Sonnet Unveils Thunderbolt 3-to-PCIe Card Expansion Systems for 2016 MacBook Pros

Sonnet Technologies yesterday launched its first Thunderbolt 3-to-PCIe card expansion systems for 2016 MacBook Pros, the Echo Express SEL — Thunderbolt 3 Edition and the Echo Express SE I — Thunderbolt 3 Edition.

The SEL and SE I are compact and lightweight single-slot expansion systems that differ only in size and enable users to take advantage of the Thunderbolt 3’s 2,750 MB/s of PCI Express bandwidth to support high performance adapter cards.

The Echo Express SE I — Thunderbolt 3 Edition weighs just 2.6 pounds and measures 5.6 inches wide by 8.6 inches deep by 3.5 inches tall, accommodating one-half length (up to 7.75 inches long), full-height, single-width PCIe 3.0 card with additional mounting space for a daughter card. With its Thunderbolt 3 interface, the SE I delivers ample bandwidth for the majority of Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe cards including pro video capture, digital audio interface, 6Gbps or 12Gbps SAS or SATA host bus adapters, 16Gb or 8Gb Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and RAID controller PCIe cards.

The Echo Express SEL — Thunderbolt 3 Edition is the smallest and quietest Thunderbolt 3 chassis yet, measuring 4 inches wide by 8.25 inches long by 2.8 inches tall and weighing just 1.75 pounds. The SEL houses one low-profile, single-width PCIe 3.0 card, including the majority of the most popular Thunderbolt-compatible 16Gb and 8Gb Fibre Channel, 40 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 6Gbps or 12Gbps SAS and SATA host bus adapters, RAID controller cards, and even low-profile pro video capture cards like the BlueFish 444 Epoch 4K Neutron.

The Echo Express SE I and Echo Express SEL Thunderbolt 3 Editions feature dual 40Gbps Thunderbolt 3 ports that support the daisy chaining of up to five additional Thunderbolt peripheral devices. Both models support backward compatibility for 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2- and 10Gbps Thunderbolt-equipped devices when connected via the Apple® Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter.

As an added benefit, the second Thunderbolt 3 port also supports a variety of displays and a multitude of USB 3.1, USB 3.0, and USB 2.0 devices when connected with the proper cable, and also fully supports the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol, which enables streaming to one 4K display at 120Hz, or two 4K displays at 60Hz, or one 5K display at 60Hz.

The list of compatible PCIe cards is available on Sonnet’s website. Sonnet is also offering Thunderbolt 3 upgrade cards for existing Thunderbolt 2 Echo Express SEL and SE I expansion systems, enabling those models with all the capabilities of the new Thunderbolt 3 Editions. 

Tags: Thunderbolt 3, Sonnet
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Rome: Total War – Barbarian Invasion Coming to iPad This March for $4.99

Feral Interactive has announced it is bringing ROME: Total War – Barbarian Invasion to iPad this March. The title is a standalone expansion pack to the critically acclaimed ROME: Total War, which was faithfully ported to iOS late last year.

As with the previous Creative Assembly conversion, the iPad release of Barbarian Invasion promises a full port of the original desktop game, supplemented by intuitive touch controls, enhanced Retina graphics, and mid-battle autosaves.

Barbarian Invasion is a game of epic scale, offering players a seamless integration of strategy and tactics to fight spectacular battles, while using diplomacy, subterfuge and assassination to dominate the ancient world. Featuring a campaign set in the declining years of the Roman Empire, players can either hasten its fall as a Barbarian commander or take up arms as a Roman General to extend its civilization in a glorious new epoch.

“We have been delighted by the reception of ROME: Total War on iPad and we are confident that Barbarian Invasion, bringing as it does a plethora of new tactical options, will be just as well-received,” said David Stephen, Managing Director of Feral Interactive.

ROME: Total War – Barbarian Invasion for iPad will be available exclusively via the App Store for $4.99. The game can be played without ROME: Total War, which is available on the App Store now for $9.99.

Tag: Feral
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Xiaomi boss says company has grown ‘too fast’

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi won’t be saying how many smartphones it sold in the last year. The company typically spins out its blockbuster phone sales, which easily demonstrated its growth over the years. It sold 7.2 million phones back in 2012, but by 2014 it sold 61 million units. That incredible growth has stalled. Even last year, Xiaomi announced sales of “over 70 million” devices in 2015, which was short of the company’s public target of 80 million — one that had already been shaved from 100 million.

CEO Lei Jun said in a letter to employees that the company had moved too quickly. Discovered by TechCrunch, Jun explained: “In the first few years, we pushed ahead too fast. We created a miracle, but also drew on some long-term growth… We have to slow down, further improve in some areas, and ensure sustainable growth for a long-term future.”

It’s not the only Chinese company that’s trying to temper once explosive growth and shift efforts towards sustaining their business. When LeEco expanded its scale and range of products so swiftly that it found itself running out of cash. Its founder pointed to “low individual performance and organizational redundancies.” The company is now trying to bring through cost-cutting measures and refocus itself around a few core businesses, which include car production.

Companies often get more secretive when they have less than stellar sales figures, or if they have different spins on their success that they want to offer to investors, the media and the public. It’s a strategy certainly not limited to Chinese companies: Amazon notoriously claims its Kindle devices are perennial best-sellers, but never spells it out in numbers. Apple still trumpets its iPhone sales, but offers nothing official and numerical when it comes to its Watch, and we know how many PlayStation 4s were sold over the holiday season, but have no idea how well its VR headset has done so far.

Xiaomi’s boss believes the “difficult times are behind [us]”, and in an interesting twist, adds that the company is looking to developing its physical retail presence, despite its rise as an online-only phone smartphone seller. The company is looking for better ways to sell millions of phones.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Facebook

Echobee3 Smart Thermostat Update Adds HomeKit Support for Remote Sensors

Smart wireless thermostat maker Ecobee is rolling out a firmware update to Echobee3 devices that brings individual HomeKit support to the device’s remote sensors for the first time.

The Echobee3 enables owners to use additional remote sensors to keep track of ambient temperature as well as detect motion in different locations within the home. With firmware version 3.7.0.969, currently rolling out to the devices, owners can now access individual sensors directly from within the iOS HomeKit app.

The official change log for the firmware is as follows:

• Automatically Restore HomeKit Connection. Occasionally some ecobees could lose its connection to Homekit and have to be rebooted in order to re-establish the connection. This firmware update enables the ecobee to automatically reconnect without any user action.

• Wireless sensors with homekit enhancement. The wireless sensors now show up as accessories in the iOS Home app. Because of the dual functionality (occupancy detection and temperature sensing) of the sensors, each sensor will show up as two accessories.

• The usual background cleanup and stability. As always, to smooth things out for a better experience.

The Ecobee3 firmware is an automatic update currently being rolled out. Owners unsure of the version of their devices who aren’t seeing their sensors in HomeKit should contact Ecobee support.

Tags: HomeKit, Ecobee
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Nintendo Switch will launch on 3 March for £280

The Nintendo Switch has finally been officially unveiled, and we now have a launch date and price. However the price will come as a bit of a surprise to many. We expected it to come in around the £200 mark, but Nintendo has put a £280 price tag on it in the UK, $300 in the US and 29,980 Yen ($260) in Japan.

• Nintendo Switch: Release date, price, specs and everything you need to know

There will be two versions of the console, one with a set of grey Joy-Con controllers and a version with a neon blue and a neon red Joy-Con controllers, both will cost £280.

The main tablet, that is docked when playing at home on a TV, or carried around for on-the-go gaming, features a 6.2-inch screen. If you do take it with you for portable gaming, the battery is said to last up to six hours, but it wholly depends on how much you use it. Nintendo says The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, one of the launch titles, can only be played for around three hours on a single charge. You can keep it powered up by connecting the charger to the USB Type-C connector.

The Joy-Con controllers offer various ways of gaming, they can be attached to either side of the Joy-Con grip to use as a controller at home, used independently in each hand, attach to the sides of the main console for handheld mode, or be split between two people for multiplayer gaming.

Each left and right Joy-Con controller has its own set of buttons, accelerometer and motion sensor. The left controller has a built-in capture mode for taking instant screenshots to share online, while the right controller has an NFC touchpoint for connecting to Amiibo figures and an infrared camera for detecting distance, shape and motion of objects in certain games.

Both controllers also support what Nintendo is calling HD Rumble, which is said to deliver subtle vibrations that are “much more realistic than before”.

Nintendo has built the Switch to be as much of a multiplayer gaming platform as it is single, as up to eight consoles can be connected together for wireless party play. You will need to subscribe to Nintendo’s online service to do so, but a free trial will be supplied with each console. The full paid service will be available in the autumn.

• Nintendo Switch games: The games revealed so far and what we’d like to see

Nintendo has confirmed details of seven games for the Switch, which along with The Legend of Zelda, include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which will launch on 28 April for £50, Super Mario Odyssey which launches in the “holiday season”, and Splatoon 2 which will launch in the summer.

Here are all the trailers from the Nintendo Switch event

When Nintendo revealed its mysterious NX game console as the Switch in October, we still didn’t know much. Yes, it was a hybrid portable game console with new games in the Super Mario, Legend of Zelda and Splatoon franchises — but how much was it going to cost? When was it coming out? What else would we be able to play? Now that the console’s official reveal is over, we have answers: $299, March 3rd and a whole lot. On top of teasing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo’s Switch reveal event showed us trailers for a new Fire Emblem game, a second Xenoblade Chronicles, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and so much more.

Not all of these games will make it out during the console’s launch window, but if you’re thinking about picking up a Switch, they’re all worth looking at. Lucky for you that we just happened to compile them in one easy to watch gallery.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Watch the Nintendo Switch event in less than 12 minutes

What a night. While you were (probably) fast asleep, Nintendo ended months of speculation by revealing a ton of new info about its upcoming console. Most importantly, the Switch launches globally on March 3rd, and will cost $300.

Nintendo also announced a number of new games for the system, including Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, a custom Switch version of FIFA, Xenoblade 2, Skyrim and a weird but fun-looking new IP – Arms. There are also new titles and ports from big hitters like Ubisoft and Square Enix, and we’re even promised a sequel to No More Heroes.

We’ll stop short of spoiling all the fun. As we’re nice people, we saved a few surprises and condensed all the event’s best bits into one bite-size video. Merry Switchmas!

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Lyft is doing great despite losing hundreds of millions in 2016

Lyft lost a lot of money last year, but it’s doing better than ever. The ride-hailing company doesn’t disclose its earnings, but according to The Information, it lost around $600 million in 2016 after generating $700 million in revenue. Sure, that loss is no joke, but its $700 million revenue is 250 percent higher than the $200.6 million the service generated in 2015. That’s when it also also lost $412 million, which is twice the money it made. No wonder a spokesperson told the publication that they “have never been more optimistic about [their] future.”

While the ride-sharing service did well overall, it wasn’t all smooth-sailing for Lyft the whole year. The second quarter of 2016 was its worst quarter ever due to subsidies, marketing and incentives to get both drivers and riders to sign up. It only started recovering in the second half of the year by taking certain measures: it stopped offering free coupons, controlled the entry of new hires and reduced how much it spent in marketing. It also expanded and promoted its shared ride option Lyft Line, which makes more money than the standard Lyft

The publication says it’s encouraging that both Uber’s and Lyft’s losses “as a percentage of total revenue are falling.” However, they still need to find more ways to achieve profitability, such as getting drivers to stay, since it’s spending so much to entice them to sign up. The company aims to keep reducing losses every quarter until it becomes profitable by 2018.

Source: The Information

Google Maps Users Can Now Book and Pay for an Uber Ride Without Ever Leaving the App

Google is rolling out an update to Google Maps for iOS that lets users request a ride from Uber without ever having to leave the app.

Previously, users of Maps could get a ride cost estimate and start the process of hailing a ride, but would eventually be kicked into the Uber app proper for confirmation and payment.

Now however, users can book and pay for an Uber directly within Google Maps, without having to have the official Uber app installed on their device, thanks to a redesigned “ride services” section.

Google announced the update on Thursday in a blog post, explaining that Maps users need only to sign in to their existing Uber account (or create one) in order to book an Uber ride, track the driver on the map, and connect with the driver, all from within the Maps app.

Users are also able to take a look at information about their destination while en route, with menus, hours, and other details available in-app. Though listed in the ride services section, Lyft currently doesn’t appear to support the same booking process as yet. The Maps update is currently being rolled out globally and should appear on user’s phones any time now.

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

Tags: Google Maps, Uber
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Safari Users Unable to Play Newer 4K Video on YouTube in Native Resolution

Reddit users have recently discovered that YouTube refuses to stream newly uploaded 4K video in its native resolution if the website is accessed through Safari web browser.

The issue was first raised almost a month ago by Reddit user GezimS, who wondered why the option to view 4K videos in 2160p was no longer available.

Other users soon chimed in to confirm the anomaly, noting that it only seemed to occur in recently uploaded 4K video and that accessing the same content in Chrome or Firefox still offered up the preferred 2160p resolution as a viewing option.

After some digging, user themcfly recently discovered that the issue is being caused by a change to the way YouTube encodes video and serves it through its website.

Specifically, YouTube appears to be storing video on its servers using either the more efficient VP9 codec or the older H.264 codec. Safari only supports the latter, which explains why recently uploaded 4K videos are only able to be viewed in up to 1440p.

Funnily enough, the same videos can be streamed by Safari in native 4K as long as they’re embedded in another website, suggesting that the VP9 codec support requirement only applies to videos viewed directly on YouTube’s website.

Until Apple updates Safari to support the VP9 codec, Mac users who want to access newer 4K video on YouTube in native 2160p resolution are advised to use a different browser.

Tags: YouTube, Safari, 4K
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