Jaguar and Shell partner for in-car fuel payments

Luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover has partnered with Shell to make fueling up a touch more convenient. That’s because everyone who owns a vehicle equipped with the company’s InControl Apps will be able to pay for gas without ever leaving the driver’s seat. All you need is the Shell mobile app, either a PayPal or Apple Pay account and at least $40,000 for one of the supported cars and you too can take advantage of the new feature.

As the video below shows, it looks like all you need to do is connect your iPhone (Android support arrives sometimes later this year) to your Jag’s infotainment system via USB. From there, everything is handled via the car’s touchscreen. How this differs from other mobile payment tech, Jaguar says, is that this one uses geolocation in concert with PayPal or Apple Pay for transactions.

The functionality launches February 15th in the UK and additional availability will roll out over the course of this year. Jaguar says that additional applications of the tech could include drive-through restaurants and parking services. Which, to be honest, sound far more convenient than paying for gas. I mean, you still have to get out of your car for the former. The latter? It should eliminate the awkwardness of digging your wallet from a back pocket while you’re seated.

Source: Jaguar

‘Apocalypse Now’ game studio tries raising $5.9 million on its own

The plan to translate cult war horror film Apocalypse Now into a video game seemed ambitious in scope and public support when it launched a Kickstarter late in January with a $900,000 goal. But after raising only $172,000 with just 9 days left, the team decided to pivot its crowdfunding efforts. The new plan: open a fresh website dedicated to a 460-day long haul fundraising campaign with a much larger $5,900,000 aim. Assuming all goes well, the team will still release the game in 2020.

The funding switch hasn’t changed the title’s plan: A first-person survival horror trudge through the jungles of Vietnam, rooting the player in the boots of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen in the original film) on his mission to assassinate the rogue Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando). The new, standalone site aims to become a hub for community engagement during the game’s long development. According to the team’s post on the game’s Kickstarter, backers and fans can visit the site to “see real-time updates on the game through posts, livestreams and group community events” and enjoy direct communication with the team.

The reward options on the dedicated crowdfunding site are mostly the same as those on the game’s Kickstarter, though they also give access to an eventual beta version of the game. Legacy backers who opt to give again to the new campaign will automatically get bumped up a tier.

It should be noted that the Kickstarter campaign was never intended to fund the whole game — just raise about one-fifth of the production’s funding total before a second-longer term effort launched, according to The Verge. It’s unclear whether the Kickstarter campaign will stay up for a moonshot hope at funding the last $720,000 or be shut down before it ends in 9 days.

Backers will receive their rewards shortly after the larger funding goal has been met, according to an update on the Kickstarter campaign’s page, but that’s the extent of information on the crowdfunding transition. We’ve reached out to Apocalypse Now’s team and will update when we learn more.

Via: The Verge

Source: ‘Apocalypse Now’ game (Kickstarter)

Apple Considering Adding China’s BOE as OLED Supplier for 2018 iPhone

Apple is in discussions with China’s BOE Technology Group to supply OLED screens for the 2018 iPhone, reports Bloomberg. The Cupertino company is looking for ways to shore up its OLED supplies as the iPhone transitions from LCD to OLED displays.

Apple has been testing BOE’s OLED displays for months, according to Bloomberg, but it isn’t yet sure whether to add the company as a supplier. BOE is one of China’s largest display makers, recently spending about $14.5 billion on two AMOLED factories. Talks are too early to allow BOE to contribute displays for Apple’s 2017 OLED-based iPhone, known as the iPhone 8, but BOE is hoping to contribute to the 2018 iPhone supply.

If Apple and BOE agree to a deal, the Chinese manufacturer will become Apple’s first OLED supplier outside of South Korea and Japan. In November, it was reported that Apple’s OLED suppliers, which include Samsung, LG, Sharp and Japan Display, would not be able to meet demand for the 2017 iPhone. The worldwide shortage of OLED displays is thought to be one of the reasons why Apple is limiting the feature to the high-end device, while the regular iPhone 7s and 7s Plus are said to feature LCD displays.

One of BOE’s new factories will open this summer while another will open a couple years later. When they’re up to full capacity, BOE says they’ll be able to produce 1.6 million square-meters of flexible glass substrates (surfaces that displays are carved out of) a month.

Samsung will exclusively produce OLED displays for iPhones in 2017, with Apple opening up to LG, Sharp and Japan Display in 2018.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: bloomberg.com, OLED, BOE, 2018 iPhone
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Canon EOS 77D preview: Lucky 7s for the ’80D lite’?

You’ve probably heard it time and again: “cameras are dying”. Well, not according to Canon. The Japanese camera maker seems to be investing in a DSLR for every possible user, with the new EOS 77D fitting in beneath its 80D mid-ranger to carve out a new sub-category.

The most obvious benefit being that the 77D is more affordable. Starting at £829 (body only), the slightly smaller and lighter DSLR will appeal to those who don’t need every single bell and whistle feature.

Ditch the 80D’s weather-sealed body and, roughly speaking, that’s what the 77D is all about. So does it make sense?

Canon EOS 77D review: What’s different vs 80D?

• Brand new 24.2-megapixel sensor
• Body isn’t weather-sealed
• Bluetooth control & file sharing
• 95 per cent field-of-view optical viewfinder

If you look across Canon’s DSLR range you might be befuddled about the presence of the 77D and brand-new 800D in relation to the older 80D, 760D and 750D.

Compared to the 80D the 77D is much the same. There are five core differences: the body isn’t weather-sealed; the sensor (while the same resolution) is an updated design; it’s slightly smaller and lighter; the viewfinder has a 95 per cent field-of-view (not 100 per cent, as per 80D); and it comes with Bluetooth built-in for file-sharing and, should you buy the additional Bluetooth accessory control (£40), remote control features too.

Canon EOS 77D review: Impressive autofocus

• 45-point Dual Pixel AF autofocus system
• Viewfinder-based and on-screen live preview

The core thing to take-away from the 77D is that it’s got the top-notch 45-point Dual Pixel AF system as found in the 80D (and 800D).

Why’s that important? It’s great for using the camera either through the viewfinder or via the rear LCD screen. Because some phase-detection autofocus pixels are positioned on the imaging sensor itself the camera is far quicker when using the rear screen than many of Canon’s older cameras.

It’s as good as DSLR cameras get in this department – although, as we said of the 80D, it still can’t quite outsmart the likes of Panasonic’s Lumix G range of compact system cameras. Nonetheless, Canon’s effort it still very impressive. It helps blur the lines between the two camera camps.

• Best DSLR cameras: The best interchangeable lens cameras available to buy today
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Of those 45-points all of them are cross-type, too, which means each of them is equally sensitive whether you’re shooting in portrait or landscape orientation – so no limitations to your shooting preference there.

Canon EOS 77D review: Screen and viewfinder

• 3-inch, 1040k-dot, tilt-angle touchscreen LCD
• 0.82x magnification, 95 per cent FoV optical finder

As we pointed one of the disappointing things about the 77D is its 95 per cent field-of-view optical viewfinder. It’s not bad, per se, but that means you won’t see the outermost five per cent of what you’re going to capture during preview (with the 80D it’s what-you-see-is-what-you-get 100 per cent).

The screen perhaps makes up for that. If anything, the 77D is a camera that’s going to be used aplenty via its screen anyway. That it’s mounted on a vari-angle bracket is great for lower-level work, especially as there’s touchscreen control to simply click on the screen for focus.

We do still think that Canon could be more pinpoint specific with its on-screen focus types though. At the moment the subject tracking and crude single point AF options aren’t nearly as versatile or rapid as, again, Panasonic’s G-series of compact system cameras.

Canon EOS 77D review: Body design

• Top plate LCD
• Settings lock switch
• Top plate LCD

Despite not being weather-sealed, the 77D has plenty of the advanced buttons, knobs and dials that you’d expect of an advanced DSLR. Interestingly, however, Canon has introduced a Guide UI (user interface) which can be activated in the camera to assist with breaking-down the meaning of those various shooting modes. It’s switched off by default (it’s on by default in the 800D), so most users are unlikely to see it.

Like the 80D there are a number of decent higher-end features on the 77D, such as a light-up top plate LCD which can display the various camera settings. It’s useful for a glance and knowing what settings are in play. There’s also a lock switch to stop any accidental settings adjustment.

The materials that Canon has come to use in its DSLR cameras don’t feel especially robust, however, with a more plasticky sense about them. Such materials are tough, however – heck, some of Canon’s high-end kit doesn’t feel especially sturdy/heavy – and proven to last well, so we’re not worried about that. Just that it could look and feel aesthetically better.

Canon EOS 77D review: New sensor

• 24.2MP APS-C sensor is all new
• Not a back-lit design
• ISO 100-25,600 (51,200 extended)
• Latest Digic 7 processor
• Full HD video to 60fps

On paper the 77D’s sensor looks to be the very same 24.2-megapixel one as you’ll find in the 80D. That’s not precisely the case, however, as it’s a new construction, paired with the latest Digic 7 processor.

Will that make a huge difference to imaging potential? We doubt it. After all, despite Digic 7’s higher speed as a processor, the 77D’s maximum six frames per second (6fps) is one less than the older 80D’s 7fps. Each camera has to find its own place in the lineup at the end of the day.

We’re reaching a point where sensors of the same size, resolution and era are rendering results much the same as one another. There might be the smallest difference in the 77D’s capability versus the 80D, but we suspect people won’t know by eye. If you’re tossing up which of the two cameras to buy then image quality shouldn’t really come into it.

Canon continues its wont-do-4K approach in its DSLR lineup, however, a treat it reserves for its Cinema range. The 77D can muster 1080p at up to 60fps though, which is nothing to shake a stick at.

First Impressions

Want to buy an 80D but don’t want the weather-sealed design? Then buy the 77D and save some cash. That’s the approximate long and short of it, as these two cameras are mighty similar.

Ok, so the 77D lacks the top-end viewfinder with 100 per cent field-of-view, and it’s not quite as fast either, but the differences between the two cameras are relatively marginal.

Which, all-in, makes for an impressive mid-ranger. The responsive 45-point autofocus system, vari-angle touchscreen and (ought to be) great image quality are all the hallmarks that many will be seeking from such a camera. And for less cash than the 80D? Can’t argue with that.

However, we do wonder if Canon’s burgeoning range is now a little too expansive and, therefore, confusing. With the 80D, 77D, 800D and 760D all rather close in their offerings you’ll need to know precisely what you want from your kit to make the considered choice. But having choices in life isn’t always a bad thing (and with Nikon’s presence rarely apparent of late, Canon is making a shelf-nabbing move here).

Canon EOS 800D preview: Mid-range made accessible

Canon is bulking out its EOS range with a number of new DSLR models, the 800D taking on a more beginner role than its also-announced step-up 77D cousin.

Between the two new models, certainly in terms of specification, there’s not a great deal of difference. The 800D lacks the more advanced layout and top LCD panel display of the 77D, giving it a more beginner-focused bent and a price saving of £50 (it’s £779 body-only, rather than £829).

The big question, then, is whether the 800D makes any sense as an upgrade to the current 750D/760D models, or if Canon is now cramming excessive numbers of models into its range?

Canon EOS 800D preview: What’s different versus 77D?

• Guided UI interface as standard
• No top panel LCD display
• Fewer controls, simpler layout

If you end up gazing into the spec sheets of both 800D and 77D there aren’t a huge number of differences. It’s when physically looking at the cameras that the more notable differences can be seen.

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The 800D has a Guided UI interface by default (also available in the 77D, but has to be activated) which presents as a more visual rear-screen representation of which shooting mode does what (as input from the mode dial) and how to get more effective results. The 800D also lacks the lock switch and top panel LCD display of the 77D, making for a simpler and more beginner-focused layout.

Canon EOS 800D preview: Mid-level autofocus at a cut price

• 45-point Dual Pixel AF autofocus system
• Bluetooth control & file sharing
• Latest 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor

While the differences between 800D and 77D aren’t huge, there’s a notable jump over the EOS 750D (and, to some degree 760D). That mainly comes down to the autofocus system, which in the 800D is a 45-point Dual Pixel AF system (as found in both the 80D and 77D). So there’s no scrimping on the autofocus ability – it’s the very same and just as capable as cameras that cost £50 and £250 more (what you’re paging for there is build quality).

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The Dual Pixel AF system is important as it functions great when using the camera either through the viewfinder or via the rear LCD screen in live preview mode (activated by pressing a button on the rear of the camera). As some phase-detection autofocus pixels are positioned on the imaging sensor itself the camera is far quicker when using the rear screen than older Canon cameras.

Live preview is as good as DSLR cameras get – although, as we said of the 77D, it still can’t quite outsmart the likes of Panasonic’s Lumix G range of compact system cameras. Nonetheless, Canon’s effort it still very impressive.

• Best CSC cameras: The best mirrorless interchangeable cameras available to buy today
• Best DSLR cameras: The best interchangeable lens cameras available to buy today

Of the 800D’s 45 AF points all are cross-type, meaning each is just as sensitive whether you’re shooting in portrait or landscape orientation. Ultimately, if you’re eyeing-up the 750D then, well, the 800D is far more capable and worth a look in.

Canon EOS 800D review: Screen and viewfinder

• 3-inch, 1040k-dot tilt-angle touchscreen LCD
• 0.82x magnification, 95 per cent FoV optical finder

The 800D’s rear screen and viewfinder arrangement are one and the same as the 77D’s too. Its 95 per cent field-of-view optical viewfinder is what you’d expect at this price point. That crucial “95” number meaning that you won’t see the outermost five per cent of what you’re going to capture during preview when using the viewfinder (with the 80D it’s 100 per cent, which is what-you-see-is-what-you-get) so framing its perfectly accurate.

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The screen might be the way the 800D is used even more, however, as it’s built on a variable-angle bracket and has touch-sensitivity too. That’s great for manipulating the live preview and viewing at waist-level, for example, or twisting the screen around for overhead work. It’s sensitive to the touch, which makes for simple press-to-focus action.

However, we do still think that Canon could be more specific with its live preview focus types. Through the viewfinder there’s a lot more control per focus point, with each of the 45-points clearly illustrated. On the rear screen, in live preview, the subject tracking and single point AF options are somewhat crude by comparison. Again, Panasonic’s G-series are more capable here, which might make something like the Lumix G80 the more logical choice if you’re only ever going to use the screen to focus.

Canon EOS 77D review: Latest sensor

• 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor
• ISO 100-25,600 (51,200 extended)
• Latest Digic 7 processor

On paper the 800D’s sensor looks to be the very same 24.2-megapixel one as you’ll find in the 80D. That’s not precisely the case, however, as it’s a new construction, paired with the latest Digic 7 processor – and, again, the same one that you’ll find in the 77D.

Will that make a huge difference to imaging potential? We highly doubt it. After all, despite Digic 7’s higher speed as a processor, the 800D’s maximum six frames per second (6fps) is one frame fewer than the older 80D’s 7fps, again matching the 77D.

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We’re reaching a point where sensors of the same size, resolution and similar era are rendering results much the same as others. What Canon is doing with the 800D is saying this: if you want a more advanced setup then go for the 77D; if you’re after some mid-level features but are still learning and want some in-camera guidance then the simpler arrangement of the 800D will be more suitable.

There’s also 1080p movie capture at up to 50 or 60fps. No 4K, which is reserved for the ultra high-end Canon cine cameras at the moment (but which is offered at consumer level by just about every other manufacturer).

First Impressions

On the one hand the Canon 800D busies the EOS DSLR range and could make that purchase decision more complex. On the other, if you know you want a more accessible camera with a and step-by-step user interface then it makes more sense than the 77D. Plus it’ll save you money. Match your feature wants correctly and you needn’t pay over the odds.

Canon EOS M6 is Canon’s new top viewfinder-free mirrorless camera

Hot on the heels of the Canon EOS M5 – the mirrorless camera that, finally, put Canon in contention with some of its competition – the Japanese company has announced the EOS M6. It does away with the viewfinder (leaving a hotshoe in place for an accessory one), while updating the body design.

As compact system cameras go the M6 has got a variety of top features on board: its 45-point Dual Pixel AF system means its sensor-level phase-detection pixels are fast to focus; while the latest 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, which is APS-C sized and therefore beneficially bigger than many rivals, will deliver the same quality as the M5.

The hotshoe means you could add the new EVF-DSC2 (£219) optional viewfinder (which is also compatible with other high-end Canon compacts such as the G1 X II) or other optional accessories. If you’re super keen for a viewfinder, however, then the M5 is probably the more sensible purchase if you’re determined to buy Canon.

• Canon EOS M6 preview: The viewfinder-free mirrorless

Other standout points on the M6 include the retro styling and a stacked control dial – which places the exposure compensation dial on top of the rear thumbwheel – both of which help give this Canon a look like no other M-series models. It’s rather Olympus-esque, if you ask us, albeit without quite the same degree of high-end materials – to us the dials just feel a bit lightweight.

The Canon EOS M6 will be available from April 2017 in black or silver finishes, priced £730 (body-only). At that price, it’s got some interesting features and the Canon badge to lure in users, but with the likes of Panasonic offering the Lumix G80 for a similar sum, it’s also worth looking further afield in our view.

Canon EOS 77D and 800D expand mid-range EOS DSLR lineup

If you’re thinking of buying a feature-packed DSLR then chances are you’ll be looking at a £1,000 piece of kit. Canon is looking to change that with the introduction of the EOS 77D and 800D cameras.

If you’re familiar with the Canon DSLR line-up you’ll know the company’s impressive 80D rules the mid-level market. Great as it is, it’s not exactly budget and accessible for all.

The 77D takes the core format of the 80D, strips away the weather-sealing and some of the price for a more accessible take, at £829 body-only. The 800D cuts away another £50, removes the top panel LCD display and some physical controls, priced £779 body-only.

• Canon EOS 77D preview: Lucky 7s for the 80D lite?
• Canon EOS 800D preview: Mid-range made accessible

It means Canon’s range is going to be filling pretty much every space on camera-sellers’ shelves. It could be seen as risky and confusing, given the sheer volume – 750D, 760D, 800D, 77D, 80D – but, with some thought, the right camera matched to the right user could be a savvy move for the Japanese company.

At their core both the 77D and 800D have the same 45-point autofocus system as the 80D. It’s a Dual Pixel AF setup, meaning phase-detection pixels on the sensor itself, for fast focusing whether using the viewfinder or the screen for live preview shooting.

Both cameras also offer a brand new 24.2-megapixel APS-C-sized CMOS sensor with latest Digic 7 processor. It’s the same resolution as some earlier Canon cameras, but is the latest iteration of sensor technology.

As the lower-end model the 800D has photographers who are still learning it its sights. The Guided UI interface visually shows on screen what each of the shooting modes does. The UI is available in the 77D too, but you’ll have to switch it on.

The Canon EOS 77D will be available from April 2017, priced £829 body-only; the Canon EOS 800D will be available from the same time-frame, priced £779 body-only.

Canon EOS M6 preview: Canon’s top-end mirrorless, minus the viewfinder

The Canon take on the mirrorless camera market has been interesting (you can read that as generally disappointing): having lackadaisically introduced the sub-par M-series system in a bid to – and this is how we see it – avoid undercutting its own DSLR business, it had taken Canon years to establish a more viable M-series camera. That happened in 2016 with its M5.

Move into 2017 and the Japanese maker is concentrating its moves in mirrorless, with the step-up EOS M6 further enhancing the line-up with a more comprehensive control system and minus the built-in viewfinder. It’s altogether less DSLR-styled.

As we said of the M5, Canon has finally reached a point where its product is competitive. Albeit, at a point in time when its competitors are often a step ahead in terms of focus ability, design and lens range.

Can the M6 change that? We got to briefly play with the compact system camera ahead of its official unveil to see if Canon is on point in the viewfinder-free sub-sector.

Canon EOS M6 preview: What’s new versus M5?

• No viewfinder, includes hotshoe (for optional viewfinder accessory)
• Adds stacked control dial layout
• Latest 24.2MP sensor and 45-point autofocus

The main difference between EOS M5 and M6 is their physical design, the M6 cutting out the viewfinder compared to the M5’s built-in solution. The M6 also adds in a stacked control dial, which is a feature we’ve seldom seen from Canon (think of the G7X compact and the like).

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The look of the M6 is rather high-end, dressed in a shiny silver-colour finish on the sample camera we saw. However, there’s no denying that Olympus does this overall look better in its Pen and OM-D cameras – because it uses more tactile materials that simply feel better in the hand.

Interestingly, Canon has avoided the Guided UI – which is designed to assist relative newcomers to understand what each shooting mode does, represented in a visual form – on the M6, unlike the also-announced EOS 800D DSLR.

• Canon EOS 800D preview: Mid-range made accessible

Up top of the M6 is another notable feature: a hotshoe. Just because this mirrorless has done away with the built-in finder, doesn’t mean it removes the possibility of that. The brand new EVF-DC2 is also being released in tandem with the camera body, which is perfect timing – plus it is compatible with other Canon cameras such as the PowerShot G1 X II.

Canon EOS M6 preview: How does it perform?

• 45-point Dual Pixel AF autofocus

The M6’s autofocus system is the same 45-point Dual Pixel AF setup as you’ll find in the earlier M5 (plus EOS 80D, 77D and 800D (ignoring their through-the-viewfinder setups)), which means speedy autofocus thanks to on-sensor phase-detection pixels.

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And it genuinely works well – just as we said of the M5. It’s quick and doesn’t need to hunt excessively to find focus. Canon has figured out how to make its M-series cameras work properly.

But there’s a caveat: the three focus options – 1-point, zone and tracking – lack the complexity of the competition, such as the Panasonic Lumix G80. Given the EOS M6 is £730 and isn’t compatible with Canon’s (EF/EF-S) DSLR lenses without an adapter, there’s a good argument to lean towards Panasonic if you’re looking for a mirrorless model.

Canon EOS M6 preview: Screen and optional finder

• 3-inch, 1,040k-dot, tilt-angle LCD touchscreen

Another slight difference in the M6 compared to the M5 is the way its screen is mounted on the variable bracket: it can’t flip around to face forward for selfies, but we don’t think that’s any major loss.

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Besides, this tilt screen is really useful to handle with its touchscreen prowess – as that’s the ultimate way to use this camera.

If you’re really keen for a viewfinder then, well, it’d be cheaper to consider buying the M5 instead if that’s your only investment. The EVF-DC2 is only likely to make sense if you have other compatible Canon compact cameras. But it’s a feature that we’d rather have than not, so no harm done there.

The DC2 does deliver 2.36m-dots of resolution over its 0.39-inch panel and weighs next to nothing at 29g.

Canon EOS M6 preview: Image quality

• 24.2MP sensor, Digic 7 processor

On the imaging front the M6 is made in the M5’s image: it’s got a 24.2-megapixel sensor, paired with the latest Digit 7 processor.

The camera can handle a decent burst rate of 7fps in continuous autofocus, increasing to 9fps at a fixed focus point. With the right SD card on board the buffer is significant too, avoiding clogging-up after taking just a handful of images (it can shoot 26 JPEGs at 9fps consecutively). It’s not as speedy as a Fujifilm X-T2, but it’s mighty fast.

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Because Canon uses a larger sensor than most of its mirrorless competition, it has that advantage. There might be fewer lenses in the EF-M mount lineup than, say, Micro Four Thirds, however, so without top-notch glass the overall capability – if you’re the kind to hunt out specific optics – isn’t as extensive as some of Canon’s own range and, perhaps, the competition.

On the movie-capture front the M6 is just the same as its interchangeable Canon cousins: 1080p at 50/60fps is maximum, without the option for 4K.

First Impressions

The Canon EOS M6 makes a lot of sense if you’ve been eyeing-up the M5 but don’t want a viewfinder (or don’t immediately want one anyway – the DC2 can cater for that later down the line).

As mirrorless cameras go it’s capable, approaching its competition in terms of abilities. Thing is, and just as we said of the M5, the M6 doesn’t ultimately better that competition in autofocus complexity, build quality or price point.

Gates Foundation: Empowering women is key to fighting poverty

In 2006, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet donated $31 billion in company stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As a way of outlining just what the Gates family did with the “single biggest gift anyone ever gave anybody for anything,” the couple have penned a lengthy report. The big takeaway is that the most impact will come from social change — not tech. Considering where Bill Gates worked, that might surprise you.

Specifically, the couple highlighted access to immunizations and empowering women to take control of their sexuality via contraceptives and support groups as the keys to improving our world. “Limiting women’s power keeps everyone poor,” Melinda says.

Bill and his wife also have a keen interest in keeping child mortality rates on their downward trend. Melinda writes that it’s the bedrock of the Foundation and that “virtually all” of society’s advances (including economic growth, gender equity and access to contraceptives) are reflected in child mortality rate.

“If parents believe that their children will survive — and if they have the power to time and space their pregnancies — they choose to have fewer children,” Melinda writes. Some 300 million women in developing countries use “modern contraceptives,” a benchmark that Melinda says took 13 years to reach compared to a previous figure of 200 million, a number she says took decades to hit.

Spacing pregnancies also leads to mothers becoming more educated and have healthier kids in general. “Contraceptives are also one of the greatest antipoverty innovations in history,” she says. This cascades into more countries being able to pull themselves out of debt because parents can devote more time and resources to keeping their kids smart and healthy.

Women in developing countries who can space their births by at least three years have babies statistically twice as likely to hit their first birthday, too. Access to contraceptives also has a direct effect on those seeking government assistance as well. When people have fewer kids, there’s less need for financial help to raise them, which in turn decreases things like welfare dependencies.

“No country in the last 50 years has emerged from poverty without expanding access to contraceptives,” Melinda writes. Pulling a nation out of poverty is a long game, not a quick fix.

On a global level, President Trump reversing the “Mexico City policy” could have a chilling effect on how the Gates Foundation works. If you’ll remember, the so-called “global gag order” originated under President Reagan in 1984 and cuts off funding to foreign organizations that use money from the US to provide abortions or even discuss the procedure as a means of family planning. Democrat presidents repeal it when they take office, and Republicans reinstate it.

Bill recently told the Guardian that the US cutting off foreign funding for reproductive health could “create a void that even a foundation like ours can’t fill.” The US, he says, is the top donor for the Foundation’s work. “When government leaves an area like that, it can’t be offset, there isn’t a real alternative.”

“We’re concerned that this shift could impact millions of women and girls around the world,” Melinda said. “It’s likely to have a negative effect on a broad range of health programs that provide lifesaving treatment and prevention options to those most in need.”

Given that Trump considers himself a successful businessman, maybe being presented with hard numbers and statistics proving that investing in women and things like vaccinations makes fiscal sense will change some of his policy decisions. After all, he counts Bill Gates as one of the people who can tell him how to shut down parts of the internet, so there’s a remote chance he’ll trust where this info is coming from.

Source: Gates Notes, Guardian

Canon’s latest DSLRs are the EOS 77D and Rebel T7i

Canon is adding two new members to its EOS DSLR lineup, the 77D and Rebel T7i. The former is designed to be a step above the Rebel series but below the 80D, which was introduced nearly a year ago. It features a 24.2-megapixel (APS-C) CMOS sensor with a Digic 7 processor, 6fps continuos shooting, max ISO of 25,600 and a 45-point autofocus system. There’s also NFC and WiFi connectivity for controlling the camera remotely, while video-recording is limited to 1080p at up to 60fps.

You’ll find most of the same specs on the Rebel model, with the main differences being that the T7i sports a 19-point AF, 5fps continuous shooting and a lighter body. The EOS 77D and Rebel T7i will hit stores in April for $900 and $750 body-only, respectively. Canon says both of these are intended for people who want a camera like the 80D but don’t want to spend over $1,000. Or, if you’d rather have a more compact shooter, the new EOS M6 mirrorless may be worth considering.