What styles of Fossil Q watches are available?

Fossil has made its move from standard to smart watches. Which style is right for you?

Fossil has been making vintage-inspired watches for about 30 years. And while those definitely aren’t going away, times are changing, and as such Fossil evolving its approach to timepieces. Fossil Q is the company’s line of connected wearables which includes two distinctly-styled watches, as well as an activity tracker.

• Non-Display Smartwatches
• Display Smartwatches
• Fossil Q Activity Trackers

Display Smartwatches

If you’re in the market for a good-looking and customizable smartwatch, the Fossil Q Display Smartwatches are the lineup you should be considering.

These look, feel, and function exactly the way you’d want a smartwatch to, but still have the cool style of a traditional Fossil watch. There are four models in the Display lineup which feature activity tracking and are powered by Android Wear to connect with popular apps on your phone. And as always, you can manage notifications from your phone on your watch’s touch display with a few taps and swipes.

The Display Smartwatches track activities like daily steps, distance, and calories burned and connects via Bluetooth with the Q App (for Android and iPhone) to monitor your progress over time and make suggestions to boost your activity level throughout the day. Best of all you can swap between metal and leather interchangeable bands and coordinate your watch strap to match one of the many selectable watchfaces.

See at Amazon

Non-Display Smartwatches

For the purist, Fossil has created a smartwatch that doesn’t look like a smartwatch.

The Fossil Q Non-Display Smartwatches ditch the flash touch display for a traditional watch face, but still connect the timepiece to your smartphone over Bluetooth. Instead of messages popping up on a display, this line of Q watches is a little more subtle with its notifications.

Using the Q App on your phone, you can program notifications to alert you with any combination of vibrations or colors. For example an Instagram alert will trigger an LED light on the underside of the watch to flash orange, or a text message will cause a vibration and a blue light. You’ll get the same activity tracking features (step, calorie, and distance) as you would with the Display version of the watch, but it will all be monitored with the companion app.

Currently there are six watches available with different face styles and leather or steel bands. Straps can be swapped out for other ones of the same size allowing you to customize the look of your timepiece. The Fossil Q Non-Display Smartwatches also have about a week-long battery life, which is significantly longer than their touchscreen counterparts.

See at Amazon

Fossil Q Activity Trackers

While not a full-fledged smartwatch, it’s worth noting that Fossil has created a stylish activity tracker in the Q family.

For those who want to wear a traditional watch on one arm and a sleek fitness tracker on the other, or like the idea of a fitness tracker but don’t like the looks of the sporty, rubberized offerings from other manufacturers Fossil introduces its Q Activity Trackers. These wearables were designed first as fashionable bracelets for men and women, but discreetly connect with your phone for advanced tracking and notification capabilities.

The Fossil Q Activity Trackers connect with the Q App via Bluetooth to track daily activities like steps taken, calories burned, and distance traveled. You can monitor your progress over time with the app, or check the three LED lights on the side of the design plate which light up to show how close you are to achieving your daily goals. Discreet vibrations alert you as you receive notifications from chosen apps.

There are seven styles of leather and steel bracelets to choose from, and additional straps can be purchased to mix up the style of your Q Activity Tracker.

See at Amazon

Cue the credits!

Fossil has done a great job of covering all bases for people who love the look and feel of traditional watches, but want the function of a smart wearable. With their customizable bands and wide selection of watchfaces — both digital and analogue — you should be able to find a look that matches your personal style. Depending on how visible you want your smart device to be, Fossil’s Q lineup gives you different degrees of style and function.

This is how Google tests the safety of Android Auto

A new video in the “Nat and Lo” series from Google puts the spotlight on the company’s Android Auto Research Lab.

The video shows how Google tests how people use Android Auto in simulated cars. With the help of some special eye sensors, Google tests people in these simulations to see if using Android Auto causes issues in visual, cognitive and manual distractions. Anytime a person doesn’t have their eyes on the road for a couple of seconds can be a huge safety issue, so Google wants to make sure using Android Auto is safe while driving.

The video also shows how Google tests Android Auto in real cars on the open road. Android Auto is currently available for over 100 car models.

PopCap takes on Candy Crush with Bejeweled Stars

Match-3 puzzles games are a dime a dozen nowadays. Candy Crush is king of course, but it owes some inspiration to Bejeweled. Now PopCap has launched Bejeweled Stars, which might just Crush the competition. What makes this one so stellar? Read our detailed impressions to find out!

The next evolution of Bejeweled

The basic concept of Bejeweled is simple. Match three or more gems, score points, and try to create larger matches and chain reactions in order to score even more points. Bejeweled has always been one of the best games of this genre because of its appealing visuals and weird but soothing announcer who exclaims things like “Good!” or “Awesome” when you fire off combos. Creating certain combinations of gems also tends to conjure up power-up items. These in turn produce impressive effects when unleashed.

Combining Bejeweled with the level-based structure, limited moves, and limited lives of Candy Crush.

With the traditional Bejeweled Classic and the time attack Bejeweled Blitz already available on mobile, PopCap had to find a new gimmick for its latest entry Bejeweled Stars. The trick was to combine Bejeweled with the level-based structure, limited moves, and limited lives of Candy Crush.

Each level has a specific goal to complete, such as matching a quantity of a certain type of gem, clearing all the crystal panels by making matches on them, or creating and using power-up gems. The wrinkle is you only get a fixed number of moves to do it. Fail the level and you lose a life, which takes time to replenish.

The more moves you have remaining upon clearing the level, the better the score you get. Each level has a Facebook leaderboard, so you can try to outdo your friends. The stars you earn for doing well on a level contribute to Constellations. Complete a Constellation to earn rewards like Skygems.

Skygems, Charms, and In-App Purchases

Skygems are a new type of gem in Bejeweled Stars. They share the same colors as normal gems, but they have unique Lucky Charms-like shapes. Match some Skygems, complete a level, and they’ll go into your inventory. They can then be spent in the Laboratory to produce special on-demand power-ups.

Early on, those power-ups are entirely optional. But like Candy Crush, it’s safe to expect that levels will become tough enough that many players will need help in order to beat them. At least you can go back and replay levels to get more Skygems. And if you’re really in a hurry, you can buy Skygems with gold earned from clearing levels.

Bejeweled Stars is a free to play game, so naturally it has in-app purchases. These include buying lives and buying gold. Players can also buy chests which contain random assortments of Charms. These seem to be used in the game’s social features, although I couldn’t test those due to playing before launch.

A star is born

As match-3 games so, I’ve always loved the Bejeweled series (with the exception of Blitz). After playing for a couple of hours, Bejeweled Stars looks like another fine entry. The early portion of the game is super fun. It looks and sounds great as well, though the flashy effects might cause performance issues on some devices.

Hopefully the harder levels of the game won’t push players too strongly into spending money. We’ll keep playing Bejeweled Stars and report back if we run into trouble. Be sure to let us know your impressions (and how the game performs on your phone or tablet) as well!

Nissan wants to take on Tesla’s Powerwall with its own xStorage home battery

Nissan today revealed that it is entering the home power storage market with the launch of xStorage.

Teaming up with Eaton – a power management company – the xStorage steps into the same space as the Tesla Powerwall, aiming to provide a domestic power reserve via the use of batteries.

The Nissan xStorage can be connected to the mains or to renewable energy sources, allowing you to store power for when you need it. If charging from the mains, the xStorage can take its power off-peak when prices are lower, offering that stored energy for use at times of high demand. 

However, many will look to the xStorage to help reduce dependency on the grid, taking its change from solar or other renewable sources, while still allowing energy surplus to be returned to the grid. It also brings the added advantage of offering a power reserve if there’s a power failure.

Nissan says that the idea behind xStorage is partly to provide a “second life” for batteries that have already been used in the company’s electric vehicles, claiming that its experience in automotive use means a nicely designed box, and reliable battery performance.

Customers will get smartphone connectivity to easily control the xStorage, and the price will be £3200, including complete installation and cabling, for a 4.2KWh battery. 

Mercedes-Benz also offers a home battery, in what looks like a growing range of alternative power solutions. 

There’s no word on exactly when you’ll be able to buy into the Nissan xStorage system, but it expects to install 100,000+ over the next 5 years.

Nissan’s xStorage is its take on Tesla’s Powerwall battery

Nissan’s grand designs for zero-emission cities of the future may be some way off, but you gotta start somewhere. And that somewhere starts with “xStorage,” the automaker’s home energy hoarding system announced today. Like Tesla’s Powerwall and Mercedes’ residential battery, the idea is to save you money in the long run by charging the thing up when off-peak electricity rates are in effect. You can then use the cache to power your home when energy is more expensive — switching between sources by way of smartphone app — or sell it back to the grid during these times of higher demand. And if you can juice the xStorage unit up using a renewable source like solar, then all the greener.

Nissan is differentiating itself from competitors by using old EV batteries in its xStorage units, making them as environmentally friendly as possible. The company has been breathing new life into used batteries before now, partnering with businesses on commercial energy storage projects. The new xStorage system will be Nissan’s first foray into the residential market, however, when pre-orders kick off in September. There currently aren’t any plans to bring the home battery to the US, but in Europe, an xStorage unit (holding roughly 4.2kWh of electricity) will set you back €4,000/£3,200 (around $4,500) including all installation costs.

Nissan also announced a major new trial of its vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system in the UK today. Still in its early stages, V2G promises exactly the same benefits as a home energy storage system, but it hooks up to the battery in your EV instead. Following a smaller test of the technology in Denmark that began in January this year, the UK trial will include 100 Leaf and e-NV200 vehicles owned by both private and commercial customers.

Source: Nissan (1), (2)

Congressional IT desk warns representatives of ransomware threats

The technology service desk at the House of Representatives has sent out an email warning your state representatives to be careful which links they follow from their email inboxes. According to the email, which was forwarded to TechCrunch today, there has been an uptick in the number of ransomware attacks on the House network and the congressional IT folks will start banning access to YahooMail.

“When a user clicks on the link in the attack e-mail,” the technology service desk helpfully explains to the nation’s less-than-savvy Congresspeople, “the malware encrypts all files on that computer, including shared files, making them unusable until a ‘ransom’ is paid. The recent attacks have focused on using .js files attached as zip files to e-mail that appear to come from known senders.”

While it would be amusing to find out if any representatives or their staff were hapless enough to click on a suspicious email attachment, a spokesperson for the House Chief Administrative Officer wouldn’t confirm to TechCrunch whether or not the attacks were successful. In addition to YahooMail, it appears a number of Google Apps were also blocked.

Congress isn’t alone as a target for ransomware attacks, however. Earlier this year, hackers held the computer system hostage at a hospital in Los Angeles. The medical center was eventually forced to hand over 40 bitcoins (or about $17,000) to get its network back. Likewise, the aging computer systems at many schools make them a prime target for ransomware attacks.

DARPA is building acoustic GPS for submarines and UUVs

For all the benefits that the Global Positioning System provides to landlubbers and surface ships, GPS signals can’t penetrate seawater and therefore can’t be used by oceangoing vehicles like submarines or UUVs. That’s why DARPA is creating an acoustic navigation system, dubbed POSYDON (Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation), and has awarded the Draper group with its development contract.

The space-based GPS system relies on a constellation of satellites that remain in a fixed position relative to the surface of the Earth. The GPS receiver in your phone or car’s navigation system triangulates the signals it receives from those satellites to determine your position. The POSYDON system will perform the same basic function, just with sound instead. The plan is to set up a small number of long-range acoustic sources that a submarine or UUV could use to similarly triangulate its position without having to surface.

The system should be ready for sea trials by 2018. It will initially be utilized exclusively for military and government operations but, like conventional GPS before it, will eventually be opened up to civilians as well.

Earth’s early air weighed half as much as it does today

Scientists have long postulated that the early Earth’s atmosphere must have had considerably higher pressure than it does today, since the sunlight was fainter. However, researchers have made a discovery which suggests that this theory is way off the mark. By studying the size of bubbles in 2.7 billion-year-old lava flows, they’ve found that the air pressure was less than half what it is now — in other words, the atmosphere was much lighter back then. As there’s evidence of liquid water at that time, the Earth must have had less nitrogen and more greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide and methane) preventing heat from escaping into space.

The researchers will need to find other samples to double-check their data. If it holds up, though, it’ll do more than just prompt a rethink of Earth’s primordial history. The breakthrough will also show that microbes can survive on planets with thin atmospheres, which raises the hope of finding exoplanets that harbor life.

Via: Science Bulletin

Source: University of Washington, Nature