New computer vision app helps travelers interpret foreign road signs on the fly

Why it matters to you

Ever have a hard time understanding a road sign in another country? Computer vision startup Mapillary thinks it has a solution.

You know how Google hopes to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful?” Swedish startup Mapillary wants to do the same thing with the world’s road signs.

As it turns out, from warnings about polar bears to alerts concerning “invisible cows,” there are some pretty darn unusual roadside messages you’ll come across as you travel the globe. But if you’re only used to the regular old boring signs found in your neighborhood, being expected to understand all of them from behind the wheel is a tall order.

Throw self-driving cars — which need to understand this stuff to get you safely from point A to point B — into the mix and things become even more confusing.

Computer vision company Mapillary has spent the past several years working on just this problem.

More: From bombers to bees, computer vision startup sees them all

“Mapillary is a collaborative street-level imagery platform powered by computer vision,” CEO and co-founder told Digital Trends. “The mission is to understand the world’s places through images and make this understanding available to all. Mapillary provides apps and tools for everyone, enabling individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide to contribute with street-level imagery. All images are connected in 3D and objects recognized in images are automatically labeled and turned into geospatial data. Mapillary has a viewer, APIs, and developer tools for easy use of this imagery and geospatial data in a wide range of applications.”

Already, Mapillary has mapped more than 1.6 million miles of street-level imagery and thanks to its machine learning algorithms and convolutional neural network lays claim to one of the biggest such archives of its kind. On Monday, it announced the addition of 500 new signs to its image recognition system, along with an expansion beyond Europe and the U.S. to cover more than 60 countries — ranging from China to South Africa.

At present, the data is being used to help cities and road authorities do sign inventory, but there are plenty of other possible applications. For instance, how useful would it be to hire a car overseas and have your car spot signs up ahead and give you advance notice, or a quick explainer, on what they mean? While nothing has been announced yet, according to Solem, “[we] have no problems licensing this technology to fit in cars.”

In other words, keep your eyes on this space. But also on the road. Especially when there are polar bears crossing.

Device storage to get a huge bump in capacity from upcoming 512Gb 3D NAND chips

Why it matters to you

The announcement of a new 512Gb 3D NAND chip means that devices will have larger storage capacities along with bigger batteries.

Western Digital said on Monday that it began a pilot production of a new 3D NAND chip in Yokkaichi, Japan. This chip packs three bits of data into memory cells that are spread across 64 stacked layers, providing 512 gigabits of storage capacity. The chip is an industry first and the result of a collaboration between Western Digital and Toshiba. It’s expected to go into mass production sometime during the second half of 2017.

Western Digital and Toshiba first introduced 3D NAND with 64 layers in July. Dubbed as “BiCS3,” the technology is unlike standard “2D” NAND that relies on storage cells distributed horizontally across physical space like crowded city blocks. Instead, 3D NAND places cells on layers and stacks these “floors” vertically like tall skyscrapers. This enables higher storage capacities because 3D NAND isn’t limited to the physical boundaries of the actual memory chip (die). Thus, the sky is seemingly the limit for 3D NAND.

More: Western Digital wades into the PCI Express hard drive arena, and Sandisk debuts a huge SD card

According to Toshiba, BiCS Flash technology enables memory chips with a smaller size due to the manufacturing process and circuit technology. Even more, the spaces between each memory cell are wider than those in traditional 2D NAND products so that the storage product can write data faster. These wide spaces also reduce the amount of “noise” each cell experiences from other neighboring cells on the layer, making the stored data more reliable.

The 64-layer 3D NAND introduced last summer only supported 256 gigabits of storage capacity per chip. The new model doubles the density, meaning resulting products will have double the storage capacity in the same form factor than what was provided with the initial 64-layer 3D NAND technology. Details regarding how Western Digital and Toshiba made this increased storage density possible will be provided in a technical paper during the International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

Toshiba said in November that it would begin constructing a “state-of-the-art” fabrication facility in Yokkaichi in February to expand its production of BiCS Flash products. The fab will be built in two phases to mirror Toshiba’s financial investment against the current market trends. The first phase isn’t expected to be complete until the summer of 2018.

“The new fab will have a quake-absorbing structure and an environmentally friendly design that includes LED lighting throughout the building, plus the latest energy saving manufacturing equipment,” Toshiba said. “It will also introduce an advanced production system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity.”

The new 512Gb BiCS3 Flash chip will increase the capacities of devices that rely on Flash-based storage such as smartphones, tablets, solid- state drives, USB storage drives, and so on. For smartphones and tablets, the technology means these devices can offer the same amount of capacity as before, but on smaller memory chips, thus enabling manufacturers to use the extra physical space to install larger batteries. The capacities can be larger too because of the stacked nature of 3D NAND.

Device storage to get a huge bump in capacity from upcoming 512Gb 3D NAND chips

Why it matters to you

The announcement of a new 512Gb 3D NAND chip means that devices will have larger storage capacities along with bigger batteries.

Western Digital said on Monday that it began a pilot production of a new 3D NAND chip in Yokkaichi, Japan. This chip packs three bits of data into memory cells that are spread across 64 stacked layers, providing 512 gigabits of storage capacity. The chip is an industry first and the result of a collaboration between Western Digital and Toshiba. It’s expected to go into mass production sometime during the second half of 2017.

Western Digital and Toshiba first introduced 3D NAND with 64 layers in July. Dubbed as “BiCS3,” the technology is unlike standard “2D” NAND that relies on storage cells distributed horizontally across physical space like crowded city blocks. Instead, 3D NAND places cells on layers and stacks these “floors” vertically like tall skyscrapers. This enables higher storage capacities because 3D NAND isn’t limited to the physical boundaries of the actual memory chip (die). Thus, the sky is seemingly the limit for 3D NAND.

More: Western Digital wades into the PCI Express hard drive arena, and Sandisk debuts a huge SD card

According to Toshiba, BiCS Flash technology enables memory chips with a smaller size due to the manufacturing process and circuit technology. Even more, the spaces between each memory cell are wider than those in traditional 2D NAND products so that the storage product can write data faster. These wide spaces also reduce the amount of “noise” each cell experiences from other neighboring cells on the layer, making the stored data more reliable.

The 64-layer 3D NAND introduced last summer only supported 256 gigabits of storage capacity per chip. The new model doubles the density, meaning resulting products will have double the storage capacity in the same form factor than what was provided with the initial 64-layer 3D NAND technology. Details regarding how Western Digital and Toshiba made this increased storage density possible will be provided in a technical paper during the International Solid-State Circuits Conference.

Toshiba said in November that it would begin constructing a “state-of-the-art” fabrication facility in Yokkaichi in February to expand its production of BiCS Flash products. The fab will be built in two phases to mirror Toshiba’s financial investment against the current market trends. The first phase isn’t expected to be complete until the summer of 2018.

“The new fab will have a quake-absorbing structure and an environmentally friendly design that includes LED lighting throughout the building, plus the latest energy saving manufacturing equipment,” Toshiba said. “It will also introduce an advanced production system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity.”

The new 512Gb BiCS3 Flash chip will increase the capacities of devices that rely on Flash-based storage such as smartphones, tablets, solid- state drives, USB storage drives, and so on. For smartphones and tablets, the technology means these devices can offer the same amount of capacity as before, but on smaller memory chips, thus enabling manufacturers to use the extra physical space to install larger batteries. The capacities can be larger too because of the stacked nature of 3D NAND.

Scientists discover way to eliminate chemotherapy side effects in mice

Anyone who has been through cancer, or had a loved one battle it, will be grateful that we live in a world in which chemotherapy exists. One thing they probably won’t be so grateful for are the terrible side effects that accompany chemo — which can include muscle weakness, nausea, dizziness, and more.

Which is why it’s exciting to hear that scientists have published a paper describing how these side effect might be nullified.

“Chemotherapeutic drugs are an effective anti-cancer strategy but come with a number of side effects due to the lack of specificity against cancer cells,” Dr. Marco Demaria, a co-author in the study from the Netherlands’ University of Groningen, told Digital Trends. “During this study, we have shown that a number of these drugs can promote cellular aging, also known as cellular senescence, in many tissues independently of tumors. Eliminating senescent cells from the body using a transgenic mouse model was sufficient to reduce several toxicities associated to the treatment, and improve animals’ healthspan. Moreover, cancer relapse was delayed.”

More: Graphene’s latest miracle? The ability to detect cancer cells

In other words, in animal tests with mice suffering from cancer, the symptoms of four common chemotherapy drugs (doxorubicin, cisplatin, paclitaxel and temozolomide) could be gotten rid of by giving them drugs to kill the senescent cells.

As to the billion dollar question of whether similar findings can be extrapolated to humans, there is reason to be optimistic. The researchers discovered that a higher number of senescent cells pre-chemotherapy correlated with increased fatigue after treatment in breast cancer human patients: a similar finding to the way that mice behaved.

“We are now planning different studies to expand the correlation between cellular senescence and chemotherapy,” Demaria continued. “Our goal is to develop compounds that could interfere with senescent cells to generate combinatorial treatments with low toxicities and high efficacy. However, we need to keep in consideration that senescent cells cover a number of beneficial functions for the organism, and currently we are not able to discriminate and target only the deleterious senescence. Deep characterizations of the different types of senescent cells are needed to design drugs for human treatment.”

To put it another way, don’t expect overnight results, but the prognosis is looking positive!

Bill Nye forecasts next 50 years, says we’re at a technological crossroad

Why it matters to you

According to Bill Nye, the social and technological future depends on you.

What will technology be like in 50 years? According to Bill Nye the Science Guy, we’re at a crossroads for energy technology and the direction will depend on how people want to shape the world, Futurism reports.

In Nye’s weekly video series for Big Think, the mechanical engineer, science educator, and television presenter responded to queries about science and technology. Recent questions have asked for Nye’s opinion on the possibility of cold fusion and whether scientists today could create Frankenstein’s monster. The latest inquiry was about the future.

More: How much wind could a wind farm farm? Web tool estimates renewable potential

A young industrial engineering student at the University of Miami asked Nye if he could describe how he thinks the world will look like technologically and socially in the future. Sure that people 50 years ago wouldn’t have imagined some of today’s technology, the student asked, “So can you give us an idea of what you think the world is going to be like in 50 years?”

Nye started by stating that we’re at a turning point, a fork in the road. “I very much hope in the next 50 years virtually all of our electricity, let’s just start with 80 percent of our electricity, is made renewably from wind and solar, some geothermal, some tidal energy and we run the whole place renewably.”

He also stated that it’s not hard to predict autonomous cars. “There will be very few human-driven cars. Most automobiles in 50 years will be automatic, will be driverless. In the same way you get on a train at the airport and you go from one terminal to another, you trust that train to do that, it stays on the track.”

Nye said, however, that he believes the future technological direction depends on millennials and Gen Xers. “Either in the next decade or 15 years, the U.S. becomes the world leader in renewable technologies or the U.S. just continues to divide the rich and the poor and global climate change gets stronger and stronger the ocean gets bigger and bigger as it gets warmer and the quality of life for a lot of people goes down,” Nye continued. “We’ll see.”

Concluding with an exhortation, Nye said, “But man, you’ve given me a lot to think about. I want you to change the world. Go get ’em […] Let’s go.”

Microsoft’s unified user interface may be the namesake of Google’s hybrid OS

Why it matters to you

Windows 10 will one day share the same user interface across all of its supported devices, making it easier to move from one device type to another.

It was just a couple of weeks ago when information surfaced that Microsoft is working to create new user interface technology that will put the same interactive elements on every device running Windows 10. That means that desktops, notebooks, 2-in-1s, smartphones, Xbox Ones, and more would all feel the same to the user.

This UI technology will complete Microsoft’s vision started with the OneCore initiative, which uses the same basic OS for all Windows 10 devices. Now, it appears that the new unified user interface has a code name, Andromeda, that strangely enough seems to be shared with Google’s hybrid OS project, as MSPU reports.

More: Every device you own could soon run the same Windows 10 user interface

The information first came from well-known leaker WalkingCat on Twitter:

ComposableShell related components found in 15025 symbols package, what the hell is Andromeda ? pic.twitter.com/uWl1qpMmlT

— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) February 6, 2017

As WalkingCat points out, Google’s own hybrid OS is codenamed Andromeda as well:

So Google's rumored Andromeda is a hybrid OS designed for hybrid devices, and MS Andromeda is the same thing, hard to believe its coincident

— WalkingCat (@h0x0d) February 6, 2017

The basic concept is that an “adaptive shell” will run on all device types and, as the name implies, adapt itself to specific device characteristics like screen size and aspect ratio. This adaptive shell will be called the “Composable Shell” (CSHELL), and it will present the appropriate UI depending on the device on which it’s running.

With the Windows 10 Creators Update just around the corner and, given that the latest Bug Bash event is probably feature-locked, we’ll have to wait until future updates before we start seeing CSHELL, or Andromeda, make its way into devices. Perhaps Microsoft will wait until that technology is fully fleshed out to introduce a new smartphone, possibly the long-rumored Surface phone, based on the upcoming Windows 10 on ARM technology.

Regardless, the rumors will likely continue to run rampant between now and whenever these upgrades arrive on Windows 10. With Microsoft Build 2017 coming in just a few months, perhaps we’ll get our first glimpse of the new unified user interface sometime before the next major update — Redstone 3 — arrives toward the end of 2017.

New TomTom Touch Cardio fitness tracker cuts the fat in both features and price

Why it matters to you

Looking for a fitness tracker at a budget price? The Tom Tom Touch Cardio keeps all the key features of its predecessor, cost $50 less.

TomTom is set to offer yet another decent fitness tracker at a budget price. The company has announced the TomTom Touch Cardio, which is basically a cheaper version of the original TomTom Touch that still offers a slew of excellent features, including the heart rate monitor, and step, sleep, and calorie tracking.

The main thing missing from the Touch Cardio is its predecessor’s body composition feature, which calculates fat and muscle percentage through your wrist — it’s a pretty neat feature, but not necessary for everyone. The silver touch button is also missing from the device, likely because it was involved in calculating body composition. In its place, however, is a more subtle and arguably better designed touch button that will serve as the home button — like the silver button did on the original Tom Tom Touch when it wasn’t being used for the body composition feature.

More: Need motivation to get outside? Check out the new TomTom sports app

The device does still boast some pretty nice features, especially at this price point. For example, you’ll get a built-in optical heart rate monitor designed for continuous tracking and high accuracy. You can also get phone notifications — so you’ll be able to see call information and messages without having to take your phone out of your pocket.

To use the tracker, you’ll have topair it with TomTom’s accompanying app, which was recently redesigned and relaunched at CES with a new user interface, as well as the ability to view your activity trends and share your workouts and progress with others.

So how much does the device cost? The TomTom Touch Cardio fitness tracker will launch globally in March for £89.99, which equates to around $112 U.S., and is about $50 cheaper than the original TomTom Touch.

Digital divide widens as FCC rolls back broadband subsidies for poorer households

Why it matters to you

The FCC’s rollback of an affordable broadband program has left some poor households without subsidy, though the program continues for others

On Friday, the Federal Communications Commission, under its new chairman Ajit Pai, slowed down the rollout of a program that would help poor households access broadband and phone services.

The FCC’s Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications was designed to bridge the digital divide, but under this new order, nine ISPs will not be able to take part in the program.

Through Lifeline, an ISP can apply to the program in order to offer subsidies to poorer customers that are eligible. These ISPs receive $9.25 for each eligible customer and there are up to 13 million people in the United States that are eligible.

The plan was originally put in place by former chairman Tom Wheeler but according to his successor, Pai, the provisions did not have the “support of the majority of commissioners” and so the program “should not bind us going forward.” The FCC said it was trying to address fraud and abuse in the Lifeline program.

More: FCC halts investigations into zero-rating data programs like T-Mobile’s Binge On

As a result, there are nine fewer options for poorer homes to avail of the subsidies. Customers will have to find a different ISP that is part of Lifeline and that may be easier said than done, depending on your location — otherwise, they’ll have to pay more.

The nine ISPs that have been restricted are: AR Designs, Boomerang Wireless, FreedomPop, KonaTel, Kajeet, Liberty, Northland Cable, Spot On, and Wabash Independent Networks. These ISPs cannot reapply until the FCC has reformed the program to contend with cases of fraud or abuse, although none of the nine ISPs are involved in any financial controversies at this time. Currently about 900 ISPs are signed up to Lifeline.

Daniel Neal, the founder of Kajeet, told The Washington Post that he was concerned about the impact the rollback will have on education and schools. “We partner with school districts — 41 states and the District of Columbia — to provide educational broadband so that poor kids can do their homework,” he said.

LG G6 expected to launch in Korea March 9, U.S. to follow April 7

Well, you’re getting one part of this right, LG.

We are merely a few weeks away from the official launch of the LG G6 at MWC 2017, and now, on top of the latest hardware leaks, we’re getting more information about the launch. According to well-known leaker Evan Blass over at Venturebeat, the G6 will launch to consumers quickly after its February 26 launch — at least, in South Korea.

Blass claims that the LG G6 will hit South Korean retailers just over a week after launch, on March 9. The launch elsewhere is unfortunately a bit later — April 7 in the U.S.

That move back to an April release in the U.S. could prove to be a pivotal decision, as that will start to approach the time that rumors say Samsung will launch the Galaxy S8. All expectations are that the G6 would still hit stores before Samsung’s latest flagship, but it would surely benefit LG to get as much time separation as possible to try and capture some sales.

We’ll see all LG has to show off at MWC 2017 with its launch announcement on February 26, which kicks off at 6 a.m. ET.

Google is making it easier to see the original URL from an AMP search result

A new feature makes it easier to make sure the page you’re seeing from an AMP search result is legit and lets you share the “real” URL with others.

AMP pages are great. They are designed to help us find what we’re looking for when we’re mobile and point us towards search results that are easy to read because they were designed for a smaller screen and touch-based navigation. So many people use their phones to get on the internet and get the information they need that anything that makes the experience better is welcomed.

On the web, trust is important. You need to know you’re seeing results from a place you trust.

But there are a few drawbacks to using AMP URLs, too. One is that they require a separate (and sometimes frequently changed) URL to be cached by Google, and this breaks the traditional way the web works. When something goes on the internet, it should be there forever, in the same place. Moving the URL we use from a mobile device around can make things confusing. Google is working on streamlining this so the right solution can be found.

The other issue with AMP pages is user-facing. We don’t know exactly where we are or if what we are seeing is from the website it claims to be. It’s also difficult to share the actual URL of a web page when you are viewing through an AMP search result. This is the issue (they are really the same issue) Google is addressing today.

AMP headers will now have an anchor “button” you can tap to get access to the full canonical URL.

The layout and navigation features of am AMP page haven’t changed. You’ll still see the header whilst at the top of a page, and it will slide out of view as you scroll down to allow more screen space for actual content. But now, when we push that header back into view we’ll be able to find the “real” location of the page we’re seeing and share it with a long press on the URL itself.

The feature is available in the Google app for iOS today and is coming to the Android app soon. Google is also working with the WebShare API to allow users to use the native sharing features of their phone and share the canonical URL as well.

Transparency is important. While changes like this may seem insignificant, being able to use Google’s AMP platform while verifying exactly what we are seeing is a welcome update.