BlackBerry opens research center to improve QNX-powered autonomous vehicles
BlackBerry moves even further into software.
Earlier this year, BlackBerry announced that it was shifting research and development for its QNX platform, which powers the infotainment systems in millions of cars around the world, to include autonomous vehicles. The idea was to leverage QNX’s powerful embedded position in the industry to leverage BlackBerry as a contender in the self-driving car space against the likes of Tesla, Apple and Google.
Now, the company is opening a dedicated facility in Ottawa, with support from the Canadian government, to further those plans. From Reuters:
After a detour where QNX’s industrial-focused software was used to reinvent the now-discarded BlackBerry phone operating system, BlackBerry is focused on how its embedded software interacts with the explosion of sensors, cameras and other components required for a car to drive itself.
But while deep-pocketed Silicon Valley has invested heavily in the artificial intelligence and machine learning required for autonomy, more financially constrained BlackBerry has not, eyeing instead a niche role as a trusty sidekick.
BlackBerry will try to insert its QNX tech into the places that matter most to customers: safety and reliability, helping manufacturers like Ford and “more than one or two major global automakers” make their self-driving cars more intelligent and better able to adapt to the unpredictable nature of live roads. BlackBerry received permission to test self-driving technology in the province of Ontario, where its Waterloo headquarters is located, with Ford vehicles.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the opening of the new research facility, which has support from federal and provincial levels of government.
360-degree videos to help get you ready for Christmas!
Replace your world with something a little more Christmas-y.
Some people hit the day after Thanksgiving and immediately flip into Christmas Mode, and some feel that excitement at friends and family opening their gifts a little closer to the holiday. It’s a great feeling when it comes naturally, but a handful of folks out there need something to kick start that Christmas spirit with a specific event. Sometimes it’s that first glass of egg nog, or seeing family you haven’t seen in a while.
Other times it can be seeing your favorite holiday movie, and with VR and 360-degree videos filling the world there are some great new short experiences for you to dive into. Here’s a look at some of our favorites, guaranteed to get you ready for the holiday!
Read more at VR Heads!
8 Great Tech Gifts for Mom and Dad
Eight Great Tech Gifts For Mom & Dad
Mom and dad deserve the best, but they also need something that may be a bit more accessible than the average tech gift. These are some of our favorite gifts that only need a brief introduction, and perhaps a power outlet, and you’re good to go!
Jabra Move Bluetooth headphones
Jabra makes great headphones, and these ones don’t need wires — the perfect introduction to the world of Bluetooth headphones. They sound great, are easy to set up, and last eight hours, so mom and dad can relax in comfort, anywhere, anytime.
$99 Buy Now
Amazon Echo
Probably the piece of tech that most easily induces “WOW” moments in the house, the Echo is not new, but it’s really come into its own this year. With plenty of voice-related marvels at your disposal, mom and dad will be asking for news, music, and to turn on and off the lights in no time!
from $139 Buy Now
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
There may be Voyage and Oasis with more features, but the best ereader bang for the buck — and the easiest way to get started reading on the go — is still the Kindle Paperwhite. It’s got a big, bright screen, amazing selection, and plenty of storage for even the massive anthologies. Plus, the e-ink screen never gets drowned out by the sun, so mom and dad can take it to the pool, the beach, or the park.
$99 Buy Now
Sonos Play:1
Music never sounds better than when you don’t have to mess with wires, receivers, apps and adapters. Sonos Play:1 is the best-sounding speaker you can put anywhere in your home, with an app so easy and a feature set so intuitive that mom and dad can just press play. Available in black or white, Play:1 hooks into practically every streaming music service, free or paid, and can sync with other units for multi-room parties.
from $169 Buy Now
Nixplay Seed 7-inch Wi-Fi photo frame
Everyone loves photos, but no one prints them anymore. Take that hassle away by getting mom and dad a Wi-Fi-enabled digital photo frame that can download images and video from the cloud. There’s even an app for iOS and Android that sends photos from any phone. Available in four awesome colors!
$99 Buy Now
iPad Air 2
There’s nothing like being able to pick up a tablet and have it just work and to date the iPad is the best example of that. Despite its low $399 entry point, the iPad Air 2 is one of the best and most versatile computers you can buy today, featuring a blazing fast A8X processor and nearly every app you can think of. And then there’s FaceTime to easily connect mom and dad with the family, and a great camera to capture those embarrassing moments.
from $399Buy Now
Fitbit Charge 2
Easy to set up, fun to use, and incredibly comfortable, the Fitbit Charge 2 is one of the best fitness tech gifts you can give mom or dad this year. With great apps for iOS, Android and Windows, unparalleled support, and a huge network of people ready to challenge and motivate, the Charge 2 is Fitbit’s best tracker yet. Even better? It lasts five days on a battery charge!
from $129 Buy Now
Spotify subscription
Spotify is everywhere, and it’s one of the best ways to access music, podcasts and music videos on practically any screen. At $9.99 per month, it’s inexpensive enough to gift for a year, and its apps are well designed and easy to use on all platforms.
$9.99 Buy Now
Apple HomeKit tips and tricks with Apple TV
Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem works really well with just an iOS device like an iPhone or and iPad, but to really make the most of Apple’s smart home offering and the hundreds of accessories that go with it, you really should add an Apple TV into the mix.
- Apple HomeKit tips and tricks without Apple TV
- A guide to Elgato Eve HomeKit accessories
- What you need to get started with HomeKit
- Five reasons to invest in a HomeKit device for your home
- Five scenarios for getting more from Apple HomeKit
Adding the Apple TV allows you to not only remotely access your HomeKit enabled accessories, but also to turn on automations allowing your home to do things given a set of rules and instructions even when you aren’t there.
We’ve put together a number of tips, that you can put into action if you have an Apple TV 4.
How to connect your Apple TV to your HomeKit installation
Go to your Apple TV. Turn it on. Open settings. Click on iCloud. Make sure you are logged in to your iCloud account. You might need to log out and log back in again. There is no dedicated Home app or details on the Apple TV so it all works in the background. If it has worked, you’ll be able to add automations to your scenes via the Home app on your iPhone.
How to create a HomeKit automation
You can control accessories and run scenes automatically by time of day, your location, or another accessory with an Apple TV running as your home hub. Make sure the Apple TV is running the latest version of iOS 10 and that it is connected to your home Wi-Fi network.
To create a HomeKit automation, open the Home app on your iPhone, tap the Automation tab, then tap Create new Automation. Choose when you want the automation to occur.
There are four options available: Automation based on changes to your location, the time of day, when an accessory is controlled, and if a sensor detects something.
Select scenes and accessories to automate. Then tap Next. Finally verify the accessories and scenes you want. You can touch and hold an accessory or scene to adjust its settings. To finish, tap Done.
Turn off or delete an automation
If you’ve decided you don’t want the automation you’ve created, you can delete it. Open the Home app and tap the Automation tab. Tap the automation. Turn off Enable This Automation or tap Delete Automation. You can also swipe left over the automation and tap Delete. Done.
Use your iPad as a replacement Apple TV
You don’t actually need an Apple TV to get automations working with your HomeKit devices. You can use an iPad running iOS 10. The only catch, is that the iPad needs to be in the house on the same Wi-Fi network as the HomeKit accessories to work. As soon as you travel with the iPad the automations won’t happen.
To set your iPad up as a Home Hub. Go to Settings > iCloud, sign in with your Apple ID and check that iCloud Keychain and Home are both turned on. Now go to Settings > Home and turn on Use this iPad as a Home Hub.
Use you Apple TV to get remote access
Because the Apple TV acts as a secure gateway to your HomeKit accessories, you can access your home remotely on your iOS device through Apple TV. Do things like lock your front door, view live camera video of the doorway or run scenes.
Make sure you use an Apple TV 4
Although you can use an Apple TV 3rd generation to give you basic access, to effectively utilize automation using rules and timers, Apple TV 4 is the best solution. The older Apple TV 3 does not offer this functionality. If your setup includes HomeKit accessories that use Bluetooth, you’ll appreciate the Apple TV 4’s much improved Bluetooth antenna range.
Using Siri On Your TV to control your HomeKit accessories
With Siri Remote, everyone in your house or visitors can easily control your home, or simply query accessory values, via your television equipped with Apple TV 4 and Siri.
That means tasks like turning up the heater, checking the outdoor temperature, dimming the lights, or turning off a Eve Energy plug (UK, US) can be done without leaving the couch or even using an iOS device.
Get a second Apple TV
Some Apple HomeKit devices, like the Elgato range of smart home accessories, work via Bluetooth rather than using your home Wi-Fi network. By having more than one Apple TV, you can connect Bluetooth devices around your home (when in range) to the Apple TV so you can sync all the information accordingly. In other words, multiple Apple TVs automatically serve as range extenders.
Share your HomeKit devices and edit permissions for users
Without Apple TV you can’t share your scenes or devices with others in your house. If you want to add members to your home, you can invite other people and give them access to your home. With an Apple TV or iPad as a home hub, you can allow editing on a per-user basis, and you can also choose to let them control accessories while inside the house or remotely.
To manage remote access and change permissions for a person go to the Home app, and tap on the location icon in the top left of the screen. Then enter the iCloud email address of the person you want to invite. Once you’ve invited them you can then allow Remote access and whether or not they have the ability to edit your set up. You can also remove them if you decide you don’t like them anymore.
Update your iPhone and iPad to iOS 10.2
Although HomeKit works perfectly with iOS 10 and iOS 10.1, iOS 10.2 adds new functionality to get notification support for HomeKit accessories including window coverings, occupancy, motion, door/window, smoke, carbon monoxide, and water leak sensors. Now when a HomeKit enabled accessory like the Eve door&window is triggered you’ll get a notification of the fact. That’s incredibly handy if you need to be alerted that a door has opened you weren’t expecting or you are seeing what time other members of your house really did get home.
More…
Know any great Apple TV HomeKit tips or tricks we’ve missed. Let us know in the comments below.
‘Wolfenstein 3D’ ported to Game Boy Color on turbocharged cart
Yes, that’s a Game Boy Color cartridge sporting the Wolfenstein 3D logo. It’s not just cosmetic, because a modder named Anders Granlund has built a playable version of the classic FPS for the ancient handheld console. To give you an idea of the degree of difficulty, Granlund designed and built a custom ARM-powered board to power the graphics, and built it into the cartridge. The final result is playable on any Game Boy Color.
Wolfenstein 3D and its ’90s brethren Doom, have been modded for a number of unlikely devices, including a TI calculator and Canon printer. And in fact, Wolfenstein 3D was actually ported to the Game Boy Advance directly from the MS-DOS version.
However, this mod is on another level. Granlund used a breadboard to program the EEprom himself, then ordered a custom board, complete with pinouts. Using those, he added an NXP graphics processor, equipped with an ARM Cortex-M0 running at 48MHz. That chip is obviously more powerful than the Intel 386 CPU that originally ran Wolfestein on MS-DOS.
Once all that worked, Granlund ordered another custom board combining his original design and the NXP processor. After more tweaks, he ordered and received the final Rev. C cartridge, saying “everything works as expected and … I didn’t need any bodge wires this time around.” The whole thing is, of course, powered strictly with the Game Boy Color’s batteries.
The result is a game that plays amazingly smoothly on the 160 x 144 pixel screen, as you can see in the video above. A Reddit user perhaps sums it up best: “This is hella impressive. I mean, I’m absolutely in awe of the technical skill required to do this.”
Via: Reddit
Source: Anders Granlund
Black hole detection is becoming much easier
It’s still relatively difficult to spot black holes (after all, they trap light), but it may be relatively commonplace in the near future. An international team of researchers has developed a detection technique that should identify a more frequent 10 black holes per year. By using radio telescopes to capture multiple snapshots of gravitational microlensing events (where objects like black holes bend light), you can obtain details like distance, mass and velocity for subjects you can’t easily study using visible light.
If the approach works as promised, it could help astronomers make up for lost time in a big way. The University of Waterloo claims that it could double the list of known black holes within 2 years, and that it could fundamentally change our understanding of black hole history within 10 years. Scientists could study the nature of black holes as a broader group, rather than focusing on individual examples. While there’s no guarantee of meeting that goal, even a modest increase in the black hole detection rate could significantly improve our understanding of the universe.
Source: University of Waterloo, The Astrophysical Journal
BlackBerry Opens Autonomous Vehicle Research Lab in Ottawa, Canada
Former smartphone company BlackBerry opened a new autonomous driving research center on Monday in Ottawa, Canada, according to Reuters.
BlackBerry is betting its future on the self-driving car business following its 2010 acquisition of QNX, a company which develops software for multiple in-car infotainment systems and whose software became the foundation of the BlackBerry 10 mobile operating system.
Image via Reuters
The new R&D facility is an extension of Blackberry’s existing QNX operations in the region and is said to be developing advanced driving features like automatic emergency breaking, intelligent cruise, and complete driving autonomy.
The company will use Lincoln vehicles from Ford retrofitted with autonomous hardware and software as a basis for carrying out tests, with a direct partnership with Ford also reportedly in the wings.
Blackberry is one of three organizations to receive clearance from the government of Ontario to test self-driving vehicles on public roads, having avoided the sort of ire brought upon Uber by Californian regulators regarding nascent self-driving laws.
California says Uber needs permits for its cars because they’re equipped with technology that allows them to operate autonomously, but Uber has argued that employee drivers are always seated and in full control of its cars.
Google has also complained about the situation regarding state and federal laws for self-driving vehicles, but Uber has gone further by completely ignoring authorities’ demands. California’s state attorney has threatened to sue the company if it doesn’t take its cars off the roads immediately.
Apple has met with California DMV officials in the past regarding self-driving car laws within the state, with its Apple Car team reportedly focusing on autonomous systems rather than an out-an-out vehicle design. Earlier this month, Apple confirmed its interest in autonomous cars in a letter to federal regulators requesting equal rights for “new entrants” to the auto industry.
Early this year, Apple was also said to have opened an R&D facility in QNX’s hometown of Kanata, stirring speculation that the offices could be linked to the development of its own autonomous car systems.
Tag: BlackBerry
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Apple Maps Expands Transit Directions Across United Kingdom
Apple Maps has been updated with comprehensive transit data for the United Kingdom, beyond the London, England area already supported.
Transit directions by bus, train, or tram are now available within and between large metropolitan areas such as Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds-Bradford, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Bristol, and Cardiff, including some outlying areas, and other regions in England, Scotland, and Wales.
Transit coverage extends to a number of mid-size cities, small towns, and rural areas as well. Directions are available between Nottingham and Brighton, for example, and most other searches between any two areas in England, Scotland, and Wales yielded at least one available route in Transit mode.
Apple Maps now supports the National Rail network in many areas of the United Kingdom, including the CrossCountry, TransPennine Express, Great Western Railway, Grand Central, Northern Rail, East Midlands Trains, Virgin Trains, Virgin Trains East Coast, Arriva Trains Wales, Hull Trains, and other train services.
While transit coverage is now comprehensive throughout much of Great Britain, directions remain unavailable in Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland. Transit is likewise unavailable in neighboring Ireland.
Tags: Apple Maps, transit
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AirPods Impressions: ‘Better Than Expected’ Bluetooth, Sound, and Battery Impress Early Users
The AirPods have officially begun arriving to customers in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and the first batch of users have started to share their opinions on Apple’s new wireless headphones. When they were originally announced, many users cited concerns over the look of the protruding AirPods, their sound quality, and their battery life, among other points.
Now, most users who have the AirPods in hand are having largely positive reactions online, with one Redditor summing it up by stating the headphones “are better than expected.” Users are ruling in favor of the lightweight headphones, noting the wide Bluetooth range of their connection with an iPhone, the snappy recharge time, and the simple connection to Apple devices via the W1 chip.
Image via MacRumors user moxxham
Bluetooth
The AirPods have a strong, consistent Bluetooth signal with a connected iPhone, according to Reddit user Portatort, who said “so far I’ve been able to leave my phone plugged in in the kitchen and roam the whole house while getting clean Bluetooth audio the entire time.” The layout of a house will likely alter Bluetooth performance on a user basis, but it appears Apple’s wireless headphones have a reliably strong connection that facilitates wandering away from your iPhone.
MacRumors forum member The Game 101 took the connection test a step further and ventured out of the house and up the driveway, saying that the Bluetooth connection with his iPhone remained “incredible.”
Charge Time and Battery
Users are responding well to the AirPods charge time, with many noting that Apple’s claim of recharging the headphones with 3 hours of playback in about 15 minutes is accurate. Redditor ChrisMorrisOrg said he charged his AirPods from 30 percent to 100 percent in just under 20 minutes. MacRumors poster Moxxham noted that the AirPods themselves come fully charged out of the box, but the case itself was at around 60 percent.
The iPhone battery widget also has a detailed integration with AirPods, updating whenever the AirPods are in your ear or in the charging case. In the below image, the left screenshot shows the iPhone battery widget with each AirPod in the case and charging, and the right screenshot shows one AirPod removed from the case while the other remains inside.
Image via Reddit user ChrisMorrisOrg
Another MacRumors reader, hobspain, figured out a way to keep using the AirPods even when the headphones need to be charged. While taking a call, hobspain was notified of dwindling battery in one of the AirPods, so they placed the single bud in the charging case while keeping the conversation going with the other bud remaining in their ear. They eventually swapped buds so the other could charge, all without ending the call.
PS: one nice touch: in a very long conversation when the battery of one of the Airpods was gone (after two sound notifications), I could keep one charging while using the reamining battery from the other. After 10 minutes, I could do the opposite with plenty of battery in the semicharged one. Call was never dropped and the other end didn’t notice about these changes. Neat.
Overall, users appear to be satisfied both with the individual battery life of the AirPods, and in the backup battery — 24 hours of it — included in a fully charged case.
Sound Quality
The current consensus on AirPods sound quality falls into the “better than standard Apple EarPods” camp, but not by a wide margin. ChrisMorrisOrg noticed that low volume audio houses some ambient noise issues in the background, but any normal, mid-range playback will be a normal listening experience for everyday users who aren’t audiophiles.
Having used AirPods for a few hours today, I can say the audio quality is better than standard Apple EarPods, however, you do have a little bit of that ambient/white noise lingering around that you get with any Bluetooth earphones/headphones at low volume. Once you pass about the second notch on the volume, this disappears.
MacRumors reader Boardiesboi mentioned a slightly better sound experience than EarPods as well: “They do sound a bit clearer and better than the standard EarPods. I’m no audiophile but I’m very happy with the sound quality.” Even users on the receiving end of FaceTime calls are reporting sound quality “indistinguishable” from the iPhone’s speaker, “and better than using the EarPods’ mic.”
Have been using them with Facetime Audio for maybe 3 hours (until the initial charge of 65% they came with was gone). At the other end they could not identify I was using a headset or Airpods. This was in two different conversations. So I would say the quality of the microphones is indistinguishable from the one on the Phones and better than using the earpod’s mic. I did speak in a quiet environment so can’t asses about external noise, but the Airpods don’t have active noise cancelation per se.
Concerns
Some have reported potentially disruptive popping and crackling noises with the AirPods, although one user eventually discovered that nearby Bluetooth devices were the culprit for the dip in sound quality on the AirPods.
HOWEVER they have a major flaw. In my case (and 1 other person on twitter I saw so far), the connection (with my iPhone 7) very often gets lost for a split second, with crackling and popping sounds. This is extremely annoying. I’m not sure if it’s my unit, a batch of units, or a generic issue with them all. I’ll continue using them in different settings and see how they go. If it continues I’ll ask for a replacement set. If it’s a wide spread issue, I guess there will be a #PoppingGate of sorts
Ok it seems that my iPhone was too close to my wireless Logitech mouse (on my right), causing interference with the AirPods. I moved my iPhone to the left of me, and have had no disconnections at all for over 20 minutes now
There also appears to be a learning curve with tapping to activate Siri on the AirPods. Redditor Portatort mentioned that “double tap for Siri might require some getting used to. Most double taps don’t seem to activate it. But I might not be tapping correctly.”
Other Points
There are many other topics of discussion swirling around the AirPods today, including the usefulness of automatic music pausing when the AirPods are taken out of an ear. Other factors of Apple’s new wireless headphones will undoubtedly vary on a case-by-case basis, including personal opinions on how the AirPods look when worn, and whether or not they stay firmly in-ear while running. Most reports on the latter subject — including some head shaking user test videos on Twitter — do suggest that the AirPods will make a reliable exercise companion.
Tag: AirPods
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Samsung Galaxy S8 launch planned for April in New York
Samsung is said to be foregoing its traditional Mobile World Congress unveiling for the next Galaxy flagship phone in favour of a dedicated event in April. Leaks state that the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be launched in New York a month or so after MWC finishes.
According to SamMobile, the news comes from attendees of a global strategy meeting held at Samsung’s headquarters in South Korea. It fits with similar murmurings we’ve heard over the last few weeks, with the common thinking being that the Galaxy S8 needs its own fanfare in order to restore trust after the many problems with the Note 7.
The Galaxy Note 7 was eventually withdrawn from sale and recalled entirely after numerous reports of devices overheating, catching fire and even exploding.
- Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 edge: What’s the story so far?
Ironically, Samsung’s president of mobile, Koh Dong-Jin, also talked about the importance of inner company security and measures to minimise leaks during the meeting.
The Samsung Galaxy S8 is rumoured to be ditching the standard, flat bezelled design that is usually accompanied by a curved “edge” model. Instead, it is said that the new flagship phone will only come with rounded edges, considering how popular the form factor has been over the last couple of years.
AIVAnet 