These are the Daydream-ready phones (so far)
Is your phone Daydream-ready? Probably not.
Google’s big push into smartphone-based virtual reality has only begun to take form. Whereas Cardboard is an amazing way to make it so anyone and everyone can enjoy short VR experiences, Daydream is aiming much higher. You’ll be able to kick back and enjoy an episode of Game of Thrones, stand up and draw some amazing pieces of art with a big bubble around you as the canvas, and of course play an enormous number of immersive games. Daydream is going to be a big deal to anyone who can enjoy it, and in order to be on that list your phone must have Google’s “Daydream-ready” stamp of approval.
Which phones have earned Google’s blessing? Glad you asked! Here’s a very short list of what’s available now, which we will be updating as frequently as possible.
- ZTE Axon 7 — The first Android manufacturer to step up and claim Daydream preparedness did so before Google even has Daydream ready to use, much less the version of Android Daydream is going to run on. With its 5.5-inch WQHD AMOLED display, Snapdragon 820 processor, and 6GB of RAM onboard this phone is a powerhouse, and when Daydream is actually ready it should be a lot of fun on this phone.
What about the Nexus 6P?
While Google is using the Nexus 6P to build and test Daydream, and you can currently install the Daydream Developer Kit on a Nexus 6P running the Android N Developer Preview, this phone is not Daydream-ready. To quote Google:
The 6P’s thermal performance is not representative of the consumer Daydream-ready devices that will be launching later this year.
This doesn’t mean someone won’t figure out how to shoehorn Daydream onto the Nexus 6P for you to try out once the apps are available to the public, but officially this phone does not live up to the spec Google has in mind for the ideal Daydream experience.
MIT: More collaboration is needed to fight disease
As anyone who follows science knows, a lot of the fields have blended together. Medical research is dependent on robotics and other technology, while computer engineers are building neural networks that mimic our brains. To get everyone working together, leading MIT scientists, including President Emerita Susan Hockfield and Nobel Prize winning geneticist Philip Sharphave, have drafted a paper called “Convergence: The Future of Health.” They believe the federal government, academia and industry must grasp the importance of overlapping research and fund it appropriately.
The reports focuses on three areas in need of convergence between disciplines: Brain disorders, infectious diseases and cancer research. Researchers in those fields need to collaborate with scientists and engineers who work on imaging, nanotechnology, regenerative engineering (prosthetics and organ transplants), and information technology. For instance, building artificial organs for transplants requires 3D printing expertise (below) that medical researchers don’t have. Similarly, optogenetics allows neurologists to change an animal’s behavior merely with light, but leans heavily on genetics and other fields.
Such collaboration, which the authors refer to as the “third revolution” in science, is already commonplace, of course. Doctors are working with geneticists to stamp out viruses and immune disorders via “synthetic biology,” and cancer researchers are using AI to improve patient diagnoses. However, coordinating such research is a big problem, especially for small, underfunded projects that could result in breakthroughs.
To help with that, the report makes several recommendations. Those include changing the way that grants are doled out to favor convergence, hiring researchers with expertise or knowledge of other disciples and creating PhD programs that allow students to design their own degrees across disciplines.
However, the main takeaway is that the US government must wade in. According to the authors, it must help create a working group that across disciplines with participation from the NIH, National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the FDA. That means that not only more participation from the feds, but more cash. “Convergence science has advanced across many fronts, from nanotechnology to regenerative tissue,” Sharp tells the MIT Review. “The funding allocated for convergence research in biomedical science is small and needs to be expanded.” For more, delve into the report.
Source: MIT
Sweden debuts the world’s first ‘electric highway’
Fossil fuels are bad for the planet, and freight haulage is one of the more carbon-intensive activities that operate today. That’s why Siemens and Scania have teamed up to trial what’s being called the world’s first “electric highway.” Much like an electrified railroad, the 1.2 mile stretch has a series of wires hanging overhead that a pantograph-equipped truck can connect to. Then, the vehicle can deactivate its fuel-burning engine and coast along on that delicious, dirt-cheap electricity, switching back when the wires stop.
Scania official Claes Erixon has said that the project is “one important milestone on the journey towards fossil-free transport.” Cleantech Canada quotes an unnamed Siemens representative, who says the move could cut energy consumption in half. As it stands, this is the culmination of a two-year project to develop this test track, with more work to be done to determine if it could be rolled out across the country. That is, unless, an alternative freight-transport network that’s even more energy-efficient and speedy, can make its case to governments across the world.
Via: Cleantech Canada
Source: Scania
RZA teams up with Atari on a new video game-inspired album
RZA already made one big announcement this summer, and the member of the Wu-Tang Clan doesn’t appear to be done yet. The rapper/producer announced this week that he’s teaming up with Atari on a new album that takes inspiration from the audio in the company’s video games. “I’m so excited to work on these iconic games to deliver what I believe will be one of my best albums,” RZA told Billboard.
The album will feature original music “based on Atari’s iconic video game sounds and music,” according to company’s CEO Fred Chesnais. This isn’t the first time the two have collaborated either, as RZA supplied a voice over for Atari’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure: a game about a graffiti artist. For the new project, RZA will lead production while Chesnais and Stephen Belafonte will be in the mix as executive producers. Details are scarce for now, but at least you have another album from the artist to ease the wait. RZA is set to release his album with Interpol’s Paul Banks in August under the moniker Banks & Steelz.
Via: Pitchfork
Source: Billboard
New Gordon Ramsay mobile game brings the heat and profanity
Ever dream of working in a kitchen with Gordon Ramsay breathing down your neck? With the new Gordon Ramsay Dash game, which lands on iOS and Android next week, you can get a taste of cooking in a stressful environment under the chef’s watchful eye. I had a chance to speak about the game with Ramsay himself — who, by the way, is unnervingly calm in person.
“The game is about how I started,” he said. You begin with a small neighborhood restaurant, simple ingredients and basic decor. Under game-Ramsay’s tutelage, you’ll grow your business into a global empire by serving dishes to customers in a limited time.
Gordon Ramsay Dash was made in partnership with Glu Mobile, the same company behind Kim Kardashian: Hollywood. Indeed, based on screenshots, Dash’s main gameplay looks remarkably similar to Glu’s other restaurant game, Cooking Dash 2016, which I’ve been addicted to for a year. Even Ramsay’s description of his app sounds familiar. “This is a very competitive, highly energized scenario and it will give you an essence of what it’s really like in the restaurant world,” he said. You’ll likely have to prepare and serve food to a number of guests in timed rounds, and it can get stressful.
But there are unique aspects to Gordon Ramsay Dash chef duels: You challenge friends and other players to a cook-off; there’s a “Farm Market” feature for bartering ingredients with other chefs; and a “Wichelin” star system that Ramsay came up with mirrors his experience with earning Michelin stars.
Those stars are important, too. “Whilst you sleep, I’ll be monitoring your progress and the standard of the restaurant,” Ramsay said. And if your restaurant loses stars or falls in quality, you can expect an earful.
Indeed, that may be the game’s biggest draw. Ramsay spent weeks in a voiceover booth recording hundreds of pages of scripts to make the app feel more personal. You’ll hear him say (or shout), “Overcooked!” or “Overseasoned!” And if you’ve (gasp!) done well, you’ll also be praised in true Ramsay fashion: A game trailer shows him saying “Fucking brilliant” and “That’s how it’s done.”
Ramsay fans will probably enjoy Dash — but it’s a different story for his 16-year-old daughter, Holly. Ramsay said she told him, ” ‘Dad, love the game, just not too sure if I want you shouting at me in the morning when I turn my phone on saying that your restaurant’s gone under.’ “
As for those who have lofty dreams of starting their own restaurants, try the app first. “I’m going to send them an app with a phone free of charge, because that would be a lot cheaper than it would be to put hundreds of thousands of pounds into a restaurant that would last for six months,” said Ramsay.
It might not be all that cheap to play, though. While the app is free, its in-app purchases (at least in this beta) range from $1.49 for a handful of gold or coins to $14.99 for a bucket of currency. “I didn’t realize how much [Holly’s] spent on it already,” Ramsay said. “Thankfully, she’s using her mother’s credit card.”
That said, the cash-strapped could still enjoy the experience without any investment. In all my time playing Cooking Dash, I’ve not spent a single cent on in-app purchases, so it should be relatively easy to avoid spending money to enjoy Ramsay’s game.
The game will be available next week, on June 30th. You can pre-register on the Google Play Store, and those who do so by June 27th will receive an exclusive in-game chef’s coat to dress up their avatar.
Apple Watch May Switch to Micro-LED Display in Mid 2017 or Later
Apple may switch to micro-LED displays for the Apple Watch in the second half of 2017 at the earliest, moving away from the current OLED technology used, according to supply chain sources for Taiwanese website DigiTimes.
The timeline suggests that the much-rumored Apple Watch 2 lineup expected to debut in the second half of 2016 will continue to have OLED displays, with the move towards micro-LED panels liking occurring in tandem with the tentatively named Apple Watch 3.
Micro-LED displays can be thinner and lighter and allow for improved color gamut, increased brightness, and higher resolutions. The panels do not require backlighting like traditional LCD displays, but they can be difficult and expensive to mass produce. Micro LEDs range in size from 1-micron to 100-micron.
Earlier this year, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the Apple Watch 2 will mainly feature internal improvements, with more significant form factor design changes not occurring until 2017. By then, the switch to micro-LED panels and other technological advances could allow for a thinner Apple Watch.
Apple acquired micro-LED display maker LuxVue Technology in 2014, and one of the company’s investors at the time said it had “a technical breakthrough in displays.” LuxVue holds multiple micro-LED-related patents and, in 2013, it raised $25.2 million in funding to pursue the technology.
Apple also opened a facility in northern Taiwan last year, where it is believed to be focusing on micro-LED technology.
The current Apple Watch is the only Apple product with an OLED display due to its small size. The company continues to use LCD technology based on a TFT manufacturing process for iPhones, but widespread rumors suggest Apple will release its first OLED-based iPhone as early as September 2017.
Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 2, watchOS 3
Tags: digitimes.com, OLED, Micro-LED
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
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Twitter Begins iOS Rollout of Location-Based Tweet Aggregating Feature
Twitter has confirmed to TechCrunch that all of its first party iOS app users will today begin to see a new location-based feature that aggregates tweets tagged to a specific geographic location. Called “Twitter Location Feeds,” the update lets users scroll through tweets and profiles surrounding locations like the headquarters of a business, sporting event, music festival, or an entire city.
Powered by Foursquare, users can jump into any Location Feed they want by first tapping on a tweet to check out more details, then tapping on the location tagged within to see a list of tweets compiled within the area. Once in the feed for any specific location, users can scroll through all tweets posted by users in the area, or specify a media-only category to stick with photos and videos.
Location feeds will unlock the ability for users anywhere to immerse themselves in a place. You could drop into a sporting event, see what people think about a museum, find the favorite dish from a restaurant, check the vibe at a local park, virtually visit a concert, or even become engulfed in a protest.
Instead of browsing a noisy hashtag with tweets from everywhere, you can discover what people on the ground are saying. This ability to immerse yourself in an unfiltered sea of information has always been one of the best parts of Twitter.
Due to its focus on navigation starting from tags in other users’ tweets, a lot of the functionality of Location Feeds rides on automatic location tagging, which many users might have turned off. As such, TechCrunch considers that an update with searchable geographic areas is “a sensible next step.”
Twitter said that Location Feeds will be rolling out to all iOS users starting today, and that more platforms are planned for the future, but didn’t give any specified information on which will be coming next. Today’s news follows an update to the social network earlier in the week that expanded its video lengths from 30 to 140 seconds.
Tag: Twitter
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Ford Fiesta ST200 first drive: Irresistible overboost fun
When Ford announced that it would not be making a Fiesta RS, drivers the world over sighed. But that soon changed to cheers when the Fiesta ST200 was revealed as an overboost-toting powerhouse.
Despite a four-cylinder 1.6-litre engine sounding meagre, the ST200 pushes out a respectable 197bhp. Plus the overboost, which delivers even more juice for a 20-second burst at 212bhp, kicks in when flooring the car in the middling gears. Fun times.
Does the Fiesta ST200 offer enough power and handling to be considered a worthy sportster? Is it at the sacrifice of comfort and in-car tech? And, as £22,745, is it priced well enough to be affordable to those that want it? We took the ST200 onto the wet British roads to find out.
Pocket-lint
Ford Fiesta ST200 preview: Build and design
The ST200 has been compared to a Ford factory equivalent of the Mountune performance kit, as seen on the Fiesta ST. So it looks sporty, despite its new grey suit.
However, at first glance you could be forgiven for mistaking the ST200 for any other Fiesta. But look a little longer and you’ll start to notice that front spoiler magnifying the aggressive grille and those large 17-inch matte black alloys with red brake calipers. The ST200 is a Fiesta to be taken more seriously.
That said, it is the right size and shape to blend in and do the job of a day-to-day car too. It should be easy to spot after leaving it in the Tesco car park as that Storm Grey paint job is the only colour it comes in.
Inside the sporty feel continues with deep Recaro bucket seats, red ST stitching and a red labeled gear stick. If all that didn’t make it clear enough then a big red ST is also bunged on the central console and steering wheel for good measure.
Pocket-lint
The car feels sporty enough to offer the controls and comforts you want at speed, with enough room for a would be boy-racer to hang onto this even after he’s become a man with a family. Alright, maybe that’s a stretch for a three door hot hatch.
Ford Fiesta ST200: Performance and handling
This ST200 can get you to 62mph in just 6.7-seconds. That’s seriously fast when considering the car’s size and engine. You can just imagine this surprising a few people at the lights as it dashes away. A new lower gearing ratio really is a great upgrade that makes every pull-away feel extra dramatic.
The action really kicks in around the 4,000rpm mark, where there’s not only more pull but an orchestra of engine noise swells to enhance the fun. On the wet roads we had a bit of wheel spin but it still pulled plenty fast. Overboost kicks in outside of these lower gears, yielding more from the turbo, making light work of speedy overtakes.
Pocket-lint
Handling is also respectably tight. Feedback through the wheel is confidence-inspiring and as Ford has stiffened the rear torsion beam compared to previous Fiestas it makes for a controlled experience. Now you might think this also means a harder ride, but the combination of soft springs and dampers means it’s comfy enough on bumps too, really making it a great all-rounder.
Those red caliper brakes aren’t just for show either. You can stop in a hurry or deliver a controlled dab as needed. This really does offer a taste of rally driving for the road. Above all else it’s a lot of fun – exactly what you’d expect from a car of this class. It gives even the most modest driver a feeling of confidence that allows limits to be pushed for genuine excitement.
Ford Fiesta ST200: Infotainment and smart tech
As you’d expect on a new Ford you get Ford Sync built-in. That means a very capable voice recognition system that will let you make and receive calls, play and control music, and more, using a steering wheel button and your voice alone.
Pocket-lint
As you can see from our pictures the included screen is small and there are a whole lot of buttons that look positively old school in design. Don’t expect this thing to blow you away but with nice extras like rear parking cameras it’s capable enough.
Ignoring the majority of buttons, the classic Ford four-button menu system makes it easy to jump between navigation, audio, sound and menu controls without getting lost. Crucially it also means ease of access even when taking advantage of that stiff steering, which demands keen attention.
First Impressions
The Ford Fiesta ST200 is a seriously fun car. While it’s primarily designed as a little powerhouse of performance and handling, it can be functional too.
Alright, most people aren’t going to spend that £22,745 for day-to-day shop runs, but it’s nice to know that a claimed 46.3mpg economy and interior comforts are part and parcel of the purchase.
That engine might be fairly small, but the noise from it is great and the added pep from overboost is ideal for speedy overtakes. It’s not a sound you’re likely to get bored of hearing.
Fast, capable, spacious, comfortable and not over-priced for all it offers: Ford is onto a winner with the Fiesta ST200.
Oculus claims exclusive games are good for the VR industry
Many have argued — including our own Sean Buckley — that the steady stream of platform-exclusive virtual reality games is a bad thing. Oculus has been by the far the most aggressive in pursuing such deals, but its head of content Jason Rubin claims that this is a good thing for the industry.
In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Rubin made an argument focused on the growth of the industry. He compared the VR industry to PC gaming in the ’80s, noting that the market is similar in size. The problem, he asserted, is one of expectation. “The average gamer is now aware of $100 million games. And while we certainly cannot build a $100 million game that takes four years, in the year we’ve had dev kits, we can try to get closer to that by funding significant leaps beyond the financial certainty that a developer would need to have to do it on their own.”
VR needs these big-budget games now, not in two years when there’s the market to sustain them. By investing heavily in big games with larger budgets, Oculus is likely to make a loss on its gamble in the immediate future, but that investment will attract more people to virtual reality. Luckily, Oculus is owned by Facebook, which can definitely afford to pump money in on a gamble. With the industry growing, when it comes to the second or third game they create for VR, developers will be able to put in the money required without worrying about whether they’ll see a return, Rubin said.
This is apparently a short-term policy for the long-term health of the industry. “In no case are we asking to have control of the intellectual property in the long-term,” Rubin added. Exclusive games like Crytek’s The Climb, might only come to Oculus, but Crytek still owns that title, and its sequel, and any other games it makes, can “come out on any console, any PC, any anything, anywhere. We don’t own that.”
For smaller titles, such as Superhot, Oculus has helped fund porting to VR, and has often managed to secure a timed exclusive in return. Rubin said there are also indie games the company has put money into that are sold through Steam and not the Oculus store, “so the idea that we’re not doing good for the industry I find completely failing.”
Rubin’s arguments, whether you agree with them or not, are nuanced, and difficult to disregard offhand. There will still be, of course, those that feel that exclusives are never good for gamers, especially in a nascent industry.
The full interview with Rubin — which covers a lot more than exclusive games — is available at gamesindustry.biz.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
ICYMI: Saving the ocean and ghosting on love interests
Today on In Case You Missed It: The Burner chatbot would let a machine ghost on acquaintances you’d rather not text with anymore. So that’s point one for the endtimes, zero for humanity. But this Dutch inventor should more than switch that around with a small prototype of the ocean fence that is designed to collect ocean trash passively, allowing currents to push plastic and other stuff that doesn’t belong in the water into a collection fence. If it all works out, a huge, 60-mile long version of his invention will grace the Pacific Ocean within a few years and hopefully be a solution to solving the Great Pacific garbage patch.
If you’re into Nerf guns, you must watch this video. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
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