Urbanears has sweat-soaked headphones, if that’s what you’re into
What’s the best way to promote a line of workout headphones? Well, if you’re Urbanears, offering a “Limited Sweat Edition” that carries the perspiration of real human “movement makers” is how you go about it. The audio company teamed up with seven folks from fashion, music and sports on a group of sweat-soaked headphones that will be used to raise money for charity. Yes, it’s pretty gross, but Urbanears is playing up the Hellas wireless headphones removable headband and earpads to remind you that said funk can be removed. And yes, you can buy a fresh pair if you prefer.
Urbanears got seven people to wear the headphones during a workout and immediately bagged the sweaty audio gear afterwards. The list of folks includes running coach Knox Robinson, dancer “WilldaBeast” Adams, musician Amanda Bergman, British singer V V Brown, American model Barbie Ferreira, German fashionista Bonnie Strange and French DJ/entrepreneur Nadege Winter. If you want to buy ’em, the “WilldaBeast” Adams and Bonnie Strange headphones go on sale May 27th with others to follow. There’s only one of each, so you’ll have to act fast to drop €119 (around $133) that will be donated to charity.
Source: Urbanears
Twitch Clips share your favorite stream moments
Twitch viewers know the problem: you’ve seen something amazing on a stream that you’re dying to share, but you’d rather not make friends watch the whole stream (or remember the exact time) to relive the moment. What to do? After today, it should only take a few clicks. Twitch is rolling out a Clips feature that creates a shareable video capturing the 25 seconds before you tap the button, and 5 seconds afterward. After that, you get a web link that takes people directly to the broadcaster; if the feed is no longer live, you’ll go to the exact moment the clip began in the finished video.
Only partnered channels get to use Clips right away, and then only for “select” viewers. It’ll take a few weeks before everyone has access. When it reaches a wider audience, though, it’ll represent a big step toward giving Twitch the social video sharing that you’re used to from services focusing on pre-recorded videos.
Source: Twitch
Facebook and Microsoft are building a huge trans-Atlantic data cable
Microsoft and Facebook today have announced a partnership to build a massive underwater data cable connecting the US to Europe, an effort that’ll help the two internet giants better move data back and forth around the world. The cable, dubbed “MAREA,” should be ready by October 2017 and will have an insane estimated data capacity of 160Tbps, making it the highest-capacity subsea cable to ever cross the Atlantic.
It’s not hard to understand why having a better infrastructure for transmitting data is important to both Facebook and Microsoft. Facebook has a whopping 1.6 billion users, and that’s not counting traffic from other hugely popular services like Instagram and Whatsapp. For Microsoft’s part, its Azure cloud services use a ton of bandwidth, and that’s without mentioning its other cloud-based products like Bing, Office, Skype and Xbox Live.
The MAREA system isn’t just for Microsoft and Facebook, however. The cable will be managed by Telxius, a division of the Telefónica telecommunications company. The company will then sell off capacity from MAREA to companies in addition to Facebook and Microsoft.
The cable itself will stretch from Virginia Beach in the US to Bilbao, Spain, a rather unique path. Most trans-Atlantic cables originate in the New York City / New Jersey area, despite the fact that many huge data centers are located in Virginia. Additionally, this route further south from most large cabling systems will supposedly allow for more “resilient and reliable” data connections — something of the utmost importance when dealing with internet services like those Microsoft and Facebook deal in.
Source: Facebook (PR Newswire), Microsoft
Facebook is reportedly working on ‘shoppable’ video ads
Facebook already has ways for you to shop using ads and shop pages on the social network. In an effort to prove ads can encourage spending rather than just promoting a brand, the company is reportedly working on “shoppable” video ads. In other words, you’ll be able to buy products highlighted by a commercial or some other kind of footage with ease. As The Information explains, you’ll be able to tap on a Nike video if you want get more info about a pair of shoes that someone is wearing. If you decided you want to buy them, another tap will send you out to the retailers website.
The Information reports that the new video ads are still in the works, but there are plans to start testing them next month. If the video format sounds familiar, Google Shopping ads show you related products on the pre-roll content ahead of YouTube videos. In that case, clicking the “i” icon displays a list of items alongside pricing and retailer info.
Facebook already has dedicated a dedicated Shop section for business pages and its so-called Canvas feature makes ads a bit more interactive. Messenger chat bots were among the big announcements at this year’s F8 event, and some of those will allow you to order food while others provide updates on orders or serve as “gift concierges” to guide your shopping. Facebook is also said to be working on a way for users to save items they see for browsing later. You know, just in case you need to weight your options before committing.
Source: The Information
HTC has stopped producing the Nexus 9
As has often been the case with larger Android tablets, the Nexus 9 never quite lived up to its potential. And, it’s relatively long in the tooth, first launching back in October of 2014. Google stopped selling the device about a month ago, and now HTC has confirmed that its days are numbered. While you can still buy most models of the tablet on HTC’s site, the company says that it is no longer manufacturing the tablet. Once the stock on HTC’s site and across various other random retailers runs out, that’ll be the end of the line.
That leaves the Pixel C as the only Android tablet Google itself is selling directly. Despite some flaws, that’s probably still your best bet for a large-screen Android experience right now — and Android N should fix many of the issues we had with the tablet. And, of course, Samsung still sells a dizzying array of Android tablets, from large to, well, larger.
Given the Nexus 9’s lifespan, it’s not at all surprising that HTC has stopped manufacturing the device. HTC did confirm that it’ll continue selling and supporting the device for the near future, but if you for some reason had your eye on it and never pulled the trigger, don’t wait too long.
Via: CNET
New study shows the scale of Twitter’s misogyny problem
When then-CEO Dick Costolo admitted last year that Twitter “suck[s] at dealing with abuse and we’ve sucked at it for years,” he was addressing the elephant in the room and a frustratingly common problem for women on the platform. Although the company has taken steps to combat abuse and report real-world threats, the overwhelmingly negative attitude towards women on Twitter persists. And a new study from the UK has the data to back it up.
To quantify the woman-hating on Twitter, UK thinktank Demos looked for the words “slut” or “whore” in 1.5 million tweets sent by UK users during a three-week period from mid-April to May 2016. Using an in-house algorithm, the research team filtered out conversational or self-identifying tweets to focus only on those with clearly aggressive language aimed at another user. During that short timeframe, the study found “10,000 explicitly aggressive and misogynistic tweets” directed at 6,500 users in the UK alone, TechCrunch reports. Internationally, there were more than 200,000 tweets using the same terms directed at 80,000 users. The study also claims about 50 percent of those abusive tweets were sent by women.
For its part, Twitter’s head of trust & safety outreach for Europe, the Middle East and Asia told TechCrunch, “Our ambition, in tandem with addressing abusive behaviour, is to reach a position where we can leverage Twitter’s incredible capabilities to empower positive voices, to challenge prejudice and to tackle the deeper root causes of intolerance in society.”
And Demos is quick to note that Twitter is not the only social media platform with a misogyny problem — just the source of the data for this particular study. “It’s important to note that misogyny is prevalent across all social media, and we must make sure that the other big tech companies are also involved in discussions around education and developing solutions,” Demos researcher Alex Krasodomski-Jones wrote in a statement. “This is less about policing the internet than it is a stark reminder that we are frequently not as good citizens online as we are offline.”
Gunless MMO game ‘Absolver’ slated for 2017 release
Indie studio Sloclap has teamed with Devolver Digital on a new melee-based MMO, dubbed Absolver. The game is currently scheduled for release on both consoles and PC some point in 2017.
It follows the standard RPG trope format wherein a player’s neophyte character joins an organization — in this case, the “Absolvers” who maintain world stability through combat — and must advance through the ranks by clearing dungeons. You know, just like your first job out of school. The game will include both PvE and PvP arenas and offer all sorts of upgradeable/customizable gear. Everything from armor and weapons to combat styles and even individual attack sequences can be tweaked to the player’s preference — fingers crossed for a One Punch Man skin.
But what really sets Absolver apart from other MMOs is its utter lack of firearms. From what you can see in the reveal trailer above, characters will have access to swords, staves and maybe even some magic but projectile weapons appear strictly verboten. Also looks like players will be able to assemble themselves into mobs for large-scale PvP rioting. We’ll get a better look at the action at E3 where Devolver Digital will host hands-on demos.
Planetary Resources cancels ‘space selfie’ project
Sad news for fans of space exploration and pictures of themselves today: asteroid mining company Planetary Resources has decided to cancel its plans to launch an Arkyd 100 space telescope that would have allowed users on earth to take a “selfie” of sorts with the satellite. The project racked up $1.5 million during a Kickstarter campaign in 2013, but it wasn’t enough to get the project off the ground. While they won’t be getting a photo of themselves from space, the 17,000-plus backers will at least be getting their money back.
The project was supposed to use a specially modified Arkyd 100 telescope mounted with a second camera pointed at an external screen that would display a user’s picture and snap an extraterrestrial selfie. The company even promised users they could point the telescope at the backdrop of their choice (as long as it wasn’t the sun) and a majority of the project’s backers paid $25 for space selfie option. Another 27 contributors shelled out $10,000 for tickets to the selfie-scope’s launch, which obviously isn’t happening at this point.
“It’s a decision that we make with a heavy heart,” Planetary Resources CEO Chris Lewicki told GeekWire. While the crowdsourcing campaign shot past their expectations, Lewicki says his company couldn’t find the right partner to turn this into a real space mission.
Although the selfie-shooting satellite was a failure to launch, Planetary Resources is still preparing to put “a constellation of Arkyd 100 telescopes” in orbit by the end of 2019. Those satellites are designed for thermal infrared and hyperspectral Earth photography, however, so you might still technically be in the picture, but you’ll be a lot harder to spot.
Report: Next Apple TV might be an Amazon Echo competitor
It seems Apple is finally gearing up to make Siri useful. Following a report from earlier this week about Apple developing a smart Bluetooth speaker similar to the Amazon Echo, now VentureBeat is reporting that the next Apple TV could also have the Echo in its sights. “They want Apple TV to be just the hub of everything,” a source told the site. Siri was a big part of the recent Apple TV, but it also requires holding down a button on the remote. The next Apple TV will supposedly be redesigned to include a speaker and microphone of its own, so you could conceivably just shout commands without hitting any buttons.
That same source says Apple has also given up on the idea of building a Bluetooth speaker to focus on its next set-top box, and it’s also considered upgrading the current Apple TV with more Siri smarts. I wouldn’t count out an Apple speaker just yet — it makes plenty of sense for it to dive into that burgeoning market, and it could also co-exist with a new Apple TV. A speaker could also be an easy way to bring Siri into your bedroom (ahem) without having an Apple TV nearby.
All of these rumors could have some truth to them. The most likely scenario is that Apple is working hard to bring expanded Siri capabilities to all of its devices, just like Google is planning to do with its Assistant. Since most people will likely end up relying on only one virtual assistant, it’s important for Apple to be just as ubiquitous as the competition.
Source: VentureBeat
‘Minecraft’ players can battle each other next month
Minecraft is about to get a whole lot more competitive. Mojang, 4J Studios and Microsoft have teamed up to introduce a special new PvP mini game for Minecraft: Console Edition, and it’s called simply Battle.
Battle is the first of several planned mini games and it’s rolling out in June, a simple way for players to create competitions with custom rules and settings without having to worry about frustratingly tedious preparations and time-wasting setup. It’ll rely on randomly-generated resources in chests placed on special PvP maps and death matches between players to crown victors, all the while spectators can view the carnage.
Matches will support up to four players via split-screen mode and 8 players online with Xbox Live. There’s also an in-game matchmaking component to find players for your own personal battle royales.
The free update will be released later in June for anyone who owns Minecraft on Xbox One and Xbox 360 and other consoles as part of an update with three additional maps.
Source: Microsoft
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