Best TV catch-up on Freeview Play: F1 Spanish Grand Prix, The Hollow Crown and more
When looking for something to watch it’s worth remembering that with Freeview Play you can easily find shows that have been on in the last seven days, without having to go through a multitude of different streaming apps.
TVs, set-top-boxes and other entertainment kit that support Freeview Play offer the option to scroll back through the electronic programme guide and catch-up on shows you might have missed.
Just find something that strikes your eye, click on it in the EPG and it will open in each channel’s dedicated app and play.
At present, BBC, ITV and Channel 4 programming is available to scroll back to on Freeview Play, while Channel 5’s can also be played through the Demand 5 app on supported devices. UKTV Play shows are also coming to the platform.
It works just as well for shows you are already aware of and if you don’t know what you’re looking for specifically. If it’s the latter for you, here are some of our suggestions from the week just gone.
READ: What is Freeview Play, when is it coming to my TV and how can I get it?
BBC
Eurovision Song Contest: Grand Final
BBC One (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast on Saturday 14 May
After two semi-finals, both of which also being available to catch-up with on Freeview Play, the final 26 contestants battled it out to be crowned the 2016 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday.
If you missed the live broadcast, now’s your chance to catch up with the ultra-camp goings on.
BBC
Upstart Crow
BBC Two (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast on Monday 9 May
As part of the BBC’s Shakespeare season, Ben Elton has crafted his finest period comedy since Blackadder.
David Mitchell (Peep Show) takes on the role of the bard with gusto and there are many more laughs throughout one episode than most of Elton’s more recent sitcoms put together.
BBC
The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses – Henry VI Part 2
BBC Two (BBC iPlayer) – broadcast Saturday 14 May
The Hollow Crown series covers several of Shakespeare’s royal plays and the latest to air is Henry VI Part 2.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Dr Strange), this screen adaptation is also shown as part of the BBC’s bard festival and brings big budget effects and production values to one of the more enduring of his historical plays.
ITV
The Almost Impossible Gameshow
ITV 2 (ITV Hub) – broadcast Wednesday 11 May
From the sublime to the ridiculous, The Almost Impossible Gameshow proudly wears its silliness on its sleeve.
Now in its second series, contestants must overcome bonkers physical challenges in order to win a feeble trophy. Much to our amusement.
ITV
On the Buses
ITV 3 (ITV Hub) – broadcast Wednesday 11 May
Above we feature the latest in a long line of British sitcoms in Upstart Crow, but let us not forget the classics.
On the Buses is regularly screened on ITV 3 and with comedy legend Stephen Lewis passing away towards the end of last year, this serves as a fantastic reminder of how good he was as Inspector Blakey.
Channel 4
Very British Problems
4Seven (All 4) – broadcast Wednesday 11 May
Based on a series of tweets and subsequently books written by friend of Pocket-lint, tech writer Rob Temple, Very British Problems returns for a second season and you can catch up with it on 4Seven.
Celebrities, such as James Cordon, recall situations and stories that would only affect us Brits.
Channel 4
Formula 1: Spanish Grand Prix
Channel 4 (All 4) – broadcast Sunday 15 May
Nico Rosberg is literally racing away from the pack in the hunt to be the Formula One world champion in 2016. Can Lewis Hamilton win his first race in over 100 days and make up some of the ground?
Qualification was shown live on Saturday, with the race on Sunday. Now’s your chance to catch up with the lot.
Get catch-up and on demand TV for £0 per month with Freeview Play. Click here to find out more.
Virzoom Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
I keep pedaling. I’m heading towards the cowboys. Pulling the right trigger, I lasso them. Leaning makes me feel like I’m falling off the stationary bike. It gets worse when I’m on a flying horse.
VirZoom is an exercise bike, and it’s a VR game controller. After a year of being teased and shown at game conventions, it’s being shipped in about a month.
I got a chance to try out the near-final version with the final set of games that will be available. Do you see biking in place while in VR in your future? This is what the experience is all about.
So, this is…an exercise bike?
Yep. A stationary, folding bike. About 38 pounds.
How does this work with VR, exactly?
It’s like a game controller. Pedaling moves you forward. Leaning, while wearing a VR headset with position tracking like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or PlayStation VR, lets you steer (it feels like you might fall off the bike, but I learned to not lean too much). Buttons and triggers on each handlebar work to do other things. VirZoom comes with its own set of five arcade-like mini games, but it can theoretically work with other games — if and when other developers enable support for VirZoom. A few undisclosed games will be compatible at launch.
What are these mini games?
VirZoom comes with five games included, and they all feel a little like Sega arcade games teleported into VR. Cowboy is a round-up-the-bad-guys horse-racing game. Tank is a multiplayer all-terrain game where you ride around, turn your turret, and blast enemies. Pegasus is a fly-a-horse game, like a bike-riding Pilotwings. River Run is like Tank but in a helicopter over a river, and feels a bit like the old game Thunder Blade. Race Car (yes, that’s the name) is an F1 racing game, where you are…a puppy. In a race car. I don’t know why.
How do you track fitness?
VirZoom logs activity sessions and calorie burn, but it also hooks into Strava, the popular cycling and fitness app, and Google Fit. You should be able to sync your sessions automatically (I haven’t tried this yet).
A real exercise bike?
Yes. It has eight resistance settings, and — according to VirZoom’s founder –, these units were sourced from China and converted to add the game controller features. So it’s really a basic folding stationary bike, plus extras. It runs for a year on two AA batteries (according to the company) which handle Bluetooth and controller functions.
What does it work with?
VirZoom supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR (which I tested it with), and promises future support for “mobile VR.” For now, consider a gaming PC or a PlayStation 4 to be a requirement.
How much does it cost?
Funny question. The preorder price is $399, but there will also be a required subscription service to access games and new features. Early pre-orders get a “lifetime subscription” free. Otherwise, you’ll get 3 months of free access, then pay: $9.95/month, $59.95 a year, $89.95 for 2 years, or $199.95 for lifetime.
What the hell, why is it so expensive?
VirZoom aims to put itself up against high-end spin classes and exercise bikes with subscriptions, like Peloton, but that’s a stretch. It’s not clear at all how good the VirZoom bike is, and similar-looking stationary bikes can be gotten on Amazon for as little as $150. You’re paying for the hook-in to VR game compatibility, and the promise of future services. VirZoom claims the games will be playable without a subscription, but that subscription model alone is a dealbreaker for me because the bike alone isn’t cheap. (Neither is a VR gaming system, either.)
When is it available?
VirZoom should be shipping in June.
Will this make you fit?
Well, VirZoom is an exercise bike, so yes. But the routines and games don’t seem to clearly be set up as training sessions, although you’ll be able to keep track of how long you’ve been active. I broke a sweat over half an hour pedaling a tank, a puppy race car, and flying my horse around the mountains. I liked the distractions and challenges of bike gaming, too. But I didn’t like steering at all. Leaning made me borderline nauseous, and took getting used to.
In fact, in some ways, I’d prefer a biking game that just used a TV instead of a VR helmet. Sweat and VR helmets do not mix nicely at all.
Samsung smartwatch concept projects an interface on your hand
Smartwatch makers have tried a few ways to overcome the limitations of a tiny wrist-worn screen, such as gestures, pressure sensitivty or voice commands. Samsung thinks there might be a better way, though: moving the display beyond the watch. It’s applying for a patent on a concept that would project a wearable’s interface on to everything from your hand to the wall. It’d use sensors to detect those outside-of-the-wrist interactions, and it could even detect the geometry of your hand to adapt the interface to that area. You might see extra buttons on your fingers if your palm is open.
Don’t be too quick to toss out your existing smartwatch. Like any other patent, this is more of an idea than a product roadmap. There’s no certainty that Samsung will decide to implement this, or that it even has the technology necessary to make this a reality. Even so, it’s good to see companies still exploring watch input ideas that involve more than just a touchscreen. It’s still a young category, and the chances are that there’s plenty of room for interface breakthroughs.
Via: PhoneArena, The Verge
Source: USPTO
Software predicts the lifespans of machines by ‘cloning’ them
In some cases, machine breakdowns are more than just inconveniences — in the military, they can spell disaster on the battlefield. Software is quickly eliminating those rude surprises, however. NASA spinoff Sentient Science has been offering DigitalClone, a software tool that predicts failures by ‘cloning’ parts. It uses an understanding of the physics of a given part, such as friction and wear, to determine when that gear is likely to break. The clone is uncannily accurate (Sentient Science has sensors to confirm its data), making it easy to extend the lifespan of a device by replacing parts before there’s a crisis.
The US military is the highest-profile customer at the moment, using DigitalClone in everything from helicopters (such as the Super Stallion you see above) to the F-35. However, it also has some high-profile uses elsewhere, including the Hubble Space Telescope, wind energy turbines and medical implants. This cloning technology isn’t applicable everywhere, and you probably aren’t about to see it used in everyday personal devices. It’s not going to tell you when your smartphone is going to crash, unfortunately. With that in mind, you’ll know who to thank if you see fewer broken vehicles.
Source: NASA
4G in India: Everything you need to know
4G is finally going mainstream in India.
India’s mobile market has seen a meteoric rise in the last few years, and it doesn’t look like the growth will abate anytime soon. The country has witnessed a 23% increase in phone sales in Q1 2016, and it is estimated that over a billion phones will be sold by 2020. A key part of that vision is 4G connectivity, which has been rolling out in phases since 2012.
In addition to increasing phone sales, an estimated nine crore (90,000,000) subscribers will use 4G services in India by 2018, and as such there’s a huge potential for carriers to upgrade their infrastructure to support 4G. With Reliance Jio set to enter the market with its pan-India 4G license, the segment is slated for its largest expansion yet this year.
4G bands and frequencies
When compared to 3G, 4G offers greater bandwidth at a lower latency, with downloads quoted in the vicinity of 45Mbps. However, receiving those speeds is entirely reliant on network connectivity and congestion, which was a major issue during the 3G rollout. Carriers often saw a high amount of congestion on their networks, which meant that most customers never saw the claimed download speeds. This time around, carriers are looking to mitigate the issue of congestion by investing heavily in infrastructure. That said, there’s still no guarantee that you’ll actually see the claimed download seeds. For instance, although Airtel offers 4G in Hyderabad, the bandwidth is only marginally higher than what you get on 3G.
If you’re looking to buy a 4G phone in India, look for Bands 3, 5, and 40.
Indian carriers are leveraging both TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE standards to offer 4G connectivity in the country. The government auctions spectrum to the carriers for a duration of twenty years, with the most recent auction netting over $16 billion in revenue. There is an auction slated for later this year, where the government will make additional spectrum in the 700MHz frequency. The low-frequency band is attracting attention from carriers, as it offers a wider range and is unaffected by buildings, whereas higher frequency bands such as 2300MHz can transfer more bandwidth over a smaller area.
Band 3 (1800MHz) is primarily used for 4G coverage in India, as the spectrum was already in use during the 2G era. Carriers that offer 4G on Band 3 include Aircel, Airtel, Idea, Reliance Communications, Reliance Jio, Telenor, Vodafone, and Videocon.
Band 40 (2300MHz) is the second frequency on which carriers offer 4G connectivity. The government had auctioned airwaves in this spectrum to Aircel, Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Tikona in 2010. Reliance’s pan-India network will primarily rely on the 2300MHz frequency for cellular coverage.
Band 5 (850MHz) will be used by Reliance Jio, which will be used by the carrier 10MHz in ten circles. If you’re interested in purchasing a handset to access 4G connectivity, make sure the phone supports Bands 3, 5, and 40.
Carriers and their circles
India’s 29 states and seven union territories are broken down into 22 telecom circles, which are largely defined by state boundaries. Moving between circles incurs roaming charges for calls and texts, which is a main reason why phones with two SIM card slots are preferred in the country. Having two SIM slots available makes it that much more convenient for those traveling between two circles to cut down on charges. Here’s the breakdown of the telecom circles in India:
- Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
- Assam
- Bihar & Jharkhand
- Delhi
- Gujarat and Daman and Diu
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Karnataka
- Kerala and Lakshadweep
- Kolkata
- Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
- Maharashtra and Goa
- Mumbai
- Odisha
- Punjab
- North East (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura)
- Rajasthan
- Tamil Nadu
- Uttar Pradesh (East)
- Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttarakhand
- West Bengal
Airtel
Airtel was the first to offer 4G services in India all the way back in 2012. Dubbed the “widest 4G network” in India, Airtel is offering 4G in over 350 cities across 15 circles. The carrier operates on the 2300MHz frequency and has access to 20MHz of bandwidth, along with a license to offer data on the 1800MHz frequency in six circles. Being the first to launch 4G has led to Airtel netting a userbase of over 2.5 million subscribers as of the first quarter of 2016. The carrier has extended its 4G network 15 kilometers off the coastline at the behest of the Indian Navy.
On the 2300MHz frequency, Airtel has a license in eight out of 22 circles in India (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Kerala, and Punjab) and has recently acquired access to Aircel’s spectrum in eight additional circles: Tamil Nadu (including Chennai), Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Assam, North East, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha. The move puts Airtel in a much better position to face the imminent arrival of Reliance Jio.
As an introductory offer, Airtel is offering 4G connectivity at 3G tariffs. If you’re using the carrier’s 3G data plans, you can make the switch to a 4G SIM and continue using your existing plan. To know more about getting your 4G SIM, head to Airtel’s microsite.
Airtel also offers its own suite of music, movie, and game streaming apps on Android and iOS, dubbed Wynk. You can choose to subscribe to Wynk separately for ₹99 a month, or buy a bundled plan that offers these services for free. For instance, 1GB of 4G data combined with a 28-day subscription to Wynk Music (including unlimited song downloads) currently costs ₹279, whereas a standalone data plan costs ₹259. In essence, you’re getting Wynk Music for just ₹20.
If you’re looking to make the switch to Airtel’s 4G network, head down to the link below to see the coverage and tariff for your locale.
See at Airtel
Reliance Jio
Reliance Jio has the most amount of liberalized spectrum among Indian carriers, with a nationwide license on the 2300MHz frequency, along with airwaves in the 1800MHz band and 10MHz spectrum in the 850MHz frequency in ten circles: Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, North East, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh (East). The carrier is looking to create an integrated 4G network that leverages all three frequencies to provide seamless connectivity.
The carrier was slated to launch its 4G network last year, but was met with constant delays. In December 2015, Reliance Jio commenced a soft launch where it made the service accessible to its 100,000 employees. The carrier will is now testing its network capabilities in an invite-only trial, with a full launch planned for December 2016. During the trial, Jio is offering three months of unlimited data, but the caveat is that you have to purchase one of the phones in the vendor’s Lyf series to be eligible to use its 4G network.
One of the key differentiators with Jio’s network is VoLTE, which allows for high-definition voice calls to be placed over the data network. Reliance is also looking to the upcoming 700MHz auction to bolster its voice-based offerings. Using a lower frequency band for VoLTE has significant cost benefits as it reduces the need to install a lot of base towers. Coverage on the 700MHz band is twice that of the 1800MHz band, and four times as much as what you get on the 2300MHz frequency.
Reliance Jio is also investing in its app ecosystem, and is slated to offer digital content services that include streaming music, video-on-demand, and a digital payments solution. Jio has a multi-service operator license, which allows it to introduce live TV as well as television-on-demand services on its network.
Idea
Idea may turn out to be the underdog in this segment, as the carrier is now offering 4G in over 575 cities and towns in 10 circles, installing up to 14,000 4G base stations in the process. In terms of userbase, Idea is the third largest carrier in the country, coming behind Airtel and Reliance. As of Q1 2016, the carrier has 680,000 users actively using its 4G services, with over 2.7 million subscribers owning a 4G-compatible handset. The carrier is aggressively increasing its coverage, and plans to have 4G available in 750 towns across the country by June 2016.
Idea uses the 1800MHz for 4G coverage, holding spectrum in ten key circles which culminate to over 60% of the carrier’s revenues: Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Goa, North East, Odisha, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu and Chennai.
The carrier’s coverage indicator offers a city-wise breakdown of where the 4G service is available. If you’re an existing subscriber, you can check out if your location has 4G services by heading to the link below.
See at Idea
Vodafone, Reliance Communications, and BSNL
Vodafone has its 4G services available on the 1800MHz frequency in Kerala, Karnataka, Mumbai, Delhi & NCR, and Kolkata. The carrier is content with playing the waiting game and seeing the demand for 4G before investing in the remaining 17 circles. International roaming is available for Vodafone’s 4G customers when they travel abroad to the U.K., Romania, Spain, and the Netherlands. The carrier has mentioned that more countries will be added to the list shortly.
Reliance Communications — a different entity from Reliance Jio — has signed an agreement to use Jio’s 850MHz frequency in ten circles: Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Mumbai, North East, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh (East). The carrier will switch its CDMA customers to 4G once the network goes live.
State-run BSNL is also getting into the action, and has announced that it will offer 4G in 14 circles. The network holds 20MHz liberalized broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in the 2500MHz band.
VoLTE is coming too
As we’ve already mentioned, VoLTE is a key component of Reliance Jio’s 4G service. The carrier partnered with Nokia last year to roll out VoLTE across the country on its network in a deal worth over $100 million, and has mentioned that over 35 phones currently available in the Indian market are eligible to use its VoLTE service.
With voice call quality becoming a significant issue in recent months, carriers will be looking to switch to VoLTE to ensure better service. While there’s no official confirmation, it is being rumored that Airtel, Vodafone, and Idea are also in talks with Nokia over VoLTE.
Airtel will leverage its 4G network for VoLTE, offering the service in areas where it has 4G coverage. The carrier will fall back on 3G and 3G voice-based services in locations where it does not yet offer 4G.
What about phones?
The momentum is not limited to carriers, but has also made its way to the handset ecosystem. Most phones sold in India now offer LTE as standard, even in the budget segment. There are a slew of phones available for as low as ₹4,500 that allow you to connect to 4G networks. The budget segment will be the key for 4G proliferation, as that is where a majority of sales occur.
The aggressive expansion by Airtel and Idea means that 4G services are no longer limited to a few cities in the country. And with Jio set to enter the segment with its pan-India coverage, 2016 is the year when 4G becomes mainstream.
‘Battlefield 1’ breakdown reveals a close attention to history
Video games play fast and loose with realism by definition, but authenticity still matters to some degree After all, it’s hard to enjoy a history-focused game if there are obvious factual errors. So how does Battlefield 1 stack up, then? So far so good, if you ask the World War I history buffs at The Great War. They’ve conducted a shot-by-shot breakdown of the cinematic trailer and revealed that EA DICE is largely faithful to the technology of the conflict — including in ways you wouldn’t expect. That shovel-wielding German soldier you see above makes sense, for example, as the infantry learned that bayonets got stuck in victims. Early tanks behave as they should, and things like gas masks or pickaxes (for Italian soldiers scaling mountains) are true to form.
There are some obvious concessions to gameplay (a medic probably wouldn’t be carrying crutches around), but even some of these make sense. That British soldier carrying a German anti-armor rifle? There are many examples of one side using the other’s weapons in a pinch. In fact, the trailer is more realistic than The Great War suggests. That seemingly implausible metal body armor you see at one point is the “Sappenpanzer Gesichtsmaske,” an uncommon form of protection given to machine gunners and snipers who didn’t expect to move.
This doesn’t make Battlefield 1 a simulator by any means, and it’s not certain that everything you see in the trailer will make it to full-fledged gameplay. However, it’s apparent that the developers went out of their way to include gear you could have seen both in the trenches and beyond. Whatever you think of the title’s premise, it’s not just paying lip service to its setting.
Source: The Great War (YouTube)
HDHomeRun is ready to make your Android TV a DVR
When SiliconDust announced its DIY DVR project a year ago, recording your shows meant building a PC dedicated to the task, or hooking up network storage. Now it’s testing out HDHomeRun Record for Android TV, which lets you create an entire DVR with just one of its TV tuner devices and an Android box. Unfortunately, suggested requirements of Android 6.0, Ethernet, and a USB 3.0 connection for external storage mean Amazon’s Fire TV and Google’s Nexus Player won’t work, but NVIDIA Shield Pro owners should be able to try it out immediately, thanks to their 500GB of built-in storage. You can watch the recorded shows directly on the device, or on any platform that runs its HDHomeRun View app.
The HDHomeRun DVR still has some work to go before it’s officially released, but once it’s done the idea is for anyone to make the kind of DVR that suits them, with access to programming from antenna or cable TV. While Kickstarter backers and subscribers can try things out now, some of the features still in the works include the View app for OS X, support for protected premium channels and pause/rewing on live TV (trick play). With Windows Media Center on ice and TiVo recently acquired, it’s an option worth considering if you’re not ready to go all-in on internet TV just yet.
Source: HDHomeRun DVR Kickstarter, SiliconDust forum
Data breaches and spying fears are keeping people offline
Have countless data breaches and unfettered government surveillance left you nervous about doing things online? You’re definitely not alone. The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration has conducted a survey revealing that nearly half of the Americans it surveyed (41,000 homes) have scaled back their internet activity over privacy and security fears. About 29 percent have avoided online finances, while 26 percent skipped online shopping. A similar amount decided against posting on social networks, and 19 percent even decided against offering “controversial” opinions online.
Most of the concerns are more practical than philosophical. A total of 63 percent of those studied were worried about possible identity theft, and 45 percent about fraud. Only 23 percent were anxious about online services scraping their data, and 18 percent were fretting over government data collection. About 13 percent were worried about their safety. In short: while Edward Snowden’s surveillance leaks had an impact, money is still the driving factor for most people.
The NTIA wants to conduct further studies to know exactly what’s going on. However, it already believes that there’s a mounting “mistrust” of internet privacy and security. The researchers believe that the US government (and arguably, any government) should follow policies that encourage confidence, such as pushing for strong encryption and requiring a minimum level of privacy protection. If it doesn’t, it risks hurting the “digital economy” and holding the country back.
Via: BBC
Source: NTIA
Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad review – CNET
The Good The Smart Changing Pad itself is well designed, and the scale is a great addition. The Hatch Baby app is the real star, though, as it makes tracking your baby’s growth and patterns easy.
The Bad To get good data, you have to constantly be entering information into the app. Practically, many users just won’t use it consistently enough after the first few weeks.
The Bottom Line The app is free, so the Smart Changing Pad itself isn’t much more than a comfy scale. It’s hard to dish out $250 for that.
I know it sounds crazy, but as a new parent, watching my kid learn to perform basic biological tasks is currently my favorite pastime. So when I first brought home the Hatch Baby Smart Changing Pad, which tracks your baby’s weight, waste, feeding and sleeping, I was so excited I barely registered the price: $250 (about £174 or AU$344).
After a week of using Hatch Baby, though, two big drawbacks made me reconsider my initial impression. First off, tracking all that data is fun for about two hours. Then your kid starts fussing during a movie, and you have a choice: pause the movie to go change him on the pad, or just change him in your lap while you keep watching. A brand-new parent might pause the movie, but even two months in, I’m not letting a dirty diaper interrupt a brilliant Kevin Spacey monologue.
The second problem is this: once you use the device awhile, it starts to become clear that most of the smarts are on the free app. All you really get out of the $250 Changing Pad is a scale for tracking weight, and a comfy pad for changing your baby. And when it comes down to it, those simply aren’t worth the price.
How smart can a baby changing pad be? (pictures)
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What it does
The Hatch Baby Changing Pad itself is a pretty simple device. Essentially, it’s a comfortable changing pad for your baby. The two features that make it “smart” are a scale built into the bottom, and a small touchscreen on the front. Using these features, you can weigh your baby to track his or her growth. You can then send that information (or any other manually recorded eating or waste data) to the Hatch Baby app via the touchscreen.
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Chris Monroe/CNET
The app is where the real smarts come in. From your iOS or Android device you can track your baby’s patterns, and display them in helpful graphics. For instance, once you’ve been tracking your child for some time, you can check their daily schedule to get an idea of when might be a good time to run out to the store with them, or when you might want to be ready with a bottle, some wipes and a diaper. Ostensibly, this data will help you get a handle on what can be a crazy time in life.
What goes wrong
The problem, as I mentioned before, comes with the actual data collection. It’s not only during movies — when you’re waking up in the middle of the night, the last thing you want to do is pull out your phone to record the number of ounces your kid just ate. You can go back to add entries, but I quickly ran into the problem of partial or estimated data. That meant Hatch Baby didn’t demystify my son’s schedule any more than just living with him.
Watch a 450-year-old supernova continue to bloom
Back in 1572, a white dwarf’s explosion shone brightly on the sky. It was visible to the naked eye, and astronomers like Tycho Brahe were able to monitor the event despite not having the equipment we do today. We might have missed the chance to see what’s now known as Tycho’s supernova, but thanks to Chandra X-ray observatory’s data, we can see its remnant continue to bloom almost 450 years later. A group of astronomers compiled Chandra’s observations from the year 2000 to 2015 to create a video showing its ongoing expansion.
It’s clear from the images that the puffy structure, which is located 10,000 light years away, is still growing from our planet’s point of view. The team also noticed that the circle’s rightmost and lower-right parts grow twice as fast as its left side. They believe that’s caused by the differences in the density of the gas enveloping the remnant. The astronomers published a paper detailing their findings, but you can watch and listen to the most important bits in the film below, which also features decades of radio wave observations.
Source: NASA, Cornell University Library
AIVAnet 