ICYMI: Genetically-modified mosquitoes are coming

Today on In Case You Missed It: Voters in the Florida Keys may have passed a measure to use bioengineered mosquitoes to combat the Zika virus and Dengue fever, but it’s still a battle to get a community to accept the insects. The FDA has approved use of altered bugs that are designed to mate, which would then result in offspring that would quickly die. You can get caught up on the back-and-forth, here.

Meanwhile Tesla and SolarCity are touting a small American Somoan island as an example of solar energy done right. With a mix of panels and Tesla Powerpacks, the community of about 600 people is at nearly 100 percent renewable energy for everything.

If you’re interested in the apple computers as planters, the artist’s work is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.

SpaceX to launch ocean-monitoring NASA satellite in 2021

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been awarded a new contract to launch a NASA satellite in 2021. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will begin at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, using a Falcon 9 rocket to take the research hardware into orbit. From there, NASA will conduct “the first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water,” taking detailed recordings that should explain how our oceans change over time. The total cost of the launch is said to be $112 million, however the money won’t be going to SpaceX alone. As the Verge reports, some is being put aside for other organisations providing “additional support.”

The deal is the latest example of SpaceX’s growing influence in the space sector. The company is aggressive and ambitious, fuelled by a billionaire set on colonizing Mars. There have been setbacks — a Falcon 9 exploded in Cape Canaveral in September — but overall, SpaceX is making progress. The rocket manufacturer is handling resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and is currently developing a manned version of its Dragon spacecraft. Back in January, the company delivered the ocean-scanning Jason-3 satellite for NASA and a few other scientific agencies; next year, it should be launching the planet seeking TESS satellite.

In a tweet, SpaceX said: “We appreciate NASA’s support and confidence.”

Source: NASA, The Verge

B&H Has a 9.7″ iPad Pro With Wi-Fi + 4G LTE for Just $529 — 3 Hours Only

B&H Photo Video is offering the 9.7-inch iPad Pro (32GB, Wi-Fi + 4G LTE, Rose Gold) for just $529 today, a savings of $200 off its regular price of $729.

The deal is one of the best we’ve seen for any Wi-Fi or cellular 9.7-inch iPad Pro this week. But hurry, as the sale only runs until 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday.

MacRumors is an affiliate partner with B&H Photo Video and may sometimes get paid if you click one of the above links and purchase a product or service.

Related Roundup: Black Friday
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Amazon’s Black Friday deals are live: Fire tablet for $33, Honor 8 for $259, and much more!

Get ready to spend a whole lot of money on Amazon.

Amazon has kicked off its Black Friday deals, offering heavy discounts across a variety of categories. We’ve got a constantly updated list of all the best deals, but if you’re looking for Amazon-specific offers, read on.

Amazon devices

• Fire TV Stick – $39.99 – $10 off
• 7-inch Fire tablet (with ads) – $33.33 – $16.66 off
• 7-inch Fire Kids Edition Tablet – $74.99 – $25 0ff
• Echo Dot – $39.99 – $10 off
• Amazon Tap – $89.99 – $40 off
• Amazon Echo – $139.99 – $40 off
• Kindle – $49.99 – $30 off
• Kindle Voyage – $169.99 – $30 off

Phones

• Honor 8 – $259 ($289 list price, $30 instant rebate after adding to cart) – $140 off
• Moto G4 Play – 2GB RAM/16GB storage – $129 – $20 off
• Moto G4 – 2GB RAM/32GB storage – $175 – $55 off
• Moto G4 Plus – 4GB RAM/64GB storage – $229 – $70 off
• Amazon exclusive phones – Up to $90 off

Tech deals

• Sennheiser HD 598 Cs – $99.95 – $150 off
• Sonos PLAY:1 – $149 – $50 off
• VIZIO SB4551-D5 Smartcast 45 5.1-inch soundbar – $299 – $200 off
• Bose Solo 15 Series II – $299 – $150 off
• Over 40% off on select Samsung 4K UHD TVs
• GoPro Hero – $89.99 – $40 off
• SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive – $22.99 – $17 off
• Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen) – $199 – $50 off
• Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit – $119.99 – $60 off
• WeMo Switch – $20.99 – $29.99 off

To see all the items of sale, hit up Amazon from the link below.

See at Amazon

EE discounts the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 by £200, Beoplay H2 on sale for £119

How badly do you want a tablet?

UK carrier EE has rolled out its Black Friday deals, offering a £200 discount on the 8-inch Galaxy Tab S2. There’s also a £70 discount on the upfront fee of a 32GB Pixel, and price cuts on several accessories.

Here’s what’s on offer:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 – 20GB data, 500MB EU roaming data, free access to BT Sport – No upfront fee, £22.50 monthly for two years
• 32GB Pixel – 5GB data, free Daydream View headset – £9.99 upfront, £45.99 monthly
• B&O PLAY by Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H2 – £119.99 – £50 off
• Beats Solo3 – £224.96 – £25 off

For more deals from the carrier, head to the link below.

See at EE

Android Central’s Black Friday deals

Here’s everything Google Assistant can do on the Pixel

OK Google, let’s see what you can do.

While currently in its infancy, Google Assistant is still capable of doing a lot of pretty cool things to make life that much easier.

From helping to book reservations and find transportation for your night out to setting your morning alarm without having to stare at a bright screen in a dark room, here’s just some of the ways to use Google Assistant throughout your day. And it all starts by saying “OK Google”.

• Music
• Reminders
• Alarms and timers
• News and weather
• Sports
• Answer questions
• Going out
• Translation
• Calls, texts, and emails
• Open apps
• Control phone settings
• Navigation

Music

You can use Google Assistant to find and play music, but app support is pretty limited at this point. By default, Google Assistant will try to fulfill your requests using Google Play Music and YouTube. If you search for a specific song or artist, such as “Play Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers”, your request will be completed with YouTube. If you request a genre, such as “Play hip hop music”, Google Assistant will find a relevant Google Play Music radio station. Alternatively, you can simply say “Play music” to have Google Assistant pull up the I’m Feeling Lucky station in Google Play Music.

Pandora and Spotify are already supported by Google Assistant, you’ll just have to include the third-party app in your request. If you use another third-party app for music, you can ask the Assistant to open the app, but from there you’ll have to get the party started with some old-fashioned on-screen input.

Reminders

Google Assistant can be used to create quick reminders for yourself. Depending on your request, Google Assistant will create a time-based or location based reminders. For example, if you ask “Remind me to take out the garbage when I’m leaving the house”, you’ll get the option of creating that reminder based on time of day (morning, afternoon or evening) or based on your GPS location —
Google will ping your saved locations, such as your home or work).

Google will then pop up with a reminder depending on the parameters you selected, whether that’s when your phone detects you’re leaving the house, or at the specified time.

Alarms and timers

If you use your phone for your morning alarm clock (and who doesn’t these days?), setting alarms with Google Assistant will quickly become the feature you use most frequently. You can set a daily alarm for yourself (“Wake me up every day at 7 a.m.”) or schedule yourself a quick nap (“Set an alarm for 2 hours from now”). You can be fairly conversational when setting alarms with Google Assistant, but you’ll always want to specify morning or evening if you don’t want to accidentally set that important morning alarm for p.m. instead of a.m.

You can also use Google Assistant to set a timer without fiddling around in the Clock app. For anyone who spends significant time in the kitchen, this is an absolutely essential tool for those times when you’ve got messy hands and would rather not touch your phone. ds

News and weather

You can get all the latest news and weather updates via Google Assistant. For news, Google Assistant pulls radio news reports from sources which you can customize to suit your personal preferences in settings. To listen your daily news briefing, which is regularly updated throughout the day, simply say something like “Listen to news” or “What’s on the news?”.

For weather, you’re able to get the current local forecasts (powered by Weather.com) by simply asking “What’s the weather like”, or find out long-term weather forecasts by asking “What’s the weather like this weekend?” If you’re travelling, Google Assistant can deliver your destination’s weather forecast with just a small tweak to the core weather command (“What’s the weather like in New York this weekend?”). Google Assistant will read out the weather forecast, along with providing the information on-screen.

Sports

Sports fans can find information and trivia on their favorite leagues and teams using Google Assistant. For example, saying “Scores College Football” gives you a rundown of the latest completed games, or you can say something like “What’s the latest NHL news?” to get a list of the latest headlines for your reading pleasure. You can also narrow down your information to your favorite teams to find recent results and upcoming schedules.

There’s definitely room for improvement here, as asking specific questions such as “Who’s the leading scorer in the NHL this season?” should be an easy answer to pull, but the Google Assistant only offers you a link to the NHL stats page. You’ll still get the answer you’re looking for, it’s just not as streamlined at this point as one might hope.

Answer questions

Google is basically the world’s go-to source for answering the questions that pop up throughout everyday life. Google Assistant makes that easier by letting you verbally ask the question, and more often than not she will respond with the answer you’re looking for. If Google Assistant doesn’t reply with a spoken response, it will typically provide a link to what it’s determined to be the best source to answer your question. There’s no limit to the questions you can throw at it, and you might end up being surprised when it handles a more complex question with ease.

Going out

Google Assistant can help you when you’re planning a night out on the town. Want to find a new restaurant to check out? You can search to find what’s nearby, or find results based on neighbourhoods and cuisine style. No matter how you search it, you’ll get a number of recommendations to choose from. If the restaurants take reservations through OpenTable, Google Assistant can walk you through that process and place your reservation — super convenient.

If you’re interested to find out what’s going on in your city this weekend, you can ask just that and your Google Assistant will throw together a rundown of events that might be of interest to you. You can also quickly call up a list of the available cab companies by asking Google Assistant to call you a cab if you need, or ask to find the nearest public transit stop.

Translation

Just like Google Now, you can use Google Assistant to find translations for words or phrases from English into any of the languages Google Translate supports.

To get a live translation using Google Assistant, simply call up the assistant and be as formal or informal as you please. For example, you could say “translate what is the time in french”, or “how do you say what is the time in french?”, and Google Assistant will fire back with the written translation of the phrase or words, along with an audio translation. If you’re travelling abroad and using this feature to help with communicating across language barriers, you can specify the language the first time and keep coming back with translation requests without specifying the language each time. You’ll also want to keep an eye on the recommendations below your requested translation, which suggest other common phrases or words that might be useful to you.

Not every language is supported with audio playback for the translations, but if Google Translate can translate the text, so can Google Assistant.

Calls, texts, and email

Google Assistant can be used to both make calls and send text messages hands free, an ideal feature for when you need to get in touch with someone when you’re driving. Since Google Assistant has access to your contacts, you’re able to text or call anyone on your phone by name — if they have more than one phone number in your phone, you’ll want to specify which one you want to call or text.

It works just the same with email via your Gmail account, although it’s not quite as seamless for Google Assistant to find emails the same way it does for calls and texts.

Open apps

While Google Assistant is still far from supporting most third-party apps, you are able to at least access them using only your voice. This can come in handy if you’ve loaded your phone with apps and don’t like perusing through the app drawer each time to find them.

Control phone settings

You can also use Google Assistant to control most of the phone settings found in the Notification Shade. You can toggling Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Airplane mode, controlling the screens brightness, control the phone’s volume, and also turn on and off the flashlight.

(Quick easter egg: Harry Potter fans will be giddy to know you can turn the flashlight on and off by saying “Lumos” and “Nox“.)

Navigation

Google Maps is one of the world’s most popular apps, and for good reason. Whether you’re driving to an unfamiliar part of a town for the first time, or just looking for traffic updates on your daily commute, Google Maps is there to help.

Full integration with Google Assistant makes using Google Maps a breeze. Simply ask for directions to an address, or even something less specific such as the nearest gas station or convenience store, and Google Assistant will automatically process your request and open up Google Maps with the coordinates plugged in and ready to go. Simply tap the directions button to start on your journey.

How have you been using Google Assistant on your Pixel?

We’ll be updating this article as more functionality is added to Google Assistant on the Pixel. In the meanwhile, we’re curious to know how you’re using Google Assistant. Do you find it useful for some tasks more than other? What features would you like to see added? Let us know in the comments!

Best Black Friday UK smart home deals: Netatmo, Canary, Nest, Philips Hue and more

Black Friday weekend is finally here, which is brilliant news for anyone looking to make their home smarter with the latest technology but for a less than it would cost you the rest of the year.

If you’ve been looking at investing in smart lighting or smart heating, or even smart cameras, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve rounded up the best smart home deals we have found, with links of where to get your hands on them.

Amazon

Amazon has been running Black Friday deals since 18 November, with new deals added each day. In terms of smart home specific deals, our favourites are listed here.

• Amazon Echo for £119.99 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• Amazon Dot for £39.99 (save £10) – click here for this deal
• Hive 2 Active and Hot Water for £124.99 (save £54) – click here for this deal
• Netatmo Welcome Smart Home Camera for £119 (save £80) – click here for this deal
• Canary All-In-One Security for £109 (save £50) – click here for this deal
• Netatmo Weather Station for £99.20 (save £39.80) – click here for this deal
• Nest Cam for £113.99 (save £45.01) – click here for this deal
• Nest Learning Thermostat for £158.99 (save £40) – click here for this deal
• Netatmo Smart Thermostat for £99.99 (save £42.38) – click here for this deal
• Samsung SmartThings Starter Kit for £139.99 (save £60) – click here for this deal

Argos

Argos has plenty of Black Friday deals, as you would expect, but here are a few of our smart home favourites.

• Philips Hue Colour Stater Kit for £99.99 (save £50) – click here for this deal
• Hive Window or Door Sensor for £19.33 (save 1/3) – click here for this deal
• Netatmo Welcome Camera for £159 (save £40) – click here for the deal
• Piper Smart Security Camera for £199.99 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• Nest Cam Security Camera for £129.99 (save 20 per cent) – click here for this deal
• Guardzilla All-In-On Video Security System for £59.99 (save £40) – click here for this deal

Canary

Canary’s smart home All-In-One Security camera offers night vision, a siren and it detects motion and audio. There is currently £40 off, but it isn’t clear how long for so get in quick.

• Canary All-IN-One Security for £119 (save £40) – click here for this deal

Hive

Hive is offering 20 per cent off heating upgrades, lights and plugs from 25 November to 28 November.

• Hive Active Light Dimmable for £15.20 (save 20 per cent) – click here for this deal
• Hive Thermostat Upgrade for £79.20 (save 20 per cent) – click here to learn more
• Hive Active Heating Kit for £199.30 (save 20 per cent) – click here to learn more
• Hive Active Light Colour Changing (save per cent) – click here to for this deal
• Hive Active Plug for £31.20 (save 20 per cent) – click here for this deal

John Lewis

John Lewis offers price matching so it has some excellent deals running over Black Friday weekend from toys to beauty. Here are a few of the best smart home ones.

• Panasonic Weatherproof Smart Home Outdoor Camera for £69.95 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• Panasonic Smart Home Indoor Camera for £49.95 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• Nest Learning Thermostat, 3rd Gen, Copper for £169 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• Nest Cam Indoor Security Camera for £114 (save £45) – click here for this deal
• Netatmo Welcome Home Camera for £139.95 (save £40) – click here for this deal

Nest

Nest is best known for its Learning Thermostat but it also has an indoor camera, both of which have money off until 28 November.

• Nest Learning Thermostat for £219 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• Nest Cam Indoor security camera for £159 (save £30) – click here for this deal

Maplin

Like Argos and John Lewis, Maplin is also offering plenty of deals for Black Friday weekend, including money off various smart home solutions.

• Ring Video Doorbell for £129 (save £30) – click here for this deal
• WeMo NetCam HD Wi-Fi Camera with Night Vision for £79.99 (save £20) – click here for this deal
• Panasonic Home Perimeter Monitoring Kit for £199.99 (save £29.01) – click here for this deal

Tado

Tado is also offering discounts on its smart heating system, with 20 per cent off all its products from 25 November to 28 November. Use code BLACK at the checkout.

• Tado Smart Thermostat and Smart Radiator Valves for 20 per cent off – click here for this deal

Withings

Withings offers activity tracking devices as well as smart home solutions, and it’s offering up to 70 per cent off for Black Friday.

• Withings Home for £84.97 (save £84.97) – click here for this deal
• Withings Smart Kid Scale for £44.99 (save £105) – click here for this deal
• Withings Smart Body Analyzer for £64.97 (save £64.97) – click here for this deal

More Black Friday UK deals

• Best Black Friday UK phone deals: Apple, Samsung, Android phone deals galore
• Best Black Friday UK TV deals: 4K, HDR, OLED TVs and more
• Best Black Friday UK games deals: Amazing PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo deals
• Best Black Friday UK fitness tracker deals: Garmin, Fitbit, Polar and more
• Black Friday UK laptop deals: The best laptop deals online

Get a free 4K TV with Sky Q Black Friday deal, plus many other Sky and Now TV deals

Sky is going crazy with its Black Friday deals, there are huge discounts across many of its services and hardware, plus free TVs or games consoles when signing up to monthly packages.

Its Black Friday bundle deals even include an amazing freebie when signing up for Sky Q. Here are the deals you can sign up for as a new customer:

• Sky Box Sets Bundle with Sky Q 2TB Multiscreen (at £50 per month) and either a 43-inch 4K Ultra HD LG TV, Lenovo laptop, £150 voucher for Mastercard, Tesco or Amazon, or an Xbox One S
• Sky Box Sets Bundle with Sky Q 1TB box (at £38 per month) and either 32-inch LG TV, Lenovo laptop, £150 voucher, or an Xbox One S
• Sky Variety Bundle (at £32 per month) with either 32-inch LG TV, Lenovo laptop, or £150 voucher
• Sky Original Bundle (at £20 per month) with either 32-inch LG TV, Lenovo laptop, or £100 voucher

Existing customers shouldn’t feel completely left out, there are also great deals on movie and sports packages. You can get a year’s worth of Sky Cinema and/or Sky Sports for half price. Sky Sports costs £13.75 per month for 12 months, while Sky Cinema will set you back £9 per month for 12 months. Opt to have both and it’ll only cost you £18 per month for 12 months.

Sky is also offering its broadband to standalone, non-TV customers for free and with a discount on line rental. You get 12 months free Sky Broadband Unlimited and line rental drops to £15 per month.

Now TV has plenty of deals too, with Now TV passes available from as little as £5 for three months for new customers:

• 3-month Now TV Entertainment Pass for £5 here
• 2-month Now TV Sky Cinema Pass for £5 here
• 1-month Sky Sports Pass for £25 here

New and existing Now TV customers can also get a Smart Box and several months of passes for half-price:

• Get the Now TV Smart box plus either 5-month Entertainment Pass or 4-month Sky Cinema Pass for £34.99 here

The Sky Store also has up to 50 per cent off hundreds of movies and box sets and there’s 50 per cent off all accessories, except for the Star Wars Sky remotes, which have a 30 per cent discount instead.

• Best Black Friday UK TV deals: 4K, HDR, OLED TVs and more

Faraday Future delays EV production plant in Nevada

Construction on Faraday Future’s Nevada EV manufacturing plant has stopped, putting projected electric car delivery dates at risk, according to the Financial Times. The Chinese company, backed by electronic giant LeEco, is overdue on millions of dollars of bills to its general contractor Aecom, Nevada state treasurer Dan Schwartz told the FT. Construction is set to resume early next year, but it’s unlikely the factory — still in the early phases of construction — will be ready to produce vehicles by 2017.

Builder Aecom didn’t confirm if Faraday had missed any bill payments, and said that it remains committed to the project. “Faraday Future is temporarily adjusting their construction schedule with plans to resume in early 2017,” it said.

Faraday Future has already shown the insane 1,000 HP FFZero1 (above), but it will likely have an equally insane price tag and be sold in small numbers. The more important model is a Tesla-fighting production EV which is supposed to be unveiled at CES 2017 in just over a month (see the teaser video, below).

If that doesn’t seem ambitious enough, LeEco founder and billionaire Jia Yueting has other EV irons in the fire. LeEco itself is working on the LeSee that it plans to build in China, and Yueting is reportedly behind yet another Tesla-like EV in the US, the Lucid Motors’ Atieva. To manufacture all those vehicles, he’s spending $1 billion on the Nevada plant and $1.8 billion on a factory in China. On top of all that, the company recently bought US TV maker Vizio for $2 billion.

In July, however, Schwartz threw warning flags about Faraday’s financing. While Yueting is China’s 30th richest man with an estimated $6.3 billion, he’s reportedly financing the EV ventures in part with loans backed by stock from his electronics firm, which has fallen 30 percent since June 3rd. “You can see where this leads,” Schwartz told Bloomberg in July. “His Internet company is successful, but that doesn’t generate the billions of dollars he’d need. Where’s he going to get the money?”

Yueting recently admitted that the company is overextended and announced a plan to cut costs. He has also reportedly secured $600 million in new financing. However, former Lucid Motors employee Martin Eberhard questioned LeEco’s multiple-EV strategy, saying it’s “being run like an old-school Hong Kong company.”

Despite being overextended, Faraday has attracted top-flight EV talent from Tesla, BMW and other car companies. It recently showed off the “world’s highest energy density” battery it co-developed with LG Chem. A lot will depend on the success of Faraday’s production car prototype at CES 2017, a former employee told the FT. “It will be a long while before there is a production car. If CES goes badly, it’s all over.”

Via: Techcrunch

Source: Financial Times (paywall)

Apple Has an SSD Data Recovery Tool for Touch Bar MacBook Pros That Refuse to Boot

Since it’s been revealed that Apple chose to use a soldered down, non-removable SSD in its 13-inch and 15-inch Touch Bar MacBook Pros, it’s natural for users to wonder about the fate of their data in the event of a fault that requires a logic board replacement.

Fortunately it appears as if Apple has a proprietary in-house tool to rescue stored user data when disaster strikes. 9to5Mac reports that a dedicated port on the logic board allows Apple staff to attach the recovery tool once the board’s been removed from the chassis. The tool then transfers the data from the SSD to a working MacBook Pro’s drive via one of its USB-C ports.

All indications are that users won’t be able to get their hands on this recovery tool, as it’s only available to Apple support staff for emergency use when a laptop sent in for repair won’t boot.

Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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