Google confirms a new in-house startup incubator
Big companies have always supported startups to do the nimble and risky innovating they could not, even building their own investment arms to directly fund them. But sometimes those startups are founded by ex-employees of big companies that break out of corporate limitations. Following rumors last month, Google officially confirmed that it will launch its own in-house incubator, likely as a way of retaining entrepreneurs and keeping marketable ideas in-house.
The incubator will be called “Area 120,” a reference to the 20 percent of work time that Google employees can spend on side projects. CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the news to Forbes; later, VP Bradley Horowitz tweeted that he will be involved in the project. That’s all the company has revealed for now, leaving some of the rumored details first reported by The Information open to speculation.
The real question is whether making a company farm system will help retain talent and innovation, since startups could leave for outside investment with potentially fewer strings than they’d have working within Google. Other big companies have recognized the value that startup thinking brings to the table, but have halfheartedly supported internal restructuring to embrace new methods. For example, Sony’s “First Flight” program and a similar one by LG have both spun out external ideas to sink or swim in their own crowdfunding campaigns, while Samsung made overtures toward embracing startup culture but few concrete decisions.
Via: Recode
Source: Forbes
Apple pulls update for iPad Pro after bricking reports
Apple’s pulled the latest iOS update (9.3.2) for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, following reports that this version of the software was bricking some devices. To make matters worse, the affected tablets can’t be restored through iTunes, even though owners are being prompted to try that computer-based method. It’s unclear what caused the issue, but Apple says it’s already working on a fix.
A spokesperson for the company provided us the following statement:
“We’re working on a fix for an issue impacting a small number of iPad units that are receiving an error when trying to update the software. We’ll issue an update as quickly as possible.”
This isn’t the first time Apple has had something like this happen. Back in March, it had to release an updated build of iOS 9.3, after an earlier version kept people with older iPhones and iPads from installing the update correctly. Thankfully Apple typically only takes a day or two to push out a fix, so we expect that to be the case here as well. Still, as 9to5Mac points out, it’s unclear whether the next update will bring those bricked iPad Pros back to life. We’ll find out soon enough.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: 9to5Mac
Researchers develop passive-aggressive robotic roommate
While we’ve seen new robotic devices that can do everything from driving a car to thwarting underwater terrorists, a team of robotics researchers from Cornell and Stanford just want to make sure you never forget to put away the milk. At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation yesterday, the team presented Watch-Bot, a sort of robo-sentry that keeps an eye on the most mundane tasks in your home or office and politely shames you with a reminder if you forget to do them.
Using its Xbox Kinect 3D sensor, a camera, a laptop and a laser pointer, Watch-Bot observed a week’s worth of human activity in a kitchen and an office. During that time, it collected 458 videos — about half of which included someone human deliberately “forgetting” to do something. The team then made Watch-Bot analyze the videos and use its unsupervised learning algorithm to determine which human actions were intentional and which ones — like leaving the milk out on the counter — were accidental. Using probabilistic learning models, Watch-Bot was able to independently figure out which actions the humans were forgetting.
When Watch-Bot does notice the clumsy human in the room forgot to do something, it quietly highlights that item with the laser pointer until it is put away or dealt with. Among the tasks that Watch-Bot was able to identify were such pet peeves as: not putting a book away after reading it, not turning a computer monitor off after using it, forgetting to put the milk away and leaving food in the microwave. Although it is only able to correctly identify those brainfarts about 60 percent of the time, according to the researchers, “most study participants thought that the robot was helpful,” and not actually just a passive aggressive roommate.
One interesting thing to remember here: Watch-Bot also has no context for the objects in the room. It only acts based on probabilistic patterns it has observed and therefore has no idea what the milk even is, much less that it has an expiration date.
MacRumors Giveaway: Win a 64GB C20i JumpDrive From Lexar to Expand Your iPhone’s Storage
For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with well-known storage and memory company Lexar to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a 64GB C20i JumpDrive, which is designed to increase the storage capacity of an iPhone or iPad and enable file transfers between Macs/PCs and iOS devices.
The C20i JumpDrive is a tiny, pocket-sized dongle that’s just a couple inches in length when folded shut, so it’s perfect for travel and easy to carry all the time. There’s a Lightning connector at one end to plug into an iPhone or iPad, and a USB 3.0 connector at the other end to plug into a PC or Mac, making it simple to move files between various devices. The two pieces are made from aluminum to match Apple’s iOS devices, and there’s a high-quality cable in between that feels like it’ll hold up well to regular usage.
With storage capacities ranging from 16GB ($41.99) to 128GB ($136.99), the C20i JumpDrive can more than double the amount storage available on an iOS device. It’s ideal for anyone who likes to have a lot of content like photos, videos, or music on hand, and invaluable for iPhone users with only 16 or 32GB of storage.
It features USB 3.0 transfer speeds (95MB/s read and 20MB/s write) when transferring content from a Mac to the drive, and it doubles as standard Lightning cable for charging when plugged into both an iPhone and a Mac.
Media content like videos, photos, music can be played or viewed directly from the JumpDrive using the Lexar Mobile Manager app whenever the dongle is plugged into an iOS device. It supports a wide range of files, including MP3, AAC, WAVE, AIFF, M4A, AVI, MV4, MOV, MKV, and MP4. Videos and music in multiple formats played seamlessly from the JumpDrive in our tests.
Lexar’s app is more full-featured than apps from competitors, and in addition to offering automatic photo and contact backup, it also includes options to link to Dropbox, YouTube, and Vimeo so all of your content is viewable in one location, plus there’s a built-in voice recording feature. The app is organized in a logical way so it’s easy to find content, and it’s clear how much storage is available on both JumpDrive and the iOS device it’s connected to.
Lexar normally charges $95 for the JumpDrive C20i on its website, but five MacRumors readers will win one for free. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.
You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (May 20) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on May 27. The winners will be chosen randomly on May 27 and will be contacted by email. The winners have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
Tags: giveaway, Lexar
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5 things to consider before buying a Raspberry Pi – CNET
Taylor Martin/CNET
Raspberry Pi computers are incredibly fun to tinker with and make it both affordable and possible to have a computer dedicated to one or two very specific tasks around your house.
The applications for Raspberry Pi are virtually limitless, especially with the growing interest in smart homes. But there are some things you should know before you dive into the world of Raspberry Pi.
The $35 computer myth
The Raspberry Pi is marketed as the $35 (£24 or AU$49) computer. At its core, that’s exactly what it is, a functioning computer for $35. However, that price only includes the motherboard plus your most basic input and output connections (HDMI, USB, 3.5mm, power source, etc.).
The base price doesn’t even include a power source. The most recent Raspberry Pi, the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, requires at least 2.5A to run smoothly. Previous models required 1.8A and below, meaning they could sufficiently be powered with some phone or most tablet chargers. But most mobile device chargers max out at 2.4A, so you’ll need to fork out at least $10 more for the Raspberry Pi charger. No big deal, right? $45 is still a pretty cheap computer.
Taylor Martin/CNET
If you don’t have a spare microSD card lying around, you’ll also need one of those. A 32GB microSD card is a solid size for the Raspberry Pi, since anything over 32GB might give you some trouble with formatting to FAT32. You can find a suitable 32GB microSD card for between $10 (£7, AU$14) and $15 (£10, AU$21) online.
At this point, you’re already sitting at $55 (£38, AU$76), minimum. If you don’t have a spare monitor, keyboard and mouse, you may need to pick up some extras for your Pi. Depending on what project you plan to use your Pi for, you could end up spending upwards of $100 (£68, AU$139) or $150 (£103, AU$208) for other connections, sensor kits or attachments.
That may seem excessive, and even if you only spend in the ballpark of $55, it’s still dirt cheap. But beware the upcharges and endless accessories that come along with the Raspberry Pi.
It’s a time investment
Setting up a new Raspberry Pi only takes a matter of minutes, especially if you purchased an SD card with NOOBS preinstalled. But if you’re new to the world of Raspberry Pi, it can (and will) become a serious time suck. It’s very easy to sink endless hours into a project only to hit a wall that leaves you either hopelessly trying the same thing over and over or wiping the slate clean, starting fresh and flushing 6 hours of work down the drain.
Personally, I find nights spending countless hours tinkering with my Raspberry Pi enjoyable, even if I get nowhere. I’ll spend 4 hours setting up the Raspberry Pi and getting it just right, only to flash a brand new OS the next day.
Your use may be different, but don’t expect the experience to be plug-and-go. After just a few hours with your Raspberry Pi, you’re likely to be 20 pages deep into a support thread on a forum of people who ran into the very same road block you did. Their input may or may not be helpful.
It’s still not going to replace your desktop
Taylor Martin/CNET
The new Raspberry Pi 3 is the fastest and most powerful device the Raspberry Pi Foundation has released to date. It comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 and 1GB LPDDR2 RAM. It’s no slouch, especially compared to earlier Pi models, but it’s also not nearly as powerful as your modern, high-end smartphone.
It’s capable of playing 1080p video at 60Hz, making a great choice for a DIY media center. However, it’s not going to suffice as a desktop replacement for most people. It’s still painfully slow at certain tasks, such as loading web pages with the included browser in Raspbian or opening a simple application like Libre Office.
Anyone in their right mind wouldn’t want to use a Raspberry Pi as a desktop replacement anyway — it would be like stepping back into the early 2000s. But for the considerably low price, its performance is impressive and it’s easily one of the best project boards on the market.
There are alternatives
Raspberry Pi may be the name you hear touted when talking about project boards, but there are many alternatives these days.
The PINE A64 was a successfully funded Kickstarter project that touts a 1.2GHz 64bit quad-core ARM A53 and 512MB DDR3 RAM for just $15 (£10, AU$21) or an upgraded model with 2GB DDR3 RAM for $29 (£20, AU$40).
The ODROID-C2 is only $5 more (£3 or AU$7) with a 2GHz quad-core ARM A53, 2GB DDR3 RAM and a Gigabit ethernet port. Or just a step back is the ODROID-C1+ for $32 (£22 or AU$44) with 1.5GHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A5, 1GB DDR3 RAM and a Gigabit ethernet port.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous alternatives, such as the Arduino Uno, BeagleBone Black, JaguarBoard, Banana Pi and, if you want something small with a bit more oomph, the ODROID-XU4.
Things are only getting better
The Raspberry Pi Foundation launched its first board in 2012. In just four years, the hardware has significantly improved, the price point has remained the same and the community has grown into a thriving and resourceful group of people who are doing amazing things with very limited hardware.
Now with a handful of options on the market, things are only going to get better. The hardware will continue to jump by leaps and bounds, software options are growing in numbers and the possibilities are growing.
How to setup Bluetooth on a Raspberry Pi 3 – CNET
The newest device from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, comes with both built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1. Like with most things Raspberry Pi, it doesn’t come working out of the box, though. Even after you install NOOBS or Raspbian, you still have to do some work to get Bluetooth up and running.
Fortunately, it’s not very difficult or time consuming, but it will take minimal knowledge of the console (Terminal). Here’s how it’s done.
(If you don’t yet have one yet, back up and read why Raspberry Pi is right for you.)
Why Bluetooth?
Taylor Martin/CNET
First, why would you even need Bluetooth on Raspberry Pi?
By default, it can’t be used for audio. The Raspberry Pi is set to use either HDMI or 3.5mm output for audio. In order to get Bluetooth audio working, you will need to do a considerable amount of additional work.
Namely, the biggest reason for using Bluetooth is to free up ports on the board. Out of the box, you will need a wired mouse and keyboard, or wireless peripherals with dongles that plug into the USB ports. This means that right out of the gate, you’re taking up two out of your four precious USB ports that you’d probably rather be using for USB drives or other important peripherals.
Bluetooth also gives you some additional range. A lot of people like to use the Raspberry Pi as a media hub, which means they’re sitting on the couch, across the room from the TV, where their Raspberry Pi is plugged in. You no longer need to stretch a cable across the room to control your media hub (or deal with finicky Bluetooth adapter dongles).
Additionally, you might want to quickly transfer files between your Pi and other devices. Bluetooth will work for this case, but only for transferring files from the Raspberry Pi to another device, unless you go through the effort of setting up an OPP Server.
Terminal
The quickest way to get your Bluetooth devices paired to your Raspberry Pi is through Terminal.
Taylor Martin/CNET
- From the Raspberry Pi desktop, open a new Terminal window.
- Type sudo bluetoothctl then press enter and input the administrator password (the default password is raspberry).
- Next, enter agent on and press enter. Then type default-agent and press enter.
- Type scan on and press enter one more time. The unique addresses of all the Bluetooth devices around the Raspberry Pi will appear and look something like an alphanumeric XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX. If you make the device you want to pair discoverable (or put it into pairing mode), the device nickname may appear to the right of the address. If not, you will have to do a little trial and error or waiting to find the correct device.
- To pair the device, type pair [device Bluetooth address]. The command will look something like pair XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX.
If you’re pairing a keyboard, you will need to enter a six-digit string of numbers. You will see that the device has been paired, but it may not have connected. To connect the device, type connect XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX.
Now you can toss that ancient wired keyboard in the junk drawer of your desk until you reflash your Raspberry Pi tomorrow.
Graphical Interface
Taylor Martin/CNET
When it comes to Bluetooth, I’ve had a lot more success with the Terminal commands. However, having a graphical user interface for Bluetooth settings is certainly very helpful in various situations.
By default, there is no graphical settings menu for Bluetooth. Here’s what you’ll need to do to install it.
- Open Terminal and type sudo apt-get install bluetooth bluez blueman. Press enter.
- Once the packages have downloaded and installed, type sudo reboot.
- To access this menu, on the Raspberry Pi desktop click Menu, located in the upper left corner of the screen, scroll down to Preferences with your cursor and click Bluetooth Manager. From there, you can pair to any nearby devices, or you can make your Raspberry Pi discoverable so you can pair your phone to it from your phone’s Bluetooth settings.
Pairing devices like my Android smartphone or other non-keyboard devices has worked quite well using this method. However, pairing a keyboard fails while entering the six-digit passcode. That said, if you use the Terminal commands to pair the keyboard, you can easily connect it later using the graphical Bluetooth menu just fine.
Sony MDR-1A over-ear headphones review: Classy on the outside, fun on the inside
Usually when big-name electronics manufacturers get into audio, they do so casually. Their headphones are more targeted towards the average consumer, with decent quality and a reachable price.
Sony is different, though. It’s audio gear can dive well into “audiophile” territory, and the brand is highly regarded among those passionate about audio quality. Take the NW-ZX2 Walkman digital audio player, for instance. It goes for a staggering $1,200 and is jam-packed with HiFi prowess.
What we’re reviewing today isn’t that high-end, but it’s definitely not your budget headphone.
The MDR-1A can be called Sony’s signature over-ear headphone, or the within-reason premium offering before things go into crazy expensive audiophile territory. Let’s see if the MDR-1A should be your next upgrade.
Design
I really like the MDR-1A’s design. It’s both classy and edgy. The black model that I have (there’s also a silver/brown one) has stealthy styling that is also sophisticated. Its leather-dominated headband blends into shiny metallic stems. Then a deep red edge is lined between the earcup and earpad, for a touch of flair.
The soft, leather-wrapped earpad cushions and seamless stitching also invoke the premium feel. The attention to detail doesn’t stop there, as you’ll uncover a brushed metal band when you extend the headband to make it larger.
I’m glad that the MDR-1A looks the part, as it’s not a cheap headphone. That said, it does lose of its premium appeal when you pick it up. The hard plastic construction is immediately noticeable (the metallic finish is a deception). Still, I have no question about the MDR-1A’s durability.
Sadly, these over-ears don’t have a fold-able design. Many headphone manufacturers are doing this these days so the headphone can compact down to a travel-friendly size. But at least the earcups can rotate to lay flat. This means that the carrying case doesn’t have to be as thick. Speaking of which, the included case is drawstring-style and maintains the leather aesthetic.
Usability
The packaging includes an extra cable (with an in-line remote for playback control and a microphone to take phone calls), so this means that the cable is removable. You’ll find the 3.5mm connection on the left earcup, as one arm of the stem extends downward for easy access. The benefit of a swappable cable is replaceability. Cables can go bad, and you don’t want to have to replace the entire headphone if it happens.
You may have noticed that the ear pads look fairly substantial. Sony’s goal was both comfort and sound isolation. The ear pad cushions are constructed with an “enfolding design” to minimize sound leakage.
This in no way means that the earcups are stiff and uncomfortable. Quite the opposite is true. The pads are more soft than firm. Bear in mind that as they are leather, they will heat up over a lengthy period on your head. But all in all, these earpads are one of the comfiest that I’ve used. The sound isolation was also great.
Sound
Oh boy, the sound. The MDR-1A captures you from the bat. Sony was totally not going for a “reference” kind of sound, but rather, engaging. There’s a clear emphasis on bass. But it doesn’t irresponsibility call for attention and overshadow the rest of the spectrum. It’s boisterous in the right ways: depth and impact. You can almost feel the low-end’s sound waves shake the space within the earpads. It borders on head-rattling; if you love bass, you must try these headphones.
However, from an audiophile perspective, I have to throw a word of caution. If you like a balanced/neutral sound, these may not be for you. The bass is the clear star of the show here. It does at time borderline on boomy, but impressively controlled for the most part.
I don’t mean to downplay the rest of the range, though. The MDR-1A is detailed across the board. Second to the bass is the mid-range. Vocals and instruments in this region sound satisfyingly full and rich. Too often sound signatures recess the mids and do them an injustice, not so here. The soundstage is also pleasant, as the separation and placement of notes fill the space around you.
I wasn’t as impressed with the treble as the other ranges. It’s good, but can fall flat at times (there could be more extension) or get overshadowed by another sound. I wouldn’t call it recessed, because when the track calls for it, it’s prominent and detailed.
Final Thoughts
Sony’s expertise certainly shows in the MDR-1A. The design is attractive from either a sophisticated perspective or someone who likes standout styling, the wear/comfort is impeccable, and the sound is an experience. Though, the plastic build and bass-heavy sound may put some serious listeners off, but I can see it being fine for many people.
The MDR-1A is more premium than your standard over-ears, so the price tag won’t be for the faint of heart. They retail for $299. But you are getting a well-made, good-looking, super comfortable, and fun sounding headphone.
Sony MDR-1A product page
AIVAnet 