Boeing’s space taxi won’t be ready until 2018
Ever since the US retired the space shuttle, it’s relied upon Russian rockets to get crews to and from the International Space Station. 2017 was meant to be the year that both SpaceX and Boeing restored some hometown pride, but the latter’s now had to bow out. GeekWire is reporting that the aerospace firm’s space taxi, the CST-100 Starliner, won’t be ready for manned spaceflight until 2018. That means that not only is NASA’s timetable going to have to change, but SpaceX is left as the agency’s only hope. If Elon Musk can keep the Dragon’s development program on schedule, then his company is virtually guaranteed to win the new space race.
There’s something not quite right at Boeing, and its efforts towards building new ways to get into space are suffering. Last month we reported that the ULA, a satellite-launching partnership Boeing has with Lockheed Martin, was edged-out of an Air Force GPS contract by SpaceX. Rumors then began to surface saying that the company simply couldn’t compete with SpaceX on price. The GeekWire report confirms that Boeing will slash around 4,000 jobs with even more being considered for later on in the year. Which, as you all know, is a sign that everything’s going just peachy.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: GeekWire
BT to stream Champions League and Europa League finals on YouTube
BT will broadcast coverage of both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League finals for free on YouTube. The company confirmed today that it will show both matches on BT Sport TV channels across Sky, Virgin, YouView and Freeview, but will also give streamers the opportunity to view the action via the official BT Sport YouTube channel.
It comes after BT admitted it was considering whether to extend its coverage to Google’s streaming service. BT Sport operates a paid subscription for all of its sporting programmes, which includes Champions League and Europa League games, but was forced to provide free coverage as part of UEFA’s conditions after snatching TV rights from terrestrial broadcaster ITV.
In its press release, BT also confirmed that EE “will launch a new BT Sport offer to millions of its customers” in the coming months. Details are scarce but the company says that it will be available to customers on EE’s 4G pay monthly plans ahead of the new Premier League season.
With TV figures rumoured to be on the low side, BT appears to be shifting its strategy to engage with customers on as many formats as possible. It already delivers coverage via TV, apps and its website, but getting younger users to engage on YouTube and bringing on board the UK’s biggest mobile operator will only serve to improve its metrics.
Source: BT
Vodafone’s own-brand handsets are new, not very improved
Vodafone set a new benchmark for own-brand phones with its Smart Ultra 6. The handset is actually a fiver more expensive now than when it launched almost a year ago, and yet it’s still one of the best pound-for-pound devices available in the UK. The problem with setting benchmarks, though, is that you also set expectations — expectations that the next cycle, starting with the Smart Prime 7 released today, are measured against. At £75 on pay-as-you-go, the new handset is as easy on the wallet as the Prime 6 that came before it. The problem, though, is that the Prime 7 barely counts as an upgrade.
It’s not that the Smart Prime 7 is a bad phone. Despite being an all-plastic affair (available in black/silver or white/gold) and quite light at 128g, it’s a sturdy, well-built device. You get a 5-inch, 720p display, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage (only 4 gigs are for you), the latest version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, 8- and 5-megapixel cameras, 4G and NFC. The quad-core 1.3GHz Snapdragon 212 at its heart isn’t the fastest processor around, but it’ll handle everyday tasks with relative ease and get you through an Asphalt 8 race on low graphics settings.
For £75, that’s an agreeable enough rap sheet. But compare it to the year-old Smart Prime 6, which can also be had for £75, and those numbers start to look less appealing. In fact, the Smart Prime 7 is almost identical to its predecessor, apart from its newer version of Android and a better front-facing camera. Fair enough — not every new generation needs to blow the last out of the water — but then why does the Smart Prime 6 actually possess the more powerful, quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor?
And therein lies the problem with the Smart Prime 7: In that one respect, it’s a step back. That said, it still represents pretty good value for money. Pay-as-you-go alternatives at the same price are limited, though O2 is selling the slightly better-specced Alcatel Idol 3 for a discounted price of £80 right now. The Smart Prime 7 is also available for free on contracts starting at £16 per month, but Sony’s Xperia M4 Aqua, LG’s G4c and Motorola’s Moto G are the same price, not to mention similarly competitive phones/contracts at other providers.
The Smart Prime 7 isn’t the only new own-brand handset Vodafone launched today. The 3G-only Smart First 7 has also made its debut, with specs that more or less attest to its £25 price point. We’re talking a quad-core 1.3GHz processor, a 3.5-inch (480 x 320) display, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of expandable storage, a 2MP camera and Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Again, though, the older Smart First 6 (also £25) actually has a superior display on paper, even if it does lag behind in the performance department. However, you only need to look in the direction of EE’s 4G-ready Rook — which is now only £20 on pay-as-you-go — to see where your money would be better spent.
LG’s GoPro rival can stream direct to YouTube
LG has made an action camera that can live stream to YouTube (or anywhere else) without a phone or WiFi. The LG Action CAM LTE (clearly, hours spent on the name) has onboard 4G to beam video direct to the web. The camera itself looks like an elongated GoPro Hero4 Session (the frame it’s hanging from in the picture looks almost identical). Unlike GoPro cameras, though, LG’s Action CAM has built-in GPS and motion sensors — much like the Garmin, or TomTom action cameras. This means you’ll be able to record where your footage was taken, gather metrics or easily find video highlights later.
The Action CAM’s 12-megapixel sensor shoots 4K/UHD at 30 frames per second (fps), 1080p at 60fps and for extra slo-mo, there’s a 120 fps option at 720p. If you’re hoping to make use of the cellular livestreaming, then you’re limited to 720p at 30 fps. That cell connection isn’t the only way to get video out of the camera though. The Action CAM supports memory cards up to 2TB, and there’s built in WiFi and Bluetooth too (plus good old USB of course).
LG says the Action CAM is part of its “Friend” line of accessories, which it launched in Barcelona earlier this year with the LG G5, although there are no specifics about how it actually fits in with the rest of the line (especially as it doesn’t need to borrow the phone’s data connection). It’s likely that you’ll be able to use a handset as a viewfinder though. The Action CAM is also waterproof to one meter for 30 minutes without a case, so you’ll definitely not want your phone with it then (we also imagine this hinders livestreaming).
On paper, the Action CAM seems to offer more features than most of its rivals. GoPro cameras don’t have motion sensors, and there are very few with livestreaming built in right now. GoPro gets around this by native support for Periscope, but that still requires you have your phone within WiFi reach. We can’t tell you if this makes LG’s camera a worthy rival just yet, as we have no idea about price, data costs and even where it’ll be available beyond South Korea next month, followed by the US and Europe later.
Source: LG
Google Set to Announce Amazon Echo Rival, Codenamed ‘Chirp’
Google is working on a standalone hardware device that will integrate the company’s search and voice assistant technology, reports Recode.
According to sources, the product is said to be similar to Google’s smart home enabled OnHub wireless router and is set to compete against the likes of Amazon’s Echo.
OnHub wireless router (Image: Google)
Google declined to comment on the rumor, but the project, said to be known internally as ‘Chirp’, is expected to be officially announced at next week’s Google I/O developer conference, where voice search and intelligent personal assistance are to take center stage alongside the company’s latest forays into virtual reality.
In 2014, Google acquired connected device company Nest, which reportedly had its own designs for an Echo competitor running Google’s search technology, but scrapped the plans because of concerns over consumer privacy.
After launching the Echo over a year ago, Amazon announced in March two new additions to its lineup of voice-controlled smart hubs that house the company’s personal assistant, Alexa.
Tags: Google I/O, Amazon Echo
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Microsoft to Kill Off Sunrise Calendar iOS App on August 31
Microsoft is set to merge its team of Sunrise Calendar app developers into its Outlook team, in a move that signals the end for the popular standalone calendar app (via The Verge).
Sunrise Calendar was designed by former Foursquare engineers and won many fans for its ability to seamlessly integrate with various online services and incorporate social networking and event information from Google Calendar, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Microsoft acquired Sunrise in February 2015 in a deal rumored to be worth around $100 million. The company subsequently announced plans in November to merge Outlook and Sunrise into a single app. That plan appears have come into effect and Sunrise will be removed from the App Store in the “next few days”, says Microsoft, with the app’s online backend services to cease functioning altogether on August 31, 2016.
Microsoft has gradually been introducing features to its Outlook email and calendar app, and recently added Facebook, Evernote, and Wunderlist support. Skype for Business and OneNote integration are expected to follow soon, while Touch ID support was added in March.
Microsoft Outlook is available as a free download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]
Tag: Microsoft Outlook
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Google’s own interpretation of Amazon’s Echo is coming soon
All of a sudden, it’s as if everyone is working on voice-controlled personal assistants, and reports suggest that Google’s version of something similar to Amazon’s Echo could land as soon as the Google I/O event next week — which would make sense. According to sources at Recode, it’s currently being developed under the codename, Chirp.
Interestingly, Nest (now a part of the same company) shied away from the idea of an Echo like device, citing privacy concerns about talking to Google, its search engine, algorithms and other internet magicks. Recode’s sources suggest voice search and intelligent responses from your Google devices will be the centerpiece of Google’s showcase, alongside virtual reality developments. Okay, Google. Show us what you’ve got.
Source: Recode
Apple Unable to Restore Data From iPhone of Florida Teen Lost at Sea
Apple has been unsuccessful in its attempts to retrieve data from a waterlogged iPhone that belonged to one of two Florida teens who were lost at sea last summer, reports ABC News affiliate WPBF 25.
14-year-old Austin Stephanos’ iPhone 6 was found in an abandoned boat off the Bermuda coast in March, eight months after he and friend Perry Cohen, also 14, went missing during a fishing expedition that began at Palm Beach County, Florida, in June 2015.
The two boys’ parents, who had been locked in a court battle over the iPhone’s fate, recently agreed to hand it over to Apple after the company said it would do everything it could to recover information from it in the hope that it would shed light on the circumstances of the teens’ disappearance.
With the iPhone in Apple’s possession, a dedicated forensics team disassembled the damaged device, cleaned its components and performed a chemical report as part of an exhaustive diagnostics and repair process. But despite the team of engineers working “around the clock”, Apple has been unable to glean any data from it.
The news was released by Austin’s father, Blu Stephanos, via a statement read by the family’s attorney, Michael Pike. “Although they were unable to restore the phone to a functional state, I want to thank Apple, Inc. for their hard work and generous assistance,” Stephanos said.
“If the FBI turned to Apple when they needed help, I see no reason to doubt that every possible means was employed to get Austin’s phone working again. It’s our understanding that Apple had a team assigned to the iPhone around the clock, and for that we are truly grateful.”
Stephanos’ statement went on to suggest he would keep the iPhone as a memento of his son, but the parents of Perry Cohen seem intent on exploring other options.
Pam Cohen, Perry’s mother, issued a subsequent statement which likewise thanked Apple for its efforts, but she also claimed that Apple had offered to hand the phone to other experts in the field who may be able to pick up where Apple left off and continue the work.
“We look forward to working cooperatively with Austin’s family toward this transition,” said Cohen. “We are not giving up on the iPhone’s potential for evidence until all viable efforts have been exhausted.”
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.
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Garmin Forerunner 735XT hands-on preview: Beating the bulk
When it comes to proper sports watches Garmin is the primary brand that springs to mind. But with so many fitness-tracking devices out there exploring different designs, Garmin’s bulky devices have arguably slipped down the ranks.
The Garmin Forerunner 735XT cuts the bulk; this GPS multi-sports watch is akin to a slimmed-down 920XT minus the altimeter, or similar to the Fenix3 but with a built-in optical heart-rate monitor included.
And that heart-rate monitor is a key feature of the 735XT. Almost the moment we put the watch on those trio of green lights to the rear picked up our pulse (a rather excessive 78bpm in all the excitement!) and kept monitoring it in real-time. We really don’t like wearing a chest strap, so this feature is great to find – or you can use an optional chest strap instead if you prefer.
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We’re not sure this Forerunner’s pink and blue finish is exactly to our tastes (don’t believe this finish will make it to the UK), but it’s certainly a standout design for a sports watch. The main unit is rather plasticky, though, but that’s in-keeping with resistance to those sweat-fulled workouts. Plus it’s waterproof to 50-metres, should you want to go for a swim.
That’s another benefit of the Forerunner 735XT: it’s designed for triathletes, so running, cycling and swimming are well catered for. Well, mostly: the lack of an altimeter is an oddity here, because there’s no accurate elevation recording. Shame.
To wear the Forerunner 735XT’s band is really comfy and it has lots of adjustment holes to ensure a snug fit whatever size your wrist. It needs to be snug to ensure that heart-rate monitor works, but that rubberised quality ensures it doesn’t feel tight.
The five buttons to the outer edge are large enough to make easy adjustments, although we find the “back” button’s position to the lower right feels like you’re reaching overthe watch face a lot. Instinctively we kept using this button to attempt selections, when it does the very opposite of that.
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Dig into the 735XT’s menus and there are stacks of measurement options, well displayed on that mono screen. Heart rate, steps, calories, time, distance, pace, including graph views of the last week’s workouts, IQ apps and “Stress Score” (just like the Forerunner 630 model).
Overall the Garmin Forerunner 735XT looks and feels like a neat GPS multi-sport solution. Shame there’s no altimeter, and that smaller scale means battery life won’t be as long-standing as the 920XT and some competitors.
Its £360 price tag isn’t budget, but there’s plenty on offer. Or drop £450 with the HRM-Tri bundled in, which can measure your heart-rate even when underwater.
Honor V8 hands-on preview: Dual cameras, but no Leica in sight
With Huawei shouting loud about its P9 smartphone with dual Leica cameras, the presence of dual lenses on the Honor V8 (the company’s sister brand) got us thinking it, too, would bear the same fruits.
But it’s not to be, as there’s no Leica glass or monochrome sensor in sight. Having handled the new V8 on the show floor at CES Asia, in Shanghai, the phone’s twin lens arrangement is there only to be used for post-focus and pseudo-aperture control.
READ: Huawei P9 review
In that respect, though, the V8 mimicks the P9, offering pseudo f/0.95 through to f/16 for ultra-blurred backgrounds or front-to-back sharpness, respectively. Shame the software is touch-and-go when making these visual fakeries though. Still, the core 12-megapixel rear snapper works just fine and comes with a huge selection of shooting modes, manual options included.
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If anything the Honor V8 stands-out for other reasons. One, it’s a 5.7-inch panel, which while huge in the hand, is largely similar to the Huawei Mate 8 and comes with a recessed rear fingerprint scanner that’s well positioned.Two, that screen boasts a QHD (2560 X 1440) resolution – something Huawei and Honor have been largely ignoring until now, thus showing the path of progression.
Assuming, that is, you’re looking at the top-end V8 anyway; the phone will come in three configurations with the lower two models sporting Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolutions and lower specs instead. In that regard the Honor V8 is, just like a muscle car engine which its name (unwittingly?) apes, turbocharged in that department.
READ: Huawei Mate 8 review
Under the hood you’ll find an octa-core 2.5GHz Kirin 955 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM. Speedy indeedy. Although with the phone running the company’s EMUI software reskin in its Chinese guise, we’ve not been able to dig deep into its ins and outs this time around.
But it’s the build quality that really sells this Honor. It’s shed the budget image that many people may have regarding the relatively unknown brand, delivering a metal-clad body with chamfered edges and slender 7.8mm construction. It’s a lot like the Mate 8 in that respect, albeit 0.1mm thinner in the Honor – not that we could tell.
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Powering the V8 is a 3,500mAh battery, which ought to keep the phone chugging along for a good period of time. Why there’s not a larger capacity 4,000mAh cell, as per the Mate 8, we’re not sure, though. Perhaps that dual camera arrangement needs more space within.
In summary, then, the Honor V8 feels like an upgraded Huawei Mate 8 with some added camera software pulled over from the Huawei P9. Yes, its 5.7-inch screen footprint makes it massive. But it also brings massive power and a massive battery for a not-so-massive price: ¥2,999 translates to about £299, if, of course, we ever see the Honor V8 arrive on UK shores in any guise. Wouldn’t mind seeing a “V8 mini” too.
AIVAnet 