First Alleged Leaked Images of 12.9-inch ‘iPad Pro 2’ Surface
Amidst the recent flurry of videos and images of iPhone 7 mockups coming out of China, one pair of pictures that emerged over the weekend claims to offer evidence of Apple’s successor to the first iteration 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Sent in to AppleInsider and said to originate from a Chinese supplier, the combined image below shows a device identified with model number MH1C2CD/F, which has yet to be assigned to an iPad by Apple so far.
While the identifier proves little, the nomenclature is in line with Apple’s existing numbering convention for its iPad Pro range, and Apple is due to refresh its largest tablet this fall.
AppleInsider notes that the device’s screen shows a 12GB capacity, which is just enough for installing an OS and apps for internal testing and debugging, suggesting the device could be a pre-production model or prototype.
Based on previous updates to the company’s tablet range, customers can expect a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro to feature a faster A10X processor and a better camera, with a good chance it will inherit the True Tone display seen in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. 3D Touch is also a possibility, although Apple would need to have overcome the challenges involved in porting the technology to a larger screen.
Apple is also expected to launch thinner and lighter MacBook Pro models this fall, with some rumors suggesting a dynamic OLED touch panel could feature as part of a planned redesign.
Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer’s Guide: 12.9″ iPad Pro (Neutral)
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Redbox Testing New Movie Rental Streaming Service With Customers
DVD rental company Redbox has started to test a new movie streaming and download service with some of its customers, according to Variety.
Known for its DVD rental kiosks, Redbox has dubbed its latest online service “Redbox Digital”, which comes two years after the company shut down Redbox Instant, the ill-fated joint venture with Verizon that officially launched in early 2013.
The subscription-based service was patently unable to compete with the likes of Netflix, and Redbox has reportedly learned from the experience: it’s staying away from subscriptions in order to concentrate on transactional video on demand, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans.
An app for the service similar in appearance to Netflix showed up on the App Store last week, allowing trial users to stream or download content from the company’s digital catalog. A company spokesmen contacted Variety via email to confirm the news:
We are testing a potential new transactional digital VOD and EST offering, with a small subset of our customers, designed to complement our core kiosk rental business. As we test and learn from our customers, we will make evaluations that determine any future course of action.
The Redbox Digital catalog is said to be dependent on the company’s deals with movie studios, meaning some movies could be available at kiosks when they’re not available for streaming. However, the digital catalog will have a much larger offering than kiosks, which usually only hold a few hundred titles.
No word was given on pricing, but typical one-off streaming costs are likely work out more expensive than the $1.50 Redbox customers currently pay for physical disc rentals.
Tag: Redbox
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Will everybody soon have a smart house?
“Contemporary Anchorage house on the bluf” (CC BY 2.0) by Wonderlane
With technology moving forward at such a rapid rate it’s sometimes hard to keep track of the latest developments. There is little doubt that the boffins in charge of the technological revolutions englobing smartphones, wearable technology and virtual reality are bringing the human race into the future that many filmmakers had envisioned in the past. Films like Back to the Future II, and Woody Allen’s Sleeper predicted that there would one day be houses that took care of everyday chores for the homeowner. Could the smart-house idea soon become a reality?
The smartphone was revolutionary at the time of its inception, but has now become an everyday item that many couldn’t live without. The idea behind it is that it is so much more than a phone; it is a small personal computer which lets you play games, organise your meetings, navigate through GPS, take photos, and much more. This has led to other creations such as the smartwatch, which is a watch that can also perform functions above and beyond those expected of a normal watch. So what about a smart house – a house that is so much more than just bricks and mortar?
There are already some smart-house prototypes in development. A smart house is one in which the interior is interlinked. Wireless internet already makes it possible to link items such as the TV and stereo system with phones and tablets, and there are certain lights and electrical products that respond to voice activation. A homeowner can also access his burglar alarm from his smartphone, switching it on remotely if he forgot to set it before leaving. This type of high-tech alarms also allows you to see your property in real time from your smartphone while you are away from home.
These are all serious progressions in technology, which serve to make life easier and safer. But at the moment they all remain standalone aspects, whereas an ideal smart house would combine all these features (and more) with one easy-to-use command centre. Robots now exist that can do housework like vacuuming, and these would also be controlled by the CPU of the house.
“Roomba at rest” (CC BY 2.0) by Dano
But would you really want a fully functioning smart house? If there was a 100% guarantee that nothing could go wrong, then people who could afford something that would no doubt be exceptionally expensive would probably go for it. But then again, the films that have provided viewers with an idea of what the future may look like have also warned about what happens when things go wrong.
In iRobot, for example, a professor who seems to have committed suicide at the start of the film had been placed under house arrest by a robot that he had created. Now this is a rather extreme scenario which would be unlikely to happen in real life, but there are other security concerns, such as if something malfunctioned and homeowners were locked in and unable to leave their houses.
With the constant upgrades in home technology, it seems logical to expect that in the near future there will be an all-encompassing smart house that fulfils the homeowner’s every need and desire. But will a self-cleaning house that doubles up as a personal chef, security, and home entertainment system really work for most of us? We shall have to wait and see.
Pocket-lint Adventures: Go karting with the TomTom Bandit
As keen karters we often visit one of the many TeamSport go-kart tracks in London, so when we decided to expand our Pocket-lint Adventures to take in a few laps, we could think of nowhere better.
The fact that we hadn’t raced at TeamSport’s London Docklands indoor track before was an added incentive to get down there. It’s a one-level course, using petrol karts and a keen, winding track, so would give us a real work out.
We took along a TomTom Bandit action camera to document our experience and managed to capture some excellent moments of fast, frenzied fun.
The TomTom Bandit has a series of attachments, and we ended up using a wide array of them during our half an hour on the track. The helmet mount certainly proved useful to get those all-important first-person view shots.
As we say, the London Docklands track has excellent, fast straights with a couple of corners you can take at full pelt, so placing a camera on the side of the kart, using an adhesive covered mount, captured some great, close-to-the-ground moments.
The camera is also light enough to hold so, when the racing wasn’t quite as furious, it was comfortable to hold and steer at the same time.
Perhaps the scariest moments came when driving and using the camera on a pole mount, held like a selfie stick, at the same time. It’s not really advisable when full pelt racing (or even permitted), but while we were setting hot laps it captured a fantastic overview of the action.
Wearing a heart rate monitor at the same time gave us a great idea of how thumping go-kart racing can be at times. And thanks to a clever built-in feature, the action camera adds highlights of interest when your heart rate spikes. It did often and helped when editing the footage.
Having the TomTom Bandit to hand gave us some great evidence of why we love go-karting so much. We’ll also be continuing to take it out on other Pocket-lint Adventures over the coming weeks.
Titanium-gold alloy could lead to super-strong implants
Many bone implants (such as for hips and teeth) need to be replaced after a decade simply because they’re not strong enough to survive for any longer. Rice University might put an end to those regular surgeries, though. Its researchers have crafted a titanium-gold alloy that’s the strongest ever to be friendly to organic tissue — four times stronger than pure titanium, and so strong that the team had trouble grinding it into a powder to check its purity. They created it by preparing titanium-3-gold (that is, three parts titanium for every one part of gold) at a high temperature, forming an extremely sturdy crystal structure.
The full potential of the alloy isn’t clear (the lab actually specializes in electrical and magnetic properties, not resilience). Scientists already see it being extremely useful for implants, however, as it’s even gentler on the body than pure titanium. It could be stronger, too, as it’s possible that chemical doping will make it that much harder. The discovery won’t necessarily eliminate the need for replacement implants, but anything that cuts the number of trips to the hospital is bound to be helpful.
Via: BBC
Source: Science Advances, Rice University
Pokémon Go Debuts in France and Hong Kong as Nintendo Shares Dive
Nintendo shares took a beating on Monday after the company released a statement saying Pokémon Go would have limited impact on its quarterly earnings since it only owns 32 percent of the Pokémon Company, which has the licensing rights to the game.
The announcement by Nintendo appeared to take investors by surprise and had an immediate impact on its share price, with stock dropping 17 percent at one point, wiping around $6.4 billion off their value – their biggest decline since October 1990.
The news poured cold water on hopes of a stunning revival for the Kyoto-based game company, which said its earnings outlook would not be revised. Nintendo is due to reveal its Q1 report later this week.
Some observers remained optimistic however, noting that shares were still up some 60 percent compared with levels prior to the game’s July 6 launch, adding nearly $12 billion in market value. They argued upward revisions of the company’s profit targets so early after the game’s release were beyond reasonable expectations.
“The market has overreacted to the Nintendo statement,” said David Gibson, a senior analyst at Macquarie Securities Group who spoke to Reuters. Gibson noted the game in Japan had broken records with 10 million downloads in one day.
“I believe that Pokémon Go will be material in the company’s earnings given the current trends for the game.”
Global rollout of the game continued over the weekend, with Pokémon Go launching in App Stores in France and Hong Kong – the first Asian location outside Japan to gain access to the wildly successful title by U.S.-based developers Niantic.
CEO of Niantic John Hanke took to the stage Sunday at Comic-Con, where he revealed the new features coming to the game in the coming years, including new pokémon and a trading feature that will allow players to trade captured characters.
Niantic also revealed team leaders for Team Mystic, Team Valor, and Team Instinct, with each trainer set to communicate with players within the game world and offer them advice. Hanke promised fans the leaders would be making their way to the game soon.
Tag: Pokémon GO
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Prisma update lets you save photos directly
Much requested ‘save’ button added alongside bug fixes in first Android app update.
Just hours after it first landed on Android, popular AI-enabled photo filtering app Prisma has received its first update. The updated version of Prisma adds a “save” button — a much requested feature that lets you export directly to your gallery, as opposed to another app through Android share intents.
Everything works just as before, instead now you’ll find a “save” button to the left of the Instagram share button. Tapping it immediately saves the photo to the “Prisma” folder on your phone’s internal storage.
It’s worth remembering the app still doesn’t support incoming Android share intents, so to load a photo into Prisma in the first place you’ll always need to start the app and navigate to the image you want.
The Prisma team also says it’s squished a few bugs in this initial update for the app.
How are you liking Prisma on Android? Let us know how you’re getting on down in the comments!
Ford expands Android Auto to all 2017 vehicles
Ford announced earlier this year that it would bring Android Auto and Apple CarPlay to all of its 2017 models equipped with the Sync 3 infotainment system. The company has now confirmed that it will integrate Sync 3 in all 2017 cars, SUVs, light trucks and electrified vehicles. The 2017 Escape, Explorer, Fusion, and Mustang already include the new in-car entertainment system, and other models like the F-150, Focus, Edge and the 2017 Super Duty will pick up Sync 3 integration later this year.
From Jeffrey Hannah, Director of North America at automotive research firm SBD:
SYNC 3 is already a major leap forward in terms of functionality, simplicity, and user experience – Ford’s promise that every new model now ships ‘Smartphone-ready’ is huge.
Ford is not taking the traditional approach of introducing Apple CarPlay and Google Android Auto on a few piecemeal models or as an expensive option on luxury vehicles only. The guesswork for consumers is over – if you buy any 2017 Ford vehicle with SYNC 3, you drive off the lot with both of these innovative technologies ready to go.
All About Android Auto
- Getting started with Android Auto
- List of compatible phones and cars
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Pokemon Go future features revealed
Such has been Pokemon Go’s success, that it might have already reached its peak and started to go off the boil. The roll-out has also reached France and Hong Kong over the weekend.
However, there’s still more to come from Pokemon Go, parts of the game that weren’t ready at launch and elements to look forward to. Niantic Labs, the developers of the Pokemon Go game, took to the stage at Comic-Con in San Diego to reveal a little more about what the future holds for Pokemon Go.
Firstly, the leaders of the different teams – Valor, Mystic and Instinct – have been revealed, shared via a tweet and called Candela, Blanche and Spark respectively. According to John Hanke, CEO of Niantic Labs, these team leaders might pop-up in the game to offer advice.
Trading is something that was core to original Pokemon games and it has been mentioned in relation to Pokemon Go previously. Hanke has suggested that this is an interesting side of Pokemon and, according to IGN, Hanke said it was a “great social thing”, and something that Niantic Labs were working on bringing to Pokemon Go.
Trading should mean that if you haven’t managed to catch ’em all, you’ll be able to swap with someone who has spares you might not yet have encountered.
There’s also been the suggestion that PokeStops could be customised. There’s certainly plenty that can be done with PokeStops, with the suggestion that you could collect an item to change a PokeStop’s function.
With the launch of Pokemon Go in Japan, we’ve also seen the first commercial pairing with McDonald’s, leading to 3000 restaurants becoming sponsored Gyms. We would expect to see further moves like this in other territories.
Hanke also mentioned that more Pokemon characters could appear in the future, expanding beyond the set of original Pokemon that are in the game, and that there are still hidden features in the game to be discovered.
- Pokemon Go: How to play and other tips and tricks
- Help! Pokemon Go isn’t working: How to fix common Pokemon Go problems
- Can’t get Pokemon Go in your country yet? Here’s how to download it now
- What is Pokemon Go and why is everyone talking about it?
- Pokemon Go top tips: Master the Pokemon mayhem
Jaguar demos new technology to assist future drivers
Jaguar has demoed a number of new technologies at its HQ in Gaydon, UK, that will help assist your driving in the future.
The new tech won’t be available for a number of years, but will look to support the drivers of the future. Previewing the new tech to Pocket-lint, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) stressed that its focus wasn’t on replacing the driver, but in aiding the driver as much as possible.
Take its new twist on Adaptive Cruise Control, for example. Rather than using radar detection that can take a few seconds to respond to a car braking in front, the company is trialling a technology it calls Co-Operative Adaptive Cruise Control (A-ACC). The prototype system allows cars to be directly connected together wirelessly so they can react quickly to sudden changes in speed or braking.
JLR
Instead of being some 50 metres apart, cars can be just a few metres away from each other braking or speeding up at the same time because of a temporary direct connection between them.
That, says JLR, means that in future you could use roads a lot more efficiently than you can today. On the motorway it would allow more cars on the same stretch of road, better fuel efficiency through improved drag resistance and hopefully less accidents because cars would know when other cars were braking or speeding up.
The system, as we experienced ourselves, works really well. As soon as you change lanes the connection is broken, while any braking performed by the car in front is automatically relayed to the car behind. At the moment the system is only based on two vehicles, but the system could be expanded to considerably more cars in the future, we were told.
Then there is the over the horizon, hazard ahead, and emergency vehicle warning systems. These three different technologies work independently of each other, but all have the same core values: to inform the driver of things going on in their surroundings.
The technology has been designed to alert drivers to hazards like broken down cars, approaching ambulances or emergency vehicles, and general information via road signs to alert drivers that something is coming up. Although JRL is a working to develop this technology, and it is yet to be standardised, the company is just one of 16 manufacturers working to allow cars to talk to each other.
When it comes to roadworks, Jaguar Land Rover has a solution here too, mainly to stop you hitting traffic cones. The idea of Roadwork Assistance is that the more you try to steer into road traffic cones, the more the steering wheel will fight against you to stop you.
JLR
Trying the brand new tech at JLR’s HQ, the car applies more resistance to the steering wheel the closer you get to the cones. The system works because a sensor created by Bosch has detected they are there and relays that information to the car as it is driving along.
If the steering wheel resistance isn’t enough and you get too close, the car will even try and jolt you out of the way so you avoid hitting them.
The technology, which is still in early, stages isn’t perfect: we still managed to hit the cones, but it shows what could be possible in the future.
And for those who forget they’ve got a top box or bikes on the roof rack, Jaguar is working on a solution here too.
Called Overhead Clearance Assist, the feature measures the height of obstructions in the way and then informs you whether you’ll make it, or if your roof load is likely to hit it.
JLR
It’s a clever idea and one that we can see many benefiting from, especially if you go to multi-storey car parks or parking slots that have height barriers to enter. You still have to approach slowly, but at least you won’t lose the kid’s bikes.
The final tech demonstrated was something called Safe Pullaway. This technology is designed to stop drivers crashing into the vehicle in front when in traffic jams or pulling away from a roundabout.
The system uses a forward-facing stereo camera to monitor the area immediately in front of the vehicle. If objects such as vehicles or walls are detected and the system receives signals from throttle pedal activation or from gear selection that could lead to a collision, the vehicle brakes automatically and the driver receives an audible warning.
JLR say we can expect all of these research projects to appear in its cars in the years to come.
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