice-Chairman Feinstein:

We write to express our deep concerns about well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable policies around encryption that would weaken the very defenses we need to protect us from people who want to cause economic and physical harm. We believe it is critical to the safety of the nation’s, and the world’s, information technology infrastructure for us all to avoid actions that will create government-mandated security vulnerabilities in our encryption systems.

As member companies whose innovations help to drive the success and growth of the digital economy, we understand the need to protect our users’ physical safety and the safety of their most private information. To serve both these interests, we adhere to two basic principles. First, we respond expeditiously to legal process and emergency requests for data from government agencies. Second, we design our systems and devices to include a variety of network- and device-based features, including but not limited to strong encryption. We do these things to protect users’ digital security in the face of threats from both criminals and governments.

Any mandatory decryption requirement, such as that included in the discussion draft of the bill that you authored, will to lead to unintended consequences. The effect of such a requirement will force companies to prioritize government access over other considerations, including digital security. As a result, when designing products or services, technology companies could be forced to make decisions that would create opportunities for exploitation by bad actors seeking to harm our customers and whom we all want to stop. The bill would force those providing digital communication and storage to ensure that digital data can be obtained in “intelligible” form by the government, pursuant to a court order. This mandate would mean that when a company or user has decided to use some encryption technologies, those technologies will have to be built to allow some third party to potentially have access. This access could, in turn, be exploited by bad actors.

It is also important to remember that such a technological mandate fails to account for the global nature of today’s technology. For example, no accessibility requirement can be limited to U.S. law enforcement; once it is required by the U.S., other governments will surely follow. In addition, the U.S. has no monopoly on these security measures. A law passed by Congress trying to restrict the use of data security measures will not prevent their use. It will only serve to push users to non-U.S. companies, in turn undermining the global competitiveness of the technology industry in the U.S. and resulting in more and more data being stored in other countries.

We support making sure that law enforcement has the legal authorities, resources, and training it needs to solve crime, prevent terrorism, and protect the public. However, those things must be carefully balanced to preserve our customers’ security and digital information. We are ready and willing to engage in dialogue about how to strike that balance, but remain concerned about efforts to prioritize one type of security over all others in a way that leads to unintended, negative consequences for the safety of our networks and our customers

Signed,
Reform Government Surveillance
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Internet Infrastructure Coalition (I2C)
The Entertainment Software Association