Did Barbra Streisand of all people just slip iOS 10’s release date?

Barbra Streisand, the 74-year-old singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker, can add a new title to her resume: Apple leaker.

During a NPR radio interview over the weekend, Streisand talked about how Siri’s pronunciation of her name has annoyed her since Apple launched the assistant in 2011. Siri apparently makes a “Z” sound in the middle of “Streisand”, whereas Streisand claimed it’s supposed be pronounced with “a soft ‘s’ like sand on the beach”. The entertainer said she has been saying her last name like that for her “whole career”. 

But that’s not the most interesting part of her interview… Streisand then said she personally called up Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, to ask him to fix the problem – as one does.”So what did I do? I called the head of Apple, Tim Cook. And he delightfully agreed to have Siri change the pronunciation of my name finally with the next update on September 30th,” Streisand explained. 

Here’s where it gets even more interesting: the next update to iOS – iOS 10 – is expected to launch next month, but it should arrive before 30 September. The because the next iPhone – iPhone 7 – is rumored to be shipping on either 16 September or 23 September, and it will launch with iOS 10 preloaded. Older iOS devices are expected to get the update earlier, likely 14 September.

Did Streisand just leak iOS 10’s release date? It’s hard to tell if she just mixed up the date, or if she was given bad information – because all rumours point to that specific date as being unlikely. She might have been told the update is rolling out at the end of September, and so she simply guessed the date, or Cook could have revealed that a patch, 10.0.1, would be ready by then.

Curiouser and curiouser. 

Middle-earth Blu-ray set is gorgeous, but insanely expensive

Yes, many Lord of the Rings fans (including this writer) may be obsessive collectors, but the latest movie collection that Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema are releasing this far takes things into the realm of the truly crazy. The just-announced “Middle-earth Limited Collectors Edition” includes the extended editions of all six of director Peter Jackson’s films set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagined world on Blu-ray. That gets you the three movies based on The Hobbit and three more movies that make up The Lord of the Rings. It all comes in a lavish and beautiful presentation — but that lovely physical package will set you back a whopping $799.99.

You read that right — we’re talking almost $800 for six films. Granted, there is a ton of extra material here. Each film comes with extensive documentaries chronicling the creation of each film; the press release says that all bonus content ever released for both the theatrical and extended editions of each movie is included. That adds up to 30 discs total.

As for the physical product, you’re not getting any pedestrian plastic cases here. Each movie comes in a “faux leather” book, and the six books fit on a solid, “Hobbit-style” wooden shelf with a design selected by Peter Jackson himself. There’s also a recreation of the famed Red Book of Westmarch (which Bilbo and then Frodo pen their story in) — this version contains 100 pages of sketches and artwork from conceptual artists Alan Lee and John Howe. Both Lee and Howe worked on all six films, and both artists have worked in Tolkien’s universe since long before Jackson’s films arrived. A bunch of watercolor reproductions of their art are included as well, ready for framing.

From the lone picture released here, it looks like a wonderful set for those of us who still love physical media… but that price is just bonkers. However, this Middle-earth collection is hardly the first obscenely-priced media package, and it surely won’t be the last. Still, it feels like this set could absolutely have had a more approachable price point while still residing in the “limited” space. For the rest of us, you can drop about $125 on Amazon to get all six extended films, without the lavish treatment.

Source: The Hobbit movie shop

The 2016 Pebble Beach Concept Lawn was nuts as always

Walk along the priciest mini car show in the world. The Concept Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is like the smallest, most expensive car show you can imagine. A bunch of unobtanium concepts and almost-production models line an irregularly shaped putting green for people to stare at while on their way to see other, older insane cars. This year’s crop was a particularly good one.

We’ll walk through the gallery above in order:

• That’s a new Ford GT. Not quite a concept, but it’s not in production yet, so we’ll let it slide.
• Then there’s the one-of-a-kind Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo that was recently bought by a Saudi Prince along with a matching Chiron.
• Next up is the Lamborghini Centenario Roadster, which was unveiled last week and is already sold out.
• This orange automobile is BMW’s 2002 Hommage with its latest livery, a Jägermeister-themed affair called Turbomeister.
• This silver Infiniti, the Q80 Inspiration Concept, is an oldie but a goodie. It first appeared in Paris in 2014.
• The extremely long automobile after that is the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, which was unveiled in Monterey this year. The 6 in the name is because it’s 6 meters, or about 18 feet, long. Most of that’s the hood.
• Next we have the one-of-99 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato coupe, which continues to be beautiful.
• After that is a Fisker Karma with a V8, the VLF Destino. Thank you, Bob Lutz.
• The black sedan you see after that is the Cadillac Escala Concept, which also made its debut in Monterey this year.
• Then we have a Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge. Not a concept, but exclusive enough to join the others.
• Next is the McLaren 570GT customized by MSO that arrived for Pebble 2016. It has special design touches plus an electrochromic panel to replace the normal glass roof.
• The light blue car is the Genesis New York concept. The name didn’t change even though it was in Monterey.
• Then we have the large and in charge Lincoln Navigator concept, taking up two regulation concept spots.
• The red car with suicide doors is Acura’s Precision Concept, which we first saw at the Detroit show this year.
• Another non-concept, the Lexus LC 500h at least looks futuristic enough to be a show-specific car.
• And here’s a 2017 Maserati Quattroporte, which is definitely not a concept.
• A Bentley Mulsanne EWB, because why not? It’s not available in the US, so that almost qualifies for concept status.
• Then there’s a reproduction Lister Knobbly, which we could stare at all day.
• And last but not least, the electric Corvette Z06 that holds the street-legal EV speed record.

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Chinese scientists study usefulness of manned lunar radar station

China is currently investigating how feasible it would be to build a special manned radar station on the moon due to pricing constraints and how useful such a base would actually be.

While the project, funded by the government to the tune of 16 million yuan, launched earlier this year, would be used for scientific research and defense monitoring, it could also monitor areas on land as well as undersea and underground areas. It would feature a radar antenna 50 meters high and special astronauts’ quarters as well.

The radar itself would be capable of generating 1.4 gigabytes of data per second, which outclasses the bandwidth available from long-distance space communications tech, but it would require on-site astronauts to aid in processing the data there. It would be an extremely pricey endeavor, which is what lead researchers to call it a “lunatic idea” or denounce it entirely, suggesting spy satellites could perform the same tasks at a fraction of the cost.

The Chinese goverment is supposedly looking for a “significant breakthrough” in the plan when 2020 arrives, as will the deadline for the responsible team’s final report.

Via: South China Morning Post

FBI finds 14,900 more files from Hillary Clinton’s email server

Just because the US Attorney General isn’t bringing charges over Hillary Clinton’s private email server doesn’t mean that it’s all over — far from it. FBI investigators have unearthed 14,900 more files (email and documents) on the server, or almost 50 percent more than Clinton’s lawyers originally turned over to the State Department. Just what’s in those documents isn’t clear, although they come from a disc the FBI obtained that includes email and attachments sent directly to or from the former Secretary of State. Clinton’s attorneys had initially turned over ‘just’ 30,000 messages that they considered work-related, although the FBI didn’t find signs that she or her staff had deleted anything in a bid to hide it.

Whatever the contents, Clinton will face added pressure. A judge in a lawsuit over public records has tossed the State Department’s proposed plans to release documents starting October 14th, and is pushing for an earlier release. That won’t happen too much sooner if the judge is successful (the Department will only have to present a revised plan on September 22nd), but it’ll be enough to shake up the government’s disclosure strategy.

Source: Washington Post

Japan may forge Olympic medals from recycled smartphones

If you caught Japan’s teaser for the 2020 Summer games in Tokyo, you know the nation is planning to lean hard on its pop-culture icons — but Tokyo may also use the Olympics to make a statement about sustainability. According to a report from Nikkei, the organizers of the 2020 games are thinking about using recycled electronics to forge the next summer games’ Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals.

The idea is simple: rather than asking mining corporations to donate precious metal for the Tokyo Olympics, organizers think they can source enough gold, silver and copper from Japan’s “urban mine.” Unfortunately, collecting enough material might be a problem. While Japan’s electronic recycling produces more than enough precious medal each year to forge the Olympic prizes, most of that material is already being used to create yet more electronics.

To that end, the Olympic planning committee is asking companies to pitch ideas for electronic recycling collection programs. The country hopes that framing electronics recycling as a means of letting everyday citizens participate in the games will help to establish a better collection system and help reduce electronic waste.

Source: Nikkei

Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Apple today released the seventh beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers and public beta testers. macOS Sierra beta 7 comes one week after the release of the sixth beta and two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.

Developers and public beta testers can download today’s update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Developers can also download the beta from the Apple Developer Center.

macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an “Auto Unlock” option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a “Universal Clipboard” for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.

Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user’s devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There’s also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and “Tapback” response options.

Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.

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macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.

Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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