Google self-driving car project spun out as standalone company called Waymo

Google is forming a new company for its self-driving car division, which will operate independently inside Alphabet.

While Google’s official blog and Self-Driving Car Project page have yet to be updated, Tech Crunch has the news that Google is spinning out its self-driving car project to a standalone company. The new company is called Waymo, and it will operate on its own under the Alphabet umbrella, rather than as a division of Google. Jon Krafcik is the new company’s CEO.

As a standalone company Waymo will have the additional freedom to work in a way that benefits its own causes and potentially grow faster than when it was part of Google. The choice for it to spin out means Waymo can be focused on products, rather than purely on research. But concurrently, as we’ve seen many times before, it will also now have additional pressure to make it on its own without the constant flow of money from its former parent company.

Waymo CEO Krafcik made the point that the company is primarily focused on the technology of self-driving cars rather than the actual cars themselves:

“We are a self-driving technology company. We’ve been really clear that we’re not a car co. although there’s sometimes some confusion on that point. We’re not in the business of making better cars. We’re in the business of making better drivers.”

Google has routinely spun out divisions into their own companies to effectively see if they can sink or swim, while also not dragging down Google’s bottom line. With Waymo, this points to the fact that the self-driving car project is on the cusp of either breaking into the mainstream, or potentially dying if it can’t work out the business model on its own.

Android Wear 2.0 preview 4 adds easier sign-in

Swipe to dismiss also makes a comeback in penultimate Wear 2.0 developer preview build.

The Android Wear 2.0 development train keeps on rolling with the release today of a new developer preview build. The biggest change in the new build is the addition of new APIs for authenticating on your phone for a watch-based app. As Google explains in today’s blog post:

To make authentication a seamless experience for both Android phone and iPhone users, we have created new APIs for OAuth and added support for one-click Google Sign-in. With the OAuth API for Android Wear, users can tap a button on the watch that opens an authentication screen on the phone. Your watch app can then authenticate with your server side APIs directly. With Google Sign-In, it’s even easier. All the user needs to do is select which account they want to authenticate with and they are done.

Other changes include support for on-watch billing for in-app purchases, through a four-digit Google account PIN. There are also new cross-device promotion APIs for allowing developers to push users to a relevant phone app on the Play Store. And the swipe-to-dismiss gesture, removed in the earlier previews, is back in today’s builds. Support for “legacy apps” using the older Wear 1.0 app delivery mechanism has also been added. And it’s now possible to peek to actions at the bottom of items without scrolling through the entire list.

The fact that major user-facing changes are still being made shows that Wear 2.0 remains in flux even at this late stage in its development. The new builds are available for the Huawei Watch and LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE. We’re still due a fifth Android Wear 2.0 developer preview build before the new version is finalized early in 2017.

Best Playstation 4 Bundle Deals, December 2016

Looking to pick up a PlayStation 4 for yourself or as a gift but don’t want to pay full price for it? Here are some of the best bundles available right now!

Consoles are always going on sale, and there are always different deals that include games, controllers, and other accessories, but hunting them down isn’t always the easiest thing. Whether you are looking for an original PlayStation 4, the refined PlayStation Slim, or the newest PlayStation Pro, we’ve got you covered on the best deals available.

If you aren’t quite sure which console to be looking for deals on, be sure to check out our amazing comparison which breaks it all down for you.

PlayStation 4

• Amazon offers the PS4 with Call of Duty Black Ops III for $249

PlayStation 4 Slim

• Amazon offers the PS4 Slim with Uncharted 4 for $249
• GameStop is offering bundle with Uncharted 4 and $25 store gift card for $249

PlayStation 4 Pro

There are no current bundle deals for the PS4 Pro, but you can pick the standard 1TB package for $399.

• Amazon sells the PS4 Pro with a 1TB hard drive and a single controller for $399

Your favorite deals?

Have you found a great deal that isn’t listed here? If so, be sure to drop a link in the comments along with a line about what makes it such an awesome deal!

macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Removes ‘Time Remaining’ Battery Life Indicator

macOS Sierra 10.12.2, released this morning, features several key bug fixes and addresses an issue that has plagued some customers who purchased a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar — battery life.

Apple believes that the battery life indicator in macOS Sierra is ultimately inaccurate and has led to some confusion about battery performance, and so it has been removed in macOS Sierra 10.12.2.

Going forward, the battery icon in the Mac’s menu bar will offer a look at remaining battery percentage, but it won’t provide estimates on how long the MacBook Pro’s battery will last. Here’s what Apple said about it to The Loop:

Apple said the percentage is accurate, but because of the dynamic ways we use the computer, the time remaining indicator couldn’t accurately keep up with what users were doing. Everything we do on the MacBook affects battery life in different ways and not having an accurate indicator is confusing.

Besides the apps we are working on all the time, there are a lot of things that are happening in the background that users may not be aware of that affects battery life.

MacBook Pro buyers have complained about getting less than 10 hours of battery life, reporting as little as three hours of battery life in some cases, but battery performance can vary significantly based on the apps and processes that are running.

Customers with poor performance may be using apps that are not optimized for the new MacBook Pro, and on the 15-inch machine, if an app engages the discrete GPU, battery life takes a significant hit. For MacBook Pro owners who are seeing bad battery life, it’s worth checking the Activity Monitor to make sure the dGPU is not in use.

Spotlight indexing, iCloud photo syncing, and other behind-the-scenes processes can also have an impact on battery life, especially when a machine is new.

According to The Loop, Apple has done extensive battery life testing on the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and continues to stand by its battery life estimates of up to 10 hours. It seems Apple believes reports of bad battery life are largely based on the faulty indicator, but there have been some real world tests that don’t rely on the estimate and still show poor performance.

Apple says its new MacBook Pros can get up to 10 hours of battery life when browsing the web or when watching iTunes movies.

Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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Apple Releases iTunes 12.5.4 With ‘TV’ App and Touch Bar Support

Apple today released a new iTunes 12.5.4 update, introducing support for the new TV app that was introduced in iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 earlier this week.

iTunes 12.5.4 introduces support for the new TV app, plus it adds Touch Bar support for the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. In iTunes, the Touch Bar can be used as a scrubber to quickly fast forward and rewind through songs, movies, TV shows, and more.

The TV app is the new TV and movie hub on both iOS devices and the Apple TV, and is designed to serve as an Apple-designed television guide to help users find new content to watch. TV has a built-in store that surfaces iTunes movies and TV, along with highlighting a range of apps that offer television content.

Syncing is also an important element of the TV app, allowing users to better keep track of what they’re watching across all of their devices.

iTunes 12.5.4 can be downloaded using the Software Update function in the Mac App Store.

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BBC and ITV launch BritBox video streaming service in the US

The BBC said toward the end of 2015 that it would launch a video streaming service exclusively for the US. Today, the BBC has confirmed the service will launch in early 2017, but in collaboration with ITV as well.

The two broadcasters have been developing the service since March 2016, and will be entirely ad-free – the ITV Hub in the UK currently includes adverts for catch-up programmes – but pricing information will be revealed when it launches in the first quarter of 2017.

US subscribers will be able to watch a variety of content from both broadcasters, including Silent Witness, Eastenders and Emmerdale. The service will also have a “now” category, that will stream shows in the US 24 hours after they’ve been broadcast in the UK. It’s a similar set up to how we get Game of Thrones here in the UK, 24 hours after it broadcasts on HBO in the US.

The BBC and ITV will also present US subscribers with some of their more classic content, including Fawlty Towers, Keeping Up Appearances and Pride and Prejudice. Let’s just hope subscribers will understand the classic British humour of John Cleese.

There are plans in place to make the service available on a more global scale, including in the UK, following the US launch. If and when it does launch in the UK, it won’t replace the already established BBC iPlayer or ITV Hub, but will instead act as a subscription service for box-set content of shows that have gone beyond the regular 30 day catch-up period window.

Although Americans already have access to popular BBC content through BBC America’s digital network, which is a joint venture with AMC Networks, the new offering will be delivered over the internet and without any involvement from a US network operator.

The BBC also offers some of its older content through Netflix in the US and the UK, but it’s not clear whether this deal will continue now the Beeb has its own subscription arm.

Kate Spade Hybrid Smartwatch preview: Fashion and tech in perfect harmony

New York fashion brand Kate Spade is entering the smartwatch world, with a little help from the Fossil Group. The two companies have teamed up to launch the Kate Spade Hybrid Smartwatch, following in the footsteps of Michael Kors and Skagen, both of which launched smartwatches recently.

Michael Kors went down the Android Wear path with its Access smartwatch, while Kate Spade has opted for the hybrid route, like Skagen did with the Skagen Connected. Here are our first impressions.

• Michael Kors Access review

Kate Spade hybrid smartwatch: Design

Kate Spade’s smartwatch is based on the company’s Grand Metro watch with the main differences being a slightly thicker casing and a couple of extra function buttons on the right-hand side of the casing. The extra thickness isn’t overly noticeable when on the wrist and the underside is still finished in stainless steel rather than plastic like some smartwatches, helping the watch continue to feel like a premium product as the original Grand Metro.

Pocket-lint

The watch face looks just like a traditional Kate Spade watch, which is the beauty of a hybrid smartwatch over Android Wear. You’d never know it was a smartwatch on first glance, which is great for the Kate Spade fans out there who want a little extra functionality from their wrist but don’t want to lose their style. The finish is lovely and feminine and considerably smaller and daintier than many smartwatch and hybrid smartwatches currently out there.

Small, unnumbered lines are positioned around the face representing each hour, while 12 o’clock is represented with a Kate Spade logo and six o’clock with two champagne glasses. A cluster of crystals above the glasses are combined with a moon-like symbol that does more than meets the eye – more on that in a second. The hands are plain simple, taking nothing away from the design, while the word “cheers!” is positioned just below the spade symbol at the top of the face in true Kate Spade style.

Pocket-lint

There are three designs available, all of which offer the same face design and a traditional buckle fastening. The rose gold casing has a black soft leather strap and a black face, while the gold and silver case options have white faces. The gold model has a pale pink soft leather strap and the silver model has a grey one. Kate Spade is etched into the buckle and the spade symbol is also present on the middle button.

Kate Spade hybrid smartwatch: Features

The Kate Spade smartwatch might look just like the Grand Metro watch but it does a lot more than look pretty and tell you the time. A dedicated app, compatible with Android and iOS devices, will allow you to track activity and sleep, as well as set the watch to vibrate or move the hands to a certain position for particular smartphone notifications.

A press of the top button on the right-hand side of the watch will show your step progress, spinning the hands round briefly to display a percentage of the goal you set within the app. The middle button can be used to quickly display another time zone and the bottom button will enable you to control music on your smartphone, or remotely control the camera.

Pocket-lint

Features are more basic than the likes of Android Wear or Apple Watch in that you won’t be able to see who is calling, or read a text or a Tweet directly from your wrist, but you’ll be able to fine tune notifications on the app to ensure your watch vibrates when you really need to look at your phone. As it’s a haptic vibration it’s unobtrusive too, meaning the person next to you shouldn’t hear it. 

Enter a new time zone and your watch will update automatically so you don’t need to mess around trying to pull out the crown to change the time, while the moon-like symbol on the face acts as a countdown to your next celebration, whether it’s a birthday or a night out.

First Impressions

The Kate Spade Hybrid Smartwatch is a beautiful device. It has quite a thick casing and there is currently only one watch face design available, which may not be to everyone’s taste, but overall it’s small, stylish and smart.

The Hybrid Smartwatch offers that little bit extra functionality over just being a time teller, while staying true to Kate Spade’s style and there is a lot to be said for that.

At £199, it isn’t too much more than a traditional Kate Spade watch so for those that love Kate Spade and want a smartwatch that doesn’t look like a piece of tech on their arm, this device appears to be a real winner. We will bring you our full review soon so keep an eye out in the next couple of months.

BBC and ITV launch ‘BritBox’ streaming service in the US

The two major broadcast networks in the UK are jointly launching a streaming service under the name BritBox. The BBC and ITV are backing a Netflix-esque service that’ll showcase the best of the two firm’s output. Users will be able to watch a wide range of the pair’s programming, including premium dramas and sitcoms. In addition, Anglophiles will be able to view some of the country’s most popular soap operas, including EastEnders and Emmerdale, a day after they air in the UK.

The service will also offer a host of archive material including classic premium BBC dramas like State of Play and Pride and Prejudice. ITV, which is more traditionally downmarket than the publicly-owned broadcaster, will offer up detective shows like Inspector Morse and Rosemary and Thyme. In addition, classic sitcoms like Fawlty Towers and Keeping up Appearances will help explain Britain’s obsession with class and gardening. In total, there will be “thousands of hours” worth of material for people hungry for new content to binge.

We are curious what this will mean for BBC America in the long run, since that has been the home of so much British TV content. AMC Networks invests in the channel and has taken a minority stake in BritBox, so it’s likely that one won’t attempt to hurt the other. Instead, the service may pull together the otherwise piecemeal distribution of British TV in the US, which is scattered around several different broadcasters. It’s likely that flagship shows like Doctor Who and Top Gear will remain available on cable rather than behind a paywall.

BritBox will launch at some point at the start of 2017 for an as-yet undisclosed price, but we can expect it to be around the ten dollar mark. The platform will be available online, as well as on iOS and Android devices — not to mention on the Apple TV, Roku and Chromecast TV gear. It’s about damn time too, given that the international version of the iPlayer never made it to the US and was shuttered back in 2015.

Source: ITV Press Office