This portable battery is designed to keep up with you and Pokemon Go (50 per cent off)
Shattering the record for most downloads during its first week of release on the App Store, Pokémon Go has found its way onto millions of smartphones. However, our phones’ batteries are having a hard time keeping up with Pokémon Go’s demands.
Fortunately, you can extend your play time with the LinearFlux PokeCharger Portable Battery. For a limited time, Pocket-Lint readers can get this stylish battery for only £52.78 ($39.99).
Ultra-compact and deceptively powerful, this charger offers rapid on-the-spot charging. It’s built with 3.0 Amp HyperCharging technology, allowing it to juice your iPhone at twice the speed of a normal wall charger. With blazing-fast charging available on the go, you’ll be able to squeeze in plenty of extra time to catch that Charizard.
While other portable batteries are bulky and cumbersome, the PokeCharger Portable Battery is engineered for maximum mobility. Thanks to its super thin design, the PokeCharger can fit comfortable in most pockets, making it perfect for those extended Poké-catching trips.
What’s more, this charger is intuitively designed with a tri-color LED battery gauge, so you can easily view your battery’s charging progress while you’re on the hunt.
Don’t let your phone’s standard battery stop you from catching your favorite Pokémon. With the LinearFlux PokeCharger Portable Battery, you’ll get the power you need to catch em all.
The LinearFlux PokeCharger Portable Battery normally retails for £105.58, but Pocket-Lint readers can save 50 per cent off. For a limited time, you can get the PokeCharger on sale for only £52.78 ($39.99).
FCC backs down from municipal broadband case
After losing its bid to protect municipal broadband services, the Federal Communications Commission has apparently given up the fight to keep local competition in high-speed internet service. As Ars Technica reports today, the FCC has decided not to pursue another review of the case that could have put the matter in front of the Supreme Court.
The issue is a little complex: In early 2015, an FCC order attempted to circumvent laws in North Carolina and Tennessee that prevented municipal broadband companies from expanding beyond their city or county lines. The FCC argued it had a congressionally bestowed duty to promote local competition and new investments in telecom infrastructure. The court didn’t agree, however, and shot down the FCC’s order, stating that Congress never gave the Commission any power to preempt state laws.
On Monday, an FCC spokesman told Ars Technica that the commission won’t be appealing the case because “doing so would not be the best use of Commission resources.” While the case itself has fizzled out, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has stated in the past that the Commission plans to explore other legal and policy options that would give municipal broadband services more freedom and the two municipalities named in the case can still appeal separately. Meanwhile, the New York Times has a lengthy report about how the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision could worsen the Digital Divide by cutting off local businesses and rural residents from internet access. Currently, there are about 20 states with laws that limit municipal broadband services in favor of major telecommunications companies.
Source: Ars Technica, New York Times
Apple iPad, Mac rumors suggest upgrades for power users
While we prepare to see the next iPhone on September 7th, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has delivered another batch of rumors centered around Apple’s iPad and Mac plans. According to his sources, along with a standalone 5K monitor the company is working on with LG (that would surpass even the 21:9 screens just announced) the next step for iMacs are the option of AMD GPUs built-in, while the Macbook Air is expected to get a USB-C upgrade that could mimic the current Macbook.
Otherwise, a thinner (of course) Macbook Pro could take its own notes from the Macbook with a flatter keyboard, plus what Bloomberg says is a “Dynamic Function Row” above the keyboard. Earlier rumors referred to an OLED touch bar, and combined with the upcoming Sierra macOS update, it could handle different functions depending on what software is active, like iMovie or Safari.
Finally, the iPad is expected to get upgraded display tech that zooms and scrolls faster, while a software update would make the Apple Pencil work across more software on iOS. The new iPad software is expected to arrive at some point in 2017, while the new Mac hardware is expected to debut later this year.
Source: Bloomberg
Apple Says Australian Banks’ Apple Pay Challenge Harms Consumers
Apple today made a submission to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), arguing that Australia’s “Big Three” banks’ request to collectively negotiate over Apple Pay is ultimately harmful to consumers, would stifle innovation in mobile payments, and would avoid competitive dynamics (via AppleInsider).
The Cupertino company argues that each of the big three banks (Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank (NAB) and Westpac) have resisted “serious engagement” with Apple on Apple Pay for the past two years.
Apple claims that they have tried and failed to negotiate with all of the banks, save for one bank who refuses to sign a confidentiality agreement that would allow Apple to send over its initial terms. Apple says that collective bargaining would slow negotiations further, dragging the collective to the level of the least willing member.
The collective, Apple argues, means that each of the banks has no fear of its competitors offering Apple Pay. Thus, the banks wouldn’t fear a potential loss of consumers over the feature. This harms consumers by avoiding competitive dynamics, according to Apple.
The move would also stifle innovation in mobile payments, erasing incentives for existing players in Australia to build on top of or compete with Apple Pay. However, a spokesman for the banks told AppleInsider that they, alongside Australia’s merchants and payment processors, have been working on contactless payments before Apple Pay.
The banks say that, unlike Android or Samsung, Apple blocks access to NFC payments and “wants to leave users with no choice but to use Apple Pay.” They want to negotiate with Apple to offer other integrated wallets within Apple Pay. Last week, Australia’s retailers and payment processors sided with the banks to collectively negotiate.
Apple’s submission comes 10 days after the ACCC denied interim approval of the collective negotiations. The banks first issued their joint application in late July. The ACCC will make a final decision in October. Most recently, Australian bank ANZ expanded support for Apple Pay to MasterCard, adding to the already-supported Visa and American Express.
Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Australia
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Find the best deals on refurbished Apple products – CNET
Think there’s no such thing as a deal on Apple products? Think again.
I’m on record as saying that when you shop for Apple gear, you should almost always look for refurbished options. That’s because Apple routinely offers computers, tablets and other stuff for less than the price of new.
Ah, but what if you’re looking for a refurbished iPhone? You won’t find those in Apple’s outlet store. And what if you’re looking for a particular model or configuration not offered by Apple proper? How can you find third-party deals on refurbs?
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RefurbMe aggregates listings for refurbished Apple products and helps you find items not available from Apple proper.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET
Simple: Head to RefurbMe. Born a few years ago as a simple catalog of Apple’s own clearance items, the site now offers all manner of refurbished Apple products from many sources, like Best Buy, Apple, Gazelle and Target. Even better, it can alert you when a particular item becomes available.
The site is divided into six major sections: Mac Laptop, Mac Desktop, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV. (You can also search for a specific product, natch.) Click iPhone, for example, and you can then filter by model, carrier and even refurbisher (Apple, Best Buy, Gazelle, Jem Jem and so on).
So, for example, if you happened to be looking for an unlocked iPhone 5s with at least 32GB of storage, RefurbMe would quickly steer you to a JemJem option priced at $249. (Whether or not that’s a smart buy is topic for debate; just saying you can find it easily.)
Once you filter your way down far enough (specifying things like color, storage capacity and carrier), RefurbMe will let you create a product alert just by providing your email address. You can also opt to receive alerts via SMS.
Just keep in mind that RefurbMe is merely aggregating all refurbished Apple products under one roof. The product conditions, warranties and other factors can vary greatly from one seller to the next, so it’s up to you to do your homework.
But don’t assume that the site always has the latest and greatest deals. For example, I just spotted a refurbished Apple Watch at Best Buy for $189.99, but as of this writing, it’s not on RefurbMe. I’m not sure how often the latter crawls various sites for new deals, or whether it’s as comprehensive in its crawling as it needs to be.
Even so, I consider this a useful tool for anyone seeking to save money on Apple gear.
YI 4K Action Camera review – CNET
The Good The YI 4K Action Camera is a remarkable camera for the money, offering great features and performance in an easy-to-use package. It has long battery life for its size. A touchscreen gives you full control of the camera or you can use the high-speed Wi-Fi to connect to your phone and control via an app. App handles shooting, editing and sharing. YI continues to add features through firmware updates.
The Bad You’ll need to buy accessories such as a waterproof housing. Though YI used Gorilla Glass, the touchscreen is not shatterproof. The microSD card slot is a little hard to access. Parts of the English app are still in Chinese.
The Bottom Line An action cam with a lot of features, excellent video quality and a more affordable price, the YI 4K is undeniably a good deal.
GoPro might be the undisputed leader in the action cam market, but its cameras are not without weaknesses. The greatest of those at the moment is age: GoPro’s top Hero4 Black camera was released nearly two years ago.
The YI 4K Action Cam kicks the cane right out from under that elderly camera by using the newest versions of the tech found in the Hero4, including an Ambarella A9SE75 chipset, a Sony IMX377 image sensor and a high-speed Broadcom BCM43340 dual-band Wi-Fi module.
These specs translate into a camera that has the same shooting options as the Hero4 Black, such as recording high-bit-rate 4K-resolution video at 30 frames per second (fps), 1080p at 120fps and 720p at 240fps, but it runs cooler and has better battery life. The performance is so much better that YI even put a touchscreen on the back — something only available for the Hero4 Black as an attachment or on the step-down Silver model.
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High performance on the cheap, YI’s 4K-resolution camera packs a lot of features into its tiny body.
Sarah Tew/CNET
On top of that, the YI 4K is $250 (roughly AU$330 or £190), around half the price of Hero4 Black, which is still selling on GoPro’s site for its original $500 (though Amazon has it for about $70 less). Having high-end components doesn’t guarantee great performance, but in the case of the YI 4K the result is an excellent little camera and a lower-cost substitute for a GoPro Hero4.
YI has continued to issue firmware updates for the camera, too, improving performance and adding shooting options. This includes a flat color setting for easier color adjustments when editing and an “Ultra” resolution setting that, like GoPro’s SuperView setting, takes a 4:3 aspect ratio video and digitally stretches it to 16:9 to get more of a scene top to bottom in your shot. The complete list of capabilities is extensive to say the least and is available on YI’s site.
Unfortunately, what it doesn’t correct for is the amount of chromatic aberration (purple fringing) around high-contrast subjects, such as the buildings against the sky in the above video. In general, you probably won’t see it when squeezed down for viewing on a smartphone or tablet. But blown up on a computer screen it’s easy to see. Also, like most small-sensor cameras, highlights can easily be blown out, costing you details in bright scenes.
LG delivers three new super-sized ultrawide monitors
LG has continued to push the limits of 21:9 aspect ratio monitors over the years and its latest three additions are something to behold. Ready to debut at IFA and coming to the US this fall, they include the “world’s largest” 38-inch curved 38UC99 model that goes on sale in September for $1,500, a 34-inch curved 34UC79G due in October for $700, and the flat 34-inch 34UM79M coming in November for $600.
That massive 38-incher packs a Quad HD+ resolution of 3,840 x 1,600 and is apparently the first ultrawide monitor with a USB-C port built-in. The 34UM79M has integrated Google Cast support (plus built-in support for multitasking, so you can Netflix while you work without giving up any screen space). Finally, that curved 34-inch model is pitched as “the world’s first 144Hz IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide gaming monitor,” with AMD FreeSync included to cut down on stuttering and tearing when the action gets hectic.
Source: LG Newsroom
Niantic is reversing bans on some ‘Pokémon Go’ accounts
Pokémon Go players who felt they were wrongly banned might get a reprieve. That’s because developer Niantic has said that in its quest to block bots and data scrapers, some people who used third-party map apps to locate the virtual critters were wrongly blocked.
“Each end-user app can be used as a collection tool by the app creator, invisibly collecting and forwarding data to the app creator without the knowledge of the end user,” Niantic writes. “These apps can have an effect similar to DDoS attacks on our servers.”
The company says it’s rearranged of few things in its back-end and can reverse bans on a “small subset” of accounts. That won’t apply to accounts doing nothing but remotely accessing and capturing Pokemon, taking part in gym battles or grabbing supplies from Pokéstops. In fact, it sounds like bans for those terms-of-service-violating activities will become even more strict.
“Our main priority is to provide a fair, fun and legitimate experience for all players, so, aggressive banning will continue to occur for players who engage in these kinds of activities.”
Source: Pokemon Go Live
NASA uses a DNA sequencer in space for the first time
The crew of the ISS just took the first step towards making the orbital laboratory a little safer for its inhabitants. For the first time ever, NASA astronauts have sequenced DNA in microgravity. The experiment was actually a test to see if a MiniION portable DNA sequencer would work in orbit — so far it does. The samples tested on the ISS produced the same results as a control group back on earth. If further tests pan out, astronauts will be able to use the sequencer to test microbes found on ISS surfaces.
It’s a little weird to think of the International Space Station as a potential breeding ground for unwanted organisms, but it is an enclosed environment — and NASA says it occasional finds fungus that needs to be tested. This usually means waiting until crew returns to earth, but having a sequencer in orbit could allow crew to more quickly determine if fungi or microbes found on ISS surfaces are a health hazard. The sequencer can also be used to make sure the station’s water reclamation system is working properly or to analyse experiment results without returning them to NASA itself.
NASA says the sequencer will also be helpful on future Mars missions — giving astronauts the tools they need to protect their health on the long journey. Before it can be used for any of that, however, it still needs to go through a few more tests. Check out NASA’s official announcement for more details.
Source: NASA
What’s on your HDTV: ‘Narcos,’ ‘Killjoys,’ college football
This week the NFL preseason is wrapping up as the college football season begins, which also means the end of summer TV and the beginning of fall programming. Battlebots and Killjoys both have season finales this week, while You’re the Worst, Narcos and Chef’s Table: France all premiere. Meanwhile, a remastered version of Resident Evil 4 is coming to the PS4 and Xbox One while the Attack on Titan game debuts this week. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
Blu-ray & Games & Streaming
- The Jungle Book
- Arrow (S4)
- Star Wars Rebels (S2)
- The Commitments (25th Anniversary Edition)
- Shameless (S6)
- The Immortal Story (Criterion)
- Taboo
- Attack on Titan (PC, PS4, PS4, Xbox One)
- Claire: Extended Cut (PS4)
- Binaries (PS4, Xbox One)
- Armello (Xbox One)
- Fallout 4: Nuka World DLC (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
- Assetto Corsa (PS4, Xbox One)
- Verdun (PS4, Xbox One)
- The Turing Test (PC, Xbox One)
- One Way Trip (PS4)
- Resident Evil 4 (PS4, Xbox One)
- Shiny (PC, Xbox One)
- Axiom Verge (Wii U)
Monday
- So You Think You Can Dance, Fox, 8PM
- WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
- The Fosters (summer finale), Freeform, 8PM
- X Factor UK, Axs, 8PM
- American Ninja Warrior, NBC, 8PM
- Rizzoli & Isles, TNT, 9PM
- Catfish, MTV, 10PM
- Cheer Squad, Freeform, 10PM
- Adventure Capitalists, CNBC, 10PM
- Major Crimes, TNT, 10PM
- Mistresses, ABC, 10PM
- The Making of the Mob (season finale), AMC, 10PM
Tuesday
- Difficult People, Hulu, 3AM
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 8PM
- WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
- Pretty Little Liars (summer finale), Freeform, 8PM
- Forged in Fire, History, 9PM
- MadTV, CW, 9PM
- Dead of Summer (season finale), Freeform, 9PM
- Zoo, CBS, 9PM
- Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the LA Rams, HBO, 10PM
- Better Late than Never, NBC, 10PM
- The View : 20 Years in the Making, ABC, 10PM
- Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV, 10PM
- One Shot, BET, 10PM
Wednesday
- Penn & Teller: Fool Us, CW, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- Suits, USA, 9PM
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 9PM
- Dating Naked, VH1, 9PM
- Dual Survival, Discovery, 9PM
- Whose Line is it Anyway?, CW, 9PM
- America’s Got Talent, NBC, 9PM
- You’re the Worst (season premiere), FXX, 10PM
- Catfish, MTV, 10PM
- Mr. Robot, USA, 10PM
- Tyrant, FX, 10PM
- Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons, HBO, 10PM
- American Gothic, CBS, 10PM
- The Night Shift (season finale), NBC, 10PM
- Unlocking the Truth, MTV, 11PM
Thursday
- Battlebots (season finale), ABC, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 9PM
- Holy Hell, CNN, 9PM
- Ripper Street, BBC America, 10PM
- Lip Sync Battle, Spike TV, 10PM
- Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (season finale), FX, 10PM
- Queen of the South, USA, 10PM
Friday
- Narcos (S2), Netflix, 3AM
- Chef’s Table: France, Netflix, 3AM
- Kazoops (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- Kulipari (S1), Netflix, 3AM
- Stinky & Dirty Show (series premiere), Amazon Prime, 3AM
- Eat the World with Emeril Lagasse (S1), Amazon Prime, 3AM
- Killjoys (season finale), Syfy, 9PM
- Dark Matter, Syfy, 10PM
- Cheer Squad (season finale), Freeform, 10PM
- The Eric Andre Show, Cartoon Network, 12AM
Saturday
- A Football Life: Brett Favre, CBS, 8PM
- USC/Alabama college football, ABC, 8PM
- Backstabbed, Lifetime, 8PM
- Aquarius, NBC, 9PM
Sunday
- Notre Dame vs. Texas college football, ABC, 8PM
- Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
- Inside Poldark, PBS, 8PM
- Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
- Ray Donovan, Showtime, 9PM
- The Last Ship, TNT, 9PM
- The Strain, FX, 10PM
- Braindead, CBS, 10PM
- Murder in the First (season finale), TNT, 10PM
- Geeking Out, AMC, 11:59PM
(All times listed are ET)
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