SETI’s ‘unusual signal’ most likely came from Earth
With apologies to the would-be Dr. Ellie Arroways out there: the “unusual signal” picked up by SETI using Russia’s RATAN–600 radio telescope and thought to be originating from a star in the Hercules constellation is almost certainly coming from Earth and not some advanced alien civilization. In a statement the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences wrote: “Subsequent processing and analysis of the signal revealed its most probable terrestrial origin.”
Although the SAO RAS hasn’t said what sort of analysis led to the researchers to their terrestrial conclusion, today’s announcement does note that the RATAN–600 covers a wide range of frequencies from 1–22.7 GHz, which allows it to search for extremely weak signals. The “interesting” signal had a wavelength of 2.7 cm, but the SETI team only managed to pick it up once out of 39 tries. In an attempt to confirm the signal, the Allen Telescope Array in California was also pointed in the direction of the star system HD164595 in late August, but has so far failed to pick it up.
This wouldn’t be the first example of a false alarm: In the past, mysterious signals picked up by the Parkes Observatory in Australia were actually attributed to microwave ovens opened by hungry astronomers who couldn’t wait for their food to be ready. While the Russian team still hasn’t identified the signal’s exact source, the speculation is that it was a “parasite” signal coming from a plane or other satellite. For now, the SAO RAS concludes, “It can be said with confidence that no sought-for signal has been detected yet.”
Via: Ars Technica
Source: SAO RAS
Bill Nye lands a Netflix show
Everyone’s favorite bow-tied scientist is back with a Netflix series. Bill Nye is making a return to TV via a talk show, called Bill Nye Saves the World, set to debut in Spring, 2017.
The series will explore science and its impact on society, pop culture, and politics. Nye will tackle specific topics from a scientific point of view in each episode, while also refuting anti-scientific claims and dispelling myths, like the true cause of global warming. The show will include special guests, along with experiments and demonstrations.
Bill Nye Saves the World goes in line with Netflix’s new content strategy. It’s been experimenting with talk shows, like the recent Chelsea, with varying success. Now, with the Full House spinoff, Fuller House, being hugely popular, Netflix wants to continue attracting older viewers that grew up watching 90s shows. Netflix hopes its new Nye series will be just as popular as the 1993 PBS show, Bill Nye the Science Guy.
Via: Variety
The DxO One gets Wi-Fi control and a suite of accessories
If you take a lot of photos with your smartphone, you’ve probably noticed they’re not always up to snuff with the kind of images you’d see from a DSLR camera.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many options out there to improve your iPhone’s camera either unless you go for post-processing apps. Luckily, there’s the DxO One, meant to do just that, including a Lightning connector and an image sensor that’s meant to improve the way you shoot photos with your phone.
But any good camera needs accessories, and the DxO’s getting a new suite of accessories including a special shell for waterproofing, weatherproofing and keeping the One itself safe from the elements while you take it on the go. There’s also a stand, Wi-Fi remote control, and an optical adapter for you to attach new filters over the One’s lens.
In a pretty exciting turn of events, you can use the Wi-Fi remote to aconnect to locate networks or your iPhone directly even when not in range of networks, which makes it a pretty nifty little device, and it’s coming to all DxO One camera owners with the 2.0 software update in September.
The September update also includes a slew of other options like Mobile Smart Lighting, improved power consumption, and a new autofocus mode in addition to a white balance setting meant for shooting photos underwater.
You can pick up the outdoor case for $49 and the filter adapter for $25, with the stand going for $20. It’s a decent camera. You’ll probably want to try and keep it protected.
Via: TechCrunch
‘Second Life’ studio invites VR players to try ‘Project Sansar’
Linden Lab, the creative minds behind the bizarre social game Second Life, is unveiling its latest project, planted firmly within the roots of the virtual world.
It’s called Project Sansar, and invites are being sent out to creators this week. After this sneak peek, the public should get their first glimpse at the upcoming game early next year in 2017.
Project Sansar is meant to be an expansive 3D world that’ll work with the likes of the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, but there are scant details surrounding its impending release so far. Players will be able to interact with the world much like they currently do in Second Life, though in a relatively more scalable manner than they current do in that game, allowing for multiple instances of areas to exist in tandem with each other.
Interestingly enough, Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg has likened the project to “WordPress” for virtual reality, where Project Sansar acts as a blank base or slate for others to create their own virtual reality experiences on top of.
If it’s truly as expansive and adaptable as, say, Second Life or any of the other virtual reality hangouts out there, Project Sansar could be capable of some very interesting things.
Via: Variety
Nubia’s ‘bezel-less’ Z11 smartphone launches worldwide
You probably still don’t know a lot about the Nubia smartphone brand if you live outside of China, but the company is bent on changing that: it’s launching its latest flagship, the Z11, worldwide. The phone touts a “bezel-less” design with a 81 percent screen-to-body ratio, which both gives it a seamless effect and makes its 5.5-inch, 1080p display easier to manage in your hand. Nubia is definitely playing up the looks — it’s offering a posh black gold version (above) on top of more pedestrian gray and silver variants.
Not that it’s all surface and no substance. The Z11 carries a Snapdragon 820 processor, 64GB of expandable storage, a rear fingerprint reader and 4GB of RAM in standard trim. The black gold model jumps to a hefty 6GB of RAM to please serious multitaskers. And whichever model you get, photography is one of the big selling points. Nubia vows that that the 16-megapixel rear camera’s f/2.0 aperture and mix of hardware and software image stabilization will produce “DSLR-like” images, including 72-second handheld exposures if you’re determined to get a dramatic star field shot. The 8-megapixel front cam isn’t quite so impressive, but its large pixels and “smart light compensation” should deliver solid selfies.
All variants of the Z11 will be available starting in September, at €499 (about $557) for the standard phone and €599 ($668) for black gold. Despite the Euro-only pricing so far, this is very much a worldwide launch: Nubia plans to sell the device in the UK and US as well as parts of Europe, Asia (including India), Argentina and Mexico. It’s tempting, although we’d definitely do some comparison shopping first. The OnePlus 3 could get you nearly all the performance for $399, and Google is prepping a pair of phones that may deliver lots of bang for the buck.
We’re live all week from Berlin, Germany, for IFA 2016. Click here to catch up on all the news from the show.
Source: Nubia
Tapbots’ New Mac Clipboard Manager ‘Pastebot’ Now Available via Public Beta
Tapbots, the developers behind popular Twitter client Tweetbot, today announced a public beta for their latest app, Pastebot. Pastebot is a clipboard manager for Mac designed to store everything you copy so that it can be re-accessed at any time.
Available as both a Mac menu bar app and a standard app, Pastebot supports Pasteboards, where snippets of text that you frequently copy and paste can be quickly accessed. Multiple Pasteboards can be created to keep all text clippings organized and the clipboard can be opened with a simple Command + Shift + V keyboard shortcut.
A range of filters are available that can be applied to copied text snippets for formatting purposes. Filter examples include Create List, Wrap in Paragraph Tags, Convert to Plain Text, Change Case, Emoji Remover, and more.
For the time being, syncing Pastebot content between Macs is not available because the feature uses CloudKit, which isn’t available outside of the Mac App Store. Syncing will be available when the full app is released and Tapbots says Pastebot will work alongside with the new clipboard sharing features built into macOS Sierra.
The Pastebot public beta can be downloaded immediately from the Tapbots website. Following the beta testing process, Pastebot will be released on the Mac App Store as a paid app.
Tags: Tapbots, Pastebot
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Moto Z Play Droid unboxing and first impressions
Motorola today announced its latest smartphone, the Moto Z Play Droid, which figures to be an exclusive smartphone for Verizon. With specifications that fall more in the middle of the pack for today’s handsets, it’s still quite the attractive package.
We received a review unit of the Moto Z Play Droid on Friday and have spent a couple of days getting to know the device. We’re not ready to compile a full-on review of the phone just yet, but we do have some first impressions we’d like to share.
Taking the phone out of the box you realize that this iteration of Motorola is unlike anything else in the company’s history. Like the Moto Z Droid and Moto Z Force Droid this phone is svelte and sexy. On the surface it exudes premium craftsmanship and begs to be looked at from all angles.
It’s almost as if Motorola took the old Cliq XT design from years back and gave it a 2016 reboot. By that we mean it has a modern design with black cues but is also trimmed in a silver finish. It’s familiar to us because we knew something similar from 2010, but it’s oh so fresh with more solid materials. Dare we say it also looks as if Lenovo/Motorola took more time with details.
The Moto Z Play Droid is a heavy device; it’s more dense than we expected it to be. Looking it over, there’s so much here that intimidates us. It has been a very long time since Motorola delivered a phone that we were afraid to leave the house with over fear of ruining it. One drop and we’re afraid it would be scuffed, scraped, or worse, shattered. We want to show it off so badly but, at the same time, we want to protect with some sort of case. As much as we like to insure ourselves with cases, we enjoy looking at the details on the rear.
It didn’t take us long to realize that there’s no Verizon branding on the phone. While it’s certainly prominent on the box and in the apps, it’s not on the surface of the handset. There is a “Droid” branding under the camera, but that’s it. Otherwise, it’s a simple stylized “M” on the rear and a Moto on the front above the display. We’re not sure if this was Motorola’s doing or if Verizon loosened its grip a bit, but we’ll take it.
Holding and using the Moto Z Play Droid with one hand is comfortable, even with our smaller hands. At 5.5-inches, the display does have a little thicker bezel than some of its competitors, but we’ve seen worse. The 1080p resolution is crisp and color is quite accurate in our first few days with the phone.
In addition to the phone itself, the box also comes with a wall charger (USB Type-C), a MotoMod protective shell for the rear, and a tool to remove the microSD and Nano-SIM cards. There’s also a small booklet but there are no headphones. Speaking of which, a quick glance at the bottom shows us that Motorola did leave the 3.5mm port in this model.
The protective rear shell snaps into place via magnets and fits snugly against the phone. In fact, you’d be forgiven if you thought that it was part of the handset itself. The wood grain design has the same realistic appearance that is found in other, previous Motorola phones built in the Moto Maker tool.
Apps
Powering on the phone and checking the app tray we find that there’s no mistaking this for anything but a Verizon model. There are nearly one half dozen apps with Verizon branding pre-loaded including VZ Navigator, VZ Protect, My Verizon, Message+, and Cloud. You’ll also find a couple of others here, too: Android Pay, Caller Name ID, Amazon Kindle, IMDb, NFL Mobile, and Slacker Radio.
Android
After spending time away from Motorola phones, it was refreshing to be return to the software experience. Specifically, we were happy to find a largely untouched version of Android (6.0.1 Marshmallow) with only minor additions. And when we say additions, it’s subtle stuff that really enhances things.
Who doesn’t love picking their phone up and seeing the screen wake up? Moreover, we appreciate being able to twist our wrist to launch the camera, double chop to kick on the flashlight, or simply wave their hand over the display to wake it? To us, it’s just the right amount of OEM customization.
A couple of days into using the phone and we’re totally in love with it. Sure, the Moto Z Play Droid isn’t going to best any benchmarks but that matters little to us. We’re not pushing our phones to their limits and wager to guess that most of you aren’t either. With that said, the Snapdragon 625 processor (2GHz octa-core) and 3GB RAM do the trick so far. We’ll keep adding more apps and games to it to see how it fares with more demanding titles; look for that in the full review.
Fingerprint reader
The fingerprint reader was easy to set up and has responded quickly in every situation we’ve employed it. Whether waking a phone up or authenticating a purchase, we found it to be accurate and fast. We’d love to see Motorola put some sort of reader on the rear where the logo is, but that’s a quibble. To us, if you’re not pulling double duty with the reader acting as a home button, we say move it around back.
Sound
As for speakers, there’s only one on the Moto Z Play Droid; it’s the same one for taking calls. Listening to music is decent as there’s plenty of sound. It could be more rich, but we don’t ever find ourselves breaking out a phone to take in a playlist.
Watching videos on YouTube or Netflix was pleasurable, but not overly robust. Again, we’re not the type to spend extended periods on our phone watching movies and expecting a theater experience. Throw in some headphones or pair to a speaker and now we’re talking.
Camera
The 16-megapixel camera features laser autofocus, phase detection autofocus, and an f/2.0 aperture. There’s also a dual-LED flash on the back to brighten up your shots. We’ve not tested the camera in all lighting conditions yet, but thus far we’re impressed with the shots. The software is no-frills so there’s something to be desired in some aspects. On the other hand, we like that we’re not bogged down with too many choices for scenarios. we’ve yet to kick the tires on the front-facing camera.
Hasselblad MotoMod
As part of our review kit, we also received one of the Hasselblad camera MotoMods to try out. Indeed, you can snap this guy on to the back of the phone as easily as the case and give your Motorola phone a 12-megapixel camera with a 10X optical zoom. Capable of taking RAW images, the camera also boasts a Xenon flash.
As you might expect, the camera can connect with both the Motorola Z Droid and Motorola Z Force Droid, too. Moreover, the other MotoMods launched in the last few weeks can be attached to the Moto Z Play Droid. We’ve already snapped a number of pictures with the Hasselblad MotoMod and will share those in our full review.
Battery
The phone comes with an internal, non-removable 3,510mAh battery. We’ve found that it lasts us well beyond two full days of use but we’re not using it as a daily driver just yet. Additionally, we’ve yet to load all of our apps and accounts to the handset so we do expect to see it drop. Charging is super fast, for what it’s worth, thanks to the TurboPower cable. According to Motorola, spending 15 minutes on the charger will result in 10 hours of power.
We’re really enjoying the Moto Z Play Droid so far and look forward to putting it through its paces. Look for a more thorough review in the coming days and weeks!
Tile introduces the Slim, its thinnest way to keep track of your stuff
Tile has introduced a thinner way to keep track of your favorite devices with the Tile Slim. Previously, Tile needed to go on a key ring and was a bit clunky, but their development team has redesigned it to be much thinner. Now you can stick a Tile to your computer, tablet and other devices.
For those not familiar, Tile is a Bluetooth tracking device that can help you locate your items by sound when it is out of sight. If the audible alert doesn’t help you find it, you can hop into the app and check its last known location on a map, and even use the Tile community to help you find the item. It also works the other way around, and you can press the Tile to sound an alarm to help find your phone.
With it being so thick previously, there was no way to secure it to your laptop or tablet, or even put it in your wallet comfortably. Tile has fixed both of those issues with the Slim by thinning it down to the size of just two credit cards, which is super slim. In addition, the company is now offering adhesive pads online so you can stick the tracker to your laptop, camera or other devices with ease.
Tile is selling the Slim for $30 each, or $100 for the 4 pack, and you can pick up four of the adhesive pads for just $5.
See at Tile
Best car mounts for Galaxy Note 7
What are the best car mounts for the Galaxy Note 7?
The Galaxy Note 7 is such a beautifully designed phone, you may never want to put it down. Of course, you should always put your phone down when you’re behind the wheel. Beyond it becoming increasingly illegal in different jurisdictions, it’s just good common sense.
That’s where a convenient car mount can make all the difference. You’ll still have one-touch access for accepting calls or skipping tracks on the road trip playlist. Car mounts keep your phone accessible by attaching to your windshield, dashboard, air vent or even your car’s CD changer. There’s a ton of variety, so find the one that will be most convenient for your vehicle.
- Spigen Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount
- iOttie Easy One Touch Wireless Qi Car Mount
- Anker CD Slot Magnetic Universal Phone Holder
- Kenu Airframe Plus Portable Car Mount
- Spigen Style Ring
Spigen Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount
Spigen makes a lot of really ingeniously designed smartphone accessories, and their Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount is as convenient as it gets. The mount itself quickly and securely clips onto an air vent on the dash.
As the name suggests, this mount secures using magnets. That will require you to attach a metal plate to the back of your phone, or better yet to your Galaxy Note 7’s case. Once installed, all you have to do is hold your phone close to the mount and it pops right on. With no clips or holsters to deal with, you can easily grab your phone with one hand as you leave the car. You can also take the Spigen clip with you and use it as a portable kickstand which holds your phone at the perfect hands free viewing angle.
But for all the positives, there are some drawbacks to this design. Adhering the metal plate on to back of the phone may potentially interfere with wireless charging and the NFC-based Samsung Pay service. If these are important features to you, you may want to look elsewhere, or slap the metal plate on the inside of a thin case so you can quickly pop your phone out when you want to wirelessly charge or pay via NFC.
See at Amazon
iOttie Easy One Touch Wireless Qi Car Mount
From a car mount that might interfere with wireless charging to a car mount that supports wireless charging, the iOttie Easy One Touch Wireless Qi is the ideal mount if you prefer your Galaxy Note 7 to be fully charged when you reach your destination.
This mount attaches to your dashboard or windshield and features a two-step locking mechanism to accommodate both smooth and textured surfaces. It includes a micro USB charging cable to provide power to the Qi wireless charging pad, so you’ll also need a USB car adapter to get full functionality. Mounting your phone is simple. The one-touch button on the back closes the arms around your Galaxy Note 7, holding it securely in place. It features a telescopic arm that’s adjustable up to 180 degrees along with a ball joint so you can set your phone exactly where it’s most convenient for you. Grabbing your phone is just as easy — simply press in the two arms to release your phone and be on your way.
See at Amazon
Anker CD Slot Magnetic Universal Phone Holder
If your car has a CD changer, but you’ve moved beyond physical media thanks to, say, cramming all your favorite music onto your new Galaxy Note 7, you can still get use out of that CD slot — with the Anker CD Slot Magnetic Universal Phone Holder.
The CD changer is typically the centerpiece of a car’s console, so using it as a place to mount your phone just makes sense. Anker’s mount uses a rubber-coated clamp provides a firm grip while keeping the CD slot scratch-free. Installing is as easy as inserting the mount into the cd play and flipping the lever on the bottom.
Like the Spigen above, this car mount also uses magnets to securely hold your phone, meaning you’ll need to mount a metal plate to the back of your phone or to a thin case. Similar issues may arise regarding regarding wireless charging or your phone’s NFC capabilities, so keep that in mind.
See at Amazon
Kenu Airframe Plus Portable Car Mount+
Minimalism and simplicity are important features for a lot of people. The Kenu Airframe Plus+ is a simple car mount that’s slim enough to comfortably fit in your pocket, but securely holds your phone by clipping to an air vent.
There’s really not too much to this one — no suction cups, adhesives or adjustable arms — so there’s less places for this mount to break or fail. The clip is able to mount to any vent type, whether they be horizontal, vertical, angled or circular. It’s so portable that you can take it with you and also use it as a kickstand. Simply slip a business card or something of a similar size in the clip on the back and it will stand on its own.
Versatile, simple and portable — what more could you want?
See at Amazon
Spigen Style Ring
This little accessory from Spigen is handy in a bunch of ways, but we’ll be focusing on the car mount feature.
While the Style Ring might be the star of the show, the adhesive-backed hook mount is so incredibly handy. Simply clean off an area of your dash, peek off the backing and press and hold it onto the dash until you’ve got it securely mounted.
Once you’ve installed the Style Ring on your phone or phone case, the next time you hop in the car you simply loop the style ring around the hook mount and press. There’s a little divot built for the swivelling post in the center so you can push the phone until you feel it pop in to know that phone ain’t going anywhere — that is until you arrive at your destination and pop it off the hook mount. The way the Style Ring swivels lets you easily rotate your Galaxy Note 7 from portrait to landscape mode and since there’s no arms or attachments gripping your phone around the edges, it will appear as if your phone is just sort of floating on your dash.
See at Amazon
How do you drive with your Galaxy Note 7?
Did we miss your favorite car mount on our list? Leave us a comment below!
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier and Gear S3 Classic specs
They cram a lot inside these watches.
Samsung’s Gear S3 Frontier and Classic are notably larger than their predecessors, but that means they hold improved specs, larger displays and perhaps most importantly a bigger battery. Though the specs aren’t groundbreaking, the fact that they all fit in a smartwatch size is pretty impressive, and the Gear S3 Frontier and Classic make it look good as well. Here’s the full spec list:
| Screen size | 1.3-inch circular AMOLED360x360 resolution, 278 ppiCorning Gorilla Glass SR+ |
| Processor | Dual-core 1GHz Samsung Exynos |
| RAM | 768MB |
| Storage | 4GB |
| Operating system | Tizen Wearable OS 2.3.2 |
| Battery | 380 mAh |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC, MSTLTE optional (Frontier) |
| Resistance | IP68MIL-STD 810G (Frontier) |
| Case size | 46 mm |
| Band size | 22 mm |
| Dimensions | 46 x 49 x 12.9 mm, 62 g (Frontier)46 x 49 x 12.9 mm, 57 g (Classic) |
AIVAnet 