Parallels Access 3.1 Brings 3D Touch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro Support

Parallels, the company behind the popular virtualization software of the same name, has updated its iOS app Parallels Access, which allows iPad and iPhone owners to remotely access their Mac or Windows apps on their mobile device.

The app allows users to interact with their desktop apps in the same way they would interact with their iPad apps, with the full range of iPad gestures available for compatible apps. Parallels Access translates what would usually be mouse clicks and movements into iPad-friendly alternatives.
The 3.1 update means the app now officially supports the virtual keyboard and full screen resolution of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, so users can view an undistorted image of a 27-inch (non-Retina) iMac screen on the larger tablet using “Same as Computer” mode, which accompanies the existing “More space” and “Best for iPad” viewing modes.

Other new features include support for 3D Touch on iPhone 6s and 6 Plus handsets, support for Apple Pencil and other stylus devices, folders on the App Launcher, support for cursor movement using the on-screen keyboard as a trackpad in iOS 9, and support for Windows 10 Tablet Mode. Parallels Access still doesn’t support Split View on iPads however, since it would require changing the screen resolution of the remote computer.

The app is $19.99 a year, or monthly for $2.99 to get unlimited use of Parallels Access for up to 5 computers. Parallels also offers a free 14-day trial that allows users to test the app before purchasing.

Parallels Access is available for iPad and iPhone on the App Store [Direct Link]

Tag: Parallels
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iDevices’ New ‘Socket’ Turns Traditional Light Bulbs into Smart Bulbs

iDevices today announced the launch of its latest HomeKit product, a smart light bulb socket able to turn any standard bulb into a smart bulb. The iDevices Socket, first announced at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, is a simple Wi-Fi light bulb adapter that connects to a standard bulb and gives it the ability to interface with Siri and other HomeKit-connected products.

Priced at $79, the iDevices Socket is not cheap and is in fact more expensive than other HomeKit-compatible products like Wi-Fi-enabled bulbs and smart plugs, but it does include dimming capabilities and a customizable color light ring that can be used as a night light or to add ambiance to any room. It is able to fit into any conventional lighting receptacle and is compatible with standard Edison style bulbs up to 60 watts.

The Socket can be controlled using Siri voice commands, through the iDevices app, or through any other HomeKit app. Like other HomeKit-connected products, the Socket can be organized into specific rooms and is able to be used in Scenes, timers, and other HomeKit features.

The iDevices Socket joins the company’s existing line of HomeKit products, which includes the iDevices Thermostat and the iDevices Switch. In the future, iDevices plans to release additional HomeKit accessories like a wall switch and a wall outlet.

Customers can pre-order the iDevices Socket for $79 from the iDevices website starting today.

Tags: HomeKit, iDevices
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Apple MacBook Pro 2016: Goodbye physical keys and hello OLED touch bar?

The next update to Apple’s MacBook Pro line could be one of the most significant so far. Reportedly, Apple is ditching the function keys in favour of a new OLED display touch bar.

While Apple will no doubt roll out updates to its MacBook Pro line this year, and likely offer the rumoured 13-inch and 15-inch enhanced Skylake variants, this OLED claim is bold.

The rumour comes from KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo who also claims the new line will be thinner, lighter and feature Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint recognition hardware, previously only found in mobile devices.

This outlandish claim of an OLED touch bar might not be as far fetched as it sounds. Kuo says it will be featured above the keyboard and will “replace physical function keys”. This may help condense the overall design and work better with the injection mould-made hinges and butterfly-mechanism keyboard that was in the 12-inch MacBook and should feature in the Pro line.

Also expected are Thunderbolt 3 and USB-C ports, faster Skylake processors and AMD 400-series Polaris graphics for the top of the line models.

Apple is reported, by the source, to reveal these new MacBooks in the fourth quarter, suggesting they may not appear at WWDC from 13 June.

READ: WWDC 2016: Apple’s launches, announcements and what to expect

Eight tips for lighting your home

Walk into a room, flick a switch, and your room is normally filled with light. Is it the right light though? Could it be designed to help your health and well-being? Are there any rules or recommendations you should follow when installing new lights in your home?

We put all of these questions and more to Mary Rushton-Beales, a lighting designer and founder of Lighting Design House, a bespoke lighting practice based in the UK. Rushton-Beales has spent the last twenty years working with architects, interior designers, engineers, landscape architects and retail experts to create lighting projects ranging from installations on the London Underground through to airports to homes.

“We need light for so many reasons from health to making our lives work better,” explains Rushton-Beales when we asked why lighting is so important. “We have evolved to respond to a natural cycle of light and dark, day and night, that changes gently but dynamically over time.

But in our very recent history we have deliberately ignored these natural rhythms and we expect our bodies to cope with instant and prolonged high levels of artificial lighting. It is like fast food: many of us are getting the wrong light, at the wrong time. We need to think about the amount and quality of light we need and avoid bingeing on it.”

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Light demands in our home have changed 

In the home, one of the the simplest things you can do is to have enough light to do what you want to do, according to Ruston-Beales. It sounds like an obvious thing, but it’s surprising how many people don’t do it in their homes.

For many people, the average home hasn’t fully caught up with our changing work and leisure behaviours, and in particular our urge to work from home some, if not all of the time. According to a report in 2014 by the Office of National Statistics in the UK, 4.2 million, that’s about 13.9 per cent, of the UK workforce worked from home. That’s a lot of people potentially working in poorly lit environments.

“Go to John Lewis or Ikea, for example, and look at how they’ve lit their rooms to see what their settings are like,” says Rushton-Beales.

The idea is that by looking at what others have done, you should be able to get some idea of what you can achieve in your own home in the same way you would when it comes to buying a piece of furniture. Once you’ve worked out what kind of lights you like, you then need to look at the light itself and what light it provides.

“50 to 100 lux is good for general living, but for working, the recommended levels are around 300-500 lux. Make sure you have extra light to do specific tasks and the lights you are buying are up to the job,” Rushton-Beales tells Pocket-lint.

“Light to do homework in should be colder and brighter if possible. If you can, change the light every hour to give you and your family a break, whether that’s going into a different room or stepping outside. Being able to vary the colour of light is really good. That’s what happens in the real world, so replicating that in the home is really nice.”

The lighting designer continues: “Research has shown that you can stimulate the brain when it wants to rest, using a bluer, cooler light to increase alertness.”

Lighting designers have embraced the offer of multi-colour ascents and app controlled lighting to help “paint” rooms with washes of colour that can be changed or adapted to suit the mood or needs of the environment’s inhabitants.  

“Psychologically, light can have a huge effect on your wellbeing,” adds Rushton-Beales. 

Pocket-lint

Eight tips for lighting your home

That’s the why, but what about the how? Here are eight tips from Rushton-Beales that you should try and follow when adding new lights to your home. 

1.  In the kitchen, try and light the working surfaces. Use everything you can: pendants, down lighters, strips under the above cupboards. It is about creating layers of light rather than it just coming from a single source.

2. Do everything you can before you add downlights. They are the easiest and cheapest option, but are very boring. Nobody has ever said “don’t those down lighters look good”. You’ll get a functionally lit place, but it won’t be exciting.

3. Think about how are you going to control the lights. Is that by two-way lighting switches or something else? Also, you should think about where the switches are going to be. Do you need them by the door? Should they be low-level for kids? Do you even need them at all?

4. Maximise daylight. It sounds silly, but eat near the window if you can, and if you can’t, make sure you go for a walk first thing. It will get your body working and up to speed.

5. If you are doing a new-build or an extension, don’t leave it too late before you start thinking about lighting. Make sure it’s one of the first things you do. If you can, make sure you factor in the depth of the ceiling and any access you need. In the case of the Philips Hue lights, the light strips need a plug socket. Many people love the idea of a fancy light dome or special fitting only to find that there isn’t enough space to fit it when it comes to it and then have to change their plans at the last minute.

6. Look around you to see what others are doing, not just in department stores, but in restaurants, bars and hotels to get ideas. Public spaces have a much faster turnover and the designers are happier to take risks. That gives you a huge canvas to pick and choose what will work well for you in your environment.

7. In a kitchen don’t use cabinet lights if you’ve got solid shelves, and if you can, add lights under the cabinets to light your work surfaces.

8. Sleep in complete darkness or use red/amber shades of low-level light. Of all the research Rushton-Beales has done on how light affects our bodies, she has found the physiological need for darkness is almost more important than the need for brightness and variety of light. When our bodies are properly asleep, natural healing hormones are released. These regulate our body clock, reduce the risk of depression and some studies show they can fight cancer and reduce susceptibility to lots of other illnesses. We really do “feel better after a good nights sleep”!

Pocket-lint

The Pocket-lint Philips Hue installation

For Pocket-lint’s installation, Rushton-Beales first analysed the space and then worked with us to find our needs. She then used lighting heat maps and 3D CAD drawings to create and design a suitable lighting environment.

For us, the most cost effective and dynamic way to proceed was to use the Philips Hue lightbulbs that allowed the kitchen/family room to be used in a variety of ways.  

The installation, one of Rushton-Beales’ most adventurous designs to date, includes 24 Hue lights in total. Light strips, down lighters, uplighters, and pendants have all been used to create layers of light that can not only be turned on via a central switch panel, but can also be changed and adapted via the Philips Hue app, either as part of a scene or individually.

The Philips Hue light strips, recessed into the ceiling, add accents of colour to the experience, while still providing an ambient light when there isn’t a need for the two Philips Hue Beyond lights that sit over the 3-metre long kitchen island to be on.

Those Philips Hue Beyond lights offer up to 500 lux of light giving plenty of light to work or prepare food.

In addition, there are six Philips Hue GU10 down lighters in the room that can be lit when specific light is needed, either over the work tops or the kitchen table. A further four Philips Hue GU10 bulbs are installed in the floor, bridging the divide between inside and out. The idea is to help convince the eye, along with matching floor tiles and a large sliding patio door, that the kitchen and the outside patio are a single space.

Olympus TG-Tracker 4K camera tracks your location, speed and much more

Olympus has announced its latest action camera in the Olympus Tough range and it records all-manner of extra data to go along with the footage.

As well as film in 4K, the Olympus TG-Tracker measures altitude, depth, air and water temperature, geo-location, direction and speed of movement. Olympus Image Track v2.0 enables you to display information with footage to see the exact circumstances as well as the images.

The camera has an ultra-wide angle lens with 204-degrees field of view. There’s also a built-in spotlight for illuminating dark scenes.

It is shockproof to 2.1 metres, crushproof to a weight of 100kg, dustproof, freezeproof to -10-degrees Celsius, and waterproof down to 30 metres.

When underwater it automatically switches to optimal settings.

READ: The best action cam photos in the world: Jaw, meet floor

The Olympus TG-Tracker has five-axis image stabilisation and can also record in Full HD at up to 60fps as well as 4K Ultra HD at up to 30fps. There’s a timelapse mode and slow motion footage can be captured in 720p, which is capable of recording at up to 240fps.

A rear 1.5-inch monitor can be used to view footage, or a smartphone can be hooked up via wi-fi.

A grip extension is supplied in the box.

The TG-Tracker will be available from June. Pricing is yet to be revealed.

Vizio’s cheaper tablet-controlled 4K TVs start rolling out

If you want Vizio’s 4K TV with SmartCast 6-inch Android remote, Ultra HD with Dolby Vision HDR and Google Cast receiving but you’re not ready to pony up for a high-end P-Series set, a cheaper version is now available. Vizio announced the refreshed-for-2016 M-Series line in April and now they’re going on sale, first via Vizio.com and eventually through other retailers. CTO and head of marketing Matthew McRae says that larger 70- and 80-inch versions are still on the way, but currently the $850 50-inch is the easiest one to get.

Vizio:

• VIZIO SmartCast™ 50″ M-Series™ Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display™ (M50-D1) MSRP $849.99
• VIZIO SmartCast™ 55″ M-Series™ Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display™ (M55-D0) MSRP $999.99
• VIZIO SmartCast™ 60″ M-Series™ Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display™ (M60-D1) MSRP $1,249.99
• VIZIO SmartCast™ 65″ M-Series™ Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display™ (M65-D0) MSRP $1,499.99
• VIZIO SmartCast™ 70″ M-Series™ Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display™ (M70-D3) MSRP $1,999.99
• VIZIO SmartCast™ 80″ M-Series™ Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display™ (M80-D3) MSRP $3,999.99

Source: Vizio Blog

Olympus joins the action camera race with its Stylus TG-Tracker

Until today, the closest thing to an action camera that Olympus has had is its ruggedized line of point-and-shoots. But that’s about to change. Today, the company introduced the Stylus TG-Tracker, a member of the Tough series, which comes with a 204-degree (f/2.0) wide-angle lens and a Truepic TM VII processor that can handle 4K video at 30 fps. The TG-Tracker also features a 8-megapixel CMOS (1/2.3) sensor for stills, 5-axis image stabilization and a tilt-out 1.5-inch LCD. It’s rare for these type of shooters to have a screen built in, so that’s nice touch by Olympus.

Naturally, since this is an action camera, you don’t have to treat it with care during your adventures. It’s waterproof (100 ft), shockproof (7 ft), freezeproof (14°F), crushproof (220-lb force) and dustproof. And that’s all without the housing accessory, which Olympus will sell separately. In addition to that, you’ll get GPS capabilities for geotagging, plus WiFi to help you send media remotely to iOS or Android devices.

At $350/£280, the Stylus TG-Tracker costs less than competitors like Sony’s X1000V Action Cam or GoPro’s Hero4. Let’s just hope it’s as good as either of these. We’ll find out when we test around its scheduled June release.

UE’s updated Roll speaker brings a volume and range boost

Ultimate Ears overhauled its entry-level speaker around this time last year, reintroducing it as the UE Roll. This leveled the playing field for its trio of Bluetooth speakers, giving them all improved internals, Bluetooth 4.0 and app compatibility. Today, the company has announced a new successor, the UE Roll 2. This updated model boasts internal tweaks, including improved Bluetooth range and a 15 percent volume boost. On the outside, nothing has changed, which is fine by me: Last year’s slim, saucer-shaped design made for easy stowage, while the stretchable bungie cord allowed for some versatile mounting options. Thanks to its portability and sound quality, the original Roll was already a worthwhile option, and with the price staying the same at $100/£79, we expect we’ll enjoy the Roll 2 as well. I was curious, though, to find out if the audio and range boosts would be noticeable in real-world use.

The updates aren’t much of a surprise, considering UE already made some of these same tweaks on the Boom 2, which was introduced back in September. Since the Roll 2 is the runt of the UE litter, there aren’t any accelerometer-based controls on hand this time, and as before there’s no NFC sensor inside. You get just the one-two punch of sound and range upgrades — unless you count the addition of a funky new color option.

I did some casual testing to see if there really was an obvious improvement in the audio quality this time around. The original Roll is rated at a maximum output of 85dBc, while the Roll 2 maxes out at 87. In a side-by-side test, there is indeed an audible difference in the loudness on the new model. The change is hard to pin down using a simple sound metering app, but after flipping back and forth a few times it’s obvious the output is punched up a bit. Ultimate Ears further optimized the digital signal processing, so that the drivers wouldn’t clip at higher volumes. I’m not talking a night-and-day difference here, but still: I’ll take it.

As before, don’t expect to get much bass out of this speaker — that’s were the Megaboom shines — but for the money, it’s certainly loud enough to keep the vibe going for several friends. Plus you can still pair the speaker with any of its UE siblings through the built-in Double Up feature.

As for the expanded Bluetooth range, the new Roll 2 has a rated max of 100 feet, besting the original model by 35 feet and putting it on par with the UE Boom 2. After placing both speakers one flight down and at the opposite end of my apartment, the original model’s signal began to break up, while the Roll 2 maintained a solid connection. That’s only about 65 feet, but muddled with competing Bluetooth and WiFi signals, as well as plenty of walls and doors. You’re definitely gaining some freedom of movement, but since there are always various factors at work, I’ve rarely achieved the maximum listed distance in real-world situations.

Overall, it’s a great little speaker for when you’re on the go or even just singing in the shower. The slim, easily-hangable design and IPX7-rated water proofing make it one tough little customer. It’s one of the best speaker options in its price range and these improvements — albeit slight — just make it that much better.

Story of NASA’s black female mathematicians gets made into a movie

Katherine Johnson received a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 for her contribution to America’s Space Race, and soon more people will know what she did to deserve it. An upcoming book and movie both entitled Hidden Figures tell the story of NASA’s female African-American mathematicians back in the 1960’s. Johnson was one of those women who served as the space agency’s living computers — rocket scientist Annie Easley was also one — before NASA started using actual machines. The book is scheduled to come out in September, while the movie will follow in January 2017.

Johnson was a key figure in many historic missions in the 60’s and the 70’s. She was the one who calculated the trajectory of Alan Shepard’s flight, making it possible for him to become the first American in space. The mathematician also calculated the trajectory for Apollo 11, which took Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon.

Margot Lee Shetterly, the book’s author, said that one of her first thoughts upon hearing about Johnson’s work is why haven’t we heard more about it — and about NASA’s “colored computers,” as they were called — before. According to The New York Times, Hidden Figures will tackle how Johnson got her male coworkers to listen during a time when men and women were separated and white women were segregated from black women.

The book’s movie adaptation stars Taraji P. Henson as Johnson, Octavia Spencer as her supervisor Dorothy Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as NASA engineer Mary Jackson.

Source: The New York Times, bitchmedia