Google highlights VR support for Chrome via Daydream

Experience virtual reality with your Daydream View and Chrome.

Google has been hard at work fleshing out new ways to integrate virtual reality into our lives. In its latest blog post, Google introduces a new way to use virtual reality, by accessing web-based VR experiences built right into Chrome, using your Daydream-compatible phone and a Daydream View headset.

That’s right, you need no other apps other than Chrome to enjoy a fully immersive VR experience. Google has highlighted a few standouts currently available, with more coming soon. If you’re already good to go with Daydream VR, you can browse to a VR-ready site and try it out for yourself. You’ll want to save the following links to your bookmarks so you can show them off to friends and family. It includes a virtual reality project from the National Film Board of Canada, a collection of Within VR experiences, and an interactive VR experience created by PlayCanvas:

• Bear 71 — Explore the intersection of humans, nature and technology in this interactive documentary from NFB.
• Matterport —Tour Matterport’s library of over 300,000 celebrity homes, museums, canyons, iconic architecture and other real-life places.
• Within — Watch more than two dozen award-winning VR films.
• Sketchfab —Discover​ more than a million stunning 3D scenes created by the world’s largest community of VR creators.
• WebVR Lab — Use your Daydream controller to experiment and play in the WebVR Lab from PlayCanvas.

Right now these VR experiences are only available with Daydream View, but Google plans to expand support to more devices in the future via Google Cardboard. It’s all done in an effort to make virtual reality more accessible to a wider audience than ever before, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Google Daydream

• Daydream View review
• The ultimate guide to Daydream
• These phones support Daydream VR
• Every Daydream app you can download
• Catch up with Daydream in the forums!

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Celebrate your love of Android with a limited-edition t-shirt!

Treat yourself or your loved one this Valentine’s Day!

Candy is beautiful and roses are yummy — or is that the other way around? — but clothing is essential.

So is Android.

That’s why we think it’s the perfect time to buy an I ❤️ Android t-shirt, hoodie, or coffee mug. The deal expires on Valentine’s Day, February 14. That’s only a few days away, but you can still get it delivered before next week if you hurry.

You do love Android, don’t you?

You can get the t-shirt in one of five colors, and the hoodie in four. Then there’s the coffee mug, which is also available in four colors — and I just need one more to complete my collection.

See at Teespring

The Honor 8 is getting its long-awaited Nougat update

The Honor 8 is officially getting Android 7.0 Nougat beginning February 10.

Users of the popular unlocked device can look forward to EMUI 5.0 and its many improvements — particularly to notifications and the home screen — along with Nougat’s myriad upgrades, beginning February 10. Honor is particularly calling out the transition to what it considers “stock Android” on the Honor 8, though that simplification does still have its own quirks, as we’ve seen in the Huawei Mate 9.

The company says it will take a few weeks for all Honor 8 units to get upgraded to Android 7.0, but the whole thing should be complete by the end of February. Honor also says that the Honor 6X is slated to receive Nougat in Q2.

Oh, and Honor created this helpful graphic to explain the EMUI 5.0 update for the Honor 8. Enjoy.

Honor 8

• Honor 8 review
• Honor 8 specs
• 5 things to know about the Honor 8 in Europe
• All the Honor 8 news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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You don’t need to touch the Amazon Tap to use Alexa anymore

Having to touch a device to use voice commands kind of defeats the purpose of having voice commands at all. For example, my use of “Okay, Google” went down dramatically once I switched from Android to iOS. Amazon realizes this problem is a problem too, and the latest over-the-air update for the Tap speaker nixes the need to touch the device to start pestering the Alexa digital assistant. So, like its Echo cousins, now all you have to do to change a song or order dehydrated cereal marshmallows in bulk is use the device’s trigger word. Shazbot! I won’t judge your shopping habits if you don’t judge mine.

Source: The Verge

‘South Park: The Fractured But Whole’ delayed for a second time

The latest adventure of the Coon and Friends has suffered another setback. South Park: The Fractured But Whole will now hit store shelves sometime between April 2017 and March 2018, publisher Ubisoft announced today during an earnings call.

The role-playing game, based on the foul-mouthed animated series, is a follow-up to 2014’s South Park: The Stick of Truth. Originally slated for a December 6th release date, it was pushed back to the beginning of 2017. At the time, Ubisoft claimed, “The development team wants to make sure the game experience meets the high expectations of fans and the additional time will help them achieve this goal.” Ubisoft didn’t give an explanation for this latest delay.

The Stick of Truth, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s first foray into game development, also had its share of problems. After acquiring the rights from now-defunct publisher THQ, Ubisoft pushed back its initial December 2013 release date to March 4, 2014. “Within three weeks after acquiring the game, we sadly realized we had to turn this thing upside down if we hoped to deliver the experience everybody wanted,” Ubisoft North America’s president, Laurent Detoc, said in a blog update.

Stick of Truth eventually became a success, selling over 5 million copies, and Ubisoft believes The Fractured But Whole will do even better. While this latest delay is sure to disappoint fans, it’s encouraging to see Ubisoft’s continuing commitment to delivering quality South Park games.

Via: Polygon

Source: Ubisoft (PDF)

Appeals court denies Trump’s attempt to revive the travel ban

The San Francisco Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday afternoon to keep the stay on President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which aims to halt people from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. More than 100 technology companies — including leaders Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook — objected to the ban and filed an amicus brief in support of lawsuits against it.

Trump signed the executive order on January 27th. It places a 90-day ban on travelers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, halts all refugees from entering the US for 120 days, and places an indefinite ban on accepting refugees from Syria. The order immediately faced backlash from protestors and groups including the ACLU, and dozens of lawsuits across the country were filed in opposition to it.

The technology industry has been a leading voice of opposition. Google employees staged a walkout; Facebook executives publicly criticized the order; Lyft pledged to donate $1 million to the ACLU. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick left Trump’s economic advisory council after his seat at the table led to the #DeleteUber campaign. And, of course, 127 tech companies have signed on to support legal action against the ban.

DENIED. UNANIMOUS. PER CURIUM.

— WA Attorney General (@AGOWA) February 9, 2017

The case before the federal court today was State of Washington v. Donald Trump. Last week, Judge James Robart ruled in this case to stay Trump’s executive order, allowing travelers from the named countries to enter the country once again. This afternoon’s decision means the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Robart’s ruling and the travel ban remains not in effect.

The judges deciding the case — Barack Obama appointee Michelle Friedland, George W. Bush appointee Richard Clifton and Jimmy Carter appointee William Canby Jr. — heard arguments from both sides of the lawsuit on Tuesday, February 7th. The court live-streamed audio of the arguments on YouTube and at one point, the video drew 100,000 listeners.

Today’s ruling was unanimous. The decision reads, “We hold that the Government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay.”

On Tuesday, Department of Justice Lawyer August Flentje argued that the state of Washington had no legal standing to sue on behalf of its universities or citizens. He also attempted to defend against allegations that the executive order was conceived in bad faith — that it was intended to be a ban on Muslims, which would be challenged as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Washington Solicitor General Purcell argued for the state’s right to sue on the basis of proprietary harms including lost tax revenue and parens patriae — the theory that the government is the legal protector of people who are unable to protect themselves. Purcell said there was “shocking evidence of intent to discriminate against Muslims” by the Trump administration, including public statements from the president and his aides.

Pretend to be Tony Stark with this $290 desktop robot arm

Most robot arms we’ve seen in the past few years have been either attached to our favorite rolling dog/mech robots or been innovative prosthetics on our favorite humans. But why not a little worker bee robolimb plopped on your desk and ready to perform menial and/or delicate tasks? UFactory launched an Indiegogo campaign for its newest domestic helper a few weeks ago, the open source uArm Swift, which has leaped past its $10,000 goal to raise $280,000 at the time of this post.

The Swift is an upgrade of UFactory’s protoype Metal arm, which came out last May, but keeps its articulated desk lamp appearance that looks like its about to help you build the next Iron Man suit. The new version has expanded functionality, with a port for Grove modular electronics and OpenMV cameras. To easily program the add-ons, backers get uArm Studio, which has both a graphical interface based on Blockly and gesture control using LeapMotion. For the more hardcore, there’s the Creator Studio to tinker with computer vision commands. Or to get the thing stirring your coffee, just hold down a dedicated button, drag the robot’s head in your desired action, and let go.

Backers can choose between the standard consumer-level Swift or its industrial variant, the Swift Pro. For a slightly higher price, the latter has more intricate gears with stepper motors for greater accuracy along with additional end-applicators for laser engraving and 3D-printing. The intro deals are gone, but you can still snag the basic model for $290 or the Pro for $340, with more expensive options that bundle in GroveKits, OpenMV cameras and/or fancier heads. Assuming this all isn’t already too good to believe, every perk level expects to ship in May 2017.

Source: Indiegogo

Head back to Liberty City in ‘GTA IV’ on Xbox One

Grand Theft Auto V recently shipped 75 million copies, but if you wanted to play what came before it on Xbox One you were out of luck. Until now. Starting today, Grand Theft Auto IV and its $50 million expansion packs will be playable on Microsoft’s latest console. The base game and “The Ballad of Gay Tony” will run you $20 each, while the biker-focused expansion “The Lost and Damned” is $10.

So what’s the incentive to go back to Liberty City? For starters, a few lines of dialogue in GTA V will make more sense and you’ll have a better understanding of the biker gang that GTA V madman Trevor Philips has beef with. In addition to showing full-frontal male nudity, “The Lost and Damned” expansion focuses on The Lost, a group of one-percenters based out of the universe’s version of New Jersey.

Oh, and if having mission contacts blowing up your in-game cellphone to take them bowling sounds like your type of party, that’s up for grabs here too. Welcome back, cousin.

Source: Xbox Wire

Apple Delays Shipping for UltraFine 5K Display as LG Works on Shielding Fix

As LG works on a fix for a Wi-Fi router issue plaguing its UltraFine 27-inch 5K Display, Apple has delayed shipments for the accessory and removed in store pickup options.

New orders for the LG UltraFine 5K Display will now ship out in five to six weeks, ensuring buyers will get a display with updated hardware that fixes the Wi-Fi interference problem.

Prior to the shipping change, the displays were shipping out in a couple of weeks, and for a period in January, shipping estimates were as low as three to five days.

The shipping delay can be attributed to an issue that first popped up shortly after the displays began shipping out to customers in December. Users began noticing display glitches and freezes that were eventually attributed to interference caused by close proximity to a Wi-Fi router. Last week, LG confirmed the existence of a problem, apologized, and announced an official hardware fix.

Going forward, all UltraFine 5K Displays manufactured after February 2017 include additional shielding, protecting them against electromagnetic radiation from routers.

Existing models are also able to be retrofitted with the same improved shielding, and customers who have already purchased a display will need to get in touch with LG support to arrange a repair to solve the problem.

Created by Apple and LG to work with the new 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pro models, the UltraFine 5K Display continues to be available for $974, a 25 percent discount off of the standard $1,299.95 price tag. Special pricing, part of a sale on USB-C accessories, will be available until March 31.

Related Roundup: Displays
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Huawei Mate 9: the phablet standard (review)

Chinese developer Huawei has been a growing presence in the mobile device market ever since they partnered with Google to release the Nexus 6. With the Nexus line being so affordable and it being such a quality device, it really puts this developer on the map with may of the US buyers. Huawei sent us one of their Mate 9 phablets to review and, let me tell you, they are living up to their reputation of good devices at good prices.

Key Specs:

• 5.9″ FHD display (373 ppi)
• Kirin 960 Octacore processor with i6 co-processor
• 4000mAH battery
• 4GB RAM
• 64GB of storage
• Dual LEICA rear camera (20MP monochrome + 12MP RGB); 8MP front facing camera
• Android 7.0
• USB Type-C

Design:

The overall design of the Mate 9 is very classy. With thin bezels all around and the absence of any hardware keys, Huawei is able to squeeze as much screen as possible into this massive device. Being a religious Samsung user over the past 4 years, it was actually a nice relief to not have the hardware keys (something I was not expecting).

Starting from the bottom up, we see some symmetrical speaker slots on the bottom of the device (very much iPhone like), unfortunately, on the right side plays sound. I’m guessing the microphone is housed in the other side, and obviously a style choice. In the direct center of the bottom is the USB Type-C connection. I was very pleased how quickly the Type-C charged the massive 4000 mAH battery, but more on that later.

Top

Bottom

Moving up the sides of the device, we find the lock button followed by the volume rocker on the right-hand side of the device. They are placed nicely based on where I tended to place the phone in my hand. The left side is clear of any functional pieces as it only houses the SIM card slot. You can either use the Dual SIM feature or one SIM and the expandable storage.

The back of the device is very clean and sports the obvious fingerprint sensor, flash, and massive dual camera setup. Thankfully, the Huawei was bale to tuck most of the camera into the body resulting in very minimal protrusion, which can easily be covered by any case.

The very top of the body sports the 3.5mm audio jack (this should never go away) and an IR blaster. Not much to write home about but things that should be included in any device that is considered medium to top tier.

The front of the phone obviously houses the screen, ear speaker, and front facing camera. There is also the light sensor for the automatic screen brightness. Overall I have no major gripes about the body and style of the new Mate. It is a little on the hefty side but is balanced well overall.

Display:

The Mate 9 Has an absolutely humungous screen. With a footprint similar in size to the iPhone 7plus it is still able to sport a 5.9″ screen. Much attributed to the small bezels and use of on-screen buttons. This massive screen is covered by an equally massive piece of 2.5D Gorilla Glass. The slight bevel is nothing compared to the what Samsung has done with their Edge displays but it adds a little class to the monster phone.

As far as screen functionality is concerned I never had any issues with brightness. In fact, the automatic brightness setting was actually useful, as opposed to some other phones (*cough* my Galaxy S7) where you have to turn it off and manually adjust the brightness to see anything. Colors were all beautiful and bright.

The only complaint I could have is that the screen is only FHD. Personally, I can’t even tell the difference unless I am looking at some ridiculously hi-res images, and if I wanted to do that I would probably move to PC.

Software:

Huawei, much like Samsung, has decided to make its own software package for their devices. They have labeled it EMUI (Emotion UI). They have sent the Mate 9 with the most recent version of their software, version 5.0. This being the first time I have used it and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. In my day job, I work for a large enterprise and have always had my email and calendar on my phone. These two apps delivered by Huawei are excellent and worked better that I am used to with my S7.

The software that I was most impressed with is the fingerprint sensor software. Not only is
the sensor placed in a very convenient position for the users’ hand but the reading of the fingerprint is lightening fast. from screen locked and off to unlocked and usable is easily less than 1 second if not half a second. It functions equally as fast with any apps that are integrated with the fingerprint scanner.

The other thing of note is that the Huawei software seems to really increase the battery life. Now I do realize that we are talking about a 4,000 mAH battery here but I can get a solid 2 days of battery life at normal use, and mind you, my normal use is constantly getting enterprise emails, using chat applications, reading news, etc on my phone. I’m sure that an average user might be able to squeeze out 2.5 days or even more.

I have read some other reviews where it was mentioned that EMUI runs close to the path of iOS, I do not agree with this. I can not stand apple’s software. I don’t like the way it looks, and I don’t like how the settings work. This is clearly android, with some major refinements and customizations to increase the users’ experience. Developers, if you are going to make custom software for your phones, take note of what Huawei has done.

Camera:

This is one of the Mate 9’s stand out features. Huawei has teamed with Leica to create a phone with an outstanding camera. I must admit, I am not much of a camera or pictures guy. I am a doer and not a photographer (my wife hates this). However, I can tell you that this phone takes some pictures that simply amaze me. They have built in some settings that are simply amazing. You can capture up to 20MP images and even take 4K video.

Camera Options

Camera Settings

Conclusion:

If you couldn’t tell by my enthusiasm in some of the pervious sections, I absolutely love this phone. My only drawback to using it is, as you may be able to tell in some of the pictures, I have smaller than average hands which makes it difficult to use such a large device. If this phone was maybe a 5.7″ screen, I would run out and buy one right now.

Mind you, this phone is not the cheapest device, coming in at $599, however, given what you get for that price I think it is sitting at the right spot. As my title suggests This phone should be the golden standard for any developer to aim for when developing an oversized device.

If you are interested in picking up a Mate 9 you can head over to Amazon or B&H to pick one up.