ICYMI: Soon flying UAVs could pick stuff up; carry it away
Today on In Case You Missed It: A large format hexacopter with mechanical gripper arms is all set to swoop in on your backyard and move some chairs around. Going by the Prodrone’s YouTube video, it can carry 10 kilograms.
Meanwhile, MIT and Georgia Tech researchers developed an imaging system that can read the first nine pages of a closed book. MIT worked out the computational device while Georgia created the algorithm to separate layers of letters.
If you want to see the macro video, that’s here, while the Boston Dynamics Atlas robot update is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Facebook, Google urge Congress to hand over internet control
On October 1st, the US is supposed to hand the “keys” of the internet to ICANN, and Congress is not happy about it. The mostly Republican lawmakers, led by Ted Cruz, feel that ceding control will stifle online freedom and give power to authoritarian governments. However, technology companies including Facebook, Google and Twitter penned an open letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to hand internet domain control to the international community as promised.
The final proposal, drafted by “proud and active members of the internet community,” goes well beyond the US Commerce Department’s original criteria, set in 2014, according to the document. “Furthermore, crucial safeguards are in place to protect human rights, including the freedom of speech,” it adds.
A global, interoperable and stable Internet is essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to completing the nearly twenty year transition to … [a] model that will best serve U.S. interests.
The internet is currently controlled by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and has been since its birth. However, many nations are understandably skittish about full US control over what is, after all, the “World Wide Web.” As such, the US agreed to cede control to ICANN, an international body with representatives from academia, government agencies like NASA, corporations and protocol bodies like the Internet Systems Consortium.
Congress will hold a hearing on the handover tomorrow, September 14th. Cruz is expected to grill the NTIA and ICANN on whether they’re fully prepared to deal with censorship attempts by China, Russia and other authoritarian nations. In support of Cruz, Senator Orrin Hatch said earlier this week, “charging ahead with the transition now could undermine internet freedom.”
However, the tech companies wrote that the transition is “ready to be executed,” and that it’s “imperative” that Congress not hold it up. “A global, interoperable and stable Internet is essential for our economic and national security, and we remain committed to completing the nearly twenty year transition to … [a] model that will best serve U.S. interests.”
Via: Reuters
Source: Circle ID
TI’s educational coding tool plugs into your calculator
Despite all the phones and tablets out there, Texas Instruments’ graphing calculators continue to survive. The company’s latest classroom tool even turns them into a device that can teach kids coding and engineering. TI-Innovator Hub plugs into the company’s graphing calculators a lot of middle- and high-school students already have. It’s a palm-sized board with a microcontroller that gives kids a way to build simple engineering projects. They could make LEDs light up, play notes or make small toys move by plugging the components into the hub and writing a program on the calculator.
It transforms TI’s calculator into a pretty cool toy, and based on the video below, it looks like kids find it fun. “Before, I really wasn’t interested in what programming was. But after I started working with the Innovator, it was like a whole new world was opened,” one eighth grader named Jasmine Jones-Pas said. As a nice plus, it’s enclosed in a durable case, since the hub was designed for kids. The bad news is you can’t get one for yourself — it’s not out for sale online or in retail stores and is only available from instructional product dealers.
Source: Texas Instruments
New ‘Shovel Knight’ expansion haunts the chapel next spring
One of the best throwback games in recent memory is definitely Shovel Knight from developer Yacht Club Games. Last September (it’s been that long?), the team dropped the free “Plague of Shadows” expansion for all platforms. This year, we have word of when the next add-on will release. “Specter of Torment” will come out sometime next spring, according to a tweet from Yacht Club. Not much else is known at the moment, but the team did offer a huge update back in June all about new protagonist Specter Knight — wall climb! Dash slash!
pic.twitter.com/wOIa8nAx4q
— Yacht Club Games (@YachtClubGames) September 12, 2016
So, if you’re looking for more details to hold you over until the trees start blooming next year, maybe hit that up. Like the expansions prior, this update will be absolutely, 100 percent free. Still not enough nostalgia for you? Well, then perhaps the RetroUSB AVS console can breathe some new life into your old NES games that inspired Shovel Knight.
Via: Nintendo World Report
Source: Yacht Club Games (Twitter)
iPhone 7 Broke T-Mobile’s All-Time Sales Record on Pre-Order Day
Apple opened pre-orders for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus last Friday at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, and T-Mobile has now revealed that the smartphones shattered all of the carrier’s previous iPhone pre-order records. T-Mobile said pre-orders from Friday through Monday were up nearly 4x compared to the iPhone 6 series two years ago.
T-Mobile also announced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus set a single day sales record for any smartphones ever in the carrier’s history, although it stopped short of sharing any specific numbers. iPhone 7 was already T-Mobile’s top pre-registered smartphone ever, topping pre-registrations for both iPhone 6s and iPhone 6.
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be available beginning September 16 at T-Mobile stores in the U.S. and on its website. Its prepaid brand MetroPCS customers will carry the smartphones beginning September 23. iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models from AT&T and T-Mobile do not support CDMA networks such as Verizon and Sprint.
T-Mobile is offering a free 32GB iPhone 7 to new or existing customers who trade in their fully functional iPhone 6 or later sans water damage or a shattered screen. A two-year financing agreement is required.
Tag: T-Mobile
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Twelve South Debuts New HiRise 2 for iPhone and iPad
Twelve South today announced the launch of a revamped HiRise, its popular stand for the iPhone and the iPad. The HiRise 2 features an all new design with with a smaller overall footprint but a heavier overall body, so it’s better able to hold up larger devices like the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.
Due to its small size, it’s not recommended for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but it works with all other Lightning-based devices, including Apple’s new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. It charges all kinds of Apple devices, like the Magic Mouse, the Apple Remote, and even the upcoming AirPods (through the included case).
Along with a new design, the HiRise 2 comes in two new colors, a matte black to match the new “Black” iPhone and a matte white shade.
The basic HiRise 2 is priced at $39.99 and is available in black or silver, and users must provide their own Lightning cables. The HiRise 2 Deluxe is available in black, silver, or white for $59.99 and ships with both an MFi-certified Lightning cable and a micro-USB cable so either iOS devices or devices that require a USB cable (including many iOS device battery cases) can be charged.
The HiRise 2 is available from the Twelve South website starting today.
Tag: Twelve South
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iOS 10 Bug Breaks Kwikset Kevo’s Touch-to-Open Functionality
Kwikset has announced that its Kevo smart lock’s touch-to-open technology will only work on iOS 10 if the Kevo app is open and visible on an iPhone’s screen, due to a bug related to Bluetooth LE peripheral mode.
Kwikset said it is working closely with Apple to support a solution that will restore the functionality as quick as possible. iOS 10 will be publicly released later today, so the fix will likely be included in a subsequent software update.
In the meantime, Kwikset offers some temporary solutions for continuing to use Kevo’s touch-to-open functionality:
– When at your door, open the Kevo app on your iOS phone or smart device, making sure you can see the app on your device screen and touch the Kevo smart lock on your door
– When at your door, open the Kevo app on your iOS phone or smart device, making sure you can see the app on your device screen, and use the app to lock and unlock the door (In Home Locking and Unlocking)
– If you have a Kevo key fob, the Touch-to-Open functionality of Kevo will still work
Kwikset said the iOS 10 bug does not affect the security of Kevo smart locks, while the sending, receiving, and revoking of eKeys is also not affected.
Related Roundup: iOS 10
Tags: Bluetooth LE, Kwikset
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PS4 HDR update arrives, download firmware 4.0 right now
Sony has pushed out its latest software for the PlayStation 4 so you should find it waiting for you, either to download or already installed if you have updates set to do so automatically.
PlayStation system software 4.0 adds a few new features, including the much-talked about customisable folders, but the biggest addition comes in the form of High Dynamic Range picture technology.
HDR was promised during the Sony PlayStation Meeting event in New York last week and will be available on every PS4, including the soon-to-be-released new, slimmer model and the PS4 Pro, which is coming on 10 November.
It increases the colour gamut available to developers to add to their games, and the ability to render deeper black levels and brighter whites on TVs that support it. Netflix will also offer HDR video playback – along with 4K – on the Pro after launch.
Other additions in system software 4.0 include a refreshed user interface, a Quick Menu that now pops up without you having to leave your current game session, and better profiles, that show more details about the games you and your friends have been playing.
Perhaps even more handy for those thinking of upgrading to a PS4 Pro or even a Slim in the near future is a new data transfer feature. You can now transfer games, user info and save data from one PS4 to another over a wired LAN connection.
There are plenty of other tweaks too, just in time for the PS4 Slim to hit this week, on Thursday 15 September in the US, Friday 16 September.
Pixel Launcher: Leak shows the fresh Android face of the Pixel and Pixel XL
There’s been no shortage of leaks surrounding Google’s forthcoming smartphones, the latest of which have named them as the Pixel and the Pixel XL, rather than Nexus.
The thinking is that the Nexus programme is going to come to a halt, with Pixel taking over, and following the lines of the Pixel C tablet that launched in 2015.
- Google Nexus vs Google Pixel: What’s the difference?
One of the strange things that’s happened in 2016 is the release of the latest version of Android – 7.0 Nougat – a long time before the launch of new devices to showcase it. In previous years, Nexus phones have be the debut of the new software.
The narrative goes that Google’s new phones will launch with Android 7.1 Nougat instead, bringing in a few points of differentiation from for the rest of the devices out there.
One of the key elements will be a new launcher. In the past, Nexus devices have launched with the Google Now Launcher, but now we’re looking at a new Pixel Launcher, which has just been leaked online by @LlabTooFeR, a reliable Twitter source.
Google’s new Pixel Launcher. pic.twitter.com/g974gVOKzT
— LlabTooFeR (@LlabTooFeR) September 12, 2016
The Pixel Launcher originally leaked with the name “Nexus Launcher” and the change of name backs up the line of thinking that the new devices will be called Pixel, which neatly clears up that point of query.
The new Pixel Launcher changes the layout slightly, although it’s still about dropping widgets and folders on your home page. The Google quick search bar becomes a button, opening search with a tap and the old apps tray button that sat central, is now replaced with a swipe action, which is pretty slick. It also offers rotation, so can be used in landscape as well as portrait, which not all launchers offer.
There’s a slight tweak to accessing Google Now and changing the wallpapers, although on these early leaks things don’t quite work as cleanly as we’d expect the final release version to.
For those worrying about whether they’ll be able to get this launcher officially, we would expect Google to make it available through Google Play following the launch of the new Pixel handsets, which we think is on 4 October.
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know about the next Nexus
- Android Launchers: How to install, change and customise your phone
Set up your own Stingray cell dragnet with these leaked docs
The Stingray has been a controversial tool that police departments and government agencies have used to track mobile phone locations and monitor the metadata they send to cell towers. Its maker Harris Corporation has repeatedly denied requests to explain its inner workings, citing terrorist and criminal security concerns despite their frequent use without warrants. But The Intercept has acquired over 200 pages of documentation detailing several communication-intercepting setups of the company’s hardware and software.
We’ve known the basics of how devices like the Stingray work: By impersonating cell towers, they force phones to relay information through them, tracking individual phones via their International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). But haven’t known much about their capabilities, or really how their systems run. This information, split between manuals and documents for different Harris Corporation software and hardware, outlines how to set up a cell data dragnet using their software and IMSI-catching devices.
The takeaway is that these can be set up without a lot of technical know-how, as the documents give step-by-step instructions. Heck, The Intercept even acquired a video of the Windows-based Gemini software’s setup instruction. The software-and-hardware combinations are pretty robust: The Stingray II device, for example, can impersonate four cell towers simultaneously and monitor four cellular provider networks at once.
Further, according to its quick setup guide that The Intercept uploaded, Gemini lets operators track phones across GSM, CDMA, UMTS and LTE, meaning it can monitor most phones on the market. Users can tag multiple phones and monitor them as they move throughout an area, even nicknaming them to find later. Perhaps most insidious is the Gemini software’s capability to “listen and log over the air messages,” though it’s unclear how much metadata and communication content is saved.
“Stingray” has become a byword for the many devices, including different ones sold by Harris, that pose as cell towers to intercept phone data. In use since the mid-2000s, they came into the public eye after law enforcement used one to help catch a tax fraudster in 2008. The perpetrator fought it in court, claiming that tracking his phone calls and location via such a device violated his Fourth Amendment rights against illegal search and seizure. Since then, they’ve found their way into police departments and government agencies, from the NYPD, Department of Homeland Security and the IRS, to the UK and even a Canadian police station.
Whether police need warrants to monitor citizens with Stingrays has been legally debated. A year ago, the Department of Justice introduced new policy requiring its agents to get a warrant before tracking phones, with the DHS following suit a month later. A federal judge even dismissed evidence acquired by a Stingray without getting judicial permission. But police departments are another story, and often don’t have any policy restrictions on using such devices.
The Intercept believes that these manuals originated in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, though it’s uncertain if they’re up-to-date, as the most recent copyrights are dated 2014. Since these 200-plus pages are part of a larger cache acquired by the news outlet, we may see them release more documentation later that peels back more of the curtain shadowing Stingray policy and procedure.
Source: The Intercept
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