Blue Origin’s latest rocket engine is finally complete

After six years of development, the first of Blue Origin’s new BE-4 rocket engines has finally been fully assembled. The company’s founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, debuted the images via a series of tweets.

1st BE-4 engine fully assembled. 2nd and 3rd following close behind. #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/duE4Tnzvkx

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 6, 2017

This engine, along with six more just like it, will form the primary powerplant for the company’s upcoming New Glenn 2- and 3-stage rocket. The New Glenn, like its predecessor the New Shephard, will be a reusable space vehicle with a first stage capable of returning to the launch site and landing itself upright after each flight. The BE-4 engines will make up its first and second stage boosters, while the third stage will use an older BE-3 engine. And unlike the smaller New Shepard, the Glenn will have enough power (using either configuration) to put heavy cargo payloads and astronauts into orbit around the Earth.

Here’s one more shot of BE-4 in its transport cradle. pic.twitter.com/T2HdZ3UtQZ

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 6, 2017

The New Glenn itself is still years away from its maiden voyage. In fact, the factory where it will be built is itself still under construction in Cape Canaveral, Florida. While the rocket itself is being constructed, the BE-4 engines will undergo rigorous certification at Blue Origin’s West Texas-based test site. For his part, Bezos is confident that the ship will be ready and delivering goods to the moon by the end of the decade.

Via: Verge

Source: Jeff Bezos (Twitter)

Russian hackers are extorting American left-wing groups

Russian hackers aren’t done trying to influence American politics just because the presidential election is over, if you believe Bloomberg’s sources. The news outlet understands that the FBI is investigating “at least a dozen” incidents where Russian hackers tried to blackmail US liberal groups. Typically, the intruders threaten to leak embarrassing emails and documents (complete with proof) unless the group pays the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars in bitcoins. Some of the groups under fire include Arabella Advisors, which helps investors in liberal causes, as well as the think tank Center for American Progress.

The obvious question: is the Russian government behind this? It’s possible, but not certain. The hacking team is using techniques reminiscent of Cozy Bear, the government-backed group believed to be involved in the DNC hacks from last summer. Also, it’d be consistent with reports that Russia’s FSB intelligence agency targeted formal Democratic officials and liberal supporters. However, extortion isn’t really Cozy Bear’s modus operandi. If this isn’t just an ‘ordinary’ criminal operation, it’d represent new territory for Russian agents.

If there is a link to Russia’s government, it’d support beliefs that Putin and crew feel emboldened by their recent success. They’d be trying to influence politics outside of the election by forcing activists and policy groups to either accept a financial hit or risk a blow to their reputation. It could just be a typical extortion racket, or it could represent an attempt to skew the playing field well ahead of the 2018 and 2020 votes.

Via: The Verge

Source: Bloomberg

Facebook now flags fake news

After taking heat for months in the run up to the presidential elections, Facebook has been cracking down on fake news spreading through its social network. The company recently began using third-party fact-checkers and gave its users the ability to manually report fake news posts. Late last week, the company announced that it will soon include “Disputed” labels for these false reports as well.

Facebook originally promised to do this back in December (along with the fact checkers, curated articles and manual flagging). Under this system, bogus posts from disreputable sites will still show up in your timeline, but they’ll be accompanied by a small warning banner. These banners are applied after a lengthy vetting process. First, the fake post either has to be flagged by a certain number of users or the company’s automated software. The post is then sent to a fact-checking website like Snopes or Politifact where it is reviewed. If two or more fact-checkers flag it again, Facebook will apply the banner.

This process is time-intensive, if nothing else. In a recent case reported by Gizmodo, a fake news post from a satirical entertainment website which suggested that it was Trump’s own Android phone that’s responsible for the recent spate of leaks remained unlabeled for nearly five days after being initially posted.

And even when accurately labelled, noting that something is “disputed” rather than “false” does little to change the minds of people who already reject reporting by mainstream news sources in favor of fringe conspiracy sites like Infowars or Breitbart. So, we’ll have to wait and see if this new labelling scheme makes a difference in the tenor of discourse on Facebook’s network or whether it will be another bust like the site’s crackdown on private gun sales.

Source: ReCode

Review: Bragi’s ‘The Headphone’ Wireless Buds Are Neat, but Lack the Finesse of AirPods

Bragi announced its Dash earphones at CES way back in 2015, when wireless Bluetooth headsets were still relatively niche. Since then we’ve seen Apple, Samsung, and a host of other companies launch their own “truly wireless” headphones, prompting Bragi to give the market another pop with “The Headphone” ($149), a less expensive, more awkwardly named variant of its original cord-free buds.

Announced last September two days before the Apple iPhone 7 event, The Headphone only began shipping in January, so Bragi has had plenty of time to iron out any last-minute kinks. Not that there should be any. The Headphone buds are a lot less ambitious than the Dash.

They don’t have touch-sensitive controls, for one. Bragi has also done away with the internal music player, heart-rate monitoring and fitness tracking features found in the company’s original wireless buds. Are they susceptible to the same connection problems that initially befell the Dash? And how do they compare against Apple’s AirPods? Let’s find out.

Design and Features

Bragi has chosen to go with a more minimal packaging style for its latest audio product when compared to the Dash. These come in a compact rectangular cardboard box about the size of a cigarette packet, with a top that levers up for you to slide out an inner compartment.

Tucked inside is a black carry case connected to a lanyard, a micro-USB to USB-A charging cable, two pairs of FitTips (small, medium), a pair of large Comply foam eartips, a quick start guide, warranty information, and some stickers. A quick look at the documentation seems to confirm there’s no accompanying Bragi app for these buds and no obvious way to update the firmware.

The carry case is all-plastic (as opposed to the metal Dash case) and despite being significantly bulkier and less pocketable than Apple’s AirPods case, it actually feels slightly lighter in the hand. There’s a good reason for that, though – unlike the Dash and AirPods, The Headphone case packs zero on-the-go charging capability.

Another thing that distinguishes The Headphone from the Dash buds and AirPods is its lack of waterproofing. Fortunately the buds are splash-resistant though, so they’ll be fine for sweaty ears and running in the rain.

The earpieces don’t look very “premium” at first glance, but a closer look reveals a neat ergonomic curvature, with a little arm emerging from the body of each bud where the eartip and driver are located. Overall they feel robust, yet lightweight and well balanced in the hand, despite all the button controls being located on the right earpiece.

Using the three physical buttons, you can skip through tracks, take calls, make voice commands via Siri, and activate audio transparency (more on that later). The only feature on the left bud is a small raised Bragi logo on its back.

The buds line up with gold charging contacts and magnets in the case, and snap back in easily, but they don’t automatically turn off once they’re inside, so don’t get caught out if you’re used to a case with a built-in battery charging feature. With the buds in the case and the case attached to a power source via the USB cable, the LEDs on both earpieces blink until fully charged, then stay illuminated.

Performance

Pairing The Headphone is pretty straightforward. Pressing and holding down the power button sets off a flashing arc of light on the right bud, the Near Field Magnetic Induction kicks in and connects the pair of them together, and they show up in your Bluetooth settings as a single headset.

Using the large Comply tips, the buds fit inside the hollow of my ears nice and snugly – maybe too snugly. The buds never threatened to work themselves loose while I was out on a run, or pop from my lugs during circuit training exercises, but the drawback to this level of security turned out to be my sense of relief upon removing them.

The earbuds aren’t uncomfortable to wear exactly, but after wearing loose-fitting AirPods for an extended period, The Headphone buds’ embedded seal feels a tad constricting. This sensation isn’t really diminished by using the smaller FitTips, either.

On the upside, The Headphone buds are much easier to hide or disguise than AirPods, if that’s a concern, and they do a heck of a better job at blocking out ambient noise than Apple’s wireless buds, which sort of blithely hang in the hollows of your ears and let in any old commotion going on around you.

The Bluetooth connection between my iPhone and The Headphone was also very reliable during runs, even with my phone secured against the small of my back in a waistband. The connection even remained firm while I tottered between two adjacent rooms indoors, so it’s safe to say they have at least one up on the original Dash.

The audio transparency feature is meant to let in ambient noise when you want to hear it. A long press on the volume up/down buttons turns the feature on/off. I didn’t get much out of it, to be honest. The noises it allowed through were in the high-pitch range, and didn’t significantly increase my awareness of my surroundings; it just made the sounds around me more distracting.

With the original Dash headphones, swipes and taps on the buds’ touch panels controlled music playback, while gestures let users nod or shake their heads to accept or reject phone calls, all of which could work haphazardly or feel too sensitive in practice.

With physical buttons and no gestures, none of those issues are present with The Headphone buds and they respond a lot better as a result, although the buttons aren’t very “clicky” and you can end up pushing the earpieces further into your ears when you press them, which isn’t a nice sensation. The buttons’ positioning takes a bit of getting used to once the buds are in, but removing them pauses your music and putting them back in resumes playback, so presumably there’s a sensor tucked away inside them, which came as a neat surprise.

The original Bragi Dash have a measly three hours’ battery life; The Headphone managed around five and a half hours in my tests, just shy of the stated six. That’s marginally more than Apple’s wireless buds, but the difference is nullified by the AirPods’ carry case, which can hold an extra 24 hours of charge and fast-charge the pods in 15 minutes for an extra 2 hours of juice. Once you lose that convenience, you quickly miss it.

In terms of sound quality, The Headphone’s bass was a bit too much for my liking, and seemed to overpower other aspects of certain music types. Hip-hop and dance sounded okay, but instrumental and jazz sounded awful, and there was some faint distortion in the upper end. I definitely prefer the clarity and openness of the AirPods.

Taking calls through them, on the other hand, was fine. Speech sounded clear enough, and I was told my voice came through loud and clear. The buds’ integrated mic isn’t quite good enough to dictate text messages accurately, but it works fine for making calls in a moderately quiet environment.

Bottom Line

They may lack Apple features like W1 seamless device pairing and an on-the-go charging case, but at $10 less than the AirPods, The Headphone by Bragi is a viable, discreet option for anyone interested in going “truly wireless” but isn’t convinced by what Apple’s offering.

The sound quality isn’t amazing by any stretch, but these are relatively inexpensive isolating Bluetooth buds and should satisfy most users as long as they accept that they’re buying into an audio compromise for the convenience of not having to worry about wires.

Pros

• Inconspicuous in the ears
• Extremely secure fit
• Strong Bluetooth connection
• Decent battery life

Cons

• Sound quality is so-so
• Case doesn’t hold any backup charge
• Audio transparency feature needs fine tuning
• In-ear button pressing can be a faff

How to Buy

The Headphone by Bragi costs $149 and can be ordered from the company’s website.

Note: Bragi supplied The Headphone to MacRumors for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received.

Tags: review, Bragi
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Fitbit Announces ‘Fitbit Alta HR’ Wearable With Continuous Heart Rate Tracking in Slim Band

Fitbit today announced the Fitbit Alta HR, which the company is calling the “world’s slimmest fitness wristband” that has a continuous heart rate monitor. The Alta HR launches just over a year after Fitbit debuted the original Fitbit Alta, which included new “Reminders to Move” to tell users to stand up and move around a bit, like Apple Watch stand notifications.

The main upgrade for the Fitbit Alta HR revolves around its ability to detect the user’s heart rate throughout the day, thanks to the company’s PurePulse technology. Additionally, the Alta HR will include all of the usual Fitbit benefits, like automatic exercise recognition, sleep tracking, a seven day battery life, smart notifications, and more.

Thanks to the bolstered heart rate technology, the Fitbit Alta HR also has a few improved sleep tracking features. “Sleep Stages” can detect how long each user spends in light, deep, and REM sleep, as well as detect how many times the user wakes up. “Sleep Insights” accumulates the large picture of each user’s Fitbit data and actively tries to help “improve your sleep for better overall health.”

Sleep Stages will be available on Alta HR, Blaze and Charge 2 Fitbit devices, while Sleep Insights will be available on any Fitbit “that tracks sleep via the Fitbit app.”

“Alta HR and these powerful new sleep features demonstrate our continued focus on evolving our innovative technology to deliver deeper, more actionable insights to help our users improve their health,” said James Park, co-founder and CEO of Fitbit. “The miniaturization of our PurePulse heart rate technology opens up exciting opportunities for future generations of devices and new form factors. Our advances in sleep will provide millions of users around the globe accessibility to invaluable insights that previously could be obtained only through expensive lab tests.”

The company said that the Fitbit Alta HR is 25 percent slimmer than the Fitbit Charge 2, which is Fitbit’s other heart rate-compatible wearable. The addition of heart rate monitoring will bolster the Alta HR’s ability to better measure calorie burn all day, and subsequently help users stay on track for their fitness goals, according to Fitbit.

Like other Fitbit devices, the Alta HR will also be available in a variety of colors and bands. The basic models come in black, blue gray, fuchsia or coral with a matching aluminum tracker for $149.95. Two special editions include a soft pink classic band with 22k rose gold plated tracker and black classic band with matte gunmetal tracker for $179.95. The Fitbit Alta HR can be pre-ordered today and will launch online and in stores this April.

Although Fitbit remains the leader in the wearable field, the Apple Watch has proven to be a major contender in the market with a strong holiday 2016 boosting consumer knowledge of the Watch, most likely thanks to Apple’s marketing pivot from presenting it as a fashion accessory to a workout/fitness companion. The numbers come from research firm IDC, which simultaneously marked the same quarter as one of Fitbit’s “largest declines ever,” although it still remains atop the market in terms of units shipped and market share.

Tags: Fitbit, Fitbit Alta, Fitbit Alta HR
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Steve Jobs Thought Genius Bar Was ‘Idiotic’ Idea at First, Said ‘It’ll Never Work’

While the Genius Bar is the focal point of the Apple Store, it turns out the idea was initially panned by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

On the Recode Decode podcast, Apple’s former retail chief Ron Johnson recalled the day he told Jobs about the Genius Bar.

Steve’s initial reaction to the idea: “That’s so idiotic! It’ll never work!”

“I remember the day I came in and told Steve about the Genius Bar idea and he says, ‘That’s so idiotic! It’ll never work!’” Johnson said. “He said, ‘Ron, you might have the right idea, but here’s the big gap: I’ve never met someone who knows technology who knows how to connect with people. They’re all geeks! You can call it the Geek Bar.’”

“And I said, ‘Steve, kids who are in their 20s today grew up in a very different world. They all know technology, and that’s who’s going to work in the store.’”

Jobs went on to tell Johnson that the Genius Bar may in fact be the “right idea,” but he was not convinced at the time that people who knew technology would be able to communicate effectively with customers.

“They’re all geeks! You can call it the Geek Bar,” he quipped.

Johnson, who left Apple in 2011 and now runs online retail startup Enjoy, argued that people who were in their 20s at the time—this was around the year 2000—grew up in a world surrounded by technology, implying the Genius Bar would not be manned merely by “geeks.”

The following day, Johnson said Jobs instructed Apple’s top lawyer to file a trademark for “Genius Bar.”

In an earlier interview, Johnson said it took some time before the Genius Bar gained traction, but within three years Apple was forced to create a reservation system due to its popularity. Nearly sixteen years later, the Genius Bar and the newer, more open concept Genius Grove remain a mainstay at most Apple Stores.

Related Roundup: Apple Stores
Tags: Steve Jobs, Ron Johnson, Genius Bar
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Did you click ‘Always’ and wish you could take it back? Here’s how to reset default apps in Android

If you have ever opened a file or an internet link with a certain app, and you chose Always when prompted, then that type of file will be opened with that app every time. If you ever wish you could rethink your initial decision, however, then you’re in luck. Here’s how to reset your app preferences in Android.

More: Get the most out of Android 7.0 Nougat with these tips and tricks

Stock Android

Resetting preferences for a single app

Search for Settings in the App Drawer.
Once there, select Apps and choose the app you want to reset.
Once selected, go to Open by default from within the App info page.
Tap Clear Defaults.

Reset all app preferences at once

Go to Settings > Apps.

Tap the More menu () in the upper-right corner.
Select Reset app preferences.
Read through the warning — it will tell you everything that will be reset. Then, tap Reset Apps to confirm your decision.

Samsung smartphones

Go to Apps >Settings.

Select Applications* > Default applications > Set as default.

Choose the app you want to reset.
Select Clear defaults.

Note: For Samsung smarphones smaller than 5.5 inches, such as the Galaxy A5 or S7, go to Applications and tap the More menu () in the upper-right corner. Then, tap Default applications.

WD My Cloud drives are having ongoing security problems

Why it matters to you

If you own a Western Digital My Cloud NAS drive, it would be best to keep it offline until WD fixes up a number of dangerous security holes.

Western Digital’s My Cloud network-attached storage (NAS) drives feature several unpatched security problems which could leave users vulnerable to attack by nefarious individuals. WD has been made aware of the flaws in the system, and the team that discovered the bugs has now made them available to the public in the hope that it encourages a quicker turnaround on a fix.

Traditionally, the playbook for revealing security issues with hardware or software is to let the manufacturer know first. That way, the company has some time to fix up the problem without it negatively affecting its business. More importantly, it means that hackers who weren’t aware of the bug don’t exploit it while it’s being fixed.

In this case, Exploitee.rs (via Engadget) who who discovered the bugs, made them public straight away due to what was described as WD’s “reputation within the community.” More specifically, Western Digital earned the Pwnie award at BlackHat Las Vegas 2016 for “Lamest Vendor Response” to bugs revealed to it in the past. By alerting the community, Exploitee hopes that users can avoid this particular drive range until WD goes ahead and fixes it.

More: 2016 was the year internet security died – so what can you do about it?

There are actually a few bugs that were found as part of this latest investigation. Although they were specifically discovered on the My Cloud PR4100, they are expected to impact the entire My Cloud range. They are mostly to do with poorly written login scripts which could allow a hacker to bypass the certification system entirely, but others allow unauthorised file uploads, missing login requirements, and poorly implemented web interface commands.

While WD has yet to issue a response to these claims, My Cloud owners would be wise to keep their NAS drive offline for the time being and restrict it to your local network until several security fixes are released.

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion

Pinyin Chart

Join over 500,000 students and perfect your Chinese pronunciation with the most popular Pinyin Chart on the app store.

Available on:

iOS

Impossible Dial

This game is easy to understand, but hard to master. Just tap the dial when it passes the correct color, but be warned — you’ll have to act fast.

Available on:

iOS

Bill Assistant

You can see which bills are due soon, view how much you are due to pay, keep a record of your payments, and have this app remind you when your bills are due.

Available on:

iOS

Calc Swift

Time is our most precious commodity, and that’s why we offer this version of the infamous CALC without the Converter and Graphing features enabled. It’s designed to let you zip through math.

Available on:

iOS

Translate Safari

The app is a Safari extension that translates and speaks aloud the entire web page of Safari app.

Available on:

iOS

Countr

Whether you’re taking attendance of people at a meeting or assembly, or counting how many items are going past you in a line, you can now easily keep track by just tapping your screen.

Available on:

iOS

Fitbit uses machine learning to give sleep insights with new Alta HR

Why it matters to you

The Alta HR will be the first Fitbit device that is able to tell you which stage of sleep you currently are in.

A year after releasing the Fitbit Alta, Fitbit is ready to make your fitness wristband smarter at analyzing your sleep. Debuting with the upcoming Fitbit Alta HR are two new features to give you even more insight into your daily activities: Sleep Stages and Sleep Insights.

With the new Sleep Insights feature, your Fitbit uses machine learning to coalesce all of your Fitbit data, along with the more than 3 billion nights of sleep Fitbit has tracked since 2012, into personalized recommendations on how improving your sleep can improve you health. If you usually sleep six hours during weekdays, but average nine hours over the weekend, your Fitbit Alta HR may suggest to you that you are not getting enough sleep during the week.

More: If you’ve thought about buying a Fitbit, now is a good time

For the new Sleep Stages feature, your Fitbit will accurately estimate how long you have spent in light, deep, and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep. This is powered by Fitbit’s most requested feature, PurePulse, the continuous automatic heart rate tracking found in the Fitbit Charge 2.

Both features will be available this spring, and not just on the Alta HR. Through an update on the iOS, Android, and Windows Fitbit app, the sleep stages feature will also work on the Blaze and Charge 2 devices. The Sleep Insights feature will be available on all Fitbit devices that track sleep via the Fitbit app.

Machine learning has gained popularity in recent years since IBM Watson’s Jeopardy dominance in 2011, but Fitbit has been working the technology into its fitness trackers for even longer. Shelton Yuen, Fitbit’s vice president of research, told Digital Trends popular Fitbit features such as automatically recognizing when someone is asleep requires machine learning

In order for your Fitbit to think for itself, it needs to have a relatively large knowledge base, and Fitbit’s billions of nights of sleep data put it in a rare position to leverage machine learning. “You have to get to a critical point, where you have enough data where you can make conclusions, before you can really start to reach things like a Sleep Insights feature,” Yuen said.

The Alta HR’s slim design housing the PurePulse heart rate tracking required Fitbit to think smaller. Yuen said Fitbit started working on the Alta HR roughly 18 months ago. Around the same time, Fitbit was working on a one-of-a-kind chip able to reduce the amount of components and space needed inside the Fitbit to operate PurePulse in such a slim design.

The Fitbit Alta HR will retail at $150 when it is released in April. You can pre-order one today at Fitbit’s official website.