Google launches VR tour of New York’s festive store windows
You can now visit New York’s elaborate department store holiday window displays without fighting a billion other tourists. Google’s “Window Wonderland” app lets you visit Barney’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and 15 other stores. The company says it created a new technique to stitch hundreds of high-res photos into “rich, lifelike panoramas.” Viewed on a Daydream or other VR headset, “you can even be surrounded by the sounds and sights of the city streets, taking in the storefront view alongside other onlookers,” Google says.
Some highlights are Lord & Taylor’s “Enchanted Forest” with ice skating bunnies and fishing raccoons, a weirdly unseasonable jungle theme from Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales’ glowing chandeliers and a slightly nightmarish Christmas candy-inspired couture theme from Saks Fifth Avenue. Barney’s, meanwhile has installations from South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, and another from visual artist Nick cave around race and gender in sculpture. Both are in support of the #LovePeaceJoyProject charity campaign.
You can listen to audio guides from window designers and learn how they built the intricate, detailed contraptions featured in the displays. And in the spirit of the season, Google is trying to make money by pointing you to a special “shopping gift window” section of the app. To check it out, hit the website, and if you’re on a smartphone, tap the VR button to view it on a headset.
iPhone Assembler Foxconn in Early Talks to Expand U.S. Operations
Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn is in preliminary stages to build a collection of assembly plants within the United States (via Reuters), potentially fulfilling President-elect Donald Trump’s wish that Apple would move the majority of its manufacturing to the U.S. instead of overseas.
Foxconn decided to make a statement about its U.S. expansion after details of the move were picked up and shared by CNBC yesterday. The news alleged that Foxconn would be investing $7 billion into its U.S. expansion and aiming for the creation of 50,000 jobs within the country, all in the next four years. Foxconn simply stated that more details will come after its talks with “the relevant U.S. officials” are over.
Image via CNBC
“While the scope of the potential investment has not been determined, we will announce the details of any plans following the completion of direct discussions between our leadership and the relevant US officials,” the Foxconn statement said.
In the meetings with Donald Trump, Japan’s SoftBank also looked towards U.S. expansion and pledged $50 billion in its investment stateside, along with 50,000 new jobs of its own, “a move the U.S. President-elect claimed was a direct result of his election win.” In a call made to Trump by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Trump mentioned to the CEO that one of his goals and future achievements would be to “get Apple to build a big plant in the United States,” by offering the company incentives and “a very large tax cut” to do so.
Cook was said to have remained neutral on the subject by saying “I understand that” in response to Trump, while Foxconn chairman Terry Gou is said to be less enthusiastic about the idea due to inevitably higher production costs compared to China. Cook explained one of the major reasons Apple’s manufacturing is so heavily centered in China is due to the country’s large number of individuals with the required “vocational kind of skills.”
China put an enormous focus on manufacturing. In what we would call, you and I would call vocational kind of skills. The U.S., over time, began to stop having as many vocational kind of skills. I mean, you can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in. In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.
Foxconn does have manufacturing facilities on a very small scale in the U.S., in Virginia and Indiana, along with logistic locations in California and Texas. Apple has a comparably limited facility in Austin, Texas which manufactures the company’s Mac Pro.
Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Tag: Foxconn
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HP Launches 4K ENVY Display With USB-C for New MacBook Pro
HP today launched its 27-inch ENVY display with 4K Ultra HD resolution and a built-in USB-C port for charging the new MacBook Pro, 12-inch MacBook, or most other USB-C devices at up to 60 watts over a single cable.
The IPS LED-backlit display features a clean design with a micro-edge bezel, matte black rear panel, and a thin aluminum stand. The base can be detached for VESA wall or arm mounting, but a bracket is not included.
The display has a 60Hz refresh rate and supports AMD FreeSync, designed to eliminate stuttering and tearing in games and videos by locking the refresh rate to the framerate of the graphics card.
Tech specs:
• 27-inch IPS LED display with ultra-wide 178° angle viewing
• 4K Ultra HD resolution (3,840×2,160 pixels)
• 16:9 aspect ratio with 142 PPI
• 60Hz refresh rate
• 99% sRGB color gamut
• Typical brightness of 350 cd/m2
• Built-in ports: 1 USB-C, 1 DisplayPort 1.2, 1 HDMI 2.0, 1 HDMI 1.4
• USB-C Power Delivery up to 60 watts
• AMD FreeSync
• VESA mounting
Included in the box:
• A/C power cable
• USB-C cable
• DisplayPort cable
• HDMI cable
HP’s new ENVY 27 Display is available on HP.com and at select retailers in the United States for $499 starting today. The price point is about $200 cheaper than some competing USB-C displays, such as the LG 27UD88 and Lenovo ThinkVision X1, but features and connectivity vary.
One display that may be a better buy in the near term is LG’s and Apple’s new UltraFine 4K display. While it has a smaller 21.5-inch screen, the UltraFine has true 4K resolution (4,096×2,304), built-in speakers, 3 additional USB-C ports, higher 500 cd/m2 brightness, and a wider DCI-P3 color gamut.
LG’s UltraFine 4K display is $524—only $25 extra—until December 31. Afterwards, its price returns to $699.95, which will make it a less attractive option compared to HP’s ENVY 27 display, although still worth consideration.
Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: USB-C, HP, 4K displays
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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‘myLINGO’ iOS App Lets Users Listen to Spanish Audio Tracks in Real Time at the Movies
A new app called myLINGO lets Spanish-speaking users listen to studio-recorded dubs of the most popular movies while they’re in theaters, thanks to backing from studios including Disney, Paramount, and Sony. The app has also obtained “strategic partnerships” with Regal Entertainment Group and Cinemark Theaters within the United States.
myLINGO works by letting users search for the movie they’ll be watching, and then downloading the Spanish audio track to their iPhone, which is recommended to be done at home on Wi-Fi. After that, the app does all the work by listening for the film’s audio through the iPhone’s microphone, and delivering the Spanish version through the user’s headphones “in perfect sync with the film.”
The company noted that the app’s tracks are “studio-sanctioned Spanish versions” of each film available on the app, which were originally created and distributed for international release. The audio translations only play if the app can hear the movie on screen, includes a dark mode that prevents distractions in the theater, and once the movie is over the audio file self-deletes from the iPhone. Right now, myLINGO is only available for Apple’s iPhone.
“Hispanic audiences spent approximately $2.5 billion at the box office in 2015, proving a big incentive for cinemas to cater to this market segment,” said Olenka Polak, co-founder and CEO of myLINGO. “Even so, our research shows that nearly half of all Spanish-dominant Americans avoid going to the movies because films aren’t shown in Spanish. myLINGO addresses that challenge as a partner to both studios and exhibitors, with an innovative way to drive new customers and revenue,” she added.
The app’s business model sets prices on a movie-by-movie basis. Users will have to pay $1.99 for each audio track they wish to listen to at the theater, although a few movies currently in the app — including Disney’s Moana and Marvel’s Doctor Strange — are free “for a limited time.” myLINGO also doesn’t support Bluetooth or any wireless headphones and recommends users remember to bring their wired headphones with them to the movies.
The limit on the app’s use in its current state is placed on the studios supporting it, but there are still popular films out now and coming soon that users will be able to try with myLINGO, including: Moana, Office Christmas Party, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Passengers. Other languages are coming down the line, but myLINGO CEO Olenka Polak told Variety that the focus is only on Spanish at this time because “we want a clear marketing message.”
You can download myLINGO on the iOS App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tag: myLINGO
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Latest Nougat beta for Galaxy S7 and S7 edge renames TouchWiz to Samsung Experience
Third Nougat beta release brings new features, slew of bug fixes.
If you’re enrolled in the Galaxy Beta Program for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, it’s time to check your phone for an update. Samsung is rolling out the third Nougat beta version, adding Samsung Pass, the Samsung Note app, an auto brightness button in the Quick Panel, and moving the “Close All” button to the bottom of the recents panel.
Interestingly, the software info section lists the UI as Samsung Experience version 8, so it looks like Samsung is transitioning away from the TouchWiz name for its user interface. We haven’t necessarily seen the TouchWiz branding highlighted in recent times, and with Nougat, the company is moving away from blue-green accents to a more refined layout that features a lot of white elements interspersed with light-blue accent colors.
Samsung notes a few bugs that are yet to be fixed (which were present in the second beta as well), including a delay in the screen switching on after pressing the power button, and Wi-Fi connection issues. Samsung is looking into the problem, and will roll out an update once it finds a solution. The update itself comes in at 528MB, and includes the December 1 security patch.
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Google Duo updated with better camera rotation, major video quality improvements
Duo now works better on slow connections.
Google’s video-calling app Duo has been updated to version 5.0, bringing seamless camera rotation and “major video quality improvements.” Duo technical lead Justin Uberti tweeted that the app will now work better over slower connections, a common problem in emerging markets.
The engineer claimed that Google is putting “massive energy” behind improving Duo’s media quality as well.
Duo 5.0 relnotes (12/5):• Major video quality improvements• Simpler signup flow• Seamless camera rotation• Fix sound not playing issue
— Justin Uberti (@juberti) December 6, 2016
Uberti mentioned that an Allo update is also coming soon. Don’t hold out for SMS integration though.
Chrome for Android now lets you download videos and web pages for offline viewing
You can now take entire web pages offline.
Google has announced that it is rolling out an update to Chrome for Android (55.0.2883.84) that gives you the ability to download videos, music, and entire web pages for offline viewing. You’ll also be able to view and share your downloads without leaving Chrome.
The upcoming build will also highlight misspelled words in text fields, and brings a slew of improvements to the contextual search user interface. Along with the new features, the update contains the usual performance, memory, and stability fixes.
I’m on the Chrome Canary channel (it’s a fun place to be), which has had offline downloads for some time now. Here’s how it works: the update brings a download button to the menu bar (next to the bookmark button), and clicking it when you’re on a web page or viewing a video initiates the download. Once the content is downloaded, you’ll be able to view it without an internet connection. There’s also a dedicated “Downloads” section that lets you view all the media you’ve downloaded.
Google mentions that the update will be available over the coming days, so if you don’t see it just yet, hold tight.
Best Phone For Business
The BlackBerry DTEK60 is the best phone you can buy to use with your business.
Best overall
The BlackBerry DTEK60
See at BlackBerry
The BlackBerry DTEK60 is the best phone you can use to manage your business.
Android software built by BlackBerry carries years of knowledge and experience about the things you’re looking for when it comes to the tools you need every day. Business users have specific needs above and beyond what most users have, and the DTEK60 brings things like BlackBerry Hub and the full suite of tools that are an integral part of many road warriors and executives.
The DTEK60 is also secure. Building atop Google’s security measures, BlackBerry deems the DTEK line the most secure Android phones available. Extra hardening and monitoring app installs keep you or your employees from getting any random malware, and of course, Google for Business and BlackBerry’s own management tools extend administration even further.
And it does all this while being responsive and user-friendly. You won’t have to settle for sub-par performance to have the things that help you make money.
Bottom line: Everything a business person needs with no compromises.
One more thing: The BlackBerry Hub integration will help keep you in touch and organized.
Why the DTEK60 is the best
A phone you want to use can also keep your data safe — both personal and business data.
The phone you carry to serve your customers and keep things running smoothly at work needs to be able to do them quickly and keep all that data safe. the DTEK60 is our top pick when it comes to these specifics.
BlackBerry has built a reputation on serving business owners with highly capable and very secure phones. That legacy lives on with their Android offerings. BlackBerry’s additions like the Hub and contact manager are proven to be effective ways to manage busy business accounts, and extras from Google for Business and BlackBerry can make management a breeze.
And the DTEK60 is a phone that does all this with no compromises when it comes to performance. The high-power Snapdragon 820 CPU and 4GB of memory are the same components the other Android powerhouse phones use, and it shows. Whether you’re managing email, sorting through a spreadsheet at the airport or watching a video in your downtime, the DTEK60 can handle it all.
Best for updates
Google Pixel
See at Google
See at Verizon
The Google Pixel is the most secure Android phone you can buy, and one of the most secure phones of any available today.
Without disabling any security protections, the Pixel and Pixel XL are protected against known public security exploits and remote installations are monitored by Google’s scanning software which blocks potential malicious content. While security and privacy are two very different things, when you decide you want private things to stay private you need to make sure your phone is secure to keep them that way. Security is paramount when it comes to using a phone with all your important business contacts and details.
One of the things that make the Pixel and Pixel XL the best is that they use the latest — and most secure — version of Android. It’s also updated monthly with fixes for security exploits (both known and unknown) directly from Google. For those who can’t wait for the update to reach them, the update files are hosted by Google for download and installation. More importantly, the changes and code behind these fixes are available for peer review so they can be made more robust.
Bottom line: The Google Pixel will always have the latest and most secure version of Android for the duration of its lifetime.
One more thing: Verizon carries the Pixel and your account rep can take care of any order.
Best value
BlackBerry DTEK50
See at Amazon
BlackBerry says the DTEK50 is the world’s most secure Android phone.
Using the same methods as the more expensive DTEK60 to keep Android up to date and hardened to BlackBerry’s specifications, the out-of-the-box experience on the DTEK50 lets BlackBerry claim the most secure title with both models.
The experience of using the DTEK50 just isn’t as pleasant as the other phones on our list. Clearly designed as an entry-level phone for people who need connectivity and security, the phone is well worth the asking price. But it’s just not a smooth as any of the other phones here.
That shouldn’t tarnish the DTEK50’s reputation, though. If you’re looking for something safe and affordable with access to well over a million apps — and a tool to monitor them all — the DTEK50 may be just what you’re looking for.
Bottom line: BlackBerry knows that security doesn’t only apply to the flagship phones and the DTEK50 is a welcome addition for business persons and IT managers.
One more thing: Scott Wenger, VP of design and devices for BlackBerry says DTEK stands for “Detection.”
Conclusion
Media outlets like to give Android a bad reputation when it comes to security, and it’s difficult to blame them. Old, outdated software from manufacturers with no real concern for your security or privacy are the norm when it comes to phones running Android. The phone you use to run your business can’t be this way.
The DTEK60 has the BlackBerry legacy of security and professional tools behind it, and the move to Android also makes even more services available. When it comes to the day-to-day needs of running a business or having your staff using the best tools possible in a safe and secure way, you can’t beat the BlackBerry DTEK60
Best overall
The BlackBerry DTEK60
See at BlackBerry
The BlackBerry DTEK60 is the best phone you can use to manage your business.
Android software built by BlackBerry carries years of knowledge and experience about the things you’re looking for when it comes to the tools you need every day. Business users have specific needs above and beyond what most users have, and the DTEK60 brings things like BlackBerry Hub and the full suite of tools that are an integral part of many road warriors and executives.
The DTEK60 is also secure. Building atop Google’s security measures, BlackBerry deems the DTEK line the most secure Android phones available. Extra hardening and monitoring app installs keep you or your employees from getting any random malware, and of course, Google for Business and BlackBerry’s own management tools extend administration even further.
And it does all this while being responsive and user-friendly. You won’t have to settle for sub-par performance to have the things that help you make money.
Bottom line: Everything a business person needs with no compromises.
One more thing: The BlackBerry Hub integration will help keep you in touch and organized.
Sony is bringing ‘Parappa’, ‘Wild Arms’ and more to mobile
Hot on the heels of PlayStation Experience, Sony has announced the first smartphone games developed under its new “ForwardWorks” banner. The roster includes a new Everybody’s Golf title (known as Hot Shots Golf in the US), which is due to come out in spring 2017. The company is also working on a new Wild Arms game, an adaption of Arc the Lad and What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? Looking further ahead, ForwardWorks has confirmed it’ll be working on a new Parappa the Rapper game, as well as apps based on Doko Demo Issho and Boku no Natsuyasumi.
It’s a sizeable list, though one clearly geared towards the Japanese market. While some of its chosen franchises have a fanbase in the West — Parappa and Everybody’s Golf, for instance — most are considered niche or long abandoned. Reviving them as smartphone apps is an intriguing way to measure fan interest. If the games are free, and more importantly good, it could spur demand for new, higher budget console and portable titles. Sony is taking a similar approach on the PS4 right now, having confirmed HD remakes for Parappa the Rapper, Crash Bandicoot and Wipeout.
Sony has tried to make smartphone games before. PlayStation Mobile was an abject failure, however, producing few titles with lasting appeal. It shuttered the project in 2015 and shifted focus to the PlayStation 4, a wildly successful console, and the PlayStation Vita, a brilliant but unpopular handheld. With ForwardWorks, Sony will be hoping to re-assert itself in the mobile market. That’s easier said than done, given the cut-throat competition on iOS and Android. A broad line-up could work in Sony’s favor — effectively spreading its bets — while contrasting Nintendo’s smaller, more cautious portfolio of smartphone games.
Source: Sony (Blog Post)
Amazon’s Music Unlimited family plan comes to the UK
When Amazon launched its unlimited music streaming subscription in the UK, it offered access to over 40 million tracks, thousands of curated playlists and tight integration with its Echo speaker. The one thing it didn’t provide was a dedicated family plan like those offered by Spotify and Apple Music. It took more than three weeks, but Amazon has today extended its subscription to include a Family option — it costs £15 a month or £149 for a full year and allows up to six people to stream to their heart’s content.
Today’s addition means Amazon customers now have four plans to choose from. Prime members can sign up for the standard service at £8 a month or £79 a year, but non-Prime subscribers pay a little extra at £10 a month. The cheaper £4 a month plan is reserved for a single Echo or Echo Dot, which incentivises sales of Amazon’s intelligent speaker and gives it an edge over its streaming rivals.
Source: Amazon Music Unlimited
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