Analyst rumor: iPhone 8 ‘function area’ to replace home button

While we’re still months away from finding out exactly what’s what with any new iPhone, the rumor mill is already running at full tilt. Following up on earlier reports of a 5.8-inch edgeless OLED screened device arriving as the “iPhone 8,” well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is telling investors more about what its home button-less front screen could be like.

As explained by AppleInsider and 9to5Mac, the analyst notes that this presumed OLED iPhone with its $1,000+ pricetag will be similar in size to the current 4.7-inch iPhone. However, instead of the home button, it will include a “function area” that can also display controls for video or games.

That would keep it matched in style with the recently-released MacBook Pros and their OLED TouchBar, and, the analyst says, reduce the screen size used for everything else to about 5.15-inches. Last year the New York Times reported that the next iPhone would ditch the home button for virtual buttons built into the screen, and this rumor explains how all that could work. Losing the home button could indicate a lack of TouchID, which could be replaced by a fingerprint reader embedded in the display itself, or other biometric technology like face recognition.

Source: Apple Insider, 9to5Mac

Ticketmaster App Updated With Apple Music Integration to Track Concerts

Ticketmaster today updated its iOS app with Apple Music integration, allowing users to easily track upcoming concerts they might be interested in. The update makes Ticketmaster one of the few apps to take advantage of the Apple Music API.

Once the update is downloaded, users can allow the app to scan their Apple Music library for their favorite artists. Users will then receive ticket alerts when those artists announce new concerts. If users enable notifications and location services, the app can also notify a user when and where they can watch an artist perform.

Apple introduced the Apple Music API with iOS 9.3, and soon began promoting the API in April 2016. Two of the most well known apps to take advantage of the API are Nike and Shazam. Nike’s Run Club app allows users to import Apple Music playlists while Shazam allows users to add identified songs to their library. Unlike Nike and Shazam’s apps, which is focused on directly impacting someone’s music library, the primary goal of Ticketmaster’s utilization is to use Apple Music user data to improve its app experience.

Ticketmaster for iOS is available in the App Store for free [Direct Link]

Tag: Apple Music
Discuss this article in our forums

Nokia announces the return of the legendary 3310

Why it matters to you

The Nokia 3310, widely considered to be one of the most popular smartphones ever made, will launch at a Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

Readers of a certain age might recall the Nokia 3310, the 2000-era cell phone successor to the popular Nokia 3210. By today’s standards, it wasn’t particularly noteworthy — true to mobile handsets of its time, it featured physical number buttons, a tiny monochrome screen, and a durably bulbous design — but that didn’t stop it from breaking sales records. With 126 million units sold worldwide, it’s one of the most successful phones ever made. And that goodwill is the reason why Nokia celebrated the 3310 with a live video tribute on Wednesday.

It’s during the aforementioned video that Nokia announced the Nokia 3310 would be making a comeback. The new 3310, which will feature the same “indestructible” body and long-lasting battery as the original, will retail for 59 euros, or about $62. It’s expected to ship with software packing the same clock, calculator, reminder app, and games (Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact, and Bantumi) as its ancestor.

More: Nokia fan? Those news phones you’re waiting for may arrive at Mobile World Congress 2016

The Nokia 3310’s tank-like housing is no joke, as countless internet videos have demonstrated. One popular YouTube clip shows that a unit tossed from a 900-foot building was able to receive and place calls. Another shows a Nokia 3310 emerging relatively unscathed after being sliced with a sword.

Unfortunately, things got a little weird during Wednesday’s announcement.

At one point during the live-stream, Nokia Mobile’s Facebook page hosted a competition pitting the 3310 against the Nokia 1200. The two handsets, represented by actors vying for social media votes, performed bizarre feats like balancing disco balls on top of Afros and wearing over-sized bow ties. For a promotion ostensibly advertising a smartphone, it was a little cryptic, to say the least.

Here’s hoping Nokia sticks to a more coherent marketing message in the months to come.

More: Nokia’s Android phones 2017: Rumors and news leaks

Targeting the affordable smartphone market isn’t a new strategy for Nokia. The company’s targeted success by making low-cost new versions of old phones, including the Nokia 215, which costs $29 and lasts for 29 days.

The Nokia 3310 isn’t the only smartphone HMD Global, a Finnish company that bought the rights to the Nokia brand, has in store. Rumors suggest that the company will reveal other new smartphones — the Nokia 3, 5, and 6 — at a press event in Barcelona on February 26.

Comcast’s Xfinity Stream app will offer remote access to DVR recordings

Why it matters to you

You will be able to access live TV and DVR content anywhere, if you are a Comcast subscriber.

Launching on February 28th for all subscribers, the new Comcast Xfinity Stream app will let users access live television streams, recorded DVR content, and on-demand programming from any remote location. As detailed by Comcast, this app will replace the aging Xfinity TV app, which originally launched for iOS users during late 2010.

Compatible with both iOS and Android devices, subscribers will be able to access more than 200 live streaming channels using the Xfinity Stream app. Some of those channels include ESPN, MSNBC, CNN, NBC Sports, Disney Channel and Nick Jr. While Comcast didn’t name all the “top cable and premium networks” alluded to in the press release, live streaming also includes music with fifty “Music Choice” channels on the service.

If subscribers don’t want to use LTE streaming due to expensive data plans, Comcast is including an offline viewing feature for both on-demand programming and DVR content. Subscribers will be able to download TV shows and movies to their mobile device, ideal for watching later without online access. Similar to the Xfinity TV app, users will still be able to schedule DVR recordings while away from home.

The new app will tie directly into Comcast’s Stream TV service for cord cutters; currently scheduled for a nationwide launch later this year. The service is targeted at customers that want access to local network stations without having to rely on an external television antenna. Interestingly, the service only works within a home that’s connected to a Xfinity Wi-Fi network. Subscribers cannot access the service remotely.

Other features within the Comcast Xfinity Stream app includes the ability to search content using categories, filtering content with critical scores as well as Common Sense Media ratings, and setting content restrictions using parental controls. Regarding bi-cultural support, Comcast is including Spanish language options within the app and the ability to access secondary audio feeds in Spanish for English programming.

Current Xfinity TV app users should expect that app to automatically update to the Xfinity Stream app on or after February 28th. New users will be able to download the app on the App Store or Google Play.

CNN broadcasts on YouTube after TV ban in Venezuela

Earlier today, the Venezuelan government cut CNN en Español’s signal, shutting off its television broadcasting in the country shortly after it aired a report on fake passports. Not to be deterred, the news network has taken its programming to YouTube and posted links to news reports on its Spanish-language site. Apparently, the Venezuelan government doesn’t know that you can’t stop the livestreaming signal.

The report that sparked the ban, “Passports in the Shadows,” alleged passport fraud at the Venezuelan embassy in Iraq. Over a week after it aired on February 6th, the government’s National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) ordered CNN’s broadcasting ability be immediately suspended, accusing the network of attempting to “undermine the peace and the democratic stability” of the country, according to the BBC.

The report linked Venezuelan Vice-President Tareck El Aissami to the granting of 173 passports, including to Hezbollah, which the US and other Western powers have deemed a terrorist group. CNN chose to stand by its reporting.

Statement: CNN en Español will reach Venezuelans by offering “live signal on YouTube free of charge & news links on https://t.co/lKPkfCa0Uo” pic.twitter.com/HYElafLYUq

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 15, 2017

The top story on its Spanish-language site repeats their statement and has a larger 3-minute segment on the event. The network’s Spanish-language YouTube channel is currently livestreaming their programming, as promised, and can be seen below.

Another Twitter user allegedly recorded the moment Venezuela cut off CNN en Español’s signal:

Fuera del aire @CNNE en cableras venezolanas. Conatel inició proceso administrativo contra el canal internacional pic.twitter.com/u4uneGill1

— Elyangelica Gonzalez (@ElyangelicaNews) February 15, 2017

Source: Twitter

HTC is making a mobile VR headset unlike anything we’ve seen so far

HTC is making a mobile VR headset that’s being described as something different than Google Daydream View and similar headsets.

According to CNET, which spoke to Chief Financial Officer Chia-lin Chang, HTC has developed a VR product compatible with the new U Ultra smartphone. “We have a good plan in terms of combining mobility with VR,” Chang said. “Vive is very top end, and in the coming months you’ll see our plans in terms of mobility and VR, and it’s not a phone slapped onto a headset … It’d be a different thing.”

HTC already sells the HTC Vive headset, which is a lot like the Oculus Rift in that it needs to be tethered to a PC, though it also offers an add-on that turns the headset into a standalone device, but now it’s developing something altogether different. The company specified that it won’t work like the Daydream View or Samsung Gear VR, both of which use a phone for its screen, sensors, and processing power.

• HTC Vive 2 VR headset aka Oasis is in the works

CNET itself labeled the upcoming device as a “new virtual reality toy”, while Chang was a bit more vague. He did suggest, however, that it is a device that’ll sit somewhere between the full-fledge Oculus Rift headset and a mobile VR headset like Daydream View. It’s therefore unclear what type of device this could be — maybe a phone will still be needed, but it’ll be tethered to the headset via USB?

If that’s the case, it’ll be more like the LG 360 VR. We’ll know more in the coming months, as HTC’s headset should launch by the end of 2017.

Republicans hope to overturn internet privacy rules

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai isn’t the only one bent on rolling back internet regulations. Republican Senator Jeff Flake is planning to submit a resolution that would eliminate the FCC’s recently instituted broadband privacy rules through a vote. It’s not certain when the resolution would move forward, but there are reportedly 12 co-sponsors. Of course, this is assuming that the FCC doesn’t act first — Pai objected to the privacy rules in the first place.

The measures required your permission before internet providers could collect information about your browsing, app use, location and other sensitive details. The FCC also required that your ISP clearly and persistently let you know what info it’s collecting, and warn you if any of that data is compromised.

Telecoms unsurprisingly object to the rules. They feel they’re subject to more stringent regulation than many of the websites you visit, and believe that an opt-in requirement hurts their ability to target you with personalized ads. The problem, as you might surmise, is that this will make it considerably harder to avoid online tracking — given the duopolies that frequently exist in American broadband, switching to a privacy-friendly ISP may be difficult or impossible. And in many cases, you may have to opt out just to get back to the default privacy levels you have today.

Source: Politico

‘Watch Dogs 2’ patch adds a mystery to the game’s ending

Watch Dogs 2 has a new ending, and it might be teasing the location of the game’s sequel. Ubisoft updated the hacker-themed action game last week, adding new emotes, dances and clothing. It also added this little hint:

“Without spoiling all of the fun in the patch notes, we’ll just say that if you’ve finished the story you should replay the last mission to watch a little extra something at the end.”

So, what happens if you replay the last mission? You get a modified ending with a new recorded phone conversation. You can see the new ending here (spoilers, obviously):

The recording’s file name, “51.462014, -0112504.wav,” is apparently a set of coordinates. If you plug those coordinates into a map, it leads you to Brixton, London. One Reddit user, DanniBee, says it’s specifically the location of a restaurant called the Chip Shop. We hear it does a great surf ‘n’ turf for around £15.

Is this the location of Watch Dogs 3? In the new ending’s audio recording, two men discuss how the hacktivist group DedSec has gone global. New cells are popping up in the Middle East, South America and, yes, Europe. Watch Dogs 2 takes place in San Francisco, so it’s likely Ubisoft will choose a new location for the next part of the franchise. It’s also possible this is a tease for some DLC or the upcoming Watch Dogs movie.

While Ubisoft hasn’t verified the coordinates are an actual Easter egg, this isn’t the first time it’s planted clues about possible projects. One Watch Dogs 2 mission has players hack into the publisher’s office to get a sneak peek at an unannounced Western-themed space game. Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed such a game exists, and it’s possible it was just poking fun at it’s history of leaked announcements.

Via: GamesRadar

Source: Reddit

Scientists use stem cells to grow animal-free pork in a lab

Why it matters to you

Lab-grown meat could bring an end to unnecessary animal deaths. A new research paper just brought that dream one step closer.

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports has taken us one step closer to the dream of animal-free meat. (And, no, in case your mind immediately goes to the 1973 sci-fi movie Soylent Green, it ain’t people, either!)

“What the paper describes is research designed to generate muscle from a newly established pig stem-cell line, rather that from primary cells taken directly from a pig,” co-author Dr. Nicholas Genovese, a stem-cell biologist (and vegetarian), told Digital Trends. “This entailed understanding the biology of relatively uncharacterized and recently-derived porcine induced pluripotent stem cell lines. What conditions support cell growth, survival and differentiation? These are all questions I had to figure out in the lab before the cells could be turned into muscle.”

As you can imagine, this wasn’t straightforward.

“It was exceptionally [distressing] when conditions I thought would support differentiation caused all of the cells to die,” Genovese continued. “But fortunately I was able to identify a solution that would allow the stem cells to survive, allowing their transition to skeletal muscle.”

More: Food-production startup promises meat without murder by growing it in labs

It may not sound like the most appetizing of foodstuffs, but pig skeletal muscle is in fact the main component of pork. The fact that it could be grown from a stem-cell line, rather than from a whole pig, is a major advance. This is also true of the paper’s second big development: the fact that this cultivation of pig skeletal muscle didn’t use animal serum, a component which has been used in other livestock muscle cultivation processes.

Genovese is the chief science officer and co-founder of Memphis Meats, a foodie startup which aims to grow edible meat in a lab. Having last year debuted a lab-grown meatball, the company is now working on developing other meats and scaling its business.

“My motivation originates from exploring better ways to produce meat,” Genovese said. “Environmental degradation, food safety, food security, emerging infectious disease, and animal suffering are all challenges becoming increasingly relevant due to the increasing global demand for conventionally produced animal products, especially meat. An innovative solution to this dilemma, was, and remains, my core motivation.”

He also acknowledges that there are other non-food-related possibilities the work hints at. “There is a contingent interest in using the pig as a model to study disease and test regenerative therapies for human conditions,” he said.

While we’re still a way away from lab-grown meat being readily available and affordable (the aforementioned meatball cost $1,200 to grow), the plan is for this to happen over the next 5-10 years. In other words, Memphis Meats is a startup worth keeping an eye on.

Oculus Rift: Common problems and how to fix them

The Oculus Rift is an easy-to-use, virtual reality option with an exciting lineup of games, offering a diverse mix of gameplay experiences that make the case for VR being more than a mere fad. With the addition of its Oculus Touch controllers, the line between reality and video games has only grown blurrier, and more and more “traditional” developers — Insomniac Games, Slightly Mad Studios, Crytek, etc. — have shipped games for the platform.

More: These 12 Oculus Rift games are the best way to experience virtual reality

Though it’s an easy process to get your Rift up and running on a compatible PC, users who have already purchased the Rift have experienced a number of technical challenges while using the headset, including black screens, random disconnects, and various tracking issues. We’ve compiled these problems below, and explained the best things you can do to solve them.

Contacting Oculus

Submit a ticket request 

Twitter: @Oculus

Support forums