AT&T pushes May security patch to Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge
AT&T has begun pushing an update for Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge users that brings the smartphones up to date with the latest May security patch. While AT&T doesn’t yet appear to have updated its website with the details of the updates, a number of users on our forums report having received the update on both the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the update contains much else. However, it is impressive to see AT&T and Samsung issue the update so quickly after the May patch was initially released by Google.
If you haven’t yet been prompted to download the update, you can manually check for it by heading the “About device” section of your Setting menu.
Thanks for the tip, LLcd PH!
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge
- Galaxy S7 review
- Galaxy S7 edge review
- Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
- Should you upgrade to the Galaxy S7?
- Learn about the Galaxy S7’s SD card slot
- Join our Galaxy S7 forums
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Google is giving Project Tango a big expansion: Coming to VR headset?
Google is reportedly getting ready to unveil a standalone headset, and to complement that, it might announce a major Project Tango expansion.
Project Tango is a technology that uses cameras and sensors in mobile devices for motion tracking and depth perception. It enables a phone or tablet to not only recognise the world around you but also map it in detailed 3D. Project Tango can be used, for instance, to map indoor spaces. It’ll not only provide a blueprint of floors, walls, ceilings, and furniture – but also the location of the device within that space and its orientation.
It can further be used in virtual reality and augmented reality applications, allowing you to see the world around you, as well as other players, while also layering a virtual environment on top of your real one with real objects. Project Tango basically has a lot of potential, and according to Bloomberg, Google is planning a big expansion of the technology this year. The company “ultimately wants to make [Project Tango] ubiquitous.”
Lenovo announced plans to launch a Project Tango smartphone with Google during summer 2016. We can therefore expect to hear more about this phone at I/O in May. It is thought to use motion-tracking and depth-sensing in order to overlay a 3D world onto physical surroundings. Google I/O has some developer sessions scheduled on Project Tango, including a talk called What’s New with Project Tango. It will “explore the vision of Project Tango and how it will come to life with the launch of our first consumer phone.”
Bloomberg said Google is hoping developers will create new VR apps and services for Project Tango this year, such as video games with characters that can hide under real furniture, or a museum app that shows 3D animations overlaid onto a real exhibit. Another experience could even guide shoppers through a grocery store, highlighting sales and pointing shoppers to shelves.
If that’s the case, we can imagine Google integrating Project Tango support into that standalone VR headset it is rumoured to unveil at I/O 2016. Keep in mind both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive use separate sensors to map a room, while Tango uses components found in mobile devices. And many reports have already speculated Project Tango will be key to Google’s VR approach.
It’ll definitely be interesting to see what the company has in store in terms of this big Project Tango expansion and more, including whether it’ll be used to bolster any upcoming VR hardware or other ventures.
TripIt puts travel on your wrist with Android Wear app
TripIt’s already given its mobile app a sleek overhaul for Apple’s iOS and now it’s Android’s turn. The travel app’s been updated to give users of Google-powered devices, including Android Wear enthusiasts, a cleaner layout and more helpful planning options. Now, the jet set can check-in for flights directly from the app, monitor a departures countdown timer, arrange for ground transportation and parking reservations, and even navigate using improved maps. The company’s also also added the ability to merge related trips so you can easily keep track of your country-hopping. It’s travel 21st century-style and it’s available on your wrist.
Source: TripIt
Walmart tests two-day shipping to compete with Amazon Prime (update)
A key advantage Amazon has over other online retailers is the free two-day shipping that its Prime subscription offers. According to The Wall Street Journal, shopping giant Walmart wants in on the e-commerce and quick shipping game as well. The company was already testing the concept with its ShippingPass option that handled three-day shipping for those willing to pay $49 a year. Starting Thursday, those members will be privy to two-day delivery for the same price. Of course, that’s half of what Amazon’s $99 annual Prime subscription costs. Amazon’s plan includes other extras, though, like streaming streaming music, video and more.
WSJ reports that the system will leverage eight dedicated e-commerce warehouses and regional carriers to handle orders, instead of relying mostly on FedEx as it has in the past. That’s on top of its existing distribution network. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Amazon is already doing just it, so the two retailers will be competing for delivery services as much as they are for customers. At first, Walmart will likely pay more per package, but over time as the business picks up (in theory), the costs should come down. If you’re looking to give it a shot, you can sign up for ShippingPass waiting list right here.
While Walmart eyes two-day shipping, Amazon has been steadily expanding its same-day delivery option, adding new cities on the regular. It’s also working to employ the use of drones to drop off packages in a timely fashion.
Update: Walmart says ShippingPass isn’t invite only, but anyone who’s interested in the service will need to put their name on the waiting list linked above. This post has been updated to reflect that additional information.
Via: The Verge
Source: Wall Street Journal
Mozilla demands details on the FBI’s malware hack
The team behind Firefox is wading into a contentious battle involving the FBI, the dark web and some location-tracking malware. While Mozilla’s chief legal officer Denelle Dixon-Thayer is careful to say the company is not taking sides in a case between the FBI and a defendant allegedly caught with files from a dark web child pornography site called Playpen, the company believes it has a right to know more about the security flaw that was used to track the location of over 1,000 of the site’s users.
The security flaw was actually in the Tor browser, which is based on Firefox’s source code. Rather than shutting down Playpen, the FBI found a vulnerability in the code that allowed the agency to install malware and track Playpen’s users. A judge in Washington State has granted one defendant’s lawyers the right to review the malware, and in February a separate judge ruled that the FBI must turn over the malware code. Mozilla, however, is arguing that they should have the first crack at the security flaw so that it can be patched to prevent further harm in the meantime.
In a blog post, Dixon-Thayer writes: “if our code is implicated in a security vulnerability, that the government must disclose the vulnerability to us before it is disclosed to any other party. We aren’t taking sides in the case, but we are on the side of the hundreds of millions of users who could benefit from timely disclosure.”
In Massachusetts, a judge ruled that evidence obtained through the malware infection was inadmissible in court due to an invalid warrant.
BMW’s autonomous luxury car will launch in 2021
During a shareholder meeting, BMW CEO Harald Krueger dropped some news about an upcoming autonomous car based on the already futuristic i8. The electric vehicle will be called the i Next and will launch in 2021. That date is a good indicator that most us won’t see the benefits of self-driving automobiles well into the 2020s.
“In 2018, we will launch a BMW i8 Roadster. This will be followed in 2021 by the BMW i Next, our new innovation driver, with autonomous driving, digital connectivity, intelligent lightweight design, a totally new interior and ultimately bringing the next generation of electro-mobility to the road.” Krueger said during the meeting.
BMW has recently been using the “Next” name for its futuristic projects. The Vision Next 100 concept vehicle shown above has many of the same features Krueger mentioned during the shareholder meeting. How close in design the i Next will be to that show automobile is a mystery.
Via: CNET
Source: BMW
Humans keep Facebook’s trending topics ‘relevant’
Facebook’s news operation depends on a team of human editors filtering through trending stories surfaced by its news algorithms, internal documents leaked to the Guardian show. The leak comes as the social media giant is denying reports that it suppresses conservative news stories and a Senate committee has expressed concern over Facebook’s filtering methods.
Facebook’s official policy states that trending topics are determined “based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, Pages you’ve liked and your location.” But the leaked documents appear to confirm that a small editorial team has control of the final decision making when it comes to which headlines get the coveted space in the News Feed sidebar. According to the Guardian, Facebook “backed away from a pure-algorithm approach in 2014” after users complained that coverage of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri wasn’t being included, but Ice Bucket Challenge videos were flooding the social network.
The documents include a number of guidelines for the human team tasked with filtering the information and making editorial decisions. Those guidelines include the ability to “inject a newsworthy topic” if a hashtag like #BlackLivesMatter is suddenly gaining a lot of traction, or “blacklisting” topics for up to a day for various reasons. The documents also show Facebook relies on a short list of only 10 major news sources to double-check which stories are the biggest of the day.
Although Facebook VP of Search Tom Stocky denied the company was inserting stories artificially into trending topics, three former Facebook editors who spoke with the Guardian confirmed they had done just that. While they denied any personal bias, the Guardian’s sources did believe human intervention was crucial to surface important stories.
“Trending Topics uses a variety of mechanisms to help surface events and topics that are happening in the real world,” Facebook’s VP of Global Operations Justin Osofsky wrote in a statement defending the guidelines. “The intent of verifying against news outlets is to surface topics that are meaningful to people and newsworthy. We have at no time sought to weight any one viewpoint over another, and in fact our guidelines are designed with the intent to make sure we do not do so.”
On the Brink of Greatness: Tech conferences, part two
The longer a trade show goes on, the more potential there is for epic disaster. As the Bambu team continues to try and make contacts, the distractions begin to pile up and cash runs low. When Dan dips into the company’s funds, things quickly get awkward. Speaking of which, has anyone seen Melissa?
Some Euro 2016 soccer games will be shot in virtual reality
The Union of European Football Association, more commonly known as UEFA, has revealed that it will be filming matches in virtual reality at the Euro 2016 Finals. The tournament, which takes places in France starting June 10th, brings together the best 24 teams from Europe — including England, Germany, Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. According to The Daily Mirror, UEFA is going to use dozens of Nokia’s $60,000 OZO cameras to capture 360-degree video inside stadiums, although it’s unclear what the organization plans to do with the footage.
One option UEFA’s considering, the British publication reports, is having a YouTube channel where fans can watch some of the content shot at the tournament. Unfortunately, nothing is set in stone right now. “It’s UEFA’s goal that one day the watching fan will be able to watch a match through immersive virtual reality,” Bernard Ross, head of UEFA TV, said to The Daily Mirror about the technology. He added that the goal is for people to “experience the game as if they are there in the stadium.”
Football as a sport, guided by its governing body FIFA, hasn’t been the fastest to adopt emerging technologies. It took years for FIFA to approve the use of goal-line tech, and to this day not every league around the world has implemented it. Still, the Euro 2016 is set to become the first major soccer tournament to employ virtual reality in abundance, after a brief test during the recently settled Champions League semifinals.
Let’s hope UEFA doesn’t disappoint and shares its VR creations with everyone on the internet.
Source: The Daily Mirror
The Wirecutter’s best deals: Save over $200 on a 60-inch Vizio LED TV
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
Plantronics Voyager Edge Bluetooth Headset
Street price: $89; MSRP: $130; deal price: $72
A great sale on a headset we haven’t seen many discounts on in the past few months. It’s down to $72 via a couple Amazon third party sellers and fulfilled through Amazon, so stock is likely to be limited.
The Plantronics Voyager Edge is our pick for the best Bluetooth headset. Nick Guy said, “A panel of Wirecutter writers and editors agreed that its outgoing audio sounded better than that of other models, and its incoming-call quality is also excellent. Although it didn’t prove to be the single most impressive model in terms of battery life or range, its performance in those categories was still quite good. And although no headset is perfect for all ears, another panel of testers said that the Voyager Edge was one of the most comfortable.”
Vizio M60-C3 60-Inch LED TV
Street price: $1,200; MSRP: $1,300; deal price: $980
While we saw a lot of deals around $1,100 and eventually $1,000 after Black Friday, this TV shot back up to $1,200 and stayed there for the past few months. This new price isn’t substantially lower than the best we’ve seen, but it is over $200 better than the current street price.
The Vizio M60-C3 is our runner-up pick for the best TV. Chris Heinonen said, “If the Samsung is unavailable (or if you just want a bigger screen for your dollar) we recommend the Vizio M-Series. It also looks very good most of the time but falls behind the Samsung when it comes to very dark scenes and motion. The 32-zone dynamic backlight helps to improve dark scenes, but the flaws of a dynamic backlight are much more visible on a 65-inch TV than they are on the 43-inch version we picked for our favorite $500(ish) TV.”
CyberPower CSP300WU Surge Suppressor
Street price: $14; MSRP: $19; deal price: $4
A big $10 drop below the street price makes this a super affordable surge protector you can toss into every piece of luggage you own. The catch here is that this price has made it an add-on item, so you’ll need to purchase at least $25 total to get free shipping.
The CyberPower CSP300WU Surge Suppressor is our runner-up pick for the best surge protector for travel. Nick Guy said, “CyberPower’s CSP300WU is the second best option, but we’re not huge fans of it—it’s simply the best option out of all the rest. It blocks the second outlet on a wall plate, and folding down the prongs is particularly tough. The outlets are also closer together than we’d like and it’s physically larger than our top pick. But despite all that, it has the same number of outlets and USB ports as the Home or Away, and a higher joule rating of 918. USB performance is identical.”
Logitech Harmony 350 Universal Remote
Street price: $38; MSRP: $50; deal price: $32
While we did see a drop to $27 last month, we don’t traditionally see too many deals on this particular remote, so we consider $32 a good price on it.
The Logitech Harmony 350 is our budget pick for the best universal remote. Darryl Wilkinson and Grant Clauser said, “It misses out on the 650’s great Help feature and display, but controls eight devices at a cheaper price.”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to TheWirecutter.com.
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