World’s first smart baseball can map its own trajectory from pitch to pitch

Why it matters to you

Baseball tech always seems to be about the batter. Strike offers a better way for pitchers to train.

Whenever a pitch is thrown during a televised baseball game, million-dollar equipment is used to show viewers the baseball’s path towards home plate. With Strike, the world’s first smart baseball, the same data can be collected at a fraction of the cost.

This baseball contains everything it needs to record, trajectory, speed, and spin rate of each pitch thrown. Anyone with a smartphone can quickly view the data with a 3D simulation and use it to improve their next throw.

More: Catch pitching injuries before they happen with new baseball sleeve

Each aspect of Strike is designed to better understand a pitch so players know what needs to be worked on. When the smart baseball is through, it records five different measurements. Using an algorithm to track the ball’s path, it instantly generates a 3D representation of its trajectory. Other measurements like spin rate, velocity, and rotation axis allow the pitcher to better understand their strengths and weaknesses with different types of pitches. For accuracy, Strike is able to detect where the ball would hit within the standard strike zone.

By connecting the baseball to the mobile app, players can view their performance in an easy-to-read chart. Coaches and scouts also have more ways to keep track of a pitcher’s progression. Built-in achievements also serve as motivation for improvement.

What makes it work sits inside the baseball’s core. A small circuit board contains an internal measuring unit, gyroscope, Bluetooth chipset, and other related electronics. Damaging the internals is not an issue. Each Strike baseball has been through impact prevention testing up to 120 miles per hour. The baseball charges wirelessly by being placed on the charging pad. A full charge will last up to 12 hours of constant use or 48 hours in standby.

A smart baseball wouldn’t do much good if it didn’t replicate the real thing. Because of this, Strike has been designed to have the same weight, surface texture, and center of gravity as a regulation baseball.

Strike has just wrapped up its Kickstarter with deliveries beginning later this summer. At a retail price of $130, this smart baseball offers the same data the professionals get, but without needing millions to pay for it.

Enjoy big savings with a refurbished Netgear C3000 cable modem router ($45)

For something that most of us rely on for daily Wi-Fi connectivity, wireless routers are generally not given much thought. Many people simply use the modem that was supplied by their internet service provider, not realizing or not caring that they are likely paying monthly equipment rental fees. If this describes your situation, then you could be saving money by buying a good wireless router of your own, such as a certified refurbished Netgear C3000 cable modem router, which is now available for just $45 on Amazon.

The C3000 is a 2-in-1 internet solution, serving as both a wired cable modem and wireless router. The device utilizes N300 technology for Wi-Fi speeds of up to 300Mbps, and features two LAN ports and a coax cable input on the back of the unit. The DOCSIS 3.0 functionality is eight times faster than the previous DOCSIS 2.0, while eight upstream and four downstream channels provide wired speeds of up to 340Mbps and keep your connection stable during peak hours.

More: Updated Eero Home Wi-Fi System with Alexa support now $55 off

The Netgear C3000 cable modem router is certified to work with all major internet service providers including Time Warner Cable, Cox, and Comcast/Xfinity, among others. Xfinity users can even self-activate the modem without a service call, and the Netgear genie provides a user-friendly interface for setting up and managing your wireless network.

The Netgear C3000 cable modem router generally goes for around $80 to 90 new, so $45 is a solid deal on a certified refurbished unit. The router received an excellent review from PCMag, and is a great network solution for a smaller house, apartment, or home office. If you plan to use it for a larger area or are worried about the signal dropping, you may want to consider purchasing a range extender as well. Netgear offers N300 range extenders like this desktop version or this wall outlet model, both of which cost about $30.

$45 on Amazon

Google might be working on a security system that knows when you’re not home

Why it matters to you

If you’re always forgetting to arm your alarm before leaving the house or go to bed, you might never have to worry about it again.

What does Google have planned for securing home? Two patents it recently filed may provide some insight. These are continuations of previously filed patents, and they outline plans for a highly advanced security system. The system, and the arm and disarm technology laid out in these two patents, is not like the typical alarm technology we see today.

Regular security systems rely on modes like “stay” and “away” to determine whether or not to sound an alarm if there is motion detected in a home or business. We have to manually set the security system – like by pressing a keypad on our way out the door — to activate these various modes. Google’s technology takes a different .

More: ADT reveals new partnerships that give DIY security a professional touch

Google wants to use external inputs to determine whether or not a person is at home. This way, we never have to worry about arming or disarming the security system, because it will automatically arm and disarm itself.

It may sound like science fiction, but from what Google indicates in the two patents, it appears viable. Nest already accomplishes this automatic arming and disarming in some ways, using geofencing to determine when it should lower your thermostat and turn on your security camera when no one’s home. Of course, this presents a problem if Mom leaves for the grocery store and a tween without a smartphone is left home alone.

Google patent No. 9,508,250

To make the security system smarter, it would use more inputs, like our geolocation data, electronic device location data (e.g. the location of our smartphone, smart watch, or other wearable device), sensor data (like motion sensors, window and door detection, and cameras), and aggregate data regarding the days and times we are at home versus away from the house. It would then be able to arm and disarm itself accordingly. It sounds like Google is hoping that, in a few years, our houses will be packed with sensors: “The sensors may be, for example, low power motion sensors, such as a passive infrared sensor used for motion detection, light sensors, cameras, microphones, entryway sensors, smart light switches, mobile device scanners for detecting the presence of mobile computing devices or fobs via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RFID, and the like,” according to the patent.

The security system’s hub could come preloaded with “rules” based on a setup similar to your home. If you live in a two-bedroom house with a child, your spouse, and a dog, it would set up security responses accordingly. Parameters would change when the babysitter entered the house using a code. Instead of having to turn on the alarm before bed, the sensor and device data would let the system know everyone was home and, at 10 p.m., it would automatically turn on the alarm.

None of this sounds far off from similar routines that can be set up with hubs and IFTTT recipes, but having a device that was programmed with all these rules ahead of time might make setting up a security system a little easier.

Snapchat’s first unscripted original will be a reality show about breakups

Why it matters to you

Snapchat is poised to bring its users another type of offering in the form of its first truly original unscripted show that isn’t based on an existing property.

Snapchat is set to get its first unscripted original show courtesy of the latest in its recent run of video content deals, this time with entertainment media company A+E Networks.

The deal includes a series of shows based on the company’s portfolio of brands (among them Lifetime, History, and FYI), a number of which are already in development, reports Variety.

A+E Networks’ first offering will come courtesy of its in-house agency 45th & Dean. Dubbed Second Chance, the unscripted, eight-part weekly series will reunite old flames for the first time since their breakup to hash out the problems that led to their split. The show marks the first time a TV network has produced an unscripted original for the app that isn’t based on an existing property.

Snapchat’s deal with A+E Networks comes in the wake of a number of recent high-profile media partnerships with the likes of Turner, E! News, BBC Worldwide, and The New York Times. It seems content is king for the visual messaging app, which is seeking avenues tied to its Discover section to keep users glued to its platform. According to its IPO filing, Snapchat developer Snap Inc. spent a total of $58 million on content deals last year through its ad-sharing revenue model, up from just $9.6 million in 2015.

“A+E’s investment in mobile storytelling is exactly what Snapchat shows are all about: The ability to create premium and wholly original content for a mobile-first audience from some of the best storytellers in the world,” said Nick Bell, VP of content at Snap. “We are excited to break new ground with A+E Networks on our first unscripted series, with a concept that we think is raw and relatable.”

Snapchat already boasts video partnerships with NBC and Disney-ABC (Disney also owns a 50 percent stake in A+E Networks). Second Chance will be available on Snapchat in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Australia starting in April.

Chromebooks are now much easier to use for people with visual impairments

Chrome’s screen reader is updated to help your Chromebook work even better with a braille display.

ChromeVox, the default screen reader service on your Chromebook, got a hefty update with the latest version of Chrome OS.

There are almost 300 million people with impaired vision in the world and using the tech we take for granted every day can be a challenge for many. A big part of putting information into them and getting information from them depends on what we can see. Google, Apple, and Microsoft are all making big advancements in assistive tech, and Chromebooks are no exception.

ChromeVox is more than a speech-to-text system. It’s built to help navigate both a touchscreen and a keyboard and supports USB braille displays where the text and descriptions of other visual elements can be provided. This paired with a fine-tuned traditional screen reader can bring more information to the visually impaired as well as make it much easier to interact with the software. If you’ve ever seen a demonstration of this sort of technology you know how impressive it can be, and if you depend on it, you understand the importance as well.

New menus and braille display navigation make thinsg easier to use and “earcons” help give you an understanding how everything is laid out.

Version 56 of Chrome OS brings some great new features to ChromeVox. New menus that include a list of open tabs, various options for ChromeVox and speech settings and a list of the things you can interact with on a page make it easier to learn how to use ChromeVox. Commands to interact and navigate the screen now appear on a connected braille display so you don’t have to switch back and forth with the keyboard. This makes for a much more streamlined experience. That’s important. A precise and fluid way to work with your Chromebook lets you focus on the content instead of how to get to it.

New “earcons” have been added that describe things like links or buttons on a page, even while it’s still loading, can provide some insight about how the screen is laid out and the relationship page elements have with each other. The earcons use stereo audio-positioning to give a user a feel how a page is laid out and where the important elements are located. When you navigate to a page element, the earcon plays through your speakers or headphones to let you know what things are being displayed on an app or web page.

Last but not least, a new ChromeVox Panel makes it easy for a teacher or assistant to work with someone who is visually impaired. The panel is located at the top of the Chromebook’s display and shows text and braille captions so someone can follow along with a person using a braille display.

Improvements like this are important. We’ve all faced the challenge of learning a new interface or how to work with new software. There’s no reason that difficulty should be compounded because you’re not able to see the screen in the traditional sense. Knowing that Google is always working on improving the way everyone can use their Chromebook is great.

First look at Omron Evolv: Smart blood pressure tracking on Android

Second in a series of how Phil is trying to not die of high blood pressure after years and years of running Android Central. (And doing other unhealthy things.)

OK, OK. Health tech isn’t maybe quite as sexy as the news SmartWatchWear 5000. But I’d argue that maybe it’s just a little more important in the long run, right? Thus my first look at the Withings wireless blood pressure cuff. Syncs to your phone. Syncs to the cloud. Keeps Phil alive. Good times.

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But that’s not the only thing like that out there. Just a month ago at CES Omron announced a new kind of cuff that’s smart — it syncs with an app on your phone, yeah — but also standalone. You can use it along with your phone, but you don’t have to. (And as I’m getting older the real definition of a “smart” product is one that recognizes that there are times I don’t want to have to deal with any more tech than is absolutely necessary. But get off my lawn.)

The best thing about the Evolv? Well, it’s a couple things, really. It’s fast. It also does things a little backward, taking the diastolic reading first, and then the systolic, meaning that it’s quicker. And then there’s the display, which shows the measurements right there on your arm, no smartphone required. And that’s maybe a good thing, as the Omron app isn’t all that impressive.

But all in all, this is a good little product and a competitive price. Nicely done.

See at Amazon

Does Samsung’s trademark filing reveal the logo for its Bixby AI?

Apple’s Siri has bright waves. Microsoft’s Cortana has a circle. Amazon’s Alexa has an A. Google Assistant has colourful bars.

But what will Samsung’s Bixby have?

Thanks to several reports, we know that Samsung is planning to make a new AI assistant a major part of its next flagship Galaxy S8 phone and maybe even smart home strategy. There has been plenty of speculation about its features, which you can read about from here, and that it will be called Bixby. Details on the assistant are scarce. Nevertheless, a new report claims to reveal how Bixby’s logo might look. 

European Trade Mark

Neowin spotted a Samsung trademark application filed with the European Trade Mark and Design Network. It’s for a “B” logo that may end up being the logo used for the Bixby AI. The filing explained that the logo is for “interactive computer software enabling exchange of information”, meaning an assistant. However, Neowin noted the logo appears similar to “8”, which might mirror the Galaxy S8’s branding.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus: What’s the story so far?

The Galaxy S8 is expected to be released in March. If so, prepare to see Bixby unveiled around then too.

New Samsung leak reveals the logo for the upcoming Galaxy S8+

Logo leaks are a thing now, apparently.

Hours after a trademark filing possibly revealed how the logo for Samsung’s Bixby assistant will look, a tweet posted by Evan Blass has leaked what appears to be the official logo of the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8+. The notorious leakster has a great track record when it comes to breaking mobile news, so while you should take any leak with a pinch of salt, we’d place our money on this logo being the real deal.

The Galaxy S8+ handset is expected to be the larger of the two Galaxy S8 smartphones, which will likely unveil next month and may release in April. We’ve known for a while that the Galaxy S8+ will be called that, or at least Galaxy S8 Plus, but the logo seems to verify the rumours even further. The phone is thought to have a huge 6.2-inch display, Snapdragon 835 processor, 8GB of RAM, and dual cameras.

• Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus: Everything you need to know

One of the more interesting rumoured features, however, is Samsung Bixby — a new digital assistant that may launch with support for eight languages, including English, as well as several voice-activated features, such as Bixby Pay, which will presumably allow you to process payments with your voice. You can read more about Bixby and what it is expected to include from here.

The Public Access Weekly: Ch-ch-ch-changes

Hey y’all, remember last week when I mentioned there were a lot of things happening at Public Access and I would fill you in later? Well, in lieu of our more traditional newsletter format, today’s Public Access Weekly is all about filling you in on the big, big updates being made to the Public Access section and community.

As Public Access articles were shared and spread around the internet, our modest community content section started growing, and growing, and growing. When we started, we were getting maybe 30 or 40 articles up a month. Now it’s hundreds. We’re now getting thousands of page views, with some articles going viral on Reddit. And everyday we get dozens of incoming applications from folks who want to be members. In short, Public Access is a little like bringing a puppy home from the shelter… and then realizing six weeks later it’s crossed with Great Dane. Basically, it has grown much bigger than anticipated, much faster.

It is, honestly, really and truly impressive to see how this community has grown. However, as the community grows bigger, so inevitably does the workload. And, as some of you may have noticed from past Weekly posts, I am starting to lag behind. Which frankly sucks, because that means members are waiting too long to hear back about articles and applications aren’t getting reviewed fast enough. Basically, it means we’re not doing a great job at serving you, our community.

So, in order to make Public Access run more smoothly, we’re going to be rolling out some pretty significant changes the next few days while we do some serious work on our end to make all the aspects of joining and participating in Public Access run more smoothly.

Here’s what you’ll need to know:

In order to give us a chance to catch up on streamlining the registration process, we will not be taking any new registrations starting Monday, February 13th. The “Apply & Sign Up” button that you usually see on the Public Access homepage will be changed to a “Log In” button.

We will also not be reviewing outstanding registrations for at least another week, so those of you who have been waiting: We apologize but due to the volume of incoming applications, and the upgrades we’re planning to the registration process, it’s simply going to take a little more time. Please know we’re trying to get to your application as soon as possible, but there are over 200 registrations awaiting review (and more coming in each day).

Publishing and submitting articles to Public Access will also be affected. While the sheer number of articles that are published live, and submitted to, Public Access every day is higher every month, the overall process of reviewing, vetting and editing articles has become seriously backlogged. One of the issues that slows this process down to a crawl is the amount of articles that contain violations of our rules and policies.

Both articles that are being published live by members with full permissions, and articles submitted for review, are consistently ignoring our rules against plagiarism, subject matter and linking. We’ve tried to make it really, really clear what our rules and expectations are for Public Access articles — which is why the very first page that each and every Public Access member sees upon logging in is our rules page — but we’re seeing persistent violations of these rules in articles every day.

Starting today, all Public Access members will be changed to a membership that requires an editor’s approval before posting. We realize that this will be upsetting news to many of you, and may feel penalizing, and please know this was not an easy decision. We’re certainly hoping this will be a temporary measure, and we’re working on how to improve our CMS, on improving the resources that are offered to Public Access members and streamlining the article submission process.

In order to focus on those improvements, we will also begin to strictly enforce and apply all of our rules when reviewing submitted articles. We encourage you to go to the rules page now and make yourself very, very familiar with what they are. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Read the rules. Know the rules. Follow the rules.

If you submit an article that has a violation, you will receive a reply with the number of the rule(s) you have violated and you will be expected to make changes. Members who consistently violate multiple rules will be removed from the community.

We realize that some of these changes are going to be a little rough to adjust to over the next few weeks. But we need some time and space to fix the roadblocks in our system, and to make Public Access a better place to contribute. Fixing the processes, looking at the problems in our system, updating policies and strongly enforcing rules are all steps towards that. If you have questions, or suggestions, you can (as ever) reach us at publicaccess@engadget.com

Valve is making it easier to publish games with Steam Direct

Valve is ditching its oft-maligned Steam Greenlight system for something more straightforward. For the uninitiated, Greenlight is a community-focused program that uses a voting system to determine which games are published on Steam. Developers post information, video and screenshots for their games. If they get enough community support, the games are “greenlit.”

This spring, Greenlight will be replaced with Steam Direct, a program where any developer can publish their games on Steam — after they pay a submission fee. With Direct, all devs need to do is fill out some paperwork and hand over an as-yet-to-be-determined amount of cash. After talking to several developers and studios, Valve is considering anywhere between $100 and $5,000 per submission.

“On the fee, we want to hear from the community,” Doug Lombardi, vice president of Marketing at Valve, told Engadget via email. “That’s why we are putting out the broad range. One point that isn’t underscored here is that the fee — no matter what it ends up being — is fully recoupable, meaning Valve pays the dev back out of it’s share of revenue earned from the title.”

The company said it will also do a basic check to ensure the games are actually games, and that they run properly. But that’s it. Valve plans to step back from the curation process entirely and let the customers decide what succeeds and fails in its digital storefront. “When we consider any new features or changes for Steam, our primary goal is to make customers happy,” Valve said today in a blog post. “We measure that happiness by how well we are able to connect customers with great content. We’ve come to realize that in order to serve this goal we needed to move away from a small group of people here at Valve trying to predict which games would appeal to vastly different groups of customers.”

Valve admitted Greenlight is a flawed system, but said it also exposed two key problems the company still needs to address: its pipeline for bringing new content to Steam needs streamlining and customers need better ways to find that content. Discoverability has been a long-time problem on Steam. The German independent studio Fairytale Distillery told Engadget in 2014 that the Greenlight system was “a big black box for most developers.”

“I know of games who have been in the top 100 for a long time and who haven’t been Greenlit,” said Fairytale Distillery co-founder Alexander Zacherl at the time. “I have seen games being Greenlit at something around ’35 percent of the way to the top 100.’ Nobody knows how many votes you need to make the cut or how good your yes/no ratio needs to be.”

Valve has implemented programs, such as Discovery and Steam Curators, to combat this problem, but Lombardi conceded there’s room for improvement. “On connecting customers with content they want, we are always looking for ways to make this better,” he said. “The Discovery updates have helped, and we know there is more work to do on that.”

Via: GamesBeat

Source: Steam