Pebble Time Steel can be strapped to your wrist for £139

The Pebble Time Steel is now available at Amazon for just £139.99 in the UK. Should you be on the hunt for a new smartwatch, the Pebble Time Steel is a premium-looking wearable fused with the latest tech. While the watch itself sports an always-on color e-paper display, the battery will be able to last through 10 full days of use.

This particular listing is available in black, silver and gold variants. Required USB charging cable and 22mm silicone strap are included in the box.

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Google’s self-driving car tech will reportedly be put into Chrysler Pacifica prototypes

A new report claims that Fiat Chrysler plans to put Google’s self-driving car technology inside a number of Chrysler Pacifica prototypes sometime this year as the first phase of their partnership.

According to Bloomberg:

Fiat Chrysler plans to equip the new Pacifica, which will be available as a plug-in hybrid, with Google technology starting this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified before an official announcement. The companies would remain free to cooperate in driverless technology with other partners, the people said.

The agreement between Fiat Chrysler and Google could be signed as early as today, according to the report. It added that Google tried to make a similar partnership with General Motors, but the talks broke down due to disagreements over which company would own the technology and data.

Huawei Watch ‘Elegant’ and ‘Jewel’ models now available in the U.S.

The Huawei Watch Elegant and Jewel are two female-focused Android Wear smartwatch options from the company, and both are now available to purchase in the U.S. With these you’ll find a subtly curved watch body, thin leather band, rose gold-plated stainless steel and more. The watches were announced back at CES, and now they are finally able to be purchased for those interested in picking one up.

The Jewel variant has jewels embedded in the bezel while the Elegant model has a textured look to the bezel. These two watches are slightly larger in size than the original one, coming in at 44mm instead of the previous 42mm.

You can pick them up from a number of retailers, like Amazon, Best Buy, Huawei, B&H Photo, and even the Google Store. The retail pricing for will be $499 for the Elegant and $599 for the Jewel. For a limited time, you can pick one up at select retailers for $50 off. If you are in the market for the original variant of the Huawei Watch, you can pick one up for as little as $250 right now.

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Press release:

WOMEN’S SMARTWATCH OPTIONS WIDEN AS HUAWEI BRINGS NEW MODELS TO U.S.

Premium Jewel and Elegant models designed with women in mind will retail for $499.99-$599.99 USD

PLANO, Texas [May 3, 2016]: Huawei Watch, the smartwatch collection known for its classic, high-end design, is expanding to include two new luxurious models for women on sale in the U.S. starting today.

Elegant and Jewel deliver the same timeless, uncompromising style and function that won acclaim for the original Huawei Watch models but are designed specifically with women in mind. A subtly curved watch body and a soft, thin Italian leather band make the watch even more comfortable on a woman’s wrist. Both models are crafted in premium rose gold-plated stainless steel and available with a pearl white or sapphire blue band. Elegant features a clous de Paris pattern encircling the face, while Jewel sparkles thanks to being made with 68 SWAROVSKI ZIRCONIA. Plus, both models are preloaded with more than 40 watch faces, including 10 exclusive to Elegant and Jewel.

“We have seen great interest in Huawei Watch from men and women alike but want to give consumers more choices to match their personal style,” said Yanyan Ji, vice president, head of marketing for Huawei Device USA. “With Elegant and Jewel, we are bringing more options that blend the practical function of a smartwatch with the flair of a fashionable accessory.”

Style Statement

Inspired by traditional timepieces from the finest Swiss watchmakers, Huawei Watch is designed to look heirloom-worthy. It complements outfits for any occasion, whether it’s an important business meeting or gala of the season. It also allows you to have fun customizing. Like all Huawei Watch models, Elegant and Jewel’s bands can be easily swapped for a fresh look. Countless designer faces can be downloaded instantly from the Google Play store to suit your mood, and the screen will stay beautiful thanks to scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.

Sophisticated Smart

With the same best-in-class specs of the original Huawei Watch, Elegant and Jewel excel in work and play. Powered by the latest version of Android Wear™, Elegant and Jewel feature the latest in smartwatch technology: hands-free calling made possible through a speaker within the watch. Notifications for texts, emails, and apps are displayed on a sharp 400 x 400 AMOLED screen. Bluetooth™ connectivity for wireless headphones lets you listen to offline music downloads while you work out, and with voice commands capable of controlling music as well as navigation, plus heart rate and motion sensors, it’s the perfect running companion. Huawei Watch is compatible with iOS and Android operating systems.

Elegant and Jewel were unveiled at CES 2016 and are available in the U.S. just in time for Mother’s Day. They are available for purchase at Amazon.com, BestBuy.com and select Best Buy store locations, BHPhotoVideo.com, Google Play™ store and NewEgg.com. To learn more about Elegant and Jewel, or the entire Huawei Watch collection, visit http://consumer.huawei.com/minisite/worldwide/huawei-watch/for-ladies.htm

Google’s self-driving tech goes into Chrysler minivans this year

That rumored deal between Google and Fiat Chrysler for self-driving car technology? It’s reportedly happening… if not quite in the way you’d expect. Bloomberg sources claim that the arrangement will put some of Google’s autonomous tech into the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan sometime this year. Just how deep this integration would go isn’t clear, but it’s not believed to be an exclusive arrangement — either side could cooperate with other partners. If the leak is accurate, the deal could be signed as soon as May 3rd (if you’re reading this in time, today).

Once again, the partnership makes more sense than you might think. Google (or rather, Alphabet) already said that it wasn’t going to mass-produce its own cars, so it was always going to need help — this is its first major deal. Fiat Chrysler, meanwhile, has been hoping for a fast track to self-driving technology to help it compete against rivals that have already done a lot of legwork.

And minivans? They could make more sense than you think. While you’re unlikely to see truly driverless Chryslers anytime soon, this would show that Google’s know-how can improve one of the most mainstream vehicles you can find: a run-of-the-mill (if relatively high-end) family carrier. If Google and Fiat Chrysler succeed there, the technology could easily spread to other models and manufacturers.

Source: Bloomberg

Giphy Keys for iOS puts GIFs at your fingertips

After Apple allowed third-parties to create custom keyboards for iOS, a flood of apps tried to make typing easier or add a way to send GIFs with only a few taps. Now Giphy, already a popular destination for the internet’s favorite image format, is jumping into the animated image sending fray on iOS with its Giphy Keys app. But, there’s a twist.

As you’d expect, GIF’s are a key feature in the app, but, in addition to the usual search and category tools, Giphy Keys has something that’s actually useful: a regular keyboard you can use to write text. Usually, you have to switch back and forth between these third-party keyboards to type words with one and send images with another; it’s a pain. Giphy Keys puts both features right there in the one app. This means you also won’t have to keep tapping the globe button to the left of the spacebar to switch between keyboards (which, as most iPhone owners know, only works about half the time anyway).

In addition to allowing users to type and GIF from just one keyboard, the app has a trio of fun features behind an “8 ball” button. Sadly, instead of magic, the button uses the existing Giphy Tools to let you create animations with text patterns, blend random images with local weather info, or generate responses from a virtual 8 Ball that answers your questions (in GIF form, obviously).

The 8 Ball’s question feature got boring pretty quickly, but putting a random GIF behind a city’s weather information was fun. Some of the weird image choices can add a dose of surreal fun to messages and Slack updates. That is, if you have the patience to wait for these custom GIFs to be created, which took upwards of a minute or longer sometimes.

Keys probably won’t completely replace your regular keyboard.

Another problem is that Giphy Keys doesn’t support autocorrect. If you think your typing is bad with iOS “fixing” your mistakes, wait until you try to type without it. On more than one occasion what I thought I typed had nothing to do with what actually showed up in the text field. Giphy says that autocorrect is definitely something it’s thinking about.

Yet, even without the ability to compensate for fat-finger jabs at the touchscreen keyboard, and painfully slow image generation at times, the keyboard’s quick access to reaction GIFs and access to the extensive Giphy library of images were enough to make this my new go-to way to share GIFs via text. Giphy Keys is available now for iOS.

Source: Giphy

The latest 3Doodler 3D printing pen is smoother and easier

The team at WobbleWorks has been quick to iterate on the concept of a 3D printing pen in the past 3 years, and it’s not stopping any time soon. The startup has unveiled the 3Doodler Create, a third-generation pen that irons out some of the remaining kinks. The refined drive system should give you smoother output, but the real centerpiece may be the ease of use: WobbleWorks is promising simpler controls that get anyone printing “in seconds.” It’s even a bit flashier, as there’s an both an ambient light bar as well as a transparent panel to show what’s going on inside.

The Create costs $100, or about as much as the earlier 3Doodler 2.0. However, you won’t have to shell out full price if you’ve been enamored with the idea for a while. If you own the 2.0 model, you’ll get half off the price of the Create if you order it by June 3rd. It’s hard to say how much of an improvement you’ll see, but it could be easy to justify the outlay if you prefer to draw your ideas with plastic.

Source: 3Doodler

Kodak is giving free film to Kickstarter directors

Crowdfunded filmmakers will be able to shoot on film for a lot less money thanks to a partnership between Kodak and Kickstarter. Kodak says it will provide free 35mm or Super 16mm film stock for select projects, up to a total of around $20,000 for 35mm film, depending on the total budget. Beyond that, the company will provide discounted film and mentoring for packaging, financing and sales strategies. The choice of filmmakers appears to be at Kodak’s discretion, but so far the company has picked several Kickstarter productions that will launch this spring.

Kickstarter has successfully funded 20,000 productions totalling $330 million so far, though it didn’t say which were shot on film. The platform has garnered a lot of bad publicity in the past by funding large projects like Veronica Mars and Zach Braff’s Wish I Was Here, since the well-known producers probably could have raised the cash elsewhere. On the other hand, it’s an excellent platform for up-and-coming filmmakers, and has helped get Oscar-nominated projects with very small budgets off the ground.

Kodak VP Anne Hubbell says that “Kodak understands that artists working at all budget levels strive to tell their stories with the unique quality and emotion that film provides.” The company points out that footage can be purchased by Kickstarter producers in eighteen countries, including the US, UK, France and Canada. Kodak’s situation is a lot more secure in the film industry since it struck a deal with Hollywood to supply film for the foreseeable future.

DarkFall, a Kickstarter film backed by Kodak

However, it’s equally likely that many young, inexperienced directors would rather shoot digital, given advantages like speed and the ability to easily review takes. As we have pointed out, the costs of shooting on film go way beyond the stock itself. Filmmakers also need to consider processing and transferring footage to a format that can be edited, color corrected and converted to a final screening format.

That, combined with the lower sensitivity of film compared to digital cameras (which necessitates more complex lighting) means that the total budget will likely still be higher, even with the film thrown in. That said, it’s always good to have choices, so if it’s an aesthetic that a director absolutely can’t live without, good old celluloid is now a much more feasible option.

Source: Kodak

Scientists use nanoparticles to crush lingering fat cells

If you think losing weight is simply diet plus exercise, the equation is not so simple. A recent study of Biggest Loser participants showed that even if you manage to drop pounds, your body will fight you for years afterward to gain them back. That’s why scientists have put so much effort into studying obesity in an effort to help us fight our own genes. Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital think that our ubiquitous friends, nanoparticles, could deliver drugs to specific parts of the body, turning bad fat cells into good ones that burn fat.

The team started with a pair of drugs that are effective at transforming white “adipose” cells into brown ones that burn fat, rather than store it. While very effective at that chore, the drugs have adverse side effects that can limit their use. If targeted to specific parts of the body that contain fat, however, the negative consequences can be limited.

That’s where the tech comes in: The drugs are stored in nanoparticles’ hydrophobic cores using PLGA, a polymer commonly used in drug delivery systems and medical devices. The outer shell, meanwhile, is embedded with molecules that target proteins found uniquely in the blood vessels lining fatty adipose tissue. That turns the nanoparticles into guided missiles that seek out fat cells and release drugs to transform it.

When the system was tested in obese mice, the animals lost 10 percent of their body weight, improved cholesterol and triglyceride levels and showed a reduced risk for diabetes. One potential problem is the need to intravenously introduce the nanoparticles. “For it to be more broadly applicable for treatment of obesity, we have to come up with easier ways to administer [it],” says Omid Farokhzad from Brigham and Women’s hospital. However, the team may be able to use nanoparticles that can be swallowed and absorbed through the digestive track.

The treatment has yet to be tested on humans, but could provide a new way to help obese patients, especially those at risk for diseases like diabetes. The Biggest Loser study shows that the metabolism of many folks drastically slows after successful weight loss, helping it return with a vengeance. If we can force our fat cells to work with us, rather than against us, we may be able to regain the advantage.

Source: MIT

Nintendo Explains Why It Chose ‘Animal Crossing’ and ‘Fire Emblem’ as Next Smartphone Games

Last week, Nintendo announced that the next two games launching on iPhone and Android devices will be Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem related applications, but didn’t speak much to its reasoning behind that decision. In a subsequent financial results briefing Q&A, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima gave some explanation as to why the company decided to prioritize these franchises as its next line of smartphone titles (via Engadget).

Kimishima began by stating that Nintendo chose Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem as the first two “real” game applications “from the viewpoint of increasing the diverse types of consumers interested in Nintendo, and widening opportunities for game play.” Animal Crossing, specifically, will net the company a wider swath of player demographics considering its titles in the past have won over non-gamers with its trademark laid-back gameplay.

We chose Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem as titles to follow Miitomo from the viewpoint of increasing the diverse types of consumers interested in Nintendo, and widening opportunities for game play. The Animal Crossing series has been played by a wide range of consumers including children and women. I think there is a good chance that those consumers would enjoy this.

Interestingly, Kimishima appeared to somewhat dodge the initial question asked (Is Animal Crossing a title that places emphasis on the synergy with dedicated video game systems?), which is the main concern of some series fans as Animal Crossing transitions to mobile.

In the original announcement, Nintendo said the iPhone version of the game will somehow connect to a console-based game and that by playing both, “users will find increased enjoyment.” It’s still unclear whether this means Animal Crossing iOS will be a full-fledged title, or some kind of accessory experience, similar to series spin-offs like Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival.

The company’s decision to introduce Fire Emblem onto mobile seems to be a move entirely focused on finally placating its “die-hard fans,” who have been excited about the possibility of Nintendo games on smartphones since the announcement early last year. Still, no specific reason was given why Nintendo chose Fire Emblem over other similarly popular pure gaming franchises, like Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda, but most of that might lie in the company’s fear of diluting such well known games onto a platform that’s not yet proven it could work as a location of Nintendo’s top-tier titles.

Kimishima reminded those at the briefing that, moving forward, there is no limit to the potential IPs used in its mobile games, so fans might see more recognizable characters before the fifth Nintendo app launches by March 2017.

As for Fire Emblem, it is not so much the width of the audience as the existence of die-hard fans who have stuck to the series for a long time. We selected two titles of different categories and IP to reach as many consumers as possible. We are not limiting the IP for the titles that will follow these two. We will continue to prepare titles using IP that many consumers are familiar with.

Kimishima also discussed the potential for in-app purchases in its upcoming applications, saying that the implementation of IAPs will essentially change on a game-by-game basis: if its player base is seen as possibly willing to spend more money, then the company will support the feature. Ultimately, Nintendo’s president assured those who are apprehensive about its plan to delve into the smartphone application space by reiterating the company’s current goal is “to grow smart device gaming as one of the pillars of Nintendo’s revenue stream.”

Tags: Nintendo, Fire Emblem, Animal Crossing
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Giphy Launches New ‘Giphy Keys’ iOS Keyboard to Easily Share Animated GIFs

Giphy today launched its own iOS keyboard, called Giphy Keys, that will let users search for and send GIFs without having to navigate to a separate keyboard application. Once users install Giphy Keys as a new keyboard in settings — and allow it full access — the app can be selected as a keyboard by tapping the globe icon whenever the keyboard is open on iOS.

The advantage of Giphy Keys is that anyone who constantly navigated through multiple keyboards to type messages and search for GIFs can now do both in one place. The top of the keyboard has a search functionality to find a GIF related to a specific topic, but Giphy also provides various categories related to moods or trends whenever you don’t have a specific GIF in mind.

GIPHY Keys is the easiest and fastest way to browse, search, and share GIFs in your text messages — right from your keyboard! Not only do you have access to GIPHY’s collection of millions of GIFs, you can play with our special GIPHY commands to make and discover so much more awesome content.

Similar to other GIF apps, once a user finds their desired GIF, all that needs to be done is a simple copy and paste into the message field and then hit the send button. Giphy Keys also introduces a new 8ball tab, where users can ask the app a question and receive an answer in GIF form. The section also gives weather forecasts for specific zip codes, and can animate words and phrases, all with GIFs.

For users who integrate GIFs into every corner of their iOS messaging experience — from iMessage to Snapchat and other clients — Giphy Keys should be a helpful addition to their daily perusal and sending of the popular animated format. Those interested can download Giphy Keys from the App Store for free [Direct Link].

Tag: Giphy
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