Korg announces microKorg-S with more sounds and user presets
The microKorg has a pretty significant following thanks to its relatively easy-to-use interface and low price point. Today Korg announced the microKorg-S a companion to the nearly 15 year old instrument with more sounds, space for custom presets, a new paint job and external speakers.
The $500 analog modeling synthesizer is a $100 more than the original microKorg, but has an additional 64 new sounds joining the legacy 128 sounds found in the original. Plus it has 64 user programable locations available so you can create your own presets. Great for live performances or just keeping your creations in an easy-to-access location.
Like the original, the microKorg-S has maple wood ends, but it sports a new white paint job instead of the dark brown found on the original instrument.
Finally, the new synth sports external speakers so you no longer have to hunt down your headphones to recreate the Stranger Things soundtrack. Now you can entertain (or annoy) all your friends without setting up a speaker system.
Source: Korg
HP Pavilion Wave PC looks like it’s wearing a B&O speaker
Is that a speaker? Or a router? Those are questions my colleague actually asked me when I showed him my photos of the HP Pavilion Wave. He was wrong on both counts, but it’s easy to see why he was confused. The Pavilion Wave is a 10-inch tall desktop that will be available Sept 23 for a starting price of $550, and from my brief experience with a preview version, it’ll be a beautiful, adequate addition to a modern house.
HP was able to squeeze a sixth-generation Intel chip, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 2TB hard drive (or 1TB solid state drive) into this compact tower thanks to a triangular, tri-chamber design. Inside the device are three separate zones that house the motherboard, a hard drive and thermals. These three chambers surround a speaker, which pumps out sound upwards. At the top of the tower is a parabolic reflector which then sends the music out in 360 degrees, and also acts as a vent to let out heat.
The Pavilion Wave was designed around its audio system, and I enjoyed the crisp, round notes coming out of the speaker during our demo. It offers Bang & Olufsen Play tuning for enhanced sound in low, mid or high ranges.
Unlike other traditional desktop towers, or even HP’s fancier gaming ones, the Pavilion Wave blends in with the rest of most home furniture. It’s not small enough to be completely inconspicuous, but I appreciate its subtle understated design.
If you want to fully deck out your home office, the Wave is there for you, too. With three USB 3.0 ports and slots for USB 3.1 Type C, HDMI, DisplayPort, Gigabit ethernet and microphone/headphone, there are plenty of connectivity options. The PC will also support up to two 4K displays at once, and its onboard dual microphones make it ready to listen for your Cortana voice commands.
During our demo, the Pavilion Wave correctly heard a request for the weather, and Cortana returned the answer through the device’s speaker. Although it has Bluetooth capability, the Wave can’t be used as a standalone wireless speaker, but you can always play your music through the Windows 10 OS, then shut off your monitor to get a similar experience.
While it’s easy to get a mini PC to replace your chunky desktop tower, those machines don’t often provide satisfying power for intensive tasks. The Pavilion Wave, despite its familiar looks, could be a great option for those who need speedy performance in a pretty, relatively petite package.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
HP’s Elite Slice is a modular PC that actually looks good
I think HP’s completely sick of making traditional-looking desktops and is out to make them look like anything but. In addition to a PC that looks like it was shoved inside a Bang & Olufsen speaker, the computer maker also released the Elite Slice modular desktop. And it looks like a cross between Discman, a router, and a set top box. Despite that weird combination, I actually really like the Elite Slice — not just for its looks, but also for what it does.
HP’s not the first to make modular components for a PC. Lenovo actually brought that idea to life with its Thinkpad Stack last year. But the Stack was a set of magnetic accessories for your laptop, whereas the Slice is a standalone PC with modules that you can snap on to add capabilities. Plus, HP’s device just looks so much slicker.
The Elite Slice is designed for business and office use, and its base model’s specs (and $700 price) reflect that. The 2.31-pound device houses an up to sixth-generation Intel Core i7 and runs Windows 10 Pro. It also offers enterprise-level security software, including HP BIOSphere and HP Sure Start to detect and manage threats. You can hook up displays, keyboards and mice to the system through the two USB 3.1 Type-C, two USB 2.0, DisplayPort and HDMI ports. The base unit also comes with ethernet and headphone/microphone jacks, as well as onboard dual mics and an optional fingerprint sensor.
But the modularity is where it gets interesting. Each module, including the PC piece, has a USB C-like port, called the HP Slice Connector, on its bottom. These let you connect more components to the PC. At launch, you can pick add-ons such as an audio module (with Bang & Olufsen enhancements), an optical disk drive and what HP calls a Collaboration Cover.
We saw this accessory in action at a demo. Place it on top of the Slice, and it turns the desktop into a Skype for Business phone (if you have a subscription). With the cover on, you can initiate a preset Skype call just by touching a capacitive button on the shell. Each Slice with the Collaboration module can have its own Skype number, effectively setting up a phone network without actual phone lines.
During our preview, HP guided us through making a call by tapping the green phone button. After the call connected, we spoke to an HP rep who demonstrated the onboard mic’s ability to pick up his voice even as he walked to the other end of a small room. He explained that he didn’t need to raise his voice, and indeed, he didn’t appear to do so. And regardless of his distance from his own Slice, his voice didn’t get dramatically softer.
In 2017, HP will also offer a wireless charging cover that will let you recharge your compatible devices by dropping them on top of the Slice.
Although the add-on selection is limited for now, the Elite Slice is definitely an attractive, intriguing option for crowded offices that need portable desktops and want to do away with traditional phones. In the meantime, I’m holding out for a consumer-friendlier version for my tiny apartment.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Sphero’s Force Band, battle-worn BB-8 arrive on September 30th
Sphero is ready to start selling Force Bands — wristwatch-like devices that will give you a way to control its BB-8 droids with a wave of the hand — and they sure look much better than the toy-like demo unit we tested at CES. Besides being able to control the BB-8 and Sphero’s other Bluetooth robots with hand gestures, the device also issues voice prompts letting you know if there are Holocrons (images of Star Wars characters) in the environment that you can collect à la Pokémon Go. They can make light saber sounds, as well, if want to reenact Rey’s and Kylo Ren’s duel in your living room.
Since BB-8 didn’t always look clean in the movie, Sphero is also releasing a special edition battle-worn version of the adorable droid. It connects to the Force Band and to your phone via Bluetooth, charges via USB and can roll around for an hour straight. Both the special edition droid and the Force Band will be available worldwide starting on September 30th. You can get the two as a bundle for $199, but if you only want the Force Band, you can buy it separately for $79.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Korg adds drums to its line of tiny Volca synths
Korg continues to expand its Volca series of sub-$200 synths. Today it announced the Volca Kick, a drum machine with a 16 step sequencer and analog oscillator. To keep it all in the family, it links up to the rest of the Volca line and minilogue, electribe and SQ-1 step sequencer.
The tiny synth uses the oscillating filter from the MS-20 to create percussion sounds for its kick, tom and bass hits. Plus, in addition to being able to string up to 16 of the 16 step sequences together, the synth has one-touch variations and time divisions so you can make on-the-fly changes to a pattern.
Like the rest of the Volca line, the Kick includes MIDI in and Korg’s Audio Sync connection. Audio is handled either by the built-in speaker or headphone mini jack. And for folks on the go, the synth can be powered by batteries or an AC adaptor.
The new Volca Kick will set you back $160 and is available in October.
Source: Korg
FreedomPop’s free unlimited WhatsApp SIM comes to the UK
FreedomPop is famed for its free, barebones mobile plan, and for its next trick, the operator is mixing up the formula a little bit. Following a similar launch in the US, the provider’s new WhatsApp SIM has come to the UK, offering 200MB of data, 100 minutes and unlimited WhatsApp messaging each month completely free.
To be clear, any data traffic through WhatsApp doesn’t eat into that 200MB allowance, and better yet, the perk isn’t restricted to the UK. You can also use WhatsApp to your heart’s content in 30 other countries at no extra cost. The roaming aspect covers the US, most of Europe and the Asian countries of Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
If you’re hunting for a catch, then the lack of a text allowance could be considered one, though the idea is WhatsApp has you covered there. But should you send an SMS or three, you’ll be on the hook for overage charges. As FreedomPop is a data-driven service — the provider’s mobile apps handle standard calls and texts — you only need to worry about how much of that, single resource you’re chewing through on out-of-plan calls, texts and internet usage. Each additional megabyte costs 2 pence, though you can shell out £15 per 1GB upfront if you see yourself having a particularly active month.
If you feel like sending more money FreedomPop’s way, then as always you can bolt additional features onto your plan for a couple of quid each month, such as usage alerts, visual voicemail and extra, international (virtual) numbers. Stick to WhatsApp and within your free allowances, though, and you’re laughing. The new WhatsApp SIM is available now for nothing more than a £5 postage fee — an acceptable trade, we’re sure you’ll agree.
Source: FreedomPop
Google AI builds a better cucumber farm
Artificial intelligence technology doesn’t just have to solve grand challenges. Sometimes, it can tackle decidedly everyday problems — like, say, improving a cucumber farm. Makoto Koike has built a cucumber sorter that uses Google’s TensorFlow machine learning technology to save his farmer parents a lot of work. The system uses a camera-equipped Raspberry Pi 3 to snap photos of the veggies and send the shots to a small TensorFlow neural network, where they’re identified as cucumbers. After that, it sends images to a larger network on a Linux server to classify the cucumbers by attributes like color, shape and size. An Arduino Micro uses that info to control the actual sorting, while a Windows PC trains the neural network with images.
It’s not a perfect system, at least right now. Koike estimates that it takes about 2-3 days to train the sorting AI, even using very low-resolution (80 x 80) pictures. And even the 7,000 photos Koike used for that training probably weren’t enough. While the sorter recognized 95 percent of test images, real-world sorting dipped to about 70 percent. Having said that, it’s not the immediate results that matter. The technology can get better, and it hints at a future where robotic farm equipment handles many mundane tasks that previously required a human’s watchful eye.
Source: Google Cloud Platform
Bosch and Drop team up on smarter kitchen tech
Many appliance makers are forming partnerships to drag their lineups into the smart home era, but Bosch’s alliance may be something special. It’s teaming up with Drop (of smart scale fame) to add intelligence to kitchen devices. The two are starting modestly: if you have a Series 8 oven with Home Connect support, you can already use Drop to control the appliance as well as monitor the temperature and time. However, the companies have grander things in store.
For one, the oven integration should deepen over time. You could have your oven pre-heat to the temperature you need for a recipe, and turn off right when the meal is done. Other appliances should receive upgrades as well. Your fridge could check its stocks to see what recipes you can prepare, and your blender could give you the right ingredient proportions no matter how much you intend to mix.
There’s no mention of just when these features will arrive, assuming they all come to pass. Drop isn’t limiting its collaborations to Bosch, though. The German firm is just the “first partner” in Drop’s bid to become the framework for smart kitchens everywhere, so don’t be shocked if you hear about more initiatives before long.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Source: Drop (Marketwired)
Geologists have discovered what could be the world’s oldest fossils
Geologists have discovered possible evidence of ancient life in rocks that are over 3.7 billion years old. It’s an extraordinary find that, if confirmed, would make the fossils within the oldest we have on Earth.
The fossils weren’t found any time recently, as they were actually uncovered four years ago but kept under wraps as the geologists investigated their massively important time to research and fact check while on the precipice of something so big. If it’s true these fossils are as old as they think they are, they could absolutely alter the basic understanding of the origin of life and humanity as we know it.
Discovered on the southwest coast of Greenland, the fossils are thought by researchers to be stromatolites, or sediment that’s been packed together by communities of microbes in shallow water. According to Dr. Allen Nutman, one of the geologists credited with making the discovery, the possibility of finding older fossils than these is extremely unlikely, and there’s plenty of information that’s expected to be forthcoming from the investigation into figuring out the story behind these fossils.
According to Dr. Nutman, the species of microves involved in the creation of stromatolites could have been formed in the Hadean stage of, which actually began about 4.65 billion years ago. When the Hadean period finally ended, a period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment began, and it can be traced to about 3.8 billion years ago.
It’s Dr. Nutman’s belief that the origins of life could have survived throughout the tumultuous Hadean period all the way through the Late Heavy Bombardment, though how “heavy” the Bombardment actually was is changing all the time, with scientists now discussing the idea that if life didn’t begin right after that event, it could have had 100 million years to evolve into what the fossils have become now.
It’s all a part of determining the single point of origin for life itself, and going forward Dr. Nutman and partner Dr. Joyce will be looking to disseminate this information from the fossils.
Via: The New York Times
Shadowgun Legends is ready to blow minds on NVIDIA Shield in 2017
Madfinger Games is bringing back Shadowgun for another turn, with help from the NVIDIA Shield TV.
NVIDIA had a fairly quiet Gamescom this year on the Shield front, but there was still something pretty tasty to show off. Coming to the Shield TV in Q1 2017 is Shadowgun Legends and it’s a substantial step forward for Madfinger from its mobile games of past years.
Shadowgun Legends has been tailored to the Shield TV and the Tegra X1 chipset to exploit its power and create a full fledged first-person shooter. It’s a way off from being finished, but what I’ve seen at the show already has me salivating for more.
Players will have the opportunity to dive deep into a 24th-century war-torn world where you will become the up and coming Shadowguns, an elite unit of badasses from all around the galaxy. It will be up to you to decide whether you are going to face the alien threat alone or with your Shadowgun friends.
Freeing from the limitations of touch interfaces and going into a more console-like state, Shadowgun Legends adopts a control system much like you’d find on many console FPS titles. Twin sticks for moving, sprinting and looking around, left trigger to aim, right trigger to fire. It’s basic, yet familiar, and so pretty easy to pick up and play.
What’s startling at first, considering this is basically an Android game, is how incredible it looks. Madfinger is usually pretty handy with graphics, but Shadowgun Legends takes things to another level. The developers are passionate gamers and this newest project with the Shield TV in mind takes them beyond mobile and into the console class.
Textures look detailed and lighting is more realistic than any Madfinger title to date, right down to the shimmer on wet areas of the floor. It’s a way off being finished but from what I’ve seen so far it’s not going to disappoint your eyes.
More will become available as we approach early 2017, but the legions of Shadowgun fans are going to be very impressed with Legends. Especially this version on the NVIDIA Shield. It looks and plays great and takes the franchise into console-baiting territory. We eagerly await a chance to play some more.
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