UberEATS makes its way to Singapore
UberEATS exited NYC in April, so the company can “narrow its focus.” Apparently, that includes testing the waters in Asia, because the 10-minute food delivery service is now available in Singapore. The country’s residents can download the standalone UberEATS app from either iTunes or Google Play, but the service is only limited to 100 restaurants’ menus and to Singapore’s Central Area at this point. That region includes some of SG’s busiest urban districts such as Orchard, a popular tourist destination where you’ll find a slew of shopping malls.
There’s no shortage of places to eat in the country, from hole-in-the-wall to ritzy restos, and other food delivery services already operate in the region. Even McD’s does delivery in Singapore. But it makes sense for Uber to launch the service in its first ever Asian market, which also happens to be one of the richest and most technologically advanced countries in the world. This initial roll out will give the company a chance to gauge people’s interest in UberEATS and could lead to availability in other Asian metropolises.
Thank you @Ubereats! #food #singapore Perfect timing for my hungry tummy! Love this 😝 pic.twitter.com/gkaF5XSCtu
— Grace Kok (@gracescene) May 19, 2016
Via: Techcrunch
Source: Uber
HP goes big on gaming with new Omen laptops and desktop
HP gave us a brief taste of the legendary Voodoo PC gaming brand with its Omen laptop over nearly two years ago. Now, the company is bringing the Omen name to all of its gaming hardware — a new lineup of laptops and desktops, as well as a 32-inch quad-HD monitor. On the laptop side, HP is going is going for more aggressive pricing, starting at $899 for the 15.6-inch model ($980 for the 17.3-inch model). And with its new Omen desktop, HP is aiming to be VR ready with enough power to run the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
While it’s nice to see Omen laptops at a lower price, HP had to downgrade the machines a bit to make that happen. (In many ways they’re more reminiscent of last year’s Pavilion gaming laptop.) The biggest difference: instead of aluminum unibody cases, the new laptops have plastic cases with a “black shadow mesh” design. And instead of multi-colored keyboard lighting, they only feature red lights. The laptops felt pretty solid in my brief hands-on time, though you’d never mistake them for a premium metal design. The hinges also felt a bit more wobbly this time around.
The Omen laptops now support up to NVIDIA GTX 965M graphics and sixth-gen Intel Core i7 processors. They can hold a maximum 16GB of RAM, and you’ll have the choice of up to a 512GB SSD or 2TB hard drive (some configurations also allow for combination of SSD and a traditional hard drive). As with many laptops today, you can also add in an Intel RealSense Camera for an additional cost.
As for that Omen desktop, it looks like… your typical mid-tower desktop. The brief bits of design accent are the brushed metal facade and red lighting on the front. Otherwise, it’s fairly ho-hum. At the highest end, you can configure it with an Intel Core i7-6700K processor, 32GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 3TB standard hard drive. Naturally, you can also configure the desktop with NVIDIA’s new GTX 1080 Founder Edition card, or if you prefer AMD, a Radeon R9 390X. There’s also optional water-cooling, which could be helpful if you pick up an overclockable CPU.
Rounding out the motley crew of Omen products is a new 32-inch monitor with support for AMD’s FreeSync technology, which helps smooth out performance due to framerate variability. As I mentioned above, it’s a quad-HD display, which means it packs in a 2,560 x 1440 pixel resolution. While it’d be nice to see a 4K display from HP, quad-HD is also a far more sensible resolution for most gaming rigs. There’s no pricing for the Omen monitor yet, unfortunately.
The Omen laptops will be available on July 10 at Best Buy and HP’s website, while the desktop and monitor will ship in August.
The big news here, really, is the new branding. HP has offered powerful systems across several product lines over the year, but by focusing on the Omen brand, it gives consumers an easy way to know which machines are powerful enough for serious gaming.
Survive-’em-up ‘7 Days to Die’ hits consoles in June
Telltale Games, the very same name behind games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us, is set to publish its survival horde crafting game 7 Days to Die. It’s coming out a lot sooner than expected, arriving on June 28th for $29.99.
7 Days to Die is a survival horror experience in the vein of games like DayZ or Rust, combining aspects of tower defense, survival horror, role-playing, and first-person shooter games with crafting, mining and exploration.
The post-apocalyptic world survival game will be available for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with both digital and retail editions for $29.99. You can preorder now if you’re so inclined, which will net you five character skins from Telltale’s The Walking Dead series, including fan favorites Michonne and Lee.
If you can’t wait until June to get more of 7 Days to Die, check out the latest interview with developer The Fun Pimps below.
NASA and Wisconsin are covering the state with wildlife cameras
NASA’s next search for life is headed somewhere close to home: into the woods of Wisconsin, where the space agency is partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to create “one of the richest and most comprehensive caches of wildlife data for any spot on our planet.”
The project is called Snapshot Wisconsin and it will document the state’s wildlife with a network of 4,000 to 5,000 motion-sensing cameras and an array of remote sensing satellites.
“Something like this has never been done before, not for such a large area,” UW–Madison Professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology Phil Townsend explained. “The number of trail cams and the spatial scale we’re working on will make this project unique.”
The project will not only take candid photos of the local fauna like coyotes, bears and bobcats, but it will also as track their movements through seasonal changes by matching the camera locations with GPS and imaging data from NASA’s Terra, Aqua and Landsat satellites. Like other crowdsourced wildlife documentary projects, the Snapshot Wisconsin website allows users help out by flipping through wildlife shots and identifying different species caught on camera. With all this information, the project hopes to document phenomena like bears hibernating when the trees turn brown in the fall and deer births when things turn green in the spring.
The project launched earlier this month with 500 cameras on public land in two counties, but the state’s Department of Natural Resources has wants to cover a total of 55,800 square miles — or most of the state, minus the urban areas. To reach that goal, DNR is hoping landowners will volunteer to host cameras in specific areas and training volunteers to set up and maintain the camera traps.
Three to trial mobile ad blocking next month
Three will soon trial network-level ad blocking in the UK. Such a move was telegraphed back in February, when the carrier inked a deal with Shine, a company that specialises in the practice. The trial will take place on the week starting June 13th, for 24 hours. Three will contact customers beforehand and they’ll be able to sign up through the carrier’s website. The extent of the ad-blocking isn’t clear, but Shine says it can handle “all of the mobile web,” including display ads and display ads within apps.
“The current ad model is broken,” Tom Malleschitz, Three’s chief marketing officer says. “It frustrates customers, eats up their data allowance and can jeopardise their privacy. Something needs to change.” Indeed, the network has given three reasons for blocking mobile ads. Firstly, the company says customers shouldn’t have to pay for the data required to load ads on the web. Secondly, it argues that subscribers should be protected from advertisers who use mobile ads to track people without their knowledge. Finally, it says advertising should be more relevant and targeted.
The method by which Shine blocks ads at the network level is unclear. The company says it uses “machines” that are capable of performing deep packet inspection (DPI) inside the network. Using a mixture of “real-time analysis, artificial intelligence and algorithms,” the team is able to identify ads and stop them without breaking the original webpage or app.
Ad-blocking is a contentious issue. Countless companies rely on advertising revenue to survive — stripping that away jeopardises their business. But the practice has become more commonplace, as users discover and enable browser extensions that strip away web ads. One of them, Adblock Plus, is so popular that companies are now paying its creators to be “whitelisted,” ensuring their ads are still served to users. While adblockers have grown in popularity, they’re still a niche tool amongst the entire internet populace. Three’s partnership with Shine, meanwhile, could quickly switch millions of people onto the practice.
For now, it’s opt-in, but merely notifying customers that the option exists could trigger a wave of adoptees. That’ll put advertisers and publishers on edge — if Three and Shine proceed, we wouldn’t be surprised if a few legal tussles were initiated. The matter could grow exponentially too if EE and O2 adopt similar tactics; both are considering the practice, but have yet to confirm whether they’ll be offering the technology. Shine, meanwhile, says it’s talking to a whole range of networks. It’s already inked a deal with the Caribbean mobile operator Digicel, and others could shortly follow.
Via: FT
Source: Three UK
No Apple Store in India unless it sells more local-made goods
Apple has been making an effort to conquer India to boost its declining iPhone sales, but things aren’t going too well for the company. According to Reuters, the Indian government has rejected Cupertino’s request to allow it to open official Apple Stores in the country even though most of its products are made in China. See, under the country’s new laws (specifically the Make-in-India initiative), 30 percent of the goods a foreign high-tech retailer sells should made in India. A public official told Reuters that Apple “didn’t provide any material on record to justify” its request for a waiver. India also rejected the company’s plan to sell imported, refurbished iPhones in the country earlier this month.
A few days ago, Tim Cook met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss his plans for expansion, and sources said that those plans include opening up three Apple Stores by 2017. At the moment, Cupertino mainly sells goods in India through franchise stores that exclusively sells products from the company. While it’s very much possible for a multi-billion dollar tech titan to find a way around that requirement, it might take a while for Apple to launch official stores in the country.
Via: 9to5mac
Source: Reuters
Uber Adds Foursquare Location Data to its Address-Finding Arsenal
Ride hailing company Uber has agreed a deal with Foursquare to use its location information in Uber’s app to enhance its address finding capabilities (via Mashable).
Uber’s deal with the local search and discovery service will see its app incorporate Foursquare’s Places data, so that riders can find the addresses for exact locations simply by typing in the restaurant or venue name.
Currently, the app is consistently able to find addresses to popular destinations like airports and chain restaurants, but can struggle to find relevant addresses for specifically-named, lesser known venues.
“Foursquare will enable Uber to customize, improve and increase the breadth of our non-personal POI [points of interest] location data to enhance Uber’s rider and driver experience,” Foursquare wrote in a blog post. “Also, these modifications will be incorporated into Foursquare’s venue database going forward.”
The deal was described by Foursquare as a “global, multi-year agreement”, but the company declined to give financial figures.
Uber follows the likes of Microsoft and Pinterest in leveraging Foursquare’s location data over the years, but according to Mashable, the Uber deal is a significant milestone in Foursquare’s transition towards a more data-driven, Yelp-like business model, away from its original strategy as a check-in service – a feature no longer included in the Foursquare app.
Earlier this week, Foursquare announced the launch of a new, separate app called Marsbot, which the company billed as “your trusted friend that can recommend places to you by learning from your preferences and the places you go every day.” The app is still in the early phases of testing and requires users to sign up to a wait list, but Foursquare hopes the app’s digital concierge smarts will catch on, thanks to its tight integration with the company’s established location tracking technology.
Tags: Foursquare, Uber
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Google might name and shame slow-to-update Android vendors
Google has tried a few (mostly unsuccessful) strategies to get Android device makers updating their software in a timely fashion. Remember the short-lived Android Update Alliance? However, it might be trying something different: embarrassing those vendors into doing something. Bloomberg tipsters claim that Google has created lists that rank Android manufacturers based on the timeliness of their updates. They’re private right now, but the company is considering making them public to shame vendors that drag their heels — it’s hoping those brands too sluggish to make the lists will strive to do better.
Other work has been going on behind the scenes, too. Google has been asking carriers to shorten their notoriously long update testing cycles (Sprint has confirmed it, but Verizon reportedly has too), and it’s even pressing carriers to skip tests entirely for security updates. Google isn’t commenting on the leak.
It’s far from guaranteed that the lists will work, assuming they’re ever made public. The Update Alliance fizzled out as commercial realities (the cost of maintaining phones, and the desire to sell you a new phone instead) took over. What’s to say that a list with no direct consequences will do any better? However, there isn’t as much pressure to update as there was in the past. Google Play Services delivers many updates without having to go through makers or carriers, and numerous official apps get updates through the Play Store. This is more about going the last mile to both improve security and reduce the chances that hardware creators leave you high and dry.
Source: Bloomberg
Apps for saving and sharing your files (Roundup)
A couple weeks ago I spoke about setting up a Box account to get yourself 10GB of free cloud storage. To that point, we thought it would be a good idea to bring you a list of 5 great options for free cloud storage for your mobile and desktop needs.
All of the apps below allow you to upload/download files to/from your cloud account and open editable files on apps installed on your mobile device. To prevent any more needless jabber on my part, I present you 5 cloud storage solutions for you mobile and desktop needs in order of my personal preference.
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5. One Drive
If you have ever been forced to create a Microsoft account (Xbox Live, Windows 8.0/8.1/10, Windows Live Mail, etc.) then you have a One Drive account. Microsoft provides you with 5GB of free storage simply for creating your account. This allows you to easily upload and edit files from directly inside your Microsoft office applications.
If you are an Office 365 subscriber, Microsoft has pumped your storage capacity to 1TB which, unless you are storing large images or video, should suffice for most users.
Expansion options
If you are not a subscriber to Office 365 you can purchase an additional 50GB for $1.99 per month
Download the One Drive app
4. Amazon Drive
Unknown to me until a few weeks ago, Amazon offers cloud storage to its Prime members (seriously, if you shop on Amazon you need to sign up for Prime). With any Prime subscription, you get UNLIMITED storage for photos and 5GB for “videos & files”. All the music I have stored in my Amazon Music app also shows up in the file manager and does not seem to take up any of that 5GB of space.
Expansion options
Amazon also offers an “Unlimited Everything” plan for $59.99 per year, which is a really good deal if it is truly unlimited.
Download the Amazon Drive app
3. Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the more popular cloud storage solutions. It boasts Office365 integration for live editing of shared files. Many of its tools rival those of the previously listed apps, but the reason Dropbox is sitting at number 3 is the amount of free storage they provide, a meager 2GB. This is enough for someone that is trying to simply share some files or collaborate on a project, but this will not cut it for high-resolution photos, video, or high-quality audio.
Expansion Options
If you like the service that Dropbox provides but simply require more storage space you can upgrade to their “Pro” account which gives you 1TB of storage for $9.99 per month.
Download the Dropbox app
2. Box
Yes, this is a different app. Box is geared more towards business applications and customers. They have professional tools like a DICOM viewer (medical imaging) and FREE Office 365 integration so you can edit your files from any browser. It plays well with other apps and has a similar feel in the UI. The major difference here is that Box gives you 10GB or free storage. If you need north of 5GB of cloud storage and don’t want to pay, I would give Box a shot.
Expansion options
Box does offer an expansion of your storage for a fee. You can purchase 100GB of storage for $10 per month. (If you are wanting to pay for extra storage, I would suggest one of the other providers)
Download the Box app
1. Google Drive
How could I even attempt to talk about cloud storage without talking about Google Drive. Google is the most generous of our list, providing 15GB of storage to the basic user, and it seems like this number grows every few years. As many of you may know, Google has also created Google Docs which will allow you to create and edit their proprietary document format and Microsoft Word files from any current browser or smartphone with the corresponding app. This storage limit also takes your Google Photo storage into account (unless you are using their free photo backup feature for your mobile pictures).
Expansion options
Google does provide competitive expansions options ranging from $1.99 per month for 100GB up to $299.99 per month for 30TB of storage.
Download the Google Drive app
Download the Google Photos app
Download the Google Docs app
‘Hitman’ will take you to Morocco on May 31st
Where do you go after murdering the French fashion scene and defending the art of assassination in Italy? For Agent 47, the hired killer that defines the Hitman games, that’s up to his handlers — and on May 31st, they’re sending him to Morocco.
The third episode of Hitman’s seven-part story takes Agent 47 to Marrakesh, a bustling Moroccan city with densely packed alleyways and bazaars, stunning architecture and, of course, two brand new targets, ripe for assassination. Not enough? No worries: Io-Interactive says the new map will be teeming with new live content, including new Elusive Targets and Escalation Contracts — those obliquely named challenges are limited time assassination missions players only have one chance to complete, and bonus missions that get gradually harder with each attempt, respectively. If that sounds up your alley, you won’t have to wait long, either. Hitman Episode 3: Marrakesh hits PS4, Xbox One and PC at the end of the month for $9.99.
Source: Hitman
AIVAnet 