Sizzlin Hot Summer Sale: Save an extra 20% on your favorite Android accessories
The heat of summer is still here, so don’t miss out on this hot sale.
Feeling bummed that summer will soon be winding down? Well, how about an extra 20% off on the already-reduced ShopAndroid.com accessories? Don’t miss out on this opportunity to stock up with cases, charging cables and more for your favorite Android phones and tablets. Whether you are looking for something to accompany your Galaxy Note 5, Nexus 6P, HTC 10 or something else, we’ve got you covered.
The savings runs now through Sunday, August 14, and all you need to do is enter coupon code SS16 to save the additional 20% on your favorite accessories. What will you be adding to your collection? Let us know in the comments.
See at ShopAndroid
iPhone 7 dual camera will “produce brighter, more detailed photos”
It is highly likely that Apple will release at least two new smartphones in around four weeks time, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7s, maybe an iPhone 7 Pro as well. Now a new report purportedly confirms two major features they should sport.
As has been speculated on many, previous occasions, Bloomberg’s sources reveal that both handsets will come without a 3.5mm headphone jack. Instead, wired headphones will connect to the Lightning port, either natively or through an optional adapter. Alternatively, Bluetooth headphones will seem the way to go.
In addition, the news site claims that the iPhone 7s, rather than the iPhone 7 Pro, will have a dual camera system on the rear.
- Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
- Apple iPhone 7 Pro: Will it happen and what’s the story so far?
- Apple iPhone 7 vs iPhone 7 Plus vs iPhone 7 Pro: What’s the rumoured difference?
- Amazing iPhone 7 leaked pics again show headphone jack is gone forever
Again, this has been reported before, with images of a dual camera unit appearing on Chinese website Weibo in June. It was not known then what this could signify but one of Bloomberg’s sources says that it provides brighter images with more detail. That’s because each lens comes with its own sensor, so a single photo is a composite of two images captured at identical times.
Algorithms decide on the best, brightest and clearest aspects of each picture and merges them in real time.
Zoom is also improved, reveals the source.
The smaller of the two devices is thought to come without the new camera unit. That means the iPhone 7 could have some other camera wizardry up its sleeve.
We could find out for sure on 7 September – the current rumoured date for the next Apple launch event. That’s also the same day Sony is holding an event in New York to potentially unveil the PlayStation Neo.
ICYMI: Wannabe spies can make iPhone screens invisible
Today on In Case You Missed It: A phone repair store owner in Turkey is trying to copyright his invention that syncs a pair of eyeglasses to the screen of an iPhone. When the glasses are worn, the screen can be viewed perfectly. But to anyone without the glasses, the screen will only look white.
A robot pilot developed by KAIST University in South Korea is capable of handling a simulated takeoff, flight and landing, easily.
And woodcarving fans might appreciate the buggy creations of Dedy Shofianto, powered by electronics but creepily kinetic in every other way. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Adidas will bring its robot-staffed factory to Atlanta in 2017
Late last year, Adidas announced plans to bring shoe production back to Germany starting in 2016. With that in mind, the company created a new manufacturing facility staffed by robots, known as Speedfactory. Along with setting one up in its native country, Adidas also revealed there would be a separate Speedfactory in the US, slated to open in 2017. Today, the sportswear giant shared more details about this project, announcing that its Stateside production facility will call Atlanta home. The 74,000-square-foot space is set to be fully functional by the end of next year, and Adidas says it aims to make 50,000 pairs of running shoes there.
Sure, that’s a small fraction when you consider that the company made 301 million pairs last year, but it’s only the start. As its name suggests, the Speedfactory is designed to make footwear at a rapid pace, with an automated production line that creates soles and uppers before stitching all the pieces together. Most importantly, perhaps, it lets Adidas rely less on Asian facilities, some of which have been scrutinized for unethical labor practices. It’s also about “endless opportunities for customization in America,” Adidas said in a press release.
The Speedfactory in Atlanta will create about 160 jobs for human workers, according to Adidas, though it didn’t disclose what type of work that would entail. But hey, someone needs to keep those robots in check, right?
This Olympics photo was brought to you by a robot
At every major swimming event, the competitors aren’t the only ones in the pool. In order to bring you footage from the various races, cameras from various news and photo agencies litter the bottom of pools. Traditionally, these have been remotely triggered, but a photographer had to guess where the swimmer would be when placing their camera. This year, photo agency Getty has a new piece of tech. Photographers Al Bello, Clive Rose and Adam Pretty are all in Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games, and have been using a robotic rig that gives them far greater flexibility.
It lives! Final adjustments to the #GettyPoolCam before the start of competition #GettySport #Rio2016 #Swimming pic.twitter.com/TKDgpdjCCG
— Clive Rose (@cliverose) 3 August 2016
Rather than replacing humans, the “robots” are there to make their lives easier. The small waterproof rig is controlled remotely. Photographers have full control over the camera inside, allowing them to change various settings and zoom in and out for framing. The rig itself can rotate the camera across three axes, so photographers can choose from a wide variety of angles for their photos on the fly.
Of course, the photographers controlling the bot can see what the camera sees on a display, which makes a huge difference from traditional remote setups, which were just a case of placing the camera where you wanted it and leaving it there for the day. “The robots are just another tool for me to get better photos,” Bello told CNN. “A robot doesn’t think on its own or come up with ideas. But it can help us get photos more efficiently than ever before.”
The Big Picture is a recurring feature highlighting beautiful images that tell big stories. We explore topics as large as our planet, or as small as a single life, as affected by or seen through the lens of technology.
Elon Musk is working on a roof made of solar panels
Elon Musk’s fondness for ambitious, out-of-left-field ideas isn’t restricted to electric cars or rockets. During SolarCity’s latest earnings call, the entrepreneur revealed that his energy-focused company is developing a “solar roof” — not a roof with solar panels on it, a roof made out of solar cells. As Musk explains, people install millions of new roofs every year. Why not have them embrace solar power when they look for a replacement? Homeowners with old roofs tend not to install solar panels, since they know they’ll have to rip everything off before long.
The exec isn’t shedding light on how this solar roof will function, although he notes that buyers will get to customize their design. That’s rather important given the sheer variety of housing on the market, but it also suggests that you won’t just get a patch of solar shingles (like those above) and call it a day. Just when you’ll see it isn’t clear. SolarCity’s Peter Rive says the company only started talking about roofing “a couple of weeks ago,” but it’s also going to be a key part of a ramp-up in production around the second quarter of 2017. In other words, you may get more details when SolarCity has finished merging with Tesla.
Via: Electrek
Source: Seeking Alpha
Apple’s iPhone 7 will reportedly debut on September 7
Apple will reportedly unveil its next iPhone — which we’re referring to as the iPhone 7 for now — on September 7th, Bloomberg reports. That lines up with Apple’s previous iPhone timing, as the 6S debuted on September 9th last year. According to previous rumors, the iPhone 7 will drop the beloved headphone jack, include a new home button with haptic feedback and, unfortunately, it’ll likely look lot like the 6S. You’ll have to wait until next year for a completely redesigned iPhone. Once again, the larger “Plus” model might also have better photo-taking capabilities, as current reports point to a dual-camera setup.
We’ll likely get an official confirmation about Apple’s next iPhone event within the next few weeks. If it actually happens on September 7th, it’ll have to compete with Sony’s PlayStation event on the same day, where we’re expected to hear more about the souped up PS4 Neo.
The historical research behind Mafia III’s biracial anti-hero
The 1960s were a period of dramatic upheaval in the United States. By 1968, the Vietnam War was raging abroad while civil rights activists at home were mourning the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in April. The Civil Rights Act, Fair Housing Act and Brown v. Board of Education — landmark rulings in favor of racial equality in the United States — were all in effect, though racism still reared its ugly head across the nation, particularly in the South. The FBI finally admitted in the 1950s that organized crime existed on a large scale, and by 1968, the sun was setting on the Italian mob’s golden age.
This is the backdrop for Hangar 13’s first project, Mafia III. The game takes place in New Bordeaux, a fictionalized version of New Orleans, Louisiana, and it stars Lincoln Clay, a half-black, half-white Vietnam War veteran who takes on the Italian mob. Mafia III challenges the status quo in the same way the 1960s forever changed the United States: Lincoln represents the tensions of an entire nation and he embodies a drastic shift for the series, which has traditionally starred white members of the Italian mob.
“We’ve told that story,” says lead writer Bill Harms. “We have two previous games and we really wanted to push the franchise forward in interesting ways, but we’re also holding on to the kind of tenets of what makes a Mafia game a Mafia game. A gifted anti-hero, a specific time and place in American history. And honestly, the Italian mafia plays a huge role in this game.”
The Italian mob is important to Mafia III’s story, but it isn’t the game’s focus. Lincoln is a proud member of the black mafia, a group that was viciously slaughtered by the Italian mob. Lincoln vows revenge, and his fellow vigilantes include the Haitian mob’s “Voodoo Queen” Cassandra, Irish mob boss Thomas Burke and Vito Scaletta, noted Italian mafioso and the star of Mafia II.
“One of our big goals was reclaiming what ‘mafia’ means as a term,” Harms says.
Lincoln is a large part of that reclamation. Harms happens to be white and Lincoln, the character he’s in charge of bringing to life in Mafia III, happens to be black. To ensure he told an accurate story — from a historical and racial perspective — Harms did his homework. He watched documentaries like Spies of Mississippi and Take This Hammer, and he read interviews from the 1960s dealing with racial discrimination as it showed up across a range of fields, from housing to football.
Harms is a self-proclaimed history buff and he surrounded himself with stories and images from the era. For a long while during development, his desktop background was a picture of John Lewis (now a US Congressman from Georgia) being pummeled by police officers during the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. A Post-it note on his monitor displayed a quote from writer and activist James Baldwin in Take This Hammer, where he discusses his rejection of the n-word and why it doesn’t apply to him personally, as a black man living in 1960s America.
“I’ve probably watched that part of the interview 15 times because it’s very, very powerful,” Harms says.
John Lewis being beaten by state troopers in March 1965 (Credit: AP Images)
Lincoln allows Harms to tell a more robust and authentic story of the 1968 American South, when the Italian mafia’s golden age was coming to a close. Focusing on the black mafia provides a different lens for the series, rather than featuring another white member of the Italian mob.
During development, Harms spoke with the black voice actors working on Mafia III, and he says their personal experiences helped inform the characters as well. “We had a lot of conversations about race,” Harms says. “In terms of everything from, ‘What language are we going to use in the game, what opinions are we going to have characters express in the game?’ In the end, we just decided the best thing to do was just be as authentic as possible and let history inform what we do.”
That history includes the Vietnam War, Creedence Clearwater Revival and other aspects of 1968 Americana. News stories air on the radio throughout the game, offering details about protests, pop culture phenomena and commentary on players’ actions as they progress. And then there’s the music.
“You’re driving around in our game and CCR comes on the radio, and you just want to floor the car and drive fast,” Harms says. “It really gets you going. And it really helps capture and establish the ’60s, even if you weren’t alive then.”
Harms’ father fought in the Vietnam War, as did the father of studio head Haden Blackman. Their personal relationships with Vietnam veterans helped inform Lincoln’s character.
“When Lincoln arrives home, he doesn’t go back to his old bedroom. He sleeps in the basement,” Harms explains. “That’s because the basement is essentially a very large foxhole and that’s where he feels safe. … Obviously, we wanted to be very respectful to other people who’ve served in Vietnam. Lincoln is highly decorated; he’s served his country with honor and he was very brave. That’s also something that comes up about him as a character during the course of the game.”
In Mafia III, Lincoln is a decorated war vet, an orphan and a young man who is trying to protect his surrogate family’s legacy in 1968 Louisiana. In the end, his race provides a fresh angle for the franchise, but it isn’t the entire story. Lincoln is a man who never had a lot, and what he had was cruelly ripped away from him. Players of all backgrounds can relate to these themes — loss, death and uncertainty. Lincoln is a classic Mafia-style anti-hero, just as Harms intended.
“Even though, obviously, I’m a white person, we’re all human beings,” Harms says. “It’s finding out those areas where you empathize with people. There are things about [Lincoln] that are universal to everybody.”
Apple’s Notebook Shipments Rise 30% on Strength of New 12-Inch Retina MacBook
Apple’s notebook shipments, including 12-inch MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro models, totaled an estimated 3.3 million in the June quarter of the 2016 calendar year, compared to an estimated 2.5 million in the March quarter, according to new data published by market research firm TrendForce.
TrendForce attributed the 30.3% sequential increase to the release of new 12-inch MacBook models in April. The ultra-thin notebooks were updated with faster Skylake processors, up to 25% faster Intel HD 515 graphics, faster PCIe-based flash storage, an additional hour of battery life, and faster 1866 MHz memory.
Apple’s MacBook shipments in the second quarter were up 30.3% versus the first quarter, placing the brand on the fifth spot of the half-year ranking. This shipment surge was generated by the release of an upgraded 12-inch model of the latest MacBook. TrendForce expects MacBook shipments to register sequential growth in the third and fourth quarter because Apple will also be releasing new products for both periods.
Apple’s notebook market share rose to an estimated 8.6% in the June quarter, a slight rise from 7.1% in the March quarter, as most notebook vendors recorded above-expected shipment results due to arrivals of new notebooks and preparations for back-to-school sales in September, according to TrendForce.
Apple surpassed Acer to become the fifth-largest notebook vendor in the June quarter, trailing behind PC makers Lenovo, HP, Dell, and ASUS, but ahead of Acer, Samsung, and Toshiba. Mac notebooks had estimated 7.9% market share in the first half of 2016 overall, a 23.4% year-over-year decline.
Many prospective buyers are still waiting for a new MacBook Pro, expected to feature a slightly thinner design, faster Skylake processors, Thunderbolt 3 with USB-C, Touch ID, and an OLED-based touch screen strip for function keys above the keyboard. At least one higher-end model is said to have AMD Polaris graphics.
A recent report said Apple has been testing the new MacBook Pro since earlier this year, but it is unlikely to launch alongside new iPhones in September. Apple has hosted October media events in the past to introduce new Macs and iPads, including new MacBook Pro models in 2013 and the iMac with Retina 5K Display in 2014.
Apple officially reported 4.25 million Macs sold in the June quarter, including the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Pro alongside notebooks.
Related Roundup: Retina MacBook
Tag: TrendForce
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook (Buy Now)
Discuss this article in our forums
Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi Discuss Maps and ‘Learning From Apple’s Failures’ In New Interview
Continuing from an interview with Tim Cook and Eddy Cue earlier in the week, Fast Company today posted a lengthy new interview session with Cue and Craig Federighi, in which the two discussed Apple Maps, the legacy of Apple devices, and “learning from Apple’s failures.”
Both Cue and Federighi admitted that everyone who works at the company has “to be honest with ourselves” whenever mistakes are brought up by the public, usually following new product or software launches. While some may see this as an exponentially increasing problem with Apple, Cue points out that the quality issue appears bigger since the company’s reach has expanded. There’s “a higher bar” Apple has to achieve now, and Cue is “okay with that.”
When we were the Mac company, if we impacted 1% of our customers, it was measured in thousands. Now if we impact 1% of our customers, it’s measured in tens of millions. That’s a problem, right—things are going to be perceived differently. Our products are way better than they used to be, but there’s a higher bar, and I’m okay with that. I think that is why we’re here. That’s why I get up every day. I like that people have high expectations of us, and that they care about little things that bother them, which, in a lot of products, they wouldn’t bother about. With other companies, you think, that’s about as good as it’s going to be. With us, you want perfection; you want it to be the best. And we want that.
Both of the Apple executives commented that sometimes the company’s high quality standards aren’t fully met, particularly when Fast Company questioned them about the “universal scorn” that welcomed Apple Maps in 2012. Despite Apple’s decision to treat Maps as “an integral part of the whole platform,” Cue admitted it was a harsh truth to face the public reaction to its initial launch and points out that a small, isolated team might have “underestimated the complexity of the product.”
So you’re trying to replace one thing with another thing, and we kind of let the team we put in charge of it go off on their own. Now that you understand the complexity of Maps, you realize that it was a relatively small team, and we kind of isolated them in their own little world. We completely underestimated the complexity of the product. If you think of Maps, it seems like it’s not that hard. All the roads are known, come on! All the restaurants are known. There’s Yelp and Open Table; they have all the addresses. Mail gets delivered; UPS has all the addresses. The mail arrives. FedEx arrives. You know, how hard is this? That was underestimating.
When asked about Apple’s opinion regarding the belief that companies — including Facebook and Amazon — are attempting to gain “ownership of the customer throughout the day,” both Cue and Federighi said that Apple doesn’t think of their services and products in that way. The company is encouraging of the third-party apps that flourish on iOS, like Uber, and doesn’t see a need to spread itself so thin as to try and become and create these experiences itself.
Cue: So we don’t want to be Amazon and be Facebook and be Instagram and so on. Why? Or Uber. Why? I think it’s awesome that Travis and his team have done Uber on our platform. It would not exist without our platform, let’s be clear. But great for them for thinking of that problem, and solving it. We would never have ever solved that problem. We weren’t looking that way. We would have never seen it.
Federighi: It is an interesting, ongoing press narrative, however. To the extent that anyone anywhere does anything interesting, the question is: Why isn’t Apple doing that; why is Apple behind in that? We aren’t the Everything Company. We take on a very small number of things that we do very well, and we find that pretty rewarding.
Towards the end of the interview, Cue and Federighi mentioned the largely similar work relationship seen with both Tim Cook and former CEO Steve Jobs. Although the approach each took in tackling the job has been “completely different,” Cue said there’s one common factor he’s had with both: “I never wanted to disappoint Steve. I never want to disappoint Tim.”
The thing I love about Tim, and the key to his success, is that he’s stayed true to himself, and never tried to be Steve. There are some qualities that he has that are better than Steve’s, and Steve had some qualities that are better than Tim’s. But he stayed true to what he is, and it’s the best thing . He’s made a lot of areas better and the areas where he’s not sure, he’s surrounded himself with people who do.
In the full interview, the Apple executives go deeper into the complexities of running and growing Apple Maps, the yearly expectations of improved quality for each product (namely the iPhone), and more. You can read the full Fast Company interview here.
Tags: Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi
Discuss this article in our forums
AIVAnet 