Google ‘off the record’ mode will keep your search history private

Google has confirmed that it will be offering more advanced privacy settings that keep search history private.

Speaking at the Code Conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke about the new settings, among other Nexus upgrades, which would allow users to select an “off the record” mode.

This mode applies to Google voice search, it seems, specifically useful for Google Home gadgets. But Pichai also spoke of tighter privacy controls in general. He mentioned a situation where users would be able to tell Google to forget the last four hours of search activity, for example.

Pichai also spoke about Google’s greater control over Nexus development in the future. Devices being made will have more features added to them by the Google team. While the hardware will still be manufacturer by third parties it sounds like the guidelines from Google will be more informative. In Pichai’s word’s the company will be more “opinionated” about design.

Hopefully we’ll start to see some of these new features appear in the not too distant future. For now check out the full conversation that Pichai had at the Code conference event in the below video.

READ: 20 most ridiculous inventions ever created, you won’t believe what you’re about to see

Are backpack VR PCs really a thing now? MSI, Zotac and HP think so

Virtual reality is steadily coming into its own with a slew of new products on show this year at Computex. And some are not what you’d expect.

Prior to this year’s show, three companies, HP, gaming giant MSI and mini PC maker Zotac, announced a new form factor: Backpack VR PCs. Yep, a whole PC in a backpack that you can wear while playing VR games.

MSI and Zotac promised to have their products at the event so naturally we were keen to seek them out.

HP Omen X

HP’s Omen X was demoed onstage at Intel’s keynote speech, where two players in different real life locations entered the same VR shoot out game – an exciting development indeed. Sadly, this is the most we managed to get to see of the Omen X so far at the show. Details are scarce but we gather that it is kitted out with Intel’s Core i7 CPU and is expected to weigh around 4.5kg.

Pocket-lint

HP Omen X

Thankfully though, MSI and Zotac were on the show floor offering demonstrations, both running with the HTC Vive headset and controllers.

The two backpack PCs are vastly different in terms of aesthetics. MSI’s looks futuristic and is all shiny red metal. Zotac has gone for a far simpler approach. It almost looks like a Janus backpack.

This may turn out to be a smart move however, as the netting definitely allows the unit to stay cool. We tried one on at the end of the day which had been running steadily (presumably they were just switching out the battery) and it was only slightly warm.

The MSI Backpack PC runs on a Core i7 processor and the Zotac on Core i5, but we didn’t notice much difference in terms of performance. They were both running on Nvidia’s Geforce GTX 980 graphics card.

Zotac Mobile VR

Zotac spent three months developing its Mobile VR PC which is based on its current, build-your-own Magnus EN980. That comes with an optional 1TB hard drive and the manufacturer has taken out the liquid cooling system and replaced it with two fans.

Unlike the Omen X, which reportedly has the battery in the belt, Zotac has placed it at the bottom of the backpack. The company reckons the battery will last around one-and-a-half hours, which is in line with the estimation for the MSI model.

Pocket-lint

Zotac Mobile VR

The Zotac model also weighs in at around 4.5kg and when we put it on it was surprisingly comfortable.

The shoulder straps are well padded and padding on the back panel of the rucksack allows for an air gap between the wearer and the PC. There is also a supporting strap to go around the waist but this is hardly needed. Kids lug around heavier schoolbags than this slung over one shoulder. The rucksack is rugged, well stitched and looks durable.

Another plus for the Zotac is it was the only company we talked to that seemed to have a reasonably solid launch plan. It mentioned a November release in the UK with an estimated (but certainly not confirmed) price of around $2,000 (£1,400).

MSI Backpack PC

The MSI model has no firmed up launch date beyond a vague “probably Q3”. There was also no comment on the probable price as the specs are still not finalised.

Pocket-lint

MSI Backpack PC

The metal-bodied pack weighs in at under 5kg. You pick it up using a metal handle which is part of the body of the pack. This looks great, but is really a style point rather than necessity – the Zotac pack manages the same load with a regular handle.

The frame and a thick padded strap keep the pack lifted away from the user’s back. The MSI waist support also features holsters for handheld controllers. There’s also a cross chest support strap too.

The pack felt fairly comfortable and, like the Zotac, the cables are well out the user’s way as they come out of the top of the pack.

We look forward to these products hitting the market. The VR experience is really enhanced by the feeling of freedom that these backpack PCs offer with their user-friendly solutions, sure it’s going to be pricey but we think it’s could well be worth it.

Apple Car to hit roads from 2020 says Tesla’s Elon Musk, but no Google car

The Apple Car is still not an official project for the mighty company but thanks to plenty of rumours and leaks it’s almost certainly something Apple is working on. Now Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has chimed in saying he expects Apple Cars on the road from 2020.

If anyone is going to be aware of the electric car competition out there it’s going to be Elon Musk. While Apple has caught been renting cars and driving them about with high-tech equipment affixed to them, it could still just be testing for Apple Car software. Also plenty of hires suggest Apple is working heavily on car projects.

Musk believes that Apple will begin full-scale production from 2020. But, in his opinion, that’s a little too late. Speaking at the Code Conference Musk said: “I think it’s great they’re doing this, and I hope it works out. It’s just a missed opportunity. It’s a couple years… they’ll make a good car and be successful.” He went on to say full-scale production is unlikely for the Apple Car before 2020.

Musk also mentioned that he doesn’t think Google will release a car, despite all its testing time with self-driving electric vehicles. He agrees with industry watchers who claim the company plans to license its technology out to a major automotive manufacturer.

Apple Car, or project Titan, apparently already involves hundreds of dedicated engineers, software developers and industry experts all working towards a self-driving electric car. We can only imagine what that could finally result in.

READ: Apple Car: What’s the story so far on Project Titan?

Virtual reality skydiving on Oculus Rift is amazing, here’s why

The arrival of VR hand controllers has led to a rash of virtual reality shooter games so we were pleasantly surprised to find something different on the Computex show floor this year.

Revresh offered us a try of its ParaParachute VR skydiving experience, hosted by Cooler Master on its stand. And it was amazing.

Users are strapped into a harness and leg loops, then given the hand loops for their parachute. Next comes the the Oculus Rift and you’re ready.

The VR experience starts in a plane and as the hatch opens up before you, you’re pulled up into the air in the real world, so you are horizontal in the harness after you “jump”. Talk about an immersive experience!

As you open up your parachute you become more or less vertical again but you’re still floating in real world.

Freefalling in a VR world

Back in your VR freefall there are some circles to try to navigate yourself through using the hand straps, a bit like Nintendo classic Pilot Wings only much more realistic.

If you’re successful you’ll manage to land comfortably in the city stadium. However, if you’re more like us, you’ll be so busy enjoying the view and generally inept at steering a parachute that you’ll miss all the circles and instead find yourself flying over the city.

READ: Best VR headsets to buy in 2016, whatever your budget

We tried to aim for a nice patch of grass in a park near the dockyard. As it became apparent that wasn’t going to pan out, we decided to try landing in the water instead. One of the guys running the experience asked where we were aiming for: “The sea,” we barked.

“Your feet will get wet,” he replied.

And you know what? They did. The cheeky monkeys sloshed some water over our feet as we landed.

University project

You’d imagine that something like this had a whole wad of cash and a big name behind it. Amazingly though, ParaParachute was born of a university course project. Eward Hage and Kevin Derksen, second year university students, came up with the idea and enlisted the help of five other friends to make it reality, even though they were initially told it was too complex to work.

The personable duo are still making their way through their third year at uni in Holland while juggling the demands of their startup Revresh, but unsurprisingly they wowed their tutors and got top marks for the project.

If you fancy something a bit different for your corporate event or festival, ParaParachute is available for rent. It will set you back a pretty penny though – around 10,000 euros. You can contact Revresh through its website to find out more.

If you do see it at a show in the near future, we thoroughly recommend you have a go.

Ex-Opera chief’s new browser gets custom mouse gestures

Jon von Tetzchner, former Opera CEO, launched Vivaldi with the intention of making a “true successor” to the Opera browser. Today, his company is releasing the latest version of Vivaldi, and it comes with the fancy features Opera was famous for, starting with custom mouse gestures. They’re pretty easy to set up: simply go to Settings, choose a command, such as “reload page” or “close tab,” and trace the gesture you want associated with it.

Vivaldi 1.2 also comes with new tab commands. You can appoint any webpage as your tabs’ starting point, view two tabs as tiles side by side and close multiple tabs with one keyboard shortcut. Plus, the updated browser allows you to set a custom zoom level for each tab and has more customizable keyboard shortcuts. As you can tell, Vivaldi is geared more towards power users and multi-taskers like the old Opera was. If you’d like to give a more feature-rich browser a try, Vivaldi is available for Windows, Mac and Linux through its website.

Source: Vivaldi

Inside Honda’s ghost town for testing autonomous cars

On the edge of the San Francisco suburb of Concord, California sits a ghost town. Dilapidated buildings and cracked roads are framed by overgrowth and slightly askew street signs. The decommissioned five acre portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station that once housed military personnel and their families is now home to squirrels, jack rabbits, wild turkeys and Honda’s mysterious testing lab for autonomous vehicles.

This former town within a Naval base — now dubbed “GoMentum Station” — works to Honda’s advantage. It’s almost a turn-key solution to the problem of finding somewhere to test an autonomous vehicle inside an urban area. Thanks to the GoMentum Station, the automaker has access to 20 miles of various road types, intersections and the infrastructure just like those found in the real world. Just, you know, without all the people getting in the way. While the faded lane markers and cracked asphalt might make it difficult for the car to figure out what’s going on around it, that’s exactly what you want when training a self-driving system.

Many roads in the real world are in dire need of upkeep. Just because autonomous vehicles are hitting the streets doesn’t mean the funding needed to fix all the potholes and faded lane markers will magically appear. The real world doesn’t work that way and the robot cars that will eventually make our commutes less of a headache will need to be aware of that. Plus, it’s tougher to train a car to drive downtown than to barrel down the highway at 80 miles per hour. A company is going to want to get as much practice as possible.

While semi-autonomous driving on the everyone-going-the-same-way-at-a-constant-speed freeway driving is already a reality, navigating in an urban environment is far more complex. If you’ve driven on the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago or Seattle you know that driving downtown takes far more concentration than cruising down the interstate.

With all that in mind, Honda’s tricked out Acura RLX did a good job during its very controlled hands-free demo. It didn’t hit either of the pedestrians walking across its path. It stopped at stop signs and even maneuvered around a mannequin situated in the middle of the road.

The reality is that watching a car drive around the block and not run into stuff is boring. Plus, Google has been doing this for a while in the real world. A few people joked that maybe someone should leap in front of the car to add some excitement. Honda didn’t seem too keen to that idea.

But mundane is good. Boring driving is safe driving. Sure it was like watching an overly cautious driving instructor giving a lesson on how to avoid collisions. But, all the sensors, cameras, GPUs and development needed to keep the car from running into a pedestrian is insane.

Honda senior manager and chief engineer of research and development, Jim Keller said that the automaker has access to the facility for the foreseeable future. Part of the deal is that it has to take care of the upkeep. Eventually it’ll paint new lines and add new signs. It’s even going to create the driving conditions of European and Japanese roads. GoMentum Station will eventually go from quaint overgrown town to bustling car-testing min-metropolis as the company aims for a 2020 release of an autonomous car. Just don’t tell the squirrels.

Source: GoMentum Station

Uber snags a massive $3.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia

As a part of its latest round of funding, Uber has received what the Financial Times says is the “largest single investment ever made in a public company.” That investment is a $3.5 billion chunk laid down by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, at Uber’s current valuation of $62.5 billion. Uber has operated in the country since 2014, and in a statement the managing director of the Public Investment Fund, Yasir Al Rumayyan, noted how this is a part of the country’s Vision 2030 plan to reduce dependence on oil-related industries.

Rumayyan will be taking a seat on Uber’s board as a part of the deal, but Uber doesn’t have any specific expansion plan there right now. Also notable is the fact that women are prohibited from driving in Saudi Arabia, and Uber says they make up 80 percent of its riders there — interesting light of of CEO Travis Kalanick’s statement that “Our experience in Saudi Arabia is a great example of how Uber can benefit riders, drivers and cities and we look forward to partnering to support their economic and social reforms.”

Source: New York Times, Reuters