iPhone 8 Said to Have Separate Wireless Charger, No Headphone Jack Adapter or USB-C Cable in Box

Apple is planning to release three new iPhone models later this year, including 4.7-inch, 5.5-inch, and an all-new 5-inch model with an OLED display and glass casing, according to Japanese blog Mac Otakara.

iPhone 8 concept by visual designer Moe Slah
The report, citing “reliable sources” within Apple’s supply chain, insists that only the OLED model will adopt glass casing and wireless charging capabilities, contradicting a Nikkei report and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s repeated claims that all 2017 iPhones will feature an all-glass design and wireless charging.

The blog previously said the more iterative “iPhone 7s” and “iPhone 7s Plus” models will lack wireless charging and retain the now-familiar aluminum design that Apple has used since the iPhone 6 lineup in 2014. Apple supplier Catcher Technology also said it expects only one new iPhone model to have glass casing.

The loosely-translated report suggests the wireless charging will not be a built-in feature, but rather a separate accessory based on technology from Luxshare, a Chinese company that has been rumored to be a supplier of wireless charging coils for the inductive Apple Watch charger in the past.

Samsung’s wireless charging stand for the latest Galaxy smartphones
If the report is accurate, it would mean Apple’s next iPhones will not have truly wireless long-range charging capabilities, but rather contact-based inductive charging like the Apple Watch or Qi-based charging pads like Samsung’s “Fast Charge” stand. Qi’s latest Quick Charge 2.0 spec supports wireless charging up to 15W.

Over the course of the last year, there has been ongoing speculation that wireless charging company Energous has inked a deal with Apple to potentially provide wireless charging technology for the iPhone 8, but patents and other evidence suggest Apple may pursue its own in-house inductive charging solutions instead.

Overall, rumors surrounding Apple’s wireless charging plans are still lacking consensus. Reports have linked MediaTek, Foxconn, Pegatron, and Lite-On Semiconductor as possible suppliers of wireless charging chips or modules.

Five years ago, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller said “it’s not clear how much convenience” wireless charging systems that have to be plugged in to a wall outlet add, while noting the ubiquity of the USB cord.

As for wireless charging, Schiller notes that the wireless charging systems still have to be plugged into the wall, so it’s not clear how much convenience they add. The widely-adopted USB cord, meanwhile, can charge in wall outlets, computers and even on airplanes, he said.

The report also claims Apple will no longer include a Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter in the box alongside its next iPhones. Meanwhile, Apple’s Lightning to USB-C Cable is said to remain an optional purchase, dashing hopes of connecting the “iPhone 8” to a newer MacBook or MacBook Pro straight out of the box.

Given that Apple’s wireless AirPods and BeatsX earphones are now available, perhaps it feels including the Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter in the box is no longer necessary. But the inclusion of a Lightning to USB-A Cable, rather than a Lightning to USB-C Cable, makes less sense given Apple’s port future.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: wireless charging, macotakara.jp
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Top 10 ways to speed up Windows 7, 8.1, & 10

Unlike fine wine and good cheese, your computer doesn’t get better with age. Sadly, no matter how sophisticated its components may be, your system is bound to get slower over time.

If you’re like most people, computer upkeep isn’t always at the top of your list, and chances are good that you’ve watched your PC’s speed steadily decline ever since you unboxed it. If you find yourself frustrated with long startup times, laggy apps, or a glitchy display, we’ve got your back.

More: Do you really need a new PC? Don’t buy one until you read our guide

To help you restore your PC to its former glory without going to the trouble of performing a complete reset, we’ve put together this simple tutorial with some easy ways to make sure your Windows machine is running at its optimum speed. It also doesn’t matter if you’re running Windows 7, 8.1, or 10 — we’ve included easy-to-follow steps for each operating system.

Optimize your storage devices

Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Solid-state disks (SSDs) are gaining in popularity as their prices drop, primarily due to their superior speed. That said, old-school spinning hard disk drives (HDDs) remain important due to the sheer volume of data that they can hold. While affordable SSDs have hit the 1TB barrier, you can now buy 8TB HDDs for reasonable prices (16TB HDDs are also on the way). With so much content being stored today — 20-megapixel images, 4K video, etc. — the massive storage capacities that HDDs provide will likely keep them in PCs for years to come.

The thing about HDDs is that they store files as blocks of data that can be scattered around the platters that make up an HDD. Bigger files equate to more blocks, and as you copy, move, and rearrange files, those data blocks are sometimes organized in an inefficient way. Think of it like a messy office where you opened files from your cabinet and placed them haphazardly around the room. Your memory is awesome, and so you can find all the papers you need, but you waste time moving around looking for them.

More: The care and feeding of solid state drives

That’s exactly what your HDD does over time, and so in order to keep all your data neatly organized and your system up to speed, it’s best to clean things up on a regular basis through a process known as “defragmentation.” Defragmenting, or defragging, a drive basically moves blocks around so that each file is held in a single location and thus can be retrieved much more quickly.

SSDs don’t suffer the effects of defragmentation because there’s no spinning disk to hunt around to find data, meaning you don’t need to worry about defragging them. In fact, you don’t want to defrag SSDs — they wear out over time, and the process of defragging them would shorten their lifespans. Instead, SSDs have their own optimization technique — known as the TRIM command — which can be performed to rid an SSD of any blocks of data that are no longer needed and keep them in peak operating condition.

In older operating systems like Windows 7, SSD optimization isn’t built-in, so we won’t cover it here. That said, we suggest that you refer to your SSD’s user guide for more information. Below are instructions for optimizing storage on a HDD:

Windows 7

Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Defragmenter and select Disk Defragmenter from the resulting list.
Under Current status, select the HDD you want to defragment. If you see your SSD listed here, do not use the utility to defragment the drive.
To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented, click Analyze disk. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk, you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Run column. If the number is above 10 percent, you should defragment the disk.
Click Defragment disk. If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
You can also schedule defragmentation by clicking on Configure Schedule… Check the Run on a schedule (recommended) box, then set the Frequency, Day, Time, and Disks. In the Select disks… option, you can choose which drives to include and if you want automatically schedule new disks. If you see an SSD listed, make sure it’s not included.
Click OK. Now, Windows 7 will defrag your HDDs according to the established schedule and keep your system plugging away.

Windows 8.1

Open Optimize Drives by clicking the Start button. Then, click the Search button, type Defragment in the search bar, and select Defragment and optimize your drives from the resulting list.
Under Status, tap or click the drive you want to optimize. The Media type column tells you what type of drive you’re optimizing.
To determine if an HDD needs to be optimized, tap or click Analyze. You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice. Note that the Analyze button will be disabled for SSDs.
After Windows is finished analyzing the HDD, check the Current status column to see whether you need to optimize the drive. If an HDD is more than 10 percent fragmented, you should optimize the drive now. If an SSD hasn’t been optimized in the past 30 days, you should also consider optimizing it.
Tap or click Optimize for the desired drives. You might be asked for an admin password or to confirm your choice. Note that “optimize” means to defrag HDDs and to run the TRIM command on SSDs. Optimizing a drive might take anywhere from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size of the drive and degree of optimization needed. However, you can still use your PC during the optimization process.
You can also schedule defragmentation by clicking on Change settings… under “Schedule optimization.” Check the “Run on a schedule (recommended)” box, then set the Frequency and whether you want to be notified if three consecutive scheduled runs are missed. Click Choose to select which drives to include, and if you want to automatically schedule new disks. If you see an SSD listed, make sure it’s not included.
Click OK. Now, Windows 8 will optimize your drives according to the established schedule and keep your system plugging away.

Windows 10

Place your cursor in the Cortana search box and type Defragment. Afterward, select Defragment and Optimize Drives from the resulting list to open the Optimize Drives utility.
The rest of the process is the same as for Windows 8.1.

The Energy Observer boat can run for 6 years on nothing but wind, solar, and hydrogen

Why it matters to you

Serving as a beacon of sustainable energy, the self-powering Energy Explorer boat will set off on an epic 6-year journey this month.

Nobody could accuse Jérôme Delafosse of not having an adventurous spirit.

A professional diver and documentary maker, Delafosse is one half — with offshore racer and Merchant navy officer Victorien Erussard — of an ambitious duo who are setting off this month on an ambitious six-year quest, aboard one of the world’s most futuristic boats.

More: Like a floating Transformer, this yacht changes shape at the push of a button

“The Energy Observer boat creates energy onboard,” Delafosse told Digital Trends. “It has solar panels, wind turbines, a kite that converts the engines into hydro generators, and a hydrogen fuel system that uses decarbonized sea water.”

The converted, 100-foot multi-hull race boat will sail around the world, serving as a symbol of the power of renewable energy. By combining different sustainable energy sources, the Energy Observer is completely autonomous — while still being able to plot its own course and sail against the wind

In all, the vessel will make exactly 101 stopovers in 50 countries around the globe, ranging from Cuba to Goa — and everywhere in between. The Energy Observer will start by crossing the Mediterranean, before traversing the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

With a running cost of $4 million per year, it’s not going to be a cheap voyage, but Delafosse is confident the team will be able to able to cover the costs, although they’ve still got capacity for more financial partners.

Once the mission is over, Delafosse said that the Energy Observer boat could be rented out to people looking for a unique sailing opportunity. However, he hopes that the epic voyage will help do something a lot bigger than just advertise the boat itself.

“This isn’t only the first boat of its kind, but also an example of how these sustainable technologies could be used in houses, hotels and other applications on land,” Delafosse said. “Because we’re trying out all of this technologies, it’s like a floating laboratory [for the CEA-Liten research center in France.] We don’t just have the adventure of sailing, but also of testing these technologies in extreme conditions. That’s totally unique.”

How to choose the best MicroSD cards for your smartphone or tablet

If you run out of storage space on your phone or tablet, then you’ll want to find a way to get more. One of the simplest options is to insert a MicroSD card. Sadly, not all smartphones and tablets support MicroSD cards. If you have an iPhone or iPad, then you’re out of luck, but many Android devices do support them, as do some Windows Phone and BlackBerry handsets.

More: How to set up and use a MicroSD card on your Android phone

Check the full specs for your phone on the manufacturer’s website, or look for a MicroSD card slot in your phone. On newer phones, the’re generally part of the SIM tray.

What to consider when buying a MicroSD card

There are a handful of things to consider when you’re choosing a new MicroSD card for your phone. Obviously, the price and capacity are going to feature, but you also need to make sure that the type of card you buy is supported by your device and that it’s suitable for your needs.

SDHC and SDXC

SDHC stands for Secure Digital High Capacity and SDXC stands for Secure Digital Extended Capacity. The only real difference is the range of data they can store. You’ll find that SDHC MicroSD cards range from 2GB to 32GB in size, while SDXC MicroSD cards range from 32GB up to 256GB in size.

Class and UHS ratings

The Class rating of a MicroSD card refers to its minimum transfer speed. UHS stands for Ultra High Speed. Here’s how the minimum speeds for different classes break down.

Class
Minimum Speed
2
2 MB/s
4
4 MB/s
6
6 MB/s
8
8 MB/s
10
10 MB/s
UHS 1
10 MB/s
UHS 3
30 MB/s

Most MicroSD cards are a lot faster than the minimum speed. A Class 10 card may offer 95 MB/s, for example, and UHS cards can go up to 312 MB/s.

Application Performance Class

The SD Association also recently unveiled a new standard, called App Performance Class, which is designed to highlight MicroSD cards that are suitable for use in smartphones and tablets. The A1 rating means that the card can manage random read input-output access per second (IOPS) of 1,500 and write IOPS of 500. This is ideal for quickly opening apps and processing tasks. These new A1 cards are worth looking out for if you intend to format your card as internal storage in an Android device, something Google calls “Adoptable Storage.”

How to choose a MicroSD card

You’re obviously going to want the highest speed, highest capacity MicroSD card you can get, for the lowest price. We would advise you to factor in the brand reputation and the reported performance and reliability. Check out the warranty terms, just in case something should go wrong. You also need to be careful where you buy. If you’re going to use Amazon or eBay then read some customer reviews and watch out for fake MicroSD cards, because they’re disappointingly common.

We’ll highlight a few MicroSD cards worth buying on the next page. Always make sure that you check compatibility with your device before pulling the trigger.

How to get the best light calibration for your PlayStation VR

Calibrating your PlayStation VR makes a huge difference.

Out of the box, your PlayStation VR will connect with your PlayStation Camera and start working with little effort. Over time, especially if you use PlayStation Move controllers a lot, you may notice the experience isn’t always as accurate as it could be. There’s an easy solution in Sony’s Light Calibration Tool for your PlayStation VR, but going through this setup correctly will cause your setup to become significantly more accurate.

Here’s what you need to know about a successful Light Calibration setup!

Read more at VR Heads!

Subaru secures permit to test self-driving car in California

The list of automakers that can test their self-driving cars in California is getting less and less exclusive by the minute. Its latest addition? Subaru. The Japanese company has secured an Autonomous Vehicle Testing Permit from the state’s DMV on February 9th, bringing the total number to 22. Some Subaru models already have assisted driving features thanks to their camera-based Eyesight system, such as adaptive cruise control, sway warning and pre-collision braking.

However, the company is developing new capabilities meant to kick in while doing speeds of up to 40 mph, including the ability to auto-start and stop in slow traffic. Subaru also wants to offer lane switching and auto-steering around bends and curves — semi-autonomous driving capabilities for highways — by 2020. It’s unclear what features Subaru will be testing exactly, and if they’re any of these. All that’s certain is that it’s joining both big-name and little-known companies on California roads, like NVIDIA, Ford, Good and Baidu.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: DMV

The Analogue Nt mini wants to be the last NES you’ll ever buy

Trying to play an NES cartridge on Nintendo’s original, 30-year-old hardware can be an exercise in frustration. The console’s ancient composite cables offer terrible image quality on modern televisions, and getting games to actually run is a ballet of reseating, jostling and, of course, blowing on game cartridges. Nintendo’s own NES Classic Edition and the Wii U and 3DS virtual consoles offer refuge for the casual gamer’s nostalgic yearnings, but collectors looking for an authentic, cartridge-based retro gaming experience have long suffered under the dark shadow of compromise. Is it better to play on the original, but unreliable, hardware, or an NES clone plagued with compatibility issues? With the Analogue Nt mini, you may not have to tolerate either — but at $449, Analogue’s compromise-free Nintendo doesn’t come cheap.

Analogue has a history of draping classic game consoles in premium trappings. Its CMVS and CMVS Slim consoles encased the internals of a Neo Geo MVS arcade cabinet in a luxurious walnut shell. It later created the original Analogue Nt, a premium aftermarket Nintendo console that married salvaged NES CPU and PPU chips with new hardware and a gorgeous aluminum chassis. The Nt’s new, smaller variant is no slouch, either. It packs the same features as the original into a smaller, equally beautiful package.

Still, there’s a key difference: Unlike the original Nt, the mini is all original hardware. No repurposed silicon. No cannibalized parts. Like the RetroUSB AVS, the Analogue uses a customized FPGA processor to perfectly recreate the NES’ functionality, even to a fault. If a game produced a specific glitch on the original hardware, then, that same error will present itself on the Analogue Nt. Even so, the console’s creator balks at the notion that the Analogue Nt Mini is an “NES clone.”

“I would not call the Nt mini an NES clone,” Christopher Taber said in an email. “It’s an aftermarket video-game system that allows you to play Nintendo’s entire 8-bit console era with zero compromises.” In the retro-gaming space, the distinction is something of a mark of quality. “Clone” consoles are typically low-rent system-on-a-chip builds that are better known for their faults than merits. Typical NES clones suffer from graphical glitches, incompatibility issues and, most notably, incorrect sound reproduction. Taber describes the Nt mini as the antithesis of “clone” consoles, a “reference-quality video game system” that can play classic games exactly as the Nintendo’s own hardware did, with zero input lag and the option to use all of the original accessories.

That promise stretches further than you might think. In addition to supporting every US NES game and accessory, the Nt mini plays nice with all of Japan’s cartridges and add-ons. The console has an extra cartridge slot for Famicom games and an accessory port for Japanese accessories. It even an analog audio jack — a special feature required to accommodate games that used the Famicom’s embedded microphone, like Takeshi’s Challenge or the original Japanese release of The Legend of Zelda. When Taber says the Nt mini can do anything the original consoles can do, he means it. Even the original hardware’s video output standards are available: In addition to an HDMI port capable of outputting at 1080p, the Nt mini supports s-video, component and composite video out via VGA accessory cables.

That alone is a lot to ask of a device designed to play games from a bygone era, but the Nt mini goes a step further by being simply beautiful. The mini’s chassis is milled from a single block of hand-finished aircraft-grade aluminum. This metallic facade is broken only by the plastic controller ports, modeled after the NES originals, and the plexiglass undercarriage that acts as a window to the console’s motherboard. Even the cartridge slot’s dust flaps are made of aluminum. Taber says the build quality is a big part of the console’s high price. “I’d rather save up and buy something really nice that’s going to last for virtually my entire life,” he said. “Something to cherish forever. The Nt mini is designed in this light.”

Between the NES Classic, Nintendo’s Virtual Console and other aftermarket consoles like the Retron 5 and RetroUSB AVS, it can be hard to imagine why the world needed another NES console, let alone a premium one. For Taber, it’s more than just a passion for accurately playing his favorite classics — it’s a matter of preserving history. “Video games as a medium are finally, but just barely, becoming recognized as a medium that has a rich, cultural history,” he said. “We try to push people to explore the history of video games in the same way that one would explore the history of a music genre, or a decade in film.” The era of the original Nintendo Entertainment System was a turning point for the industry, and a well modern developers return to for inspiration even today.

Taber sees the Analogue Nt mini as a conduit to a bygone era of games. Yes, Nintendo has made its most iconic and popular classics available on newer devices, but the official digital library represents only small portion of the full NES library. “There are so many unique developers and games,” Taber explains, “many of which you can’t experience in any other way except with the original hardware.” The Nt mini offers enthusiasts an authentic, tangible way to play these classics without struggling with outdated technology or subpar console clones. All romanticizing aside, the premium console excels at this task.

Hyperkin’s Retron 5, RetroUSB’s AVS and Nintendo’s own NES Classic Edition showed us that native HDMI output can bring out details in classic games we’ve never seen before. The Analogue Nt mini takes that concept and perfects it. It’s not just that the console pipes classic games to modern TVs with unparalleled clarity; it’s that it does everything just a little bit better than the competition. When the AVS is pushing games out at 720p, the Nt mini is outputting pixels at a full 1080p. Pitted against the Retron 5’s oversaturated colors, Analogue’s palette looks like a dead ringer for the original Nintendo. Even the official hardware doesn’t quite measure up: The NES Classic Edition looks great, but offers no way to hide portions of the game that were designed to be obscured by TV overscan. The Nt can handle those unwanted edges with just a few simple ticks in its menu.

In fact, that menu is a cornucopia of bells and whistles, giving the user control over resolution settings, width and height-positioning, the aforementioned edge cropping to clip off unused bits of game output, five different types of scan-line overlays with a variable depth-slider, and more than a dozen ways to tweak a game’s visual aesthetic — including high-quality pixel scaling to smooth out the NES’s sharp edges, the ability to reduce in-game sprite flickering and a robust collection of palette options to make sure the colors are just right.

All of the visual options are useful, but being able to swap color palettes on the fly is a godsend; getting the right look for a game is more complicated than you might think. Do you choose a palette like FirebrandX, which pulls a direct color capture from the original NES, or the FCEUX color scheme, which tries to display hues as they might appear on an old NTSC television? Both are available on the Nt mini, as well as a black-and-white color scheme, the Beware palette and one that mimics Nintendo’s PlayChoice-10 arcade cabinets. You can even load a custom set of colors though the console’s SD card slot, just in case the included palettes don’t quite look like the NES you remember.

The dizzying area of options even includes a sound menu, where individual audio channels can be disabled, made louder or directly tweaked to interpret the game’s music differently. The Nt can even play NSF music files from the SD card, effectively becoming a convenient hardware music player for chiptune audio files designed to be played on the original Nintendo.

It almost seems like too much. More options than any reasonable person would need to experience Nintendo’s 8-bit era — but Taber says that’s kind of the point. “Our goal is to make products that allow people to explore the history of video games in an unprecedented way.” He compares playing NES games on inferior clone devices to watching Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey on DVD instead of Blu-Ray. “Sure, a lot of people don’t give a shit,” he said. “Well, we do.”

Despite his passion for video-game history and beautiful hardware, Taber is realistic. He knows the Analogue Nt isn’t for everybody. “It’s important to understand that the Nt mini is not exactly a mainstream product,” he said. “We designed and manufacture every single piece of the Nt mini with an extraordinary focus on detail. It is designed to last a lifetime.” With its solid aluminum chassis and a dedication to using more durable components than most after market game consoles, it just might last a lifetime — but even Taber admits the effort put into the console is “borderline unreasonable.” Casual gamers would probably be happy enough with the official NES Classic. But then again, that’s not really what the Analogue Nt mini is supposed to be.

“Ultimately,” Taber concludes, “to take a photograph, listen to music or watch a movie, you can do these things in countless different ways with a range of different prices. Playing retro games is no different. The Nt mini is the best, and I’m willing to bet it always will be.”

The Analogue Nt mini isn’t designed for someone merely looking to relive fond memories of their gaming past; it’s a device created for a passionate enthusiast who wants a pure retro experience with no compromises. Something better than his or her nostalgia asks for. The $449 Nt mini absolutely does that. The perfect NES experience isn’t for everyone, but for those who can foot the bill, it’s here.

Filming of Apple’s Upcoming ‘Planet of the Apps’ Series Has Finished

Apple has finished filming Planet of the Apps, an unscripted series about apps and the talented developers who make them, according to a source who asked to remain anonymous due to the person’s involvement with the show. Principal filming took place on an Apple-built set near Hollywood, the source said.

Apple built the set and tore it down at the conclusion of filming. The set was absolutely beautiful and set up in a way like no other competition show I’ve seen before. It’s very tech chic, with beautiful decor and decorations. Only Apple could do it this way. It’s very, very well done. Steve Jobs would have been proud of the set.

Planet of the Apps, produced by Ben Silverman, Howard Owens, and William Adams, better known as will.i.am, will have a competitive theme that draws some comparisons to reality TV shows such as Shark Tank and The Voice, the source said. It was a “very stressful” but “exhilarating” process, the person added.

Apple posted an open casting call for the show in July 2016, looking for developers from San Francisco, Austin, New York, and Los Angeles to participate, and it began selecting developers around November. Over 100,000 apps applied to be on the show, and only 100 were selected for filming, a person familiar with the matter said.

The developers selected to appear on the show met with and received direct mentorship from four influencers and entrepreneurs, namely Gary Vaynerchuk, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, and will.i.am. The influencers were “brilliant” and “provided a lot of value to the apps that they advised,” a source said.

The way that developers pitch is said to be “very unique,” and “not as straightforward as just standing on a stage in front of the judges,” a format popularized by shows like American Idol. In addition to influencers and judges, the series also has a “very famous” host, but the source does not want to play spoiler as to who it is.

The developers who made it to the final round of the show will receive up to $10 million in funding and featured placement in the App Store at the end of the show’s airing. The casting call described the series as both a “launchpad” and “accelerator” for iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS apps and developers.

Planet of the Apps will apparently be a “very inspirational show,” particularly among the next generation of developers. During each app pitch, the show is said to have filmed the reactions of other developers live, which will likely result in some amusing footage interspersed throughout the season.

Planet of the Apps website now says to “check back soon”
While filming has concluded, it remains unclear when the series will be released. WWDC 2017 in June is a definite possibility given it is a developer-focused conference. The series will likely be distributed through Apple Music along with Apple’s other original content endeavors such as Carpool Karaoke and Vital Signs.

Looking beyond Planet of the Apps, Apple is reportedly planning a much bigger push into original content this year to promote Apple Music.

Tag: Planet of the Apps
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The Morning After: Weekend Edition

Letter from the Editor

It’s been another eventful week in Trump’s America. The Ninth Circuit effectively administered a coup de grace to the president’s Muslim travel ban after hearing from most of Silicon Valley about said ban’s deleterious effects. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell censored Elizabeth Warren on the Senate floor for trying to read a letter critical of would-be Attorney General Jeff Sessions. And, despite all the work to be done forming a new government and horrific conflict of interest implications, the President found time to take Nordstrom to task on Twitter (via his personal and official POTUS accounts) for dropping his daughter’s clothing line.

As Ivanka’s prospects as a fashion mogul were trending down, Cherlynn Low was reading the tea leaves of Snap Inc.’s IPO filing to see if the future is bright for the company’s first foray into hardware, Spectacles. Turns out that the glasses aren’t yet a revenue driver of significance, and probably won’t be for some time — the company must overcome serious manufacturing and supply chain challenges before they’ll become a big moneymaker.

An AI named Libratus is ready and able to make tons of money right now at the poker table, however. Chris Velazco trekked to Pittsburg to see the culmination of a heads-up, no-limit Texas Hold ’em poker competition between Libratus and four human poker professionals. After 20 days and 120,000 hands, “the fight wasn’t even close,” as the machine had over $1.7 million dollars more in its virtual stack than the meatbags it was playing — and thusly the dawn of the gambling robopocalypse was upon us.

While fears of an all-powerful poker-playing AI are doubtlessly coursing through you now, you should probably be more concerned with technology corporations and the information they’ve gathered about you. Vizio was busted this week for surreptitiously installing software on smart TVs to track customer viewing habits, then selling that information to advertisers without consent. Meanwhile, Violet Blue dug into Facebook’s complicity with police forces around the world and the company’s habit of giving law enforcement access to vast troves of personal data it collects about all of its user — regardless of the chilling effect that it has on free speech and political activism.

FinallyAndroid Wear 2.0 makes Google’s watch OS faster and easier to use

Android Wear 2.0 arrived this week, two years after the first version. Its initial flagbearers are LG’s Watch Style and Watch Sport, but it will come to other devices soon. So far, we’ve found the update worth the wait, with its focus on addressing the user interface, navigation and notifications. Plus, putting Google’s Play Store on the Watch makes it easier to use if you happen to have an iPhone.

Magic LeakThe first public photo of Magic Leap’s prototype hardware is here

Courtesy of Business Insider, we have what appears to be our first look at the “Product Equivalent” that augmented reality startup Magic Leap has put together. To be honest, it looks like it’s in rough shape, with exposed wiring, a handheld battery and a schlumpy backpack full of exposed chips. Still, that can be the case as a device comes together, especially one promising so much new technology. What matter most is probably what the wearer sees inside its headset, and how closely that matches the early teasers Magic Leap showed.

Ludicrous+Tesla Model S breaks acceleration record

0-60 mph in 2.275507139.

There are some rough edgesSamsung Chromebook Pro (p)review

This premium Chrome OS device won’t go on sale until April, but Nathan Ingraham has an early look. Its high-res screen and thoughtful design mark some checkboxes, however, a shorter-than-expected battery life and shaky pen input disappointing. Of course, there’s still time for Samsung and Google to work some of these issues out before it debuts, so we’ll see if they do.

Don’t get hackedNow Whatsapp’s two-factor authentication is rolling out to everyone

Usually, phone number verification comes after passwords to provide both sides of the two-factor authentication setup. Whatsapp went in the other direction, but now all users on iOS, Android and Windows Phone can add a six digit passcode to provide additional security for their account. Use it.

Not Waymo, ArgoFord drops $1 billion on a self-driving AI company

Argo AI features veterans from Google and Uber, and it just sold a majority stake to Ford for $1 billion. The mostly-unknown company will continue to operate independently as it develops AI for Ford’s self-driving car, due in 2021.

Think ‘Pacific Rim’ but cuter‘FTL’ successor ‘Into the Breach’ shows off adorable mech battles

Developer Subset Games has just launched a teaser trailer for its new game, Into the Breach. It looks similar to their previous game FTL: Faster Than Light, but this time the retro-pixel sci-fi mayhem is all about mech combat and leans more towards turn-based combat.

But wait, there’s more…

• HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’ returns April 23rd
• Your old PC’s DVD drive might earn you $10 in a class-action settlement
• Stanford students recreated a 5,000-year-old Chinese beer
• Bad Password: Inauguration-protest arrests lead to Facebook data prosecution
• Android Wear 2.0 uses offline AI for its smart replies

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The biggest, baddest, most extravagant superyachts ever conceived

Are you thinking about buying a boat this year? This is the season, after all. But which type are you looking for, and how big? Are you in the market for a superyacht? If not, you can at least dream big and check out what some of them are like or, in the case of concept boats, hope to be like. If you decide to pass on a superyacht buy this year, don’t worry — you’ll be among the vast majority.

Spring is coming and boat shows abound as current and prospective boat owners and fans check out what’s new. Boat shows are famous for offering great deals. According to Statistica, even when the economy was struggling to tread water, total recreational boat sales in the U.S. never dipped below 500,000 new units. U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that more than 50 percent of recreational boats are power boats, and counting all types of recreational boats, 48 percent were less than 16 feet long and 85 percent were less than 26 feet. Less than half of one percent of all recreational boats in the U.S. are 40-footers or longer.

But what about superyachts? Definitions differ on what makes a superyacht. Some say 24 meters (about 80 feet) is the minimum length, while others stand strong at 30 meters (about 100 feet). As we take a look at superyachts, we’ll start with the higher cut-off, as there’s no shortage of interesting and, in some cases, outrageous superyachts. The vessels below are placed in order by overall length according to their designers. Some are currently for sale, starting at about $30 million, and there’s one for rent (you may not believe the weekly rental rate). Some of the superyachts below have been produced, while others are recent concepts, still waiting for buyers with hefty checkbooks to commission the build.

Spectre: 30.33 meters / 100 feet

The smallest superyacht in our roundup is also the fastest. The AB100 Spectre from Fila Group’s AB Yachts tops out at 62 mph and can cruise at 52 mph with three 1900-hp diesel engines, each paired with a waterjet thruster. The living space can be augmented by the stern garage area, which converts into a beach house.

PlanetSolar: 31 meters / 101 feet

The Tûranor PlanetSolar holds the title of the world’s largest solar yacht. The vessel is covered with 500 square meters of solar panels, its sole source of power. PlanetSolar launched in 2010 and set out to be the first solar-powered yacht to circumnavigate the globe, a leap forward for the promotion alternative energy. The journey set five Guiness World Records and spanned 19 months with a crew of five. SolarPlanet’s aerodynamic catamaran design has a top speed of 14 knots.

Majesty 155: 47 meters / 154 feet

Not just a boat with a pretty bow, the Majesty 155 is also a CEDIA Awards-winner for the best smart home technology installation and integration on a yacht. The ship’s lighting, navigation, and audio-visual system can be controlled via onboard monitors as well as an iPad. Twin 2,011-hp engines allow the Majesty 155 a 4,200 nautical mile range.

Time For Us: 52 meters / 171 feet

There’s room for 12 guests and 13 crew members on the classic Feadship superyacht, Time For Us. Launched in 1994 and extensively refit in 2007 and 2008, its extensive dark wood paneling and comfortable furniture are built for comfort, including stabilizer systems that are active underway and at anchor. With a range of 5,700 nautical miles at its 13-knot cruising speed, this yacht can take you wherever you’d like to go — if you have the time.