Investigation clears Tesla for fatal Autopilot crash

Last May a Tesla Model S ran into a tractor trailer in Florida while in Autopilot mode. The collision resulted in the death of the driver Joshua Brown and prompted an investigation by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Today that government agency concluded its investigation and found no defects with the vehicle’s Autopilot or Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) features.

The NHTSA noted the systems “are not designed to reliably perform in all crash modes, including crossing path collisions. The Autopilot system is an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that requires the continual and full attention of the driver to monitor the traffic environment and be prepared to take action to avoid crashes.”

Both the NHTSA and Tesla have shared data that shows that the driver did not take control of the vehicle ahead of its collision with the tractor trailer. The agency stated that the Autopilot system does prompt the driver to maintain control of the vehicle and requires they place their hands back on the wheel to continue working. It also reported that the automaker recently updated the system with a “strike out” system that locks drivers out of the feature if they fail to keep their hands on the wheel.

Concerning today’s news, a Tesla spokesperson told Engadget, “at Tesla, the safety of our customers comes first, and we appreciate the thoroughness of NHTSA’s report and its conclusion.”

Tesla’s blog post about the fatal collision said that the car may have been confused by the white tractor trailer and bright sky, “neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied.”

While this is good news for the automaker and systems like Autopilot in other vehicles, the NHTSA did note that, “the agency will monitor the issue and reserves the right to take future action if warranted by the circumstances.”

Source: NHTSA

‘Breath of the Wild’ will be Nintendo’s last Wii U game

The Wii U has had a difficult life cycle, and Nintendo is ready to leave it behind. Speaking with Polygon, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be the last internally developed game for the system. “From a first-party standpoint, there’s no new development coming after the launch of Breath of the Wild,” he said. “We really are at the end of life for Wii U.” While understandable, some may be surprised at how quickly Nintendo is ceasing software development. The 3DS, for comparison, still has a handful of games coming out in 2017, including Pikmin and Fire Emblem Echoes.

The message is simple: Nintendo needs all of its teams developing for the Switch. While the company has some third-party support, it’s likely to be weaker than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The system, like all Nintendo hardware, will thrive or die based on the number of top quality games the company was able to ship. With the Wii U, that number was clearly too low. The titles that did ship were mostly stellar — Super Mario 3D World, Splatoon and Mario Kart 8, to name but a few. Nintendo needed more of them, however, and has acknowledged the problem in interviews.

The Wii U isn’t being killed off entirely, however. Fils-Aime told Polygon that Nintendo will continue to sell existing games both at retail and on the eShop. Other online services will also continue, including server support for multiplayer titles such as Super Smash Bros. “Sunsetting is quite some time in the future,” he said. “The ongoing activity from an online standpoint on [Mario] Kart and Splatoon is significant. We’re going to continue to support that.” Nevertheless, Nintendo’s focus is pretty clear. Starting on March 3rd, the company is betting its future on the Switch.

Source: Polygon

Teenage Engineering’s next synth wirelessly syncs with Basslet

I love a good collaboration. So when I spotted a Teenage Engineering representative jamming on the (as yet unreleased) OP-Z while wearing a Basslet wearable subwoofer at this year’s NAMM convention, I was curious. It turns out, The Swedish synth maker (of Pocket Operator fame) has been working with Lowfelt (maker of Basslet) to have the two gadgets play nice together — and it makes a lot of sense.

As a refresher, Teenage Engineering is famous for off-beat synthesizers that marry Swedish design with pouting EDM-style sounds and quirky extra features like video output. Most of the things the company makes are portable, and have either a tiny speaker, or require the use of headphones. Basslet, is a wearable “tactile” subwoofer that translates bass sounds into something you can feel. Putting the two together is a logical move.

Basslet will already work with anything that has a 3.5mm audio port. The problem is, you’ll always need Basslet’s companion dongle — which adds another link in the chain (plus it needs charging). What Teenage Engineering will do with the OP-Z, is bake the dongle right into the synth, or at least the required wireless connectivity, so you can just plug your headphones in and play.

I had a quick demo on a very (very) noisy trade show floor, and the benefit was instantly obvious. What would otherwise have been a hard-to-hear beat suddenly leapt out, with every kick drum enhanced by the thudding Basslet on my wrist. Making music on the move will become a much more immersive experience, and not having to pack that pesky dongle will really be handy. Generally in life, we need less dongles, this much we already know (someone please tell Apple).

The bad news is, the OP-Z isn’t slated to be released until fall this year.

Neil Gaiman is making a ‘Good Omens’ miniseries for Amazon Video

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett fans, take note: Good Omens, a novel written by Gaiman and Pratchett, is being adapted into an Amazon miniseries. The six-part series will debut in 2018, with Gaiman serving as sole writer and showrunner. It’s a timely release, too — Amazon’s description says that “Good Omens takes place in 2018 when the Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity,” a feeling that some of us can relate to today.

Despite that seemingly dark introduction, the series (and novel it is based on) are more comedy than drama. “Almost thirty years ago, Terry Pratchett and I wrote the funniest novel we could about the end of the world,” Gaiman said in a statement, “populated with angels and demons, not to mention an eleven-year-old Antichrist, witchfinders and the four horsepeople of the Apocalypse.” Indeed, Pratchett (who died in 2015) was well-known for his rather unique blend of comedy and fantasy.

There’s no word on the show’s cast yet, but the BBC studios is serving as co-producer and the show will be broadcast on the BBC in the UK in addition to Amazon Video. Caroline Skinner (Doctor Who), Chris Sussman (Fleabag), Rob Wilkins (Choosing to Die) and Rod Brown (Going Postal) will serve as executive producers along with Gaiman. Plenty of Gaiman’s works have been adapted for the screen in one form or another, but Good Omens is notable as it was the first novel he published, way back in 1990.

Via: Variety

Source: Amazon

Kymco’s smart scooter combines alerts with a customizable design

Smart cars are everywhere. They talk to your phone and your house. In the future they’ll even carry on conversations with you and your passengers. But for now, automobiles are rolling maps, entertainment centers and charging ports for our connected lifestyles.

Motorcycles and scooters, on the other hand, have been slow to adopt any smart features. More so than with a car, taking your eyes off the road for even a few seconds while riding can be incredibly dangerous. But Taiwanese company Kymco thinks it’s found a way to make its scooters smarter without sacrificing safety. The company calls it the Noodoe experience.

The system adds a round “Smart Dashboard” to the instrument cluster that replaces the regular speedometer. The display has different widgets that displays the speed, time, weather, a compass that keeps you riding in the right direction while surfacing important locations like gas stations, and notifications from your Bluetooth-connected smartphone.

Kymco says the information is tailored to the riding experience. A quick glance should give you the details you need. Even the most elaborate dashboard, the Compass, is pretty sparse. It resembles a submarine’s radar display. To keep you going in the correct direction the edge of the circle glows in relation to the destination you input into the app instead of showing off a large arrow or street map.

The Compass also shows points of interest and any friends with the NooDoe system that you’ve added to the app as “blips.” What it doesn’t have are point-by-point directions, which seems like a missed opportunity. But Kymco says it will probably come out with rider-specific mapping in a later version of the system.

Currently, at least, it offers smartphone notifications. But unlike systems in cars that share info with your eyes or ears as soon as something happens, NooDoe’s alerts only appear when the bike is at a complete stop (where allowed by law). Likewise, these notifications disappear once the scooter starts rolling again. And you can’t act on those alerts either. The value here is that you have a chance to decide whether it’s worth it to pull over and, say, respond to a message.

But to the company Noodoe is more than just connecting a bike to a phone; it wants to give riders the ability to personalize their two-wheel experience. The speedo and clocks can be customized with your own photos, as well as color schemes and assorted fonts. If you’re especially jazzed about one of your creations you can share it in the NooDoe companion app with other users. You can also download creations made by other riders.

The result is what Kymco hopes is a unique experience. That may be true, but what it means for motorcycle and scooter riders is a way to get smart features that make sense for how they get around town that’s safer than mounting a smartphone to their handlebars. The NooDoe system is expected to debut in the US on the Like scooter in mid 2017.

Source: Kymco

Pioneer takes on Korg with its first analog synthesizer

If you want an analog synthesizer, but don’t have a lot of floorspace, then Korg’s Volca range is for you. Maybe hold that thought a sec. Until now, Pioneer has focused on the club crowd with its ubiquitous DJ decks and controllers. The company branched out into general music production with its Toraiz SP-16 sampler last year; today it’s stepping further into music-making with the Toraiz AS-1 analog sound machine.

When I fist saw the photos of the AS-1, my first thought was “that looks a lot like Korg’s Volca series.” And it does. Sure, there aren’t that many ways to present a small synth, but the general layout and basic concept really do resonate with what Korg has been doing (and doing well) for the last few years.

There are some key differences of course. The Volca series is made up of different synths for different jobs (drums, keyboards etc.), and each model costs around $150. Pioneer’s AS-1 is a straight up sound machine (though it will sequence those sounds into “songs”), and it weighs in at $499. The AS-1 is also slightly bigger than it first looks. The preset sounds it comes with cover all the bases — from strings to crunchy “acid” noises, but the real fun will be making your own.

While the AS-1 is a Pioneer product, it’s actually a collaboration with Dave Smith Instruments (based on the Prophet-6 if you’re wondering). This co-branding adds a chunk of credibility to Pioneer’s first venture into sound making, and somewhat explains the higher price.

The monophonic AS-1 will also play nice with Pioneer’s other gear, and not just the original Toraiz. If you own a DJM mixer and CDJs, you’ll be able to hook them all up together and “play” the tracks from the AS-1 via the CD turntables. That is, once it lands in stores some time in March.

A single image of the Nintendo Switch tells us three things

Nintendo has shown precious little of the Switch’s user interface so far — just a few seconds teasing the console’s menu during last week’s live stream and a fleeting glance during a Treehouse livestream. Apart from showing off the general layout and confirming the presence of the Nintendo eShop, Nintendo’s tease didn’t tell us much. Now, an image Tweeted out by indie developer Nicalis tell us a lot more: The Switch my have multiple users, menu themes and a couple of unannounced games.

The picture is strikingly different than other shots we’ve seen of the Nintendo Switch UI — draping the bright, white menu theme shown in Nintendo’s press conference with a darker theme. While it’s likely this is just a simple “night mode” setting, it hints at the possibility that the Switch could have 3DS-like menu themes. This shot of the UI also has a new feature: a change user button, suggesting the Switch is a more sharable device than Nintendo’s current portable. Finally, the image reveals two popular Nicalis titles previously unannounced for the Switch: Cave Story and 1001 Spikes.

Despite the Tweet reading like a playful tease for Nicalis games, it was apparently a mistake: the developer deleted the Tweet and image within an hour. Either way, more games, better sharing features and a darker user interface are all things we can get behind. Here’s hoping we’ll have access to all of it when the console launches

Use Roli Blocks to control Mac and Windows music production apps

Roli’s set of modular music gadgets have been around since November, but today the company announced an update that will come in handy for those who use desktop music production apps. The new Dashboard for Roli Blocks allows you to employ the LED touch-sensitive pad to control software like Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, Cubase, Native Instruments Massive and a bunch more. With the Lightpad Block and Dashboard, you can upload pre-programmed scripts and edit as needed.

What’s more, Roli has a new Fader Mode for the Lightpad Block. This new feature makes it even easier to control the parameters you assign to the gadget with a new display mode. And yes, the tool works with both OS X and Windows software. The company is showing off a beta version of Dashboard at NAMM this week, but it’s planning to ship the feature to all Blocks users February 16th. If you’re not familiar with the gear, we caught up with RZA at CES to find out what makes the affordable gadget so compelling.

Slither.io brings the popular browser game to Android (Review)

Overview:

Slither.io is a port of the popular browser game of the same name. While it can be a challenging multiplayer experience, it’s simple and fun to play over and over again.

Developer: Lowtech Studios

Cost: Free (With ads, $3.99 ad-free version)

Impressions:

Slither.io is already a well-established and popular browser game on desktop computers. It is similar to a few other games, like Agar.io and Diep.io that involve a competitive online multiplayer game based around growing your character by consuming other players. In Slither.io, you play as a worm or snake-like creature which you guide with your finger, to collect orbs to grow while trying to defeat other players by making them collide with you without being defeated yourself. The main objective is to reach the top of the leaderboard and survive for as long as possible.

Slither.io is a simplistic game with cutesy graphics and basic one finger gameplay. There is a bit of customization involved, with skins based on flags, colors, and other silly things to make your worm stand out. The real challenge in Slither.io comes from outmaneuvering and outplaying others in order to make them destroy themselves and allow you to absorb them. The game can be downright infuriating at times, with large players dominating the map for long periods and aggressive people out to get the smaller players. However, it’s very addicting and offers a sense of sweet victory when you defeat someone and use their remaining energy to grow. Thankfully the game also offers an AI mode if you don’t want to play online with others.

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Slither.io offers a few different control schemes if the default one is too difficult for you. There is a joystick mode, which allows you to steer with an on-screen joystick and two different drag modes where you guide with the tip of your finger. There is also a boost mode that consumes energy to speed up, which can be used in different ways to either attack or survive.

There isn’t too much to Slither.io, besides its simplistic concept and harsh challenge at times. Compared to similar “.io” games, it’s one of the least complex but definitely one of the more fun ones to play. Thankfully there are no microtransactions to speak of, but there are ads. The ads themselves are harmless, but there is a “premium” no ads version of the game for $3.99 which is laughable seeing as the game doesn’t have egregious ad placement and the desktop version is exactly the same and 100% free. Do yourselves a favor and don’t bother with the paid version at all as it offers no added value unless you truly hate advertisements. Also, sometimes the connection when playing online can lag and cause stutter which may inadvertently cause you to die. An unfortunate situation but understandable when dealing with a large-scale multiplayer game spanning hundreds of players at once.

Conclusion:

I really like Slither.io. I’ve played both the desktop and now the Android version and it is a satisfying game when you do well, and offers a challenge that few games of this caliber can offer especially on mobile. I’d recommend it to anyone but younger kids may have a hard time and also the player nicknames can sometimes be a bit NSFW, so be wary of that if you let your kids play. Solid game, be sure to check it out!

Download Slither.io on the Google Play Store

Don’t miss out on this smart plug for its lowest price yet!

Right now you can pick up one of TP Link’s smart plugs for just $35, its lowest price yet. If you’re looking to make your house or apartment a bit smarter, this is the perfect way to get started or add to your existing setup. From being able to schedule when the power at the outlet goes on and off to having remote access to it, this is an awesome way to make things work better for you.

This deal won’t last long, so you should act quickly if you are interested in it. Make your house smarter with only a small investment, you’ll be thankful you did later.

See at Amazon