Philips’ new Hue sensor can detect when you’re moving and more
Philips has new Hue goodies for you, including one that detects movement.
It’s actually not as creepy as it sounds. The company has announced more products for its Hue line of smart lights and accessories. The standout new gizmo is called Philips Hue Motion Sensor. It will allow Philips Hue users to automatically control their lights with their movements. The $39.95 sensor connects to Hue Bridge, as it’s wireless and battery-powered, and can be positioned anywhere, such as a wall or shelf.
Once it’s in place, you can adjust its motion detection capabilities so that it can trigger certain actions (like turning lights on). Philips described the sensor as providing hands-free control and said it can guide you “safely throughout your home at night with lighting”. It’s also handy because you no longer must remember to turn lights off when leaving a room. The motion sensor will detect when you do and does all the work for you.
Some of the other customisation settings including changing the type of lighting from like a soft night light to scenes for daytime. It also has a built-in daylight sensor so it can turn on/off your lights based on the time of day. Up to 12 sensors can be connected to a bridge, too, giving you the ability to automate all the lights in your home. And Philips said the sensor can adjust lights within .5 seconds of activation, so it’s fast.
Philips has introduced updated bulbs as well. The Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 now come with more vibrant greens and blues. And finally, two new Philips Hue White Ambiance bulb extensions have been announced, including BR-30 and GU-10 models. To buy any of this stuff, check out Philips Hue website, Amazon.com, and Best Buy in October 2016.
Zuckerberg hopes to show off his home control AI next month
Remember that artificial intelligence Mark Zuckerberg said he was going to build to control his house? It sounds like he actually made it — and he’s almost ready to show it to the public. “I got it to the point where I can control the lights, I can control the gates, I can control the temperature,” he said at a Facebook Q&A in Rome this week. “It’s getting there.”
Zuckerberg says he hopes to have a demo of the project available sometime next month, and credits a lot of the AI’s success to his engineering team at work. “It’s awesome because I get to interact with all these Facebook engineers who are doing this awesome AI work in speech recognition, in face recognition,” he says. “I programmed it so now, when I walk up to my door, my gate, I don’t have to put in a code or something like that to get in — put in a key — it just sees my face and lets me in.” Even so, the AI isn’t quite ready for primetime: Zuckerberg says the house only responds to his own voice, much to his wife’s disappointment. “I’ll give her access once I’m done.” Sure you will, Zuck. Sure you will.
Via: Verge
Source: Facebook
Foreign hackers attacked two state election systems, FBI warns
Hackers outside of the United States attacked two state election databases in recent months and the FBI is warning voting officials across the country to bulk up security and investigate their own systems for similar malicious activity, Yahoo News reports. The twin hacks were outed in a “flash” alert from the FBI’s Cyber Division. The alert does not say which states were targeted, though Yahoo reports that it likely refers to attacks in Arizona and Illinois.
Officials in Illinois closed the state’s voter registration system for 10 days in July after hackers stole the personal data of 200,000 citizens. In Arizona, malicious software was found in the state voter registration system in June, but no information was stolen.
The FBI alert discloses eight IP addresses used in the hacks and suggests that the attacks were linked, as one of the addresses was used in both intrusions. The bureau is investigating whether the hackers attempted to infiltrate other state election systems as well.
“The FBI is requesting that states contact their Board of Elections and determine if any similar activity to their logs, both inbound and outbound, has been detected,” the alert reads, as shared by Yahoo. “Attempts should not be made to touch or ping the IP addresses directly.”
The FBI does not indicate which country is behind the state attacks, though currently the international hacking spotlight is on Russia. Russia is believed to be behind a major attack on the Democratic National Convention that led to the leak of 20,000 Democratic party emails in July. The FBI is looking into whether the state hacks are related to the massive DNC breach, Yahoo reports.
Source: Yahoo News
What to expect at this year’s IFA
IFA, one of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade shows, starts this week in Berlin. It’s not quite as big as CES, but it can be a good insight into what lies ahead in the holiday shopping season. IFA is often the place where companies announce washing machines and kitchen appliances, but there’s usually plenty of phones, wearables, PCs and TVs too. Here’s what we expect to see at IFA this year:
Smartphones and tablets
Samsung used to make IFA the home for its annual Note announcements, but that changed last year. 2016 marks the second year in a row the company opted to launch the newest Note, as well as the latest Gear VR, at their own Unpacked event. That doesn’t mean Samsung won’t have anything to show at IFA, but it likely won’t have any phones on the docket.
Still, IFA won’t be completely bereft of mobile news. Sony has made a habit of revising its Xperia lineup at IFA and we expect to see more of that this time around. We’ve heard tales of an Xperia X Compact, which appears to be a smaller version of the Xperia X Performance. Leaked specs have pointed to a 13-megapixel rear camera, 4GB of RAM, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor as well as 32GB of internal storage. Seeing as it’s a “Compact” model, we also expect a 4.7 inch display with full HD resolution.
Moving on to other mobile events, Huawei’s September 1st event invitation entices us to “Defy Expectations” with what looks like the curved edge of either a phone or a tablet. Though ASUS announced the ZenFone 3 series at Computex, it could unveil a mid-tier offering at IFA. ZTE, which already showed off the Axon 7 and the Zmax Pro earlier this year, could have more to say about Project CSX, its unique crowdsourced handset. Nubia, a ZTE sub-brand, is also holding an event of its very own, which likely means we’ll see one or two new phones there as well.
Plus, just because Samsung has already shown its hand as far as phones go, doesn’t mean that we won’t spy any new tablets. Rumors point to a possible Galaxy Tab S3, the successor to last year’s Galaxy Tab S2. There could also be a new tablet from Lenovo with a “new kind of intuitive keyboard,” if this brief peek at Lenovo’s IFA 2016 event is to be believed.
Wearables and other accessories
Much more than just phones and tablets, IFA is becoming a bit of a wearables show. Samsung already made a not-too-subtle hint that its first event in Berlin will focus on the Gear S3. The invitation has a watch face design on it as well as the words “Talk About 3” and “Gear.” There are also rumors that there’ll be three versions of the S3: The Classic, the Explorer and the Frontier. The latter two will supposedly focus on fitness, with various sensors like an altimeter and a barometer.
We could see other companies refresh their Android Wear offerings too. Huawei hasn’t updated its premium Watch wearable since last year and ASUS’ ZenWatch 2 could use a refresh as well. On the simpler side of the wearable spectrum, Fitbit has already announced the sequels to the Flex and the Charge, which we’ll see at IFA this week. It’ll also be interesting to see if Nokia-owned Withings will have anything to show — an update to the Activite is a long-time coming after all.
We could see other companies update their Android Wear offerings too. Huawei hasn’t updated its premium Watch wearable since last year and ASUS’ ZenWatch 2 could use a refresh as well. On the simpler side of the wearable spectrum, Fitbit has already announced the sequels to the Flex and the Charge, which we’ll see at IFA this week. It’ll also be interesting to see if Nokia-owned Withings will have anything to show — an update to the Activite is a long-time coming.
Aside from the Xperia phone, Sony will probably also give us a closer look at the Xperia Eye, a lifelogging camera you wear around your neck, plus the Xperia Ear, a Bluetooth headset that looks a lot like Moto’s Hint.
Everything else
Aside from the usual phones and wearables, we’ll also likely see a bevy of new 4K and 8K televisions from the likes of Samsung, Sony and LG. New laptops are also on the horizon; Acer’s press conference invitation shows what looks like a profile of an extremely thin notebook and Lenovo might surprise us with yet another Yoga laptop or two. As with so many trade shows this year, we also expect to see the odd robot or drone on the show floor.
Last but not least, we have to mention virtual reality. 2016 is said to be the year VR goes mainstream, and we could see more evidence of that at IFA. We’ve already seen a sneak peek at what looks like an ASUS VR headset and Huawei has promised that it would be making a Gear VR competitor too.
As always, there will probably be products at IFA that we don’t expect as well. We’ll be liveblogging the Samsung mobile event on August 31st at 12pm ET so stay tuned for that and keep your eyes glued to the site for more news out of Berlin.
The bottom line: Our quick verdict on the Samsung Galaxy Note 7
Samsung’s enormous, pen-toting Galaxy Note was something of a curiosity when the original came out five years ago — unwieldy and built for a niche audience. Since then, big phones have become the norm, and the Note line in particular has become ever more comfortable to hold. The new Note 7 is surprisingly easy to grasp one-handed, despite its 5.7-inch screen — not to mention well built and attractively designed with fast performance, long battery life and a top-notch camera.
Even if you choose to disregard the pen features, then, this is still a nearly perfect handset. In fact, one of our biggest complaints has little to do with the device itself: the steep $849 asking price. Other drawbacks include the not-always-accurate eye scanner and the fact that the updated S Pen feels a little flimsier than the last-gen version. Those few cons aside, this is the company’s best phone yet — of any screen size.
Blu’s Pure XR brings 3D Touch to Android for $299
Right on schedule, Blu has followed up last year’s Pure XL with its latest affordable, feature-heavy (and unlocked) Android phone: the $299 4G LTE Pure XR. On its face, the XR version sports a curved, 5.5-inch 1080p SuperAMOLED screen with a (possibly trademark infringing) “3D Touch” feature similar to the iPhone 6s, but at about half the unlocked price. Under the hood, the XR runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow driven by a 2GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P10 processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of memory (plus microSD expansion).
Blu doesn’t skimp on the rest of the features either: Although it’s a bit of a downgrade from the XL’s 24-megapixel sensor, the XR sports a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. Rounding out the specs are: a home button fingerprint sensor, dual SIM slots, USB Type-C port and a 3,000 mAh battery that just edges out the iPhone 6s Plus battery in terms of raw capacity. (According to Blu, the 2-amp quick charger can add an hour of talk time with a 10-minute charge.) The handset has a full metal, unibody design available in Grey and Gold and is on sale now from Amazon and Best Buy. Although the Pure XR is unlocked right out of the box, it’s still a GSM-only device, so users will be limited to AT&T, T-Mobile, metroPCS and other GSM networks.
Via: 9to5Google
Source: Blue Products
Kim Dotcom hopes to livestream his extradition appeal
Megaupload creator Kim Dotcom is in the fight of his life as he appeals his possible extradition to the US, and he wants everyone to know it. He’s requesting that the Auckland, New Zealand court hearing his case should let him livestream the hearing on YouTube. Dotcom and his lawyer Ira Rothken argue that this is the definition of a “public interest” case. Megaupload’s abrupt shutdown over allegedly facilitating piracy, and the resulting criminal action, supposedly had a far-reaching effect on the internet.
The hearing judge is seriously considering allowing the stream despite the late notice, and you may learn about the decision within a matter of hours. Whether or not it happens is another matter. The US is reportedly opposed to a livestream, possibly because it could reveal sensitive information. Dotcom’s defense has offered to delay the stream by 10 minutes to prevent any details from getting out, though, so arguments for secrecy might not hold much water.
Would the livestream a publicity grab? Probably. However, it could help shed light on a legal fight that has largely taken place behind closed doors. And this is one of the biggest battles Dotcom will face. If he loses, he goes to the US and faces the very real risk of prison time for his purported role in illegal file sharing. If he wins, however, the US is stuck — the one person it most wanted to catch in the Megaupload saga will remain a free man.
My lawyers are currently in court making argument for live streaming of my entire hearing. If granted I will post the link here. #popcorn
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 28, 2016
Via: Mashable
Source: Reuters, Kim Dotcom (Twitter 1), (2)
‘Dead or Alive’ VR is basically sexual assault, the game
PlayStation VR is going to launch with a game that allows players to sexually assault a woman who is actively asking them to stop. Yes, that’s exactly as gross as it sounds and yes, of course the game is Dead or Alive Xtreme 3. The game’s virtual reality update is slated to launch on the same day as PlayStation VR, and features a handful of experiences designed to let players ogle the female body. A video from Gamer.ne.jp shows that one of these game modes features active harassment — allowing a player to continually touch a woman who is verbally protesting.
Watching a grown man grope a bikini model in virtual reality is awkward enough in its own right, but listening to the video’s dialogue makes it worse. As the player pokes and prods Kasumi’s body with the PlayStation 4’s motion controller, she tells him “I don’t like it,” and uses a word that directly translates to “bad” that is often used to flatly deny permission. The player persists, and the character naturally recoils. We did too — it’s a blatantly sexist and aggressive experience.
We’ve come to expect over-the-top, sexist gameplay from Dead or Alive’s beach volleyball spinoffs, but denial of consent being part of Xtreme 3’s VR gameplay takes the series to a new low. For the target market, this may well be part of the fantasy, but seeing that power fantasy played out on this console cycle’s biggest hardware platform is pretty disturbing. The developers know it, too — Koei Tecmo long ago decided that Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 might be too sexist for the US market. Well, they’re not wrong.
Via: Polygon
Source: YouTube
Siri Offers Witty Responses About September 7 Event
Ahead of Apple’s “See You on the 7th” special event next Wednesday, September 7 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Siri is now offering up some traditionally witty responses to users that mention the tagline for the upcoming event. iPhone users can test Siri themselves by saying “see you on the seventh.”
Apple sent out media invites earlier today for the event, to be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California. There, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other senior executives are expected to announce the iPhone 7 and possibly a second-generation Apple Watch. Less likely is a new MacBook Pro, expected later in the year, but a September announcement cannot be ruled out entirely.
Apple will also likely provide an update on the prospective launch dates of iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS 3, and tvOS 10.
Tags: Siri, September 2016 event
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Apple Seeds Eighth Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers and Public Beta Testers
Apple today released the eighth beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers. Public beta testers have also been provided with their seventh beta version. macOS Sierra beta 8 comes one week after the release of the seventh beta and more than two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Developers and can download today’s update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store or 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, with Apple possibly announcing a release date at its September 7 media event. 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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