British astronaut Tim Peake will return to the ISS

Tim Peake’s adventures in space are far from over. At the Science Museum in London, the British astronaut announced this morning that he’ll be returning to the International Space Station (ISS). There, like before, he’ll be tasked with conducting new scientific research. Peake will be working with the European Space Agency (ESA), the same organisation that handled his original training and Prinicipia mission. The timing of his trip is unclear, however — the UK government has merely said it will be “confirmed by the ESA in line with normal mission selection protocol.” NASA currently has four ISS-bound launches in its diary, ending in October.

Peake’s first mission began in December 2015. He left planet Earth with NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and experienced cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, before settling in for a six-month stint aboard the station. The trip made Peake the first British astronaut on board the ISS and the first UK citizen to explore space in over 20 years. On the vessel, Peake carried out hundreds of research projects and made some valuable repairs — one of which required a spacewalk. He also ran a marathon (sort of), perfected zero gravity flips and conducted interviews with supporters back on Earth.

Thrilling news that @astro_timpeake will return to space on a second @esa mission to the @Space_Station #Soyuz pic.twitter.com/kPSYIpTtbZ

— Science Museum (@sciencemuseum) January 26, 2017

Source: GOV.UK

The Morning After: Thursday, January 26 2017

Welcome to the Morning After. Oculus (and Facebook’s own) VR efforts have a new leader: Hugo Barra, the former Googler who just announced that he was leaving China’s Xiaomi. There are also brightly-colored astronaut suits of the future, and a cheaper way of making flexible screens for your next curved phone.

Welcome back to Silicon Valley
Hugo Barra takes the reins at Oculus

Three and a half years after departing Google’s Android division for Xiaomi, Hugo Barra recently announced plans to return to the US. Now, Mark Zuckerberg reveals he’ll be taking over the leadership spot at Oculus VR, and as Facebook’s VP of VR. His mission, of course, is to make the tech mainstream, and Zuck announced the hiring with a quick snap of the two hanging out in virtual reality since Barra is still in China.

Bright Boeing blue.
Boeing’s spacesuit is light, cool and flexible

Boeing has unveiled its own spacesuit for people aboard its Starliner CST-100 vessels, and it promises to be far more livable than the clunky spacewear of the past. It’s roughly 40 percent lighter than previous suits, with layers that should keep astronauts cooler than usual. Wearers also won’t feel quite so trapped or claustrophobic — zippers help them transition from sitting to standing. There’s also a built-in communications headset, and the gloves are touchscreen-friendly.

That’s not a problem, is it?
Donald Trump’s most senior staff use a private email server

In a revelation that can’t possibly turn into a political issue, a report indicates senior White House staff are using a private RNC email server. That’s not illegal. However, its use requires emails are copied and forwarded to the government within 20 days, something that didn’t happen during the Bush admin when the same server lost about 22 million emails to the ether. Also, contrary to earlier reports, the President is apparently continuing to use his (unsecured) Android phone on a regular basis — and it may be an old Galaxy S3.

Alternative facts
Scientists plan a march against Donald Trump

There’s apparently a Scientists March on Washington in the works, spurred by fears the current administration is overriding science for political reasons. If you’re concerned about climate change data, or reports of gag orders preventing researchers from releasing information, this could be a way to speak up. Meanwhile, the USDA rescinded an order that researchers not release public-facing documents just a day after it was issued.

Beam lives.Xbox One Snap Mode is dead

As Microsoft rolls out its Creator’s Update features to testers in waves, exec Mike Ybarra revealed that the Xbox One’s multitasking Snap Mode feature is on its way out. Instead, those resources will be opened up for games to use, while bits like game streaming and background music will simply work without it. As of today, Insider program members should expect an update adding Beam game streaming to the PC and Xbox, while Windows 10 testers can check out the new Game Mode.

Everyone loves their cable box
GOP pushes new FCC chief to kill set-top box rental proposal

Last year, Tom Wheeler tried to push through a ruling that would require cable operators to make their services work with third party hardware like an Apple TV or Roku. It never passed, and now that Trump appointee Ajit Pai is running things, House Republicans have requested that he close the matter (which he voted against) entirely. According to them, the prospect of change is preventing investment in content and technological advances.

4K HTPC
Pioneer is about to release the first Ultra HD Blu-ray drive for PCs

Still dealing with discs? Soon you’ll be able to watch movies in the highest quality from your PC, now that Pioneer has announced a couple of Ultra HD Blu-ray drives launching next month. Of course, those interested will probably need an all-over upgrade, powered by one of Intel’s new Kaby Lake CPUs and with an HDMI 2.0a connection to a 4K display.

More Chromebooks for education.
Dell unveils 2-in-1 Latitude and Chromebook laptops for schools

This year marks a first for Dell’s education-focused computer family: 2-in-1 laptops. Like the company’s other computers destined for schools, the Dell Latitude and Chromebook 11 Convertibles are built to withstand classrooms and student abuse. They both sport the same basic design — rubberized shock protection for falls, sealed keyboards to handle spills and lots of rounded corners — but one runs Windows 10 and the other is powered by Chrome OS. (We’ll let you guess which is which).

The screens can bend thanks to plastic instead of glass on the back.
Japan Display battles Samsung’s OLED with curved LCD screens

One of Apple’s main screen suppliers, Japan Display Inc. (JDI), has revealed a 5.5-inch LCD smartphone screen that can be bent like OLED displays from Samsung and LG. While not quite as flexible and thin as OLED, LCD is a lot cheaper to make than its rival, so you could see a lot more curved phone designs when JDI starts manufacturing the panels in 2018.

But wait, there’s more…

• HP recalls 101,000 laptop batteries sold between March 2013 and October 2016
• Review: Roli Block
• Now Android users can try their luck in The League’s exclusive dating pool
• Apple hits Qualcomm with two more antitrust lawsuits

HTC’s head of design is joining Google Daydream

It’s a game musical chairs lately in the VR world. On the same day that Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra revealed he would head Facebook’s Oculus VR division, HTC VP of Design Claude Zellweger tweeted that he’s moving to Google’s Daydream VR project. A reliable source tells Engadget that he actually departed last July, but stayed on during a grace period, much as former CEO Peter Chou did in 2015. Zellweger not only headed up the creation of the HTC Vive, he and One & Co. partner Scott Croyle were responsible for the design of the original HTC One smartphone.

Of late, Zellweger has focused on the Vive’s design, but as we detailed in a 2015 profile, he created much of the design language at HTC. The Taiwanese company bought his One & Co. design firm way back in 2008, and after Scott Croyle departed in 2014, followed by his successor Jonah Becker the next year, Zellweger was the last member of the original team. Daniel Hundt currently heads HTC’s smartphone design division, while Vive is now a separate, fully owned subsidiary.

Prototypes for HTC Vive headsets and controllers

The Vive team created numerous prototypes of the headset and controller before arriving at the final consumer model. Their work paid off, though as most critics consider it ahead of the Oculus Rift in terms of technology (though not comfort), with more realistic tracking and images.

That expertise will no doubt be a big help to the Daydream team. Google’s Daydream was surprisingly good, for a mobile headset, but the search giant no doubt has bigger plans with it. Hopefully we’ll learn a bit more about those in May at Google’s big I/O conference, the event where it first revealed the original Daydream concept.

Via: The Verge

Source: Claude Zellweger (Twitter)

Discovery likely to pull its TV channels from Sky next month

Discovery’s 12 UK channels are likely to disappear from Sky and its Now TV service at the beginning of next month, as negotiations between the two for a new carriage deal have broken down. Discovery has threatened to pull all programming, including its two Eurosport channels, if Sky isn’t willing to meet the financial terms of its offer before the end of January. Similar situations arise in the US from time to time, but are relatively rare in the UK. And what’s even more uncommon is how publicly the dispute is playing out.

While Discovery’s UK website currently redirects to #keepdiscovery campaign page, and Sky has very matter-of-fact FAQ communicating the probable fallout — themselves a strong indication a deal is unlikely to be struck — both companies are engaging in a much more candid war of words offline. Discovery’s UK managing director Susanna Dinnage has commented: “We believe Sky is using what we consider to be its dominant market position to further its own commercial interest over those of viewers and independent broadcasters.”

Discovery claims its channels account for 50 percent of all factual programming viewership on Sky, and that it’s paid less now than it was a decade ago despite adding new channels, investing more in original content and growing viewing figures during that period. Sky, on the other hand, doesn’t see the same value in Discovery’s portfolio and is calling its financial terms “completely unrealistic,” adding “we have been overpaying Discovery for years and are not going to anymore.”

Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch said: “The fact is that their share of viewing in linear has been in long-term decline.” And linear, aka scheduled TV programming, is becoming less important to Sky as it embraces the shift to on-demand viewing with its new Sky Q service. Getting even more personal, Darroch also told the press: “They are not hitting the sort of big shows that people expect and pay for. I can’t think of a Discovery show in our top 100 shows.”

The reason both companies are being so forthright, instead of saving these discussions for meeting rooms, might have something to do with the length of negotiations. After agreeing to pay a record £4.2 billion for Premier League rights in 2015, Sky has reportedly been looking quite specifically at its financial relationship with Discovery.

And Sky isn’t the only one. In fact, you won’t find Discovery’s channels on TalkTalk TV after a much quieter parting of ways last year, and German providers have apparently been butting heads with Discovery over costs too. As they say, there’s no smoke without fire, and it appears this fire could burn the bridge between Sky and Discovery for good.

Via: Reuters

Source: Sky, Discovery

Google Maps iOS Update Adds Live Location Data to ‘Popular Times’ Feature

Google updated its Maps app for iOS today to include the live crowd-tracking feature that’s been popular with users of its Maps web service for some time.

While the maps app has had day-by-day, hour-by-hour charts that display when a business or retail location tends to be at its busiest, version 4.27 of the app augments that information with live data to tell users how busy the location is in real time.

Called Popular Times, the feature works by crowd-sourcing anonymized location data from other Google users and also feeds in Google searches to analyze how busy a location is at any given moment. Alongside the live results, the feature also lets users know the average time people spend at a location.

The iOS update also adds support for quick access to addresses copied to a user’s clipboard. So when searching in the app, users are now given the option to fill in the search bar with an address copied from an email or other app.

Google Maps is a free download on the Apps Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]

Tag: Google Maps
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Facebook Hires Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra to Lead its Virtual Reality Division

Facebook has hired Xiaomi executive Hugo Barra to lead its virtual reality business, following the vice president’s announcement earlier this week that he would be leaving the Chinese smartphone maker.

On Monday, the former Android executive at Google said he would be returning to Silicon Valley next month to reunite with friends and family, and to take some time off before “embarking on a new adventure”.

His appointment at Facebook was announced on Wednesday by company founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who said Barra would lead all of Facebook’s virtual reality efforts including the Oculus team.

“I’ve known Hugo for a long time, starting when he helped develop the Android operating system, to the last few years he’s worked at Xiaomi in Beijing bringing innovative devices to millions of people.

“Hugo shares my belief that virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform. Hugo is going to help build that future, and I’m looking forward to having him on our team.”

Sometimes referred to as “the Apple of China”, Xiaomi announced a VR headset last year under Barra’s watch. The device was certified to work with Google Cardboard apps and some of its mobile phones. In reply to Zuckerberg’s welcome, Barra said he aimed to make VR a mainstream technology.

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun always says that the highest calling of an engineer is to make technology breakthroughs quickly and readily available to the widest possible spectrum of humanity. That will be my mission at Facebook and I look forward to building the future of immersive technology with Mark Zuckerberg, Brendan Trexler Iribe, Mike Schroepfer, and the visionaries in the Oculus team.

Facebook has made VR and augmented reality two focal points of its long-term innovation roadmap, with artificial intelligence and connectivity being the additional lynchpins for future research.

While Apple’s interest in related technology has leaned more towards an AR experience – most recently suggesting a feature that would be integrated into the iOS camera app – the company has been rumored to be developing a full-on VR headset as well.

Tags: Facebook, Xiaomi
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Transform your running shoes into winter-ready treads with these tips

Winter is here in full force, and for many trail runners that means stomping through snow and slippery ice. If you’d rather chase Old Man Winter down a frosty trail than log miles on the dreadmill, now’s the time to start thinking about outfitting your feet for winter running.

The two major things to consider when it comes to winter running shoes are traction and waterproofing. Enhanced traction will help prevent slipping on ice and potential injuries resulting from that, and waterproofing gear designed to keep your feet warm and dry is crucial to avoiding frostbite and hypothermia.

More: When body warmth alone won’t cut the cold, these electric clothes crank up the heat

Oregon-based professional ultrarunner and 2014 100 km World Champion Max King offered some tips and tricks on the best shoe winterization methods to keep you on your feet this season.

Winter-specific running shoes

Before we dive into how to winterize your existing fair weather shoes, the easiest — but most costly — solution to running in the cold, wet, and possibly slick months is to buy a shoe designed by the manufacturer for such conditions.

“Buying a winterized version of a shoe has its advantages because usually they have a waterproof or water-resistant upper that doesn’t allow snow and water to get in,” said King.

Many companies are releasing winter versions of their trail running classics that look more like a bootie, such as the Salomon Snowcross CS, or the Altra Lone Peak 3.0 Mid.

The Snowcross offers weather protection through a waterproof bootie with a zip gaiter, and enhanced traction courtesy of nine carbide-tipped spikes.

The Lone Peak NeoShell Mid is Altra’s new winter shoe that takes the NeoShell low to new heights, using Polartec waterproof breathable uppers to keep feet warm and dry. These bad boys don’t come with spikes, but utilize Maxtrac rubber traction technology with TrailClaw lugs for a solid grip. All Altra running shoes also come with a built-in gaiter trap to attach an extra layer of weatherproofing.

More: Run your way to better health with the top 10 running apps

A couple of winter shoe options that don’t incorporate a bootie, but do use waterproof materials and traction technology designed to prevent slipping include the Saucony Peregrine ICE+ and Inov8 Arcticclaw 300.

The new Saucony Peregrine ICE+ uses the same PWRTRAC outsole that provide the aggressive traction three-season Peregrines are famous for, but the ICE+ integrates Vibram’s cutting-edge Arctic Grip technology in high impact foot zones. Arctic Grip is specifically engineered to provide traction on wet ice and is so remarkable that it took home the Digital Trends Outdoors Best Product of 2016 award.

The Arcticclaw 300 comes in both regular and Thermo, which adds a Primaloft insulation liner to keep your feet extra warm. Both models feature 16 tungsten carbide spikes spread throughout the forefoot and heel of the nobby outsole. Inov8’s 4-finger polymer PROTEC-SHANK technology runs along the traction spikes to shield your metatarsals from additional impact.

Although the weather-specific technologies used in designing winterized running shoes can drive up their retail price, keep in mind that you probably won’t be using them nearly as much as your regular running shoes, so one pair might last more than one season. The decision to purchase a new pair of running shoes made to handle ice and cold weather or modify the pair you’ve been running in all year is based on personal preference, and may vary depending on regional climates and runner’s lifestyles.

Boeing unveils its new line of advanced — and snazzy — blue spacesuits

Why it matters to you

Boeing’s new spacesuits will aid astronauts on deep space travel, and may advance civilian space travel.

Boeing just revealed a new line of snazzy blue spacesuits designed for NASA astronauts aboard the company’s upcoming CST-100 Starliner spaceship. The suits may someday be worn by astronauts on NASA’s Journey to Mars.

For the past decade, NASA has been hitching rides aboard Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. When NASA retired its space shuttle in 2011, the agency looked to private companies to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Complications caused the expected launch date to be pushed back to 2018. Fortunately, the Soyuz is still available for transport. Unfortunately for NASA, Russia has since hiked its price-per-seat in order to capitalize on its temporary monopoly, according to Business Insider.

NASA is now counting on companies like SpaceX and Boeing to deliver on contracts for the Dragon and CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. SpaxeX’s explosion in September was far from confidence-building, though the company has since explained the technical failure in detail.

Boeing’s spacesuits certainly seems to have encouraged NASA.

“Astronauts have formerly had these relatively bulky, heavy suits with thick neck rings, and we learned throughout the years [that] maybe we didn’t need that,” Chris Ferguson, former NASA astronaut and Boeing director of Starliner Crew and Mission Systems, said in a promotional video.

While traditional spacesuits used by NASA weighed in at 30 pounds, Boeing’s new suit weighs just about 12 pounds. “We’ve simplified the suit,” Ferguson added. “It’s lightweight.”

The new spacesuits are stitched with a specialized material that offers pressurized mobility and pressurized comfort. The gloves are touchscreen-friendly and the soft helmet features a large and wide visor so astronauts can have better peripheral vision.

“Spacesuits have come in different sizes and shapes and designs, and I think this fits the Boeing model, fits the Boeing vehicle,” Chris Ferguson said.

Russia arrests Kaspersky Labs security investigator for treason

Why it matters to you

Our data privacy and security could be impacted by the political ramifications of information security investigations.

Safe computing requires the involvement of people in all industries, locations, and fields of expertise. Normally, that’s not a problem, as most people are willing and able to provide whatever input is necessary to help alleviate security risks in the technology we all use.

Some regions of the world are not as free and open as others, however, and so not all professionals as able to participate without concern for their own safety. Such could be the case with a Kaspersky Lab investigator who was arrested for treason in Russia, as Ars Technica reports.

More: Russia tried to help Trump win, CIA says … but the FBI isn’t so sure

Kaspersky Labs was quick to disassociate itself from the incident, saying, “The case against this employee does not involve Kaspersky Lab. The employee, who is Head of the Computer Incidents Investigation Team, is under investigation for a period predating his employment at Kaspersky Lab. We do not possess details of the investigation. The work of Kaspersky Lab’s Computer Incidents Investigation Team is unaffected by these developments.”

Details are sketchy as to why the investigator, Ruslan Stoyanov, was arrested. Stoyanov was in charge of Kaspersky Lab’s investigations unit, in addition to serving in Russia’s Ministry of Interior in charge of cybercrime. As Forbes reports, Stoyanov’s arrest might be related to an investigation involving Sergei Mikhailov, deputy head of the information security department of the FSB, involving monies paid by foreign companies.

However, Stoyanov recently contributed to the Kaspersky Lab Securelist blog, posting on cybercrime in Russia, and the Lawfare Blog has speculated — perhaps erroneously — that Stoyanov might have been a source of information leading to the conclusion that Russia sponsored hacking efforts aimed at interfering with the 2016 presidential election in the U.S. While nobody can be certain of the reasons for Stoyanov’s arrest, one general concern is that anyone who participates in efforts to fight cybercrime can come under political fire.

As Jake Williams of security firm Rendition Software put it, “For those living and working under oppressive regimes, keep up the good fight. But also remember that no incident response report or conference talk is worth jail time (or worse). I think that these charges will cause security researchers, particularly those in states with oppressive governments, to carefully consider the weight of reporting details of security incidents.”

Stoyanov’s arrest was filed under Article 275 of the Russian criminal code, which can impose treason charges on anyone who provides financial, technical, advisory, or other assistance to foreign states or organizations that are not friendly to Russia. This means that, as Forbes indicated in its coverage, merely providing the U.S. FBI with insights on malware such as botnets could run someone afoul of government agencies.

Nevertheless, the chilling effect on cybercrime research and mitigation could be significant if Stoyanov’s arrest indicates a trend of penalizing researchers and others for international cooperation. Even if Stoyanov’s arrest was for unrelated reasons, anyone involved with researching security in countries with oppressive governments might now think twice before working with foreign entities on resolving information security concerns.