Amazon’s standalone music streaming service is finally here
Based on a string of rumors that began circulating in January of this year, it was only a matter of time before Amazon rolled out its fully fledged music service. And today is that day. Enter Amazon Music Unlimited, a standalone offering set to rival the likes of Apple Music and Spotify. It is, of course, a complement to Prime Music, the free streaming service for people who are part of Amazon’s $99-per-year membership. Naturally, Prime subscribers get the benefit of paying less for Music Unlimited: $8 monthly compared to $10 for everyone else.
Now, the service is even cheaper if you own an Echo speaker. Amazon has a $4-per-month tier, dubbed “For Echo,” which gives you full access to the service on one Echo, Echo Dot or Amazon Tap device. The company says “tens of millions of songs” are part of its catalogue, including over two million that were already available on Prime Music, but it did not share specific numbers when asked. That said, Director of Amazon Music Ryan Redington tells Engadget that all three major labels are onboard — Sony, Universal and Warner.
As part of the launch, Amazon redesigned its Music app for iOS, Android, desktop and Fire products from the ground up. Not only will it work for both Prime Music and Music Unlimited users (including offline), but Redington says every aspect of the application has been tweaked to be simpler and easier to navigate. But the most important part about Music Unlimited, he notes, is the integration with Alexa and Echo devices. For example, you can say things like, “Alexa, play the song of the day?” or “Alexa, play Greenday’s latest album?”
What’s more, Redington says Alexa is capable of playing tracks based on your mood, as well as tell you who sings a song even if you only know part of the lyrics. I was given a demo of these features and they worked seamlessly, but that’s not really surprising since Alexa has an excellent reputation as a virtual assistant. Redington claims Alexa will keep getting better with time too, as it learns more about your listening habits through Amazon Music Unlimited.
For Prime members, Amazon Music Unlimited seems to be a no brainer, namely because it only costs $8 per month. Apple Music and Spotify, for reference, are $10 each for a regular, non-student account. That said, it might be hard for people who already have a streaming sub elsewhere to jump ship — building a whole new library and set of playlists would be a tedious process.
Music Unlimited is only available for US customers right now, but the company says it “will continue to expand and enhance” the service. For starters, it’s expected to launch in the UK, Germany and Austria later this year, though no clear timeline was given by Amazon. A family plan is also going to be available soon, which will allow up to six people to stream music simultaneously for $15 monthly.
According to Redington, the long-rumored service was part of Amazon’s business strategy since the launch of Prime Music in 2014. Still, it wasn’t until this year that his team actually went all in on the idea, with the goal being to develop a “fun and engaging” product. And with Alexa and Echo in people’s homes now, he says, it felt like the natural time to introduce Music Unlimited. It sounds like a good start, but we’ll see if listeners are willing to give it a chance in the crowded music-streaming space.
Boeing pushes space taxi’s first ISS mission to late 2018
Boeing’s CS-100 Starliner won’t be ferrying astronauts to the ISS until December 2018 (or maybe even later), according to Aviation Week. The aerospace corp was supposed to help end NASA’s dependence on Russia’s Soyuz rockets by 2017, but it announced in May this year that its space taxi won’t be ready until mid-2018. Unfortunately, Boeing has no choice but to delay that historic flight even further due to a handful of manufacturing issues.
Aviation Week says Boeing had to scrap one of the Starliner’s major structural elements due to a design flaw. The company also experienced difficulties making the most complex components of the spacecraft. John Mulholland, Starliner’s program manager, said his team already worked through these problems, but it took them a couple of months longer than expected. “When we were faced with these issues it was time for us to step back and say: ‘Hey listen, we have to readdress [this] and say what’s real and lay in where we are going forward’,” he explained.
As a result, the unmanned orbital flight test that was originally going to take place in December 2017 is now scheduled for June 2018. Starliner’s first ever manned flight that was supposed to launch in February 2018 now won’t take place until August that year. NASA wasn’t taken by surprise, though: the agency’s Office of Inspector General spotted issues with the development of both the Starliner and SpaceX’s Dragon 2 capsule. The office recently published a report saying it doesn’t expect both companies to be able to take astronauts to the ISS before 2018.
NASA commissioned both Boeing and SpaceX to build space taxis that can take its astronauts to orbit back in 2012. The project originally aimed for a 2015 launch, but that proved to be unrealistic. Elon Musk’s company has yet to reveal whether it’s also pushing back the Dragon 2’s first manned flight to the ISS, though. If it manages to stick to schedule, it’ll be able send astronauts to the station as soon as 2017. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility for SpaceX to follow Boeing’s lead, considering one of its Falcon 9 rockets blew up on the launch pad in September.
Via: The Verge
Source: Aviation Week
Samsung says Canadians can return their Note 7s for a refund or GS7 replacement
How do I return my Galaxy Note 7 in Canada?
Samsung Canada has issued a statement assuring Canadians that starting October 13 they will be able to bring their original or replacement Galaxy Note 7s to their point of purchase for a full refund or exchange.
The notice comes after Samsung’s unprecedented global cancellation of the popular flagship. In a press release, Samsung Canada’s COO & EVP, Mobile and Enterprise Solutions, Paul Brannen, said, “We are committed to working closely with our carrier and retail partners to make this as easy as possible for consumers. We appreciate the support we’ve received over the past few weeks.”
Canadians will be able to bring their devices into their point of purchase for a full refund, including all accessories purchased at the same location, or an exchange for a brand new Galaxy S7 or S7 edge, with an equivalent outfit of peripherals. The company also notes that customers who purchased the Note 7 unlocked through Samsung.com will receive an individual message from a representative in the coming days to arrange an exchange or refund.
More: Samsung going to great lengths to force return of recalled Note 7s
Have you dealt with Samsung Canada’s return or exchange process for the Note 7? Let us know in the comments!
Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Galaxy Note 7 fires, recall and cancellation: Everything you need to know
- Do not buy a Galaxy Note 7
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 review
- The latest Galaxy Note 7 news
- Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!
HP’s new laptops and all-in-one are slimmer than ever
Just as it did last year, HP is updating its convertible, all-in-one and thin-and-light laptop again. This time, the company is making sure its devices are (more than) slim enough for your bags and crowded desks. In addition to losing weight and girth, the Envy 13, the Spectre x360 13.3 and the 27-inch Envy All-In-One and display are all getting refreshed with the latest processors and improved battery lives (for the laptops). While neither the new Envy 13 nor the Spectre x360 convertible can steal the title of skinniest notebook from the Spectre laptop, they’re still impressively svelte with profiles measuring just 14mm and 13.8mm respectively.
Both the new Envy 13 laptop and Spectre x360 convertible offer configurations with the latest seventh-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, up to 1TB solid state drives as well as Bang & Olufsen audio enhancements. They’re supposed to last 15 and 14 hours respectively and support HP Fast Charge. The latter is supposed to bring the laptops’ batteries from zero to 90 percent in 90 minutes of charging.
The new Spectre convertible looks as gorgeous as it did before, but now has a new hinge, smaller size and a so-called micro-edge display bezel that’s narrower than its predecessor. It also has a new dual fan design to keep it cool when it’s running taxing tasks. You’ll get a full HD IPS display and two USB Type C ports that support Thunderbolt 3. In addition to a webcam with a 12 percent wider field of view than before, the x360 also sports an infrared camera that enables Windows Hello for face-recognition logins.
Display options are aplenty on the new Envy. You can pick from full HD, quad HD and ultra HD display resolutions with touchscreen choices starting from QHD. It now has two USB 3.0 ports (one of which is dedicated to sleep and charge), as well as one USB Type C slot. Like the Spectre x360, it also has a narrower bezel.
For those interested in larger systems for the desktop, HP’s also refreshed its Envy AIO 27 to feature an integrated four speaker sound bar and a floating Technicolor Color Certified HD display that is 15 mm thin. The motherboard has been moved to the base to make the screen as thin as it is, and you can pick from sixth-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 chips, as well as an optional discrete NVIDIA GTX 950M graphics card.
The Spectre x360 is already available today, starting at $1,050, while the Envy is out on October 26 for a base price of $850. The Envy All-In-One 27 is expected to retail later this month starting at $1,300.
Graphene-fed silkworms can spin super threads
Turns out graphene, the wonder material with so many potential applications, is also the secret sauce to making tougher silk. A team of scientists from Tsinghua University in Beijing successfully created silk that’s twice as tough simply by feeding the material to silkworms. In order to do so, they coated leaves with a solution that contains either carbon nanotubes or graphene. Carbon nanotubes are essentially rolled up graphene, which is a single layer of tightly packed carbon atoms. The researchers opted for the feeding method, because it’s much simpler and more environmentally friendly than treating the final product in chemicals.
Upon closer inspection, the team found that their “super silk” can conduct electricity and has a more ordered crystal structure than typical silk. The carbon materials weren’t visible in cross sections of the silk threads, probably because they only made up 0.2 percent of the aqueous solution’s weight. Still, the final product can withstand 50 percent more stress than usual before breaking. The scientists still don’t know how much of the the carbon materials made it to final product and how much ended up excreted or metabolized, though. That’s something they’ll have to figure out when they conduct further studies.
This experiment proves, though, that it’s possible to make super silk in big batches by feeding worms graphene. The team believes that in the future, the tougher silk could be used to make biodegradable medical implants and even eco-friendly wearable electronics.
Source: Scientific American
Apple Announces New R&D Center in Shenzhen, China to Attract Software Developers
Apple announced tonight that it would open a new research and development center in Shenzhen, China, continuing attempts to boost its presence in the country, reports Reuters. The move comes a couple weeks after Apple opened a Beijing R&D center, which was announced in August.
Shenzhen’s High-Tech Industrial Park, Photo by Brucke Osteuropa
Cook announced the new Shenzhen plan during a meeting with officials from the city. The Apple CEO is reportedly attending a “nation-wide innovation” event.
“We are excited to be opening a new Research and Development center here next year so our engineering team can work even more closely and collaboratively with our manufacturing partners,” Cupertino-based Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock said in emailed comments.
Apple is interested in attracting talented software developers in Shenzhen to its platform. The Cupertino company told Reuters that the new Shenzhen and Beijing centers are aimed at “strengthening relationships” with local partners and universities across the country.
The new centers are also seen as the company’s response to concern about its future in China, where consumers are opting for low-cost alternatives to the iPhone. Additionally, Apple has experienced a number of road blocks in its China plans, including the closure of the iTunes and iBooks stores.
Apple has also set up R&D centers in Japan, Israel and the U.K, and is reportedly planning similar centers in Canada, India, Vietnam and more.
Tag: China
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Everything you need to know about achievement badges in Pokemon Go – CNET
Badges in Pokemon Go. The ones with catch bonuses are below the dividing line.
Screenshot by Alina Bradford/CNET
If you tap on the icon your Pokemon Go character in the lower left-hand side of the screen, the game will open the information page for your avatar. If you scroll further down, you’ll notice circles labeled with various titles. These are achievement badges.
The purpose of achievement badges
Achievement badges are awarded to you when you reach certain milestones in the game. Before the 0.41.2 Android and 1.11.2 iOS update, the badges were only used to track your stats, so you could easily see how you were doing and brag to your friends. Now, when you complete a badges for catching certain types of Pokemon you get a catch bonus.
Catch bonuses can help you snag rare Pokemon. For example, if you get the gold Bird Keeper achievement, you’ll get a +3 flying-type catch bonus. This means you’ll be more likely to catch a Charizard, Aerodactyl or a Farfetch’d.
Gaining achievement levels
Once you gain an achievement, it isn’t over. All achievement badges have various levels. The higher the level, the better the catch bonus:
- Bronze gives you a +1 catch bonus
- Silver gives you a +2 bonus
- Gold gives you a +3 bonus
To go up levels, you must catch more Pokemon of the same type: 10 Pokemon will get you bronze level, 50 Pokemon gets you silver, 200 gets you gold.
The Android and iOS update made it so you can easily see what type of Pokemon you’re catching, while you’re in the process of catching it. An icon will pop up above the Pokemon that will display its type as soon as you start to battle and disappears after a few seconds.
Type icons can be found above the Pokemon you’re trying to capture.
Screenshot by Alina Bradford/CNET
Here are the icons and how they correspond with each type:
- Green bug icon = bug-type
- Grey circle icon = normal-type
- Purple wing icon = flying-type
- Pink ring-shaped icon = poison-type
- Drop of water icon = water-type
- Green leaf icon = grass-type
- Mountain icon = ground-type
- Orange flame icon = fire-type
- Lightning bolt icon = electric-type
- Red swirl icon = psychic-type
- Fist icon = fighting-type
- Rock icon = rock-type
- Ghost icon = ghost-type
- Nut icon = steel-type
- Snowflake = ice-type
- Dragon icon = dragon-type
- Star icon = fairy-type
These icons will also let you know where you’re at in your achievement level. For example, if the icon is surrounded with a silver circle, that means you have gotten your silver achievement level, but haven’t reached your gold, yet. No ring around your icon means that you haven’t completed any of the levels.
What about Pokemon that are two different types? If a Pokemon has more than one type, there will be more than one icon displayed over it. Your bonus will be the average of your bonuses for each type.
“For example, Pidgey is both Normal and Flying type. Your bonus in this case would be the average of your normal-type and flying-type bonuses,” according to Niantic.
Badge meanings
Some of the badge meanings are pretty obvious, while others are not. Here’s a rundown of many of the badges and their meanings. If you don’t see all of these badges, don’t worry. Once you have completed a badge it often disappears from the list. Some achievement badges don’t appear on the list at all.
Only some badges give you a catch bonus. The ones that give you a catch bonus are:
- Schoolkid: This is an easy award to achieve bronze. All you need to do is catch 10 normal-type Pokemon. This is another time catching all of those Rattatas pays off. Some normal Pokemon include Rattata, Tauros, Eevee, Snorlax, Meowth and Porygon.
- Bird Keeper: If Pidgeys are the bane of your Pokemon Go existence, take heart. Each Pidgey capture counts toward this badge. You’ll need Pidgeys, or any flying-type Pokemon, to get bronze.
- Punk Girl: You get this by catching poison-type Pokemon. While some say that these can be found around bogs, wetlands, lakes and moors, I’ve found that they appear randomly.
- Bug Catcher: This is the one time in life when you need more bugs. You get this when you capture bug-type Pokemon. Grassy areas such as parks, playgrounds and farms are good places to look for bug types.
- Swimmer: Catch water types and you’ll get this award. Some of the best places to find water types are by ponds, lakes, beaches and fountains.
- Gardener: Grass-type Pokemon are found typically in rural areas. You’ll need 10 grass types to get bronze. Look for them in rural areas, forests and parks. They’ve also been found in parking lots.
- Ruin Maniac: This award is given to you when you get ground-type Pokemon. Finding these Pokemon is simple, they’re pretty much everywhere the ground is found.
- Kindler: Nabbing fire-type Pokemon will get you this badge. While no one is sure about the best places to find fire types, some say to try by gas stations, fire departments and residential areas.
- Rocker: Nope, this one isn’t for rock types. You need electric-types to get this badge. Dry, concrete covered areas are the best places to look for this type.
- Psychic: Psychic-types are needed to get this award. You’ll find the bulk of these around hospitals, but you may also find them in parks or in grassy areas.
- Black Belt: Got fighting-type Pokemon? This badge counts how many you’ve gotten and awards you when you reach 10. These types are said to be found around stadiums, arenas and real-life gyms.
- Hiker: Rock types get you bronze with this badge.
- Hex Maniac: Catch ghost type Pokemon and you’ll get this badge. Ghost types come out at night, so plan a nighttime Pokehunt with your friends.
- Depot Agent: Steel type Pokemon are needed to get bronze with this badge.
- Skier: You’ll need to catch ice type Pokemon for this badge. This award is much easier to get if you live near cold parts of the world. You can also find them in grassy areas, though, if you’re in a warmer area.
- Dragon Tamer: If you’re lucky enough to find 10 dragon type Pokemon you’ll get bronze with this badge.
- Fairy Tale Girl: Catch fairy type Pokemon to get this award. You can find this type at town landmarks.
There are many other badges that don’t earn you catch bonuses, but they’re still pretty fun. Each one has bronze, silver and gold levels, too.
Here’s a few:
- Travel: These badges are awarded when you walk certain distances. All you need to do to get them is just to walk 10, 100 and 1,000 kilometers to get all three levels.
- Jogger: This badge isn’t about how much you run while playing the game. It actually keeps track of how far you’ve walked, total. When you get to 100 kilometers, the badge is awarded to your character.
- Pokedex: This badge is awarded when you capture new Pokemon. It has a bronze, silver and gold levels. The more Pokemon you capture to your Pokedex, the higher the level you are awarded.
- Kanto: This badge is awarded to you when you register 5, 50 and 100 Pokemon in your Pokedex. Don’t get this confused with your overall catches. Catching 50 Rattatas won’t get you any closer to getting this award, though, only new Pokemon listed in your Pokedex count.
- Collector: Now this is the badge where catching all those Rattatas pays off. When you get to 30, 500 and 2,000 captured Pokemon, no matter the type or how many types you’ve caught them, you are rewarded with this badge. Catch every Pokemon you see to get this award faster.
- Scientist: This badge counts how many Pokemon you have evolved. When you evolve 3, 20 and 200 monsters, you receive the award. Remember, lower level Pokemon take less candy to evolve and you can transfer the evolved Pokemon for candy.
- Breeder: The breeder badge keeps track of the eggs you have hatched. When you get to 10, 100 and 500 eggs hatched eggs hatched, you receive the levels of this badge. Learn more about hatching eggs with these tips.
- Backpacker: Love PokeStops? Then this badge will be easy. It counts how many PokeStops you have visited and you’ll get all three levels after a whopping 100, 1,000 and 2,000 visits. Take a look at this article to make finding PokeStops easier.
- Fisherman: Catch 3, 50 and 300 Magikarps to get all three levels of this badge.
- Battle Girl: To get all three levels of this badge you must win over 10, 100 and 1,000 gym battles. If you’re not that great at battles, don’t worry. You don’t have to beat the entire gym, just the individual Pokemon guarding the gym for it to count. If you can beat the lowest level Pokemon guarding the gym, that’s all you need.
- Ace Trainer: This counts how many times you train your Pokemon and awards you bronze after 10 training sessions, silver after 100 and gold after 1,000 training sessions. To train, go a gym that is run by your team and tap on the icon of the boxing glove in the bottom right-hand corner.
- Youngster: Catch 3, 50 and 300 tiny Rattatas to get the bronze, silver and gold. How are tiny Rattatas different than regular ones? They have a lower weight. You’ll just need to catch a bunch of Rattatas to get this one.
- Pikachu Fan: All you have to do to get this one is catch three Pikachus to get to the first level achievement. Easier said than done, right? Here’s a tip for getting your first Pikachu. Look for this little electric type in cemented, dry areas. I found one on a sidewalk by a light pole, for instance.
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Samsung ArtPC Pulse Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET
Screenshot by Patrick Holland/CNET
Recently, all the news about Samsung seems to revolve around the Note 7 and its problematic battery. Though, it should be noted that Samsung revealed a cool-looking cylindrical desktop computer: the “ArtPC Pulse Premium.”
Despite its size, the ArtPC has decent consumer-friendly specs and yet should be able to handle some occasional gaming on its AMD Radeon RX 460 graphics chip. Of course, until we get our hands on it to test, we won’t know for sure.
The most appealing part for me is the cylindrical design that features a built-in omnidirectional Harmon Kardon speaker. Combining a desktop computer with the body of a speaker isn’t new — check out the HP Pavilion Wave. The fit and finish of the Samsung seems premium — which is probably why Samsung included that word in the name.
The ArtPC continues the trend of stout cylindrical computers: the MSI Vortex and let us not forget the 1,027-day-old Mac Pro.
The ArtPC Pulse Premium is available to preorder on Amazon in two configurations. It will be available starting October 28 in the US. At this time, Samsung doesn’t have any more info to share.
Side and top view of the “Samsung ArtPC Pulse Premium.”
Screenshot by Patrick Holland/CNET
The original ‘Red Dead’ is on PlayStation 4
Sure, Xbox One owners have been able to play Red Dead Redemption since this summer, but Sony fans have been left out in the cold on PlayStation 4. Well, that’s sort of changing. The game’s progenitor, Red Dead Revolver, is the latest PlayStation 2 port from Rockstar Games to grace the PS4. But unlike past instances, you won’t have to wait a week for the game to mosey over to the US PlayStation store from its European counterpart.
Naturally, playing it on PS4 brings 1080p upscaling, support for trophies, Shareplay, Remote Play and, if you haven’t sold off your PS Vita or uninstalled the PlayStation app from your mobile gizmo, game manuals via your second screen of choice.
Sure, this feels like getting Google Cardboard when you asked for an HTC Vive for your birthday, but it lays the groundwork for us (possibly, finally, hopefully) getting closer to another Red Dead sequel. Hell, maybe it’ll even come out for PC. While I’m dreaming, maybe Sony will put a UHD Blu-ray drive in the PS4 Pro too.
Red Dead Revolver is up on US PSN https://t.co/XwhK3c61Xq pic.twitter.com/gJctvVEE8C
— Wario64 (@Wario64) October 11, 2016
Via: PlayStation Blog
Source: PlayStation Store
NYT: Samsung engineers can’t replicate Galaxy Note 7 problems
Even though Galaxy Note 7 production has shut down and the phones should be on their way back to Samsung in fireproof boxes, the question of how everything went so wrong has yet to be answered. When it initiated a recall on September 2nd, the company said that “we conducted a thorough investigation and found a battery cell issue.” However, today when it announced a permanent end to manufacturing, there was no word on the problem. A report by the New York Times indicates that despite assigning “hundreds” of employees, they have not been able to reproduce the spontaneously smoky, blazing hot phones too many customers have experienced.
This video obtained by the Associated Press shows a woman in Honolulu with her Galaxy Note 7 as it began to smoke Sunday morning. The initial recall focused on phones with batteries built by Samsung’s SDI subsidiary and came alongside a software update to limit charging, but that has clearly not solved the problem. While some speculation has centered around USB-C cables or quick charging, there’s still no indication of exactly what is wrong.
In an interview with the Times, Park Chul-wan, the former director of the Center for Advanced Batteries at the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, said that based on a review of regulatory documents and speaking to engineers “I think there was nothing wrong with them (batteries) or that they were not the main problem.”
That news may be bittersweet for another company: TDK. The Financial Times writes that it was contracted to provide batteries for the replacement models, and the decision to scrap the devices entirely may put a hold on any suggestion that its batteries were to blame. In response to the NYT report, Samsung pointed to its earlier statement about cancelling production, we will keep you updated if there are any new developments in this story.
Source: New York Times, Financial Times
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