A desktop vacuum former on Kickstarter will complete any craft space

Why it matters to you

Already wondering how you will create your 2017 Halloween mask? This Kickstarter desktop vacuum former can help with that and a whole lot more.

If you’re a craftsman, there is a good chance you have a 3D printer and CNC milling machine or router, but do you have a vacuum former?

For those unfamiliar with it, vacuum forming is a process in which you take a plastic sheet, heat it up to soften it, and then apply air pressure so that it conforms to a mold. What you end up with is a hard plastic object with an imprint of whatever mold you used it with.

It’s exciting — and useful — stuff, although like many tools it requires a bit of expertise to use. For that reason, if you want something vacuum formed, you will probably wind up handing it over to a technician rather than doing it yourself. That is what a new Kickstarter project, for the so-called Vaquform, wants to change.

More: Who needs a frickin’ laser? Desktop waterjet cutter slices through stone, steel

Vaquform claims to add digital smarts to the regular vacuum forming mix. This includes an infrared probe that monitors the temperature of your plastic sheet down to 0.1-degree Celcius precision. Not only does this mean you don’t have to stand there watching the whole time but it also ensures that every repeat part you make is perfectly consistent.

In addition, there are presets designed to make your job easier, regardless of which material type and thickness you choose and a few other smart features thrown in for good measure.

The result is a nifty desktop machine that will benefit any craftsman.

“I’m an industrial designer and I’ve used 3D printing a lot in my work,” creator and Vaquform CEO John Tan told Digital Trends. “A common pain point with 3D printing is how slow the process is — particularly if you’re manufacturing more than one of an object. One possibility with this tool is that, rather than creating your finished product on a 3D printer, why not instead print your mold with the 3D printer and then use the vacuum former to create your final piece? That way you make the process of reproduction a lot faster.”

With 24 days still to go, Vaquform has already more than doubled its $60,000 funding goal. Prices for a Vaquform desktop vacuum former and material pack start at $599, with shipping set to take place in  October.

It’s certainly made quite the impression on us. (Get it?)

Algorithm predicts autism diagnosis in young children with 81 percent accuracy

Why it matters to you

An algorithm that’s able to accurately predict autism diagnoses in young kids could enable potental interventions to be made earlier.

A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a deep learning algorithm that can accurately predict whether a child at high risk of autism is likely to be diagnosed with the disorder in early childhood.

The algorithm was able to predict with 81 percent accuracy whether a diagnosis of autism would be made for a child with an autistic sibling,. That’s considerably higher than the 50 percent accuracy of current behavioral questionnaires.

More: Friendly educational robot designed to help kids with autism

The deep learning tool was developed in conjunction with computer scientists from the College of Charleston as part of the Infant Brain Imaging Study, which focuses on early brain development among children with autism. By scanning their brains at 6 months old,  a year old, and 2 years old, they were able to make some interesting discoveries.

“In previous literature, we’ve found brain volume enlargement in autism, meaning that people with autism have bigger brains than average,” senior author Dr. Heather Hazlett, a psychologist and brain development researcher, told Digital Trends. “In this study, we add to that by pinpointing that it’s really during the first two years of life that we see this change happening. What we found is that it occurs between 12 and 24 months. It’s not present at 12 months, but emerges rapidly after that, during the second year of life. However, what we see during the first year is surface area enlargement, referring to the folding outer contour of the brain. In children who have autism at age 2, there’s a hyperexpansion or rapid growth of the surface area at 6 to 12 months. This precedes the brain volume enlargement, and is really a story that hasn’t been told before.”

Using information concerning brain surface area, brain volume, and the insight that boys are more likely than girls to develop autism, the algorithm was able to identify eight out of 10 kids with autism.

So how could this research improve the lives of those who are diagnosed?

“I think this has potential in the sense that you could target a time period early in development which might be presymptomatic,” Hazlett said. “What we believe is that the earlier you can intervene, before the behaviors and brain differences have consolidated, you may have the greatest chance to make a change in that trajectory. Intervention that could be made prior to the onset of autism, aged 2, may lead to a greater effect, since the brain is very malleable during that period.

Algorithm predicts autism diagnosis in young children with 81 percent accuracy

Why it matters to you

An algorithm that’s able to accurately predict autism diagnoses in young kids could enable potental interventions to be made earlier.

A team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a deep learning algorithm that can accurately predict whether a child at high risk of autism is likely to be diagnosed with the disorder in early childhood.

The algorithm was able to predict with 81 percent accuracy whether a diagnosis of autism would be made for a child with an autistic sibling,. That’s considerably higher than the 50 percent accuracy of current behavioral questionnaires.

More: Friendly educational robot designed to help kids with autism

The deep learning tool was developed in conjunction with computer scientists from the College of Charleston as part of the Infant Brain Imaging Study, which focuses on early brain development among children with autism. By scanning their brains at 6 months old,  a year old, and 2 years old, they were able to make some interesting discoveries.

“In previous literature, we’ve found brain volume enlargement in autism, meaning that people with autism have bigger brains than average,” senior author Dr. Heather Hazlett, a psychologist and brain development researcher, told Digital Trends. “In this study, we add to that by pinpointing that it’s really during the first two years of life that we see this change happening. What we found is that it occurs between 12 and 24 months. It’s not present at 12 months, but emerges rapidly after that, during the second year of life. However, what we see during the first year is surface area enlargement, referring to the folding outer contour of the brain. In children who have autism at age 2, there’s a hyperexpansion or rapid growth of the surface area at 6 to 12 months. This precedes the brain volume enlargement, and is really a story that hasn’t been told before.”

Using information concerning brain surface area, brain volume, and the insight that boys are more likely than girls to develop autism, the algorithm was able to identify eight out of 10 kids with autism.

So how could this research improve the lives of those who are diagnosed?

“I think this has potential in the sense that you could target a time period early in development which might be presymptomatic,” Hazlett said. “What we believe is that the earlier you can intervene, before the behaviors and brain differences have consolidated, you may have the greatest chance to make a change in that trajectory. Intervention that could be made prior to the onset of autism, aged 2, may lead to a greater effect, since the brain is very malleable during that period.

You can now control some Linksys Wi-Fi devices using new Amazon Alexa skills

Why it matters to you

If you’re an Amazon Alexa user and your network is built with Linksys products, you have some new skills to put to use.

Today’s crop of personal and home digital assistants, such as Microsoft Cortana, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa, are supporting more devices all the time. They’re on smartphones, PCs, wearables, headless devices like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and upcoming Bluetooth speakers.

Amazon has been particularly aggressive in adding Alexa support to even more third-party solutions, enabling manufacturers to add “skills” that allow Alexa to control the devices and perform various actions. Mesh systems and wireless routers made by Linksys have been added to the list of supported Alexa devices, including those in the Velop, WRT, and Max-Stream families.

More: Amazon has introduced an Alexa skills marketplace

To enable the Amazon Alexa support on Linksys devices, you need to make sure you have a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi account set up and configured for each device. If you have a Velop mesh network, a Linksys account is required and so you’re already good to go. An account is optional for other Linksys devices, so go ahead and get that done.

Once that’s completed, you can open the Alexs app on your mobile device. Open the menu, then choose Skills. Select the Search box, search for “Linksys,” then select it from the results. Tap on the Enable button to turn on Alexa for that device, and you can check out the skill description and trigger examples on the same page.

Note that you can also ask Alexa to “enable the Linksys skill.” Once that’s done, you will need to authenticate using the OAuth screen that pops up by entering your Linksys Smart Wi-Fi account credentials to allow the two systems to work together. In a few minutes, the Linksys skill should be available

Examples of supported Linksys devices include the WRT1900AC and Max-Stream EA9500 routers and the Velop Whole Home Wi-Fi mesh system. Three new Alexa voice controls have been added for supported Linksys devices:

• Turning guest access on and off.
• Obtaining the guest Wi-Fi name and password.
• Obtaining the primary network credentials; this skill can be switched on and off.

The ability to tie digital assistants to various third-party devices tremendously expands their functionality, not to mention how deeply they’re embedded in our lives. In fact, one of the more important technology decisions that we make in the next few years will likely be which digital assistant we choose to work with.

AT&T caves to the competition, suddenly serves up a new unlimited data plan

Why it matters to you

Competition’s a beautiful thing. AT&T announced that it will offer unlimited data to new and existing customers.

It’s been a hectic weak in wireless. First Verizon, the U.S.’s largest carrier by number of subscribers, announced it would begin offering an unlimited data plan. Following the news, T-Mobile added high-definition video and hotspot to its existing unlimited plan. Then Sprint, not to be outdone by the competition, raised throttling limits on its plans. Now AT&T’s throwing its hat in the ring.

On Thursday, the carrier said it would begin offering unlimited data plans to customers without requiring them to purchase AT&T’s DirecTV or U-verse television service.

AT&T’s offering, which goes live Friday, will effectively go toe-to-toe with Verizon’s new plan. It features four lines for $180, or a single line for $100. Each additional line runs $40, and customers can add an optional “Roam North America” feature that lets them call, text, and use data in Canada and Mexico for no additional charge.

More: It’s finally back — Verizon again offers its unlimited plan to eager customers

Subscribers will receive a $40 bill credit for a fourth line, effectively making it free. But it won’t take effect right away — for the first month or so, four-line plans will cost $220.

AT&T’s plan isn’t without caveats. It includes unlimited high-definition video, but not tethering — unlike Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint’s reworked plans, subscribers won’t be able to use their phones as a mobile hotspot. AT&T will slow down users when they enter busy or “congested” areas if they exceed a data threshold of 22GB in a month. And the new plan packs AT&T’s Stream Saver, an optional feature that downgrades the quality of streaming video to standard definition.

AT&T said Unlimited date customers will be able to turn off Stream Saver if they choose. “You are not required to use Stream Saver. You can turn it off once and it stays off,” an AT&T spokesperson told Ars Technica.

More: Carriers compete: Sprint launches unlimited deal after Verizon, AT&T do

Friday will mark the first time AT&T’s offered an unlimited plan to non-TV subscribers since 2010, when it officially killed its all-you-can-eat data tier. Grandfathered customers who’ve managed to hold onto the old plan won’t see their terms changed, but will be subject to a $5-a-month hike that’ll raise the total price of legacy unlimited to $45. That’s before a $40 access fee, which brings the total to $85 a month.

Current AT&T DirecTV and U-verse customers won’t be affected by Thursday’s announcement.

AT&T’s new unlimited plan stacks up somewhat favorably to the competition. Verizon’s unlimited plan starts at $80 for one line, up to $180 for a family of four. T-Mobile’s refreshed One plan, which includes HD video streaming and 10GB of mobile hotspot data, is $70 for one line, $100 for two lines, or $160 for four lines, with taxes and fees included. And Sprint’s unlimited plan starts at $90 for five lines of unlimited data with HD video an 10GB of mobile hotspot data for new customers.

FIU students develop solution for protecting smart homes during disasters

Why it matters to you

An unexpected disaster has the ability to cause a serious ripple effect. Two students at FIU aim to remedy this by creating an IoT-focused solution capable of quickly adapting to crisis situations.

With homes fit to the teeth in smart gear, a pair of students from Florida International University devised a way to make these throngs of tech work in a home’s favor during times of crisis. In essence, the duo utilized motion, door, water, and relay sensors provided from smart device manufacturer Centralite to quickly amass and relay data across the internet during a disaster. The hope is that the crowdsourced information gathered helps those capable of responding to act quicker than usual. Furthermore, the novel idea caught the attention of IBM — and its Watson supercomputer — who hopped on board to collaborate.

To come up with the idea, electrical engineering student Adrian Mederos and entrepreneurship undergraduate Valeria Siegrist looked to the how firefighters dealt with the recent California wildfires. During the mounting crisis, those working on curbing the flames traded information via social media channels, providing information for those in homes near the blaze. Using this same idea, Siegrist and Mederos envision smart homes utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT) to talk to each other in a way which — if a disaster occurs — turns off appliances and turns on sprinklers, for one example.

Adrian Mederos

FIU

“Valeria and I know that social media is being used for crises and emergencies. If we mine the data, we can better respond during an emergency, and that’s the solution we were trying to propose,” Mederos told FIU. “The way technology is evolving, we need to react fast so that we don’t have major damages in times of emergencies. The more interconnected we are, the better we can react. It’s only logical to increase our ability to react to these situations.”

IBM joined in on the innovative fun after monitoring the students’ respective progress in other areas at FIU, officially challenging the duo to what it calls the IBM Centralite IoT Device Project. After supplying the package of Centralite gadgets listed above, Mederos and Siegrist got to work. With the help of IBM’s Watson, the team leaned heavily on artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to develop a system for assessing human emotion and reaction in times of crisis. This allowed them to create the foundation for the system’s interconnected IoT data network.

More: Dyson embraces smart-tech innovation at its new research center in Singapore

“We’re bringing a solution that solves a real problem. We want to provide the talent, and this is how students learn,” Siegrist added.

Specific to Florida, a system like Siegrist and Mederos’ boasts the capability of quickly recognizing flood patterns in a county like Miami-Dade, Florida, while transmitting necessary information to those in need. In the event of a riot, as FIU’s report points out, the system might automatically lock doors on people’s homes while simultaneously spreading the word via social media and beefing up police or security in certain areas. Moving forward, IBM and the student duo intend to meet with city officials to show off the project and display its effectiveness.

HTC to only make high-end phones this year, will ditch cheap ones

HTC has once again decided not to make entry-level phones.

During its earnings call earlier this week, the company announced it will ditch cheap smartphones later this year, according to Phonescoop. HTC promised to support cheap phones that have been released, but it wants to focus on high-margin, high-end devices. It will also cut back the total number of new phones to six or seven for the 2017 — all because it needs to think about profitability.

HTC admitted that competition in the entry-level market is why it’s ditching low-cost phones. But this isn’t the first time HTC has reduced its lineup. HTC once forged an exciting segment of the market, adding innovation, but it was then cannibalised by it. In 2012, the company made news when it announced it would only focus on top-tier phones, and since then, it has apparently relaxed on that strategy.

Remember, HTC just announced the U Ultra and HTC U Play at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. They’ll release in March. And last year, it released the HTC 10. But now that’s getting long in the tooth, and with 2017 getting underway, there’s already been plenty of rumours going around about the company’s next flagship, which currently has the codename HTC Ocean.

• READ: HTC Ocean: What’s the story on HTC’s next flagship?

So, for those of you only interested in affordable handsets, it’s best to look past HTC. It’ll be interesting to see how HTC fares going forward.

Google Home Express shopping: Here’s how to find and buy items using just your voice

Google Home has introduced the ability to buy items using your voice.

Thanks to an integration with Google’s Express online shopping service, you can shop for your everyday essentials, whether its paper towels or vitamins, and order them from participating retailers across the US using just your voice. Saying something like “OK Google, order paper towels” results in Google Assistant placing an order for you, and a Google Express courier delivering the item same-day.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the feature, including how to set up payments and which retailers you buy from.

Google Home Express shopping: How does it work?

To get started, say “OK Google, how do I shop?” Due to a gradual rollout, Google said its Google Home Express shopping feature may not always be available. If Google Assistant responds with “try shopping again tomorrow”, try again the following day.

Set up payments

• Open the Google Home app, then tap Menu from the Home screen, and verify the Google Account that is listed is the one you used to set up Google Home. From there, tap More settings.
• Find the section labeled Google Account settings, then tap Payments, and then Get Started. You’ll need to agree to Google’s Terms of Service.
• Choose your default payment method. If you have already added a payment method for Google Play or another Google service, you will be able to select that payment method. Otherwise, tap Add credit or debit card to add a new payment method.
• You’ll be asked to choose your delivery address. Again, you can use one listed with a Google service, or you can enter a new address.
• Once you’re done with that, you’ll see a list of all Google Homes that are successfully set up. Select which one you want to make payments.
• Next to each Google Home, you’ll see a toggle that controls the Personal results for that particular device, such as your personal information, including payments and other things like email. To allow Google Home to use your personal information, slide the slider to the right.
• For a step-by-step guide on how to set up payments, see Google’s FAQ page.

Find and buy items

• To buy an item, like paper towels, just say “OK Google, buy paper towels.” If you don’t specify a store, results will based on your Google Express order history or from other participating stores that carry the item.
• To buy an item, like paper towels, from a specific participating store, such as Costco, say “OK Google, buy paper towels from Costco” or “Purchase paper towels from Costco” or “Order paper towels from Costco”.
• For now you can order things that cost between $3.99 and more than $100 pre-tax. Right now, you cannot buy fresh produce, perishables, most clothing and accessory items, and furniture. The price you hear includes tax, which is determined by the location of the store.
• You may be given a few suggestions. When you hear one you like, answer “Yes” to place the order. ​​If you answer “No,” you’ll get another suggestion. If you say “No” a second time, you’ll find the item on your shopping list in the Google Home app. Your Google Home shopping list is saved in your Google Keep account. It is separate from a Google Express shopping list. 
• If you have questions about your order or need help, contact the Google Home Express support specialists.

Track or cancel orders

• You can double check your order on google.com/express or with your Google Express app.
• You can check the status and details of your package in your order confirmation email or on your Google Express orders page. You’ll also get an email when your order is on its way.
• To cancel your order, go to your Google Express orders page, or you can find where to cancel under Orders in your Google Express app. However, once the order has been prepared for delivery, it can’t be canceled.
• For more information on Google Express orders, see Google’s FAQ page.

Google Home Express shopping: What is Google Express?

Express is an Amazon Prime-like shopping service. It has an iOS app and Android app and is available on the web. It’s straightforward to use and looks like any shopping site. After the free trial, a membership costs $10 per month for monthly members or $95 per year for annual members. For non-members, delivery starts at $4.99 per store.

• Go here to learn more about Google Express fees and plans

Google Home Express shopping: Are there any fees to shop on Google Home?

You’ll see no service fees or store membership fees (like a Costco membership) when ordering with Google Home Express during the launch promo period. That period ends on 30 April 2017. Google didn’t offer any details on future pricing or membership fees. 

Google Home Express shopping: What retailers are available?

You can order from Costco, Guitar Center, Kohl’s, L’Occitane, Payless, PetSmart, Road Runner Sports, Sur La Table, Ulta, Walgreens, and Whole Foods anywhere in the US (except Alaska and Hawaii). However, there may be additional stores specific to your area.

• See the full list of participating stores here.

Google Home Express shopping: When will shopping be available?

Starting 16 February, you can shop for your everyday essentials on Google Home using Google Assistant.

Google Home Express shopping: Where is shopping available?

At launch, Google Home Express shopping is only available in the US (except Alaska and Hawaii). There’s no word yet on when or if it will come to the UK and Europe.

Want to know more?

Check out Pocket-lint’s guides for more handy things you can do:

• Google Home tips and tricks
• Google Assistant tips and tricks

Skype Mobile tests in-call reactions and retooled search

With the wide variety messaging apps adding video calls, Microsoft has been steadily rolling out improvements to Skype to keep up with the competition. Starting today, Skype users can help test a few new beta features that should make video calling and messaging an even more enjoyable experience on mobile devices.

First up on the video calling side: Skype is testing in-stream reactions that work similar to livestreaming services, allowing users to add emoji, text and photos in the middle of video call. Meanwhile, Skype Chat is getting an integrated camera and Slack-like messaging reactions: the former lets users quickly swipe from the side of the screen to bring up the camera, snap a selfie and drop it right in the chat window. The latter works similar to Apple’s own iMessaging reactions and lets everyone in the chat weigh in on an individual message with emoji.

Finally, Skype Chat is also getting a new “Find Panel” that works as a quick search hub for finding and sharing links, movie times, gifs and other tidbits from the web. Swiping from the left side of the chat window, brings up a handy search bar so users won’t have to swap apps to find that important sports score or restaurant address.

The new features are currently available through Skype Preview on Android and iOS before they roll out to all Skype users in the main app. In order to test them out, users will need to either download Skype Preview for Android on Google Play or apply to be a Skype Insider on iOS to get the app through Apple’s TestFlight beta testing program. And, of course, keep an open mind if you run into any bugs.

Source: Skype

Google needs your help building better video analysis algorithms

You probably haven’t heard of YouTube-8M, but it’s a big deal for anyone working in the field of machine learning. In short, it’s a large database of labeled video content that programmers can use to test out their algorithms. Today, Google announced that YouTube-8M is getting a major update, with even more labels across more its videos, as well as audio elements. And the company is also aiming to make the dataset even better with a Kaggle competition, which will offer big bucks from a $100,000 prize pool to teams who build the best algorithms for tagging around 700,000 new videos (using the 8M dataset for training).

“The dataset was created from over 7 million YouTube videos (450,000 hours of video) and includes video labels from a vocabulary of 4716 classes (3.4 labels/video on average,” Google wrote on the competition page. “It also comes with pre-extracted audio & visual features from every second of video (3.2B feature vectors in total).”

Google says it’ll announce the winning teams at the YouTube-8M Workshop held during the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition in July. With up to $30,000 awarded per team, there’s a good chance Google will end up attracting some eager developers. The company is also offering some free Google Cloud credits to early participants.

While the results of the competition won’t directly affect consumers for a while, Google software engineer Paul Natsev notes that whatever they learn will be useful across many different types of videos. Hopefully, that could lead to better searching and content filtering down the line on YouTube.

Source: Kaggle, Google