How Nanab and Pinap berries in Pokémon Gen 2 will improve your game

With the new update Pokémon Go will add Pinap and Nanab berries to buffs you can use while capturing Pokémon.

Just when you thought the hype over Pokémon Go had cooled down to a simmer, Niantic announced a huge new update. To help you capture the 80 new species of Pokémon being added to the game, there is the addition of two new types of berries; Pinap and Nanab.

Nanab berries

The Nanab Berry isn’t here to replace your Razzberries, instead it’s going to help you to become even more effective when trying to catch Pokémon. Especially if you are dealing with a particularly shy Pokémon that is prone to running away — Abra, we’re looking at you little buddy! The Ninab berry looks like a banana, but it’s no joke.

Each time that you throw a Ninab Berry at a Pokémon you are attempting to capture it will slow it down. This means it will take them much longer to dodge, making them much easier to hit and capture. That also makes it extra handy when used in conjunction with the Razzberry, since you can slow down a Pokémon to capture him, and then ensure he has one heck of a time escaping your clutches.

Pinap Berries

Pinap Berries look like a Pineapple, but unlike Razzberries or Nanab Berries, it won’t aid you in capturing a new Pokémon. Instead, it will ensure that you get the biggest perk possible once you eventually capture that pocket monster. Each time you use a Pinap Berry and then successfully catch a Pokémon you will receive double candy for your efforts.

While that might not seem like much for some Pokémon, it does mean that gathering up enough candy to finally evolve your Magikarp to a Gyarados. Likewise, that may mean you want to hold onto your Pinap Berries until you come across a rare Pokémon, or one that is just a few candies off from evolution in order to maximize the benefits of the candy.

Pokémon Go

• Pokémon Go Game Guide!
• Pokémon Go Gen 2 FAQ
• Pokémon Go tips and tricks
• How to deal with GPS errors in-game
• How to play without killing your battery
• Join our Pokémon Go forums!

Plug in to your Gear VR and nothing happens? Here’s what to do next!

If Oculus isn’t launching when you plug your phone into Gear VR there might be a serious problem.

Usually jumping into your Gear VR is as easy as plugging your phone in, and putting on your headset. However, if when you plug your phone into Gear VR, and nothing happens, then you definitely have a problem.

Before you panic, there are two causes for this issue, and we have the details on what to do.

Read more at VRHeads.com

Congressman requests investigation on Trump’s old Android phone

With reports that President Donald Trump is still relying on his old, unsecured Galaxy S3, even as he’s one of the most visible hacking targets in the world, Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) has proposed a House investigation into the new administration’s lackluster security habits. In particular, he wants to know if Trump is actively using the Android phone (which seems to be the case, based on some of his most recent Tweets). But Lieu also calls Trump to task for basic national security gaffes, like discussing nuclear strategy at his Mar-A-Lago club in plain view of guests, and without restricting nearby devices.

“Cybersecurity experts universally agree that an ordinary Android phone, which the President is reportedly using despite repeated warnings from the Secret Service, can be easily hacked,” Lieu wrote in the letter, which was also signed by 14 other Congressional members. “The device President Trump insists on using — most likely the Samsung Galaxy S3 — has particularly well-documented vulnerabilities. The use of an unsecured phone risks the President of the United States being monitored by foreign or domestic adversaries many of whom would be happy to hijack the President’s prized Twitter account causing disastrous consequences for global stability.”

Additionally, Lieu wants to investigate the new administration’s use of insecure email accounts (something Trump loved to criticize when it concerned Hillary Clinton), which is particularly disturbing in the wake of Russia’s widespread election hacks. Lieu is no stranger to cybersecurity issues — last year he called for an investigation into the SS7 security flaw, which could be used to track your movements and record phone calls and nearby audio.

Source: House of Representatives

ZTE cancels ill-fated Kickstarter to focus on a better phone

ZTE’s plans to crowdsource ideas for its next mobile device has been a mostly smooth-sailing journey. But the company’s efforts to make the eye-detecting phone a reality has been far less successful. After feedback from its underwhelming Kickstarter campaign indicated that people were expecting better specs from the device, ZTE is canceling the crowdfunding project and going back to the drawing board.

That’s not to say the project is scrapped altogether. The Kickstarter is being cancelled so that backers who’ve already paid for early bird versions of the phone can get refunds.

The company’s vice president of technology and planning Jeff Yee told Engadget that people still seem to be interested in the device’s main features, and that ZTE is still hoping to release something this year. The concept phone, dubbed Hawkeye, is supposed to support eye-detection and have an adhesive frame to allow for hands-free use. Back at CES 2017 when we first saw prototypes of Hawkeye, the rest of its specs were mostly undecided. After the details were listed on the subsequent Kickstarter campaign, however, the public was unimpressed by the midrange list of components, including a Snapdragon 625 processor and 3GB of RAM.

Yee told Engadget that the decision to use midrange specs was to make the phone more accessible to a wider audience. Indeed, at a $199 early bird price on Kickstarter, Hawkeye was already one of the more affordable smartphones on the market.

Now that he’s gotten better feedback on what consumers want, though, Yee says Hawkeye will more likely come with flagship specs. “It has to be at least Snapdragon 820, if not 835, as a baseline,” he said. The company also ran more polls to get more details on what other features people expect.

Given this hiccup, it’s not clear if ZTE will meet its initial goal of launching Hawkeye this year. The project was initially on track, but this episode has cost the company four months, as it has to go back to the design phase. “We didn’t expect a twist,” said Yee. “This is maybe not exactly what we wanted at this stage, but we are able to swallow our pride and recognize that the specs that we listed were not exactly what the community wanted,” he added.

The company is now “trying to figure out a sweet spot that the majority can agree on,” according to Yee, and got more specific about its means of getting feedback from commenters online. The delay now means that some parts of the crowdsourcing process, such as getting public input on the Hawkeye logo and software experience, might no longer happen. The good news, though, is that ZTE appears to have learned a lesson, and its ability to acknowledge its mistakes in a timely manner is laudable.

The Female Governors’ Summit aims to get more girls into tech

Jobs in computer science and engineering aren’t just highly lucrative — they’re also crucial for national innovation. With that in mind, Oklahoma’s Governor Mary Fallin, Rhode Island’s Governor Gina Raimondo and Iowa’s Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds are set to meet with Girls Who Code, Facebook and the consulting firm Deloitte today at the first Female Governor’s Summit. Their big plan? To try and figure out how to get more girls excited about — and jumping into — computer science.

“I am thrilled to welcome leaders from across the country to work together on a critical issue that will affect an entire generation of young girls,” said Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said in a statement. “Women remain dramatically underrepresented in technology fields. They’re missing out on opportunities and the world is missing out on their ideas. We need to harness the full talents of our population and this summit is proof that our female governors are committed to addressing and closing the gap.”

While there’s still some debate as to whether a so-called “STEM surplus” exists, it’s hard to deny that we’ll need more people to flesh out an increasingly information-heavy economy. Consider these figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: between 2014 and 2024, it expects to see employment in computer occupations to grow by about 12.5 percent. That works out to something like half a million new jobs being created over the next few years, not to mention about a million job openings over the same ten year span as a result of people leaving their gigs. New research from Girls Who Code and Accenture suggests women only hold about 24 percent of technology jobs out there, so the task of filling those (probably crucial) future roles will only be helped by efforts like this to close the tech gender gap.

There’s no telling how long it’ll take to fully close that gap, but we could get close soon. GWC points to a new approach in which efforts to popularize STEM and computing would start in earnest with current junior high girls and continue throughout their education careers. Optimistically, that could nearly triple the number of women working in tech between now and 2025, and events like today’s can only help. Fascinated? You can catch a livestream of the meeting here, starting at 10AM Pacific/1PM Eastern.

We tried McDonald’s super-engineered shake straw

As part of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day promotions, McDonald’s is debuting a highly engineered, hyper-exclusive straw dubbed the “Suction Tube for Reverse Axial Withdrawal,” or STRAW for short. It’s only available on two days, February 24th and March 1st, with a scant 2,000 of them spread across the entire country. We managed to get our hands on one, however, and put it to a chocolate-minty test.

For this event, McDonald’s worked with a pair of aerospace engineering companies — the same guys, in fact, who helped spearhead Google’s Project Ara modular phone. The STRAW uses a novel J-shape with five inlet ports: four on the shorter leg and a fifth located at the bottom bend. When properly dipped into a Chocolate Shamrock shake, the four ports on the short leg will pull both chocolate and mint shake in equal proportion from their respective layers. The port at the bottom is designed to suck up the last dredges from the bottom of the cup like a normal straw would once you’re nearly done.

At least that’s how it is supposed to work. It turns out that these Shamrock shakes are typically blended, not layered, which utterly negates the point of having all these extra holes. If you do manage to find a franchise that will layer your shake for you, you’re going to need to position the STRAW very carefully between the two sections in order to properly line up the inlets — not a task you really want to be attempting while driving or even walking. Plus, once the level of shake gets low enough, the exposed inlet ports will begin drawing air faster than the bottom hole can suck in shake, which makes drinking the last bits quite challenging.

Between the mechanical challenges that I encountered and the STRAW’s sheer lack of availability, it strikes me as far more marketing tool than eating utensil. Granted, we weren’t able to find a location that didn’t blend their shakes — even when specifically and explicitly ordered as layered — so there may well be some consumptive value that this thing provides. But there’s no need for you to go out of your way to find one of them (unless collecting McDonald’s memorabilia is your thing) because you’re going to spend far longer looking for it than you will waiting for the shake to melt slightly, then stirring vigorously and slurping.

YouTube will do away with unskippable 30-second ads next year

If you’re not paying for YouTube Red, you’re likely used to the many different types of advertising the video service features. But next year, one of the more irritating formats will be going away. YouTube says that it’ll stop supporting “unskippable” 30-second pre-video advertisements in favor of shorter formats. A YouTube spokesperson confirmed the change with this statement: “We’re committed to providing a better ads experience for users online. As part of that, we’ve decided to stop supporting 30-second unskippable ads as of 2018 and focus instead on formats that work well for both users and advertisers.”

As to what might replace it, UK publication Campaign believes that YouTube will make more extensive use of the six-second unskippable video ad instead. While unskippable ads in any length are annoying, six seconds is a lot better than 30. Campaign also notes that any ad shorter than 30 seconds can be made unskippable, so you may still run into fairly long 20-second commercials still. But still, it seems like a pretty tacit admission that users aren’t willing to wait that long to get to videos. We’ll take it.

Via: Campaign

The best bluetooth headsets

By Marianne Schultz and Nick Guy

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here.

If you’re hopping on and off the phone throughout the day, or if you’re typically talking on the phone while driving (despite the safety concerns), the Plantronics Voyager Edge is the best Bluetooth headset for most people. After putting in 50-plus hours of research and testing more than 15 models over the past three years—including 12 hours of testing and three new models for the latest update—the Voyager Edge continues to lead the pack with its combination of stellar sound quality, long battery life, excellent Bluetooth range, and comfortable fit.

Who needs this

If you don’t do much talking on your mobile phone, but you prefer to talk hands-free, you’re probably fine using the earbuds that came with it. But a good mono (one-ear) Bluetooth headset is a great accessory if you speak on the phone frequently and want the convenience of having your hands free—you don’t want to stay tethered to your handset by a wire, or to have to hold the phone with your shoulder while you talk, which is terrible for your neck and back. A headset is also appealing if you need to be sure that your voice sounds clear to the person on the other end, even when you’re talking in an environment with a lot of wind or other background noise.

If you have a new iPhone 7, which lacks a headphone jack and has only a single Lightning-connector port for headphones or charging, a Bluetooth headset lets you charge your iPhone while you take calls hands-free.

How we picked and tested

Three headsets we tested for the 2016 update to this guide, from left: Jabra Steel, Plantronics Voyager 5200, and Plantronics Voyager Edge. Photo: Marianne Schultz

For our 2016 update, we looked for any newcomers to the market since the previous iteration of this guide. Consulting reviews on sites such as PCMag and ComputerWorld, and user reviews on Amazon, we narrowed the options down to two new models from major manufacturers that seemed worthy of hands-on testing.

You shouldn’t expect exceptionally long battery life, but you at least want your headset to last through a workday. We consider five hours of actual talk time to be the minimum. Some headsets, including our top pick, come with a charging case—a battery-equipped storage case that charges the headset when you put it inside—to extend battery life significantly, but the headset itself should still be able to last a good while alone.

In terms of functional design, you want a headset that charges via Micro-USB rather than with a proprietary cord or charger. You probably already have at least one or two other gadgets that use Micro-USB cables, so it’s nice to be able to use the same cable and charger for everything.

We tested for battery life, comfort, sound quality, and Bluetooth range. We also looked for headsets with excellent controls that allow you to answer calls and adjust the volume easily and intuitively. We gave bonus points to models that allow you to perform some of these functions hands-free, using just your voice. For more on our testing procedures, see our full guide.

Our pick

The Voyager Edge sits comfortably in your ear. Photo: Marianne Schultz

The Plantronics Voyager Edge remains our pick for most people because it’s a solid all-around performer. As in the past two years, it came out on top in our latest batch of audio-quality and comfort tests. In terms of battery life, it came in second out of the three headsets we tested this year, with a talk time of 6 hours; however, its included charging case gives it a total of 16 hours of talk time, the longest of the bunch. The Plantronics Voyager 5200 bested the Edge in Bluetooth range, but the Edge’s range is more than sufficient for most people. The Edge also has simple pairing, easy-to-use controls, and a smartphone companion app that makes it easy to adjust the headset’s settings.

The Voyager Edge supports Bluetooth 4.0, plus NFC pairing with compatible smartphones. We found pairing with an Apple iPhone 7 Plus to be quick and easy, and using the headset is just as simple. In addition to voice control, the Voyager Edge has sensors to determine whether you’re wearing it. The headset has physical buttons for on-off, volume level, call answer, and voice command, each of which are easy to find and press.

Call quality is the most important aspect of any Bluetooth headset, and the Voyager Edge excels here. In our tests of call audio quality, it was edged out slightly by the more-expensive Voyager 5200 in a quiet office environment, but performed better than the 5200 in a busy coffee shop and a windy car—the Edge was a solid, all-around performer, particularly given its compact size. The Voyager Edge is usually around $30 cheaper than the Voyager 5200, so the minor differences we heard in audio quality makes the Edge a better overall value.

Runner-up

The Voyager 5200 fits over the ear for a more secure fit, but it’s more of a hassle to put on. Photo: Marianne Schultz

The Voyager 5200 is a beefier headset with more features. It has an additional microphone for noise-cancelling (for a total of four, compared with three on the Voyager Edge), and its Bluetooth range is the most impressive of the bunch. Plantronics says the 5200 can reach 98 feet without audio dropping out; in our tests we noticed dropouts in voice calls at just over 70 feet, but streamed music didn’t get choppy until around 150 feet.

A budget alternative

Photo: Marshall Troy

The Plantronics Explorer 500 is a good choice for people who don’t want to spend a ton and are willing to give up some audio quality. The Explorer 500 is smaller than the Voyager Edge, but its battery lasts about an hour longer. It also has great Bluetooth range: In our tests, audio didn’t drop out until around 54 feet for voice and 95 feet for music. In our quiet-office and coffee-shop tests, however, our listening panel didn’t love the audio the 500 transmitted. One panelist in an earlier test described voice as sounding “blobby” in the office, and in another test the Explorer picked up more background noise than other units did. In the coffee-shop test, it lost some audio whenever plates clinked in the background.

This guide may have been updated by The Wirecutter. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

Note from The Wirecutter: When readers choose to buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn affiliate commissions that support our work.

Xbox One bundle offers 10 indie games for $20

Xbox One owners who don’t have many indie games can now fill that hole on the cheap. For the next few weeks, video game developer Curve Digital has partnered with Microsoft to offer the Instant Indie Hits bundle for $20.

The ten-game collection includes Thomas Was Alone, The Swapper, Stealth Inc 2, OlliOlli, Nova-111, Action Henk, Stikbold, 10 Second Ninja X, Hue and The Swindle. These games typically sell for between $9.99 and $14.99 each; taken together they’d normally cost $120. The bundle is only available on the Xbox Marketplace at the reduced rate until March 9. After that, it will return to its normal price point of $99.99.

They’re good games too: All of the included titles debuted to strong reviews. Of the bunch, Action Henk has the lowest rating on review aggregator Metacritic, with a score of 72. At the other end of the spectrum, The Swapper earned a 92 rating. That said, most of the games are at least a couple years old now. Thomas Was Alone first appeared on PC in 2012, while 10 Second Ninja X, the most recent release, came out in July 2016. Still, this frugal bundle could be a strong starting point for gamers wanting to beef up their indie collection without emptying their wallets.

Source: Microsoft Store

Humanity is on the cusp of de-extincting the Wooly Mammoth

After successfully extracting sequenceable DNA from a pair of Woolly Mammoth carcasses pulled from Siberia’s permafrost in 2014, a team of Harvard researchers announced on Thursday that they are tantalizing close to cloning the (currently) extinct pachyderms.

The team made the announcement ahead of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting this week. They estimate that they’re just two years away from creating a viable hybrid embryo. That is, they take a modern day asian elephant embryo and splice in DNA from the Mammoth to get a fuzzy “mammophant,” as the team calls it.

“Our aim is to produce a hybrid elephant-mammoth embryo,” Harvard Professor George Church told the Guardian. “Actually, it would be more like an elephant with a number of mammoth traits. We’re not there yet, but it could happen in a couple of years.”

So far, the team hasn’t progressed passed the cellular stage in creating one of these beasts though they have managed to splice in as many as 45 mammoth genes, up from their initial 15. Within a few years, the team expects to ramp their efforts up to the embryonic stage but it’ll likely be quite a while until they can birth a living mammophant.

Since the Asian elephant is itself endangered, this hybridizing technique could help preserve the species. At the same time, the Harvard team doesn’t want to put one of these valuable animals at risk carrying a mammophant fetus to term, so they’re looking into gestating it in an artificial womb. That’s where the delay comes in.

While Church’s team has managed to grow a mouse in an artificial womb for ten days — half its normal gestation period — the technology for doing that for an elephant-scale animal likely won’t be feasible for at least a decade. And even once that technology has matured, there are still a host of hand-wringing ethical arguments that will have to be sorted before Church’s team gets the green light to proceed further.

Source: Guardian