Facebook’s Gear VR app helps you find 360 photos and video

A ton of 360-degree photos and videos are uploaded to Facebook every day. The challenge, if you own a Gear VR headset, is finding the best stuff in the Oculus Video store, or amongst the deluge of selfies and viral videos that make up most News Feeds. To help, the social network has built a new app for Gear VR called Facebook 360. It’s a basic interface with four tabs that help you browse and launch 360-degree media. “Explore,” for instance, lists the most popular uploads, while “Following” collects everything posted by your friends, and the pages and people you follow.

Facebook says more than 1 million 360-degree videos and 25 million 360-degree photos have been posted to the platform to date. Those numbers, while impressive, represent just a drop of total Facebook uploads. With its new Gear VR app, the company is trying to ensure that 360-degree content is seen by the largest possible audience. That’s important, because otherwise media organisations and ‘content creators’ will shy away from the format. If the interest in VR tapers off, it won’t have much of an impact on Facebook’s popularity, or the company’s overall success — but for Oculus, and its ongoing collaboration with Samsung, it could be pivotal.

Airbus unveils an autonomous, modular flying car concept

Flying cars face many obstacles, but one of the biggest is accommodating all the parts needed to both drive and fly — their designs amount to big, heavy compromises. Airbus and Italdesign want to try something different. They’ve just unveiled the Pop.Up, an autonomous concept that uses a modular passenger capsule to switch between four-wheeled ground transport and quadcopter flight. All you do is tell the vehicle’s AI where to go — it’ll snap on air or ground modules based on both the available routes and your habits. Airbus even floats the possibility of shuttling your capsule through hyperloop tubes when they’re available.

This wouldn’t sit in your driveway. Airbus foresees Pop.Up vehicles forming an on-demand transportation network that isn’t hampered by the limitations of ground-based options. It could dramatically reduce traffic congestion, too. Why drive on a packed bridge when you can simply fly over the river?

The gotcha, as you might guess, is that this is just a concept. There are life-size examples of Pop.Up at the Geneva Motor Show, but there’s a big difference between that and showing off a working prototype, let alone something ready to handle your commute. If Airbus is committed to making this a real product, any practical use is going to be years away.

Source: TechCrunch

Apple Pay Likely to Launch in Belgium in May

Just one day after Apple Pay launched in Ireland, there is now evidence to suggest the service could launch in Belgium soon too.

Belgian bank CBC Banque & Assurance on Tuesday tweeted that Apple Pay will be available in May, as spotted by French blog iGeneration. Meanwhile, another Belgian bank Belfius Bank said it will begin accepting contactless payments on May 2, although it did not mention Apple Pay specifically.

@jeromevde @fouranto
L’apple Pay sera disponible chez CBC pour mai 2017 également ! ^Anaïs

— CBC Banque&Assurance (@CBC_BE) March 8, 2017

Apple Pay is currently available in the United States, Australia, Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Taiwan and likely Italy will follow.

Apple Pay vice president Jennifer Bailey has said Apple is “working rapidly” to expand the service to additional countries in Asia and Europe.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tag: Belgium
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Vimeo Announces Support for 360-Degree Video

Vimeo today announced that 360-degree video support has arrived for the service’s web and mobile app platforms. The update will provide a place for creators to learn and upload videos in the popular format, as well as a community hub of 360-degree video content for viewers to browse and watch flat, or using compatible VR headsets.

Vimeo’s 360-degree videos will support 8K content in both monoscopic and stereoscopic formats, offline viewing in HD, and include a virtual compass in the video to orient viewers “and encourage interaction.” These settings will be available to all of Vimeo’s creators, who will also gain access to a “360 Video School” to learn the ins and outs of shooting and editing on 360-degree cameras.

The new videos will be available to watch on the Vimeo iOS [Direct Link] and Android apps, as well as VR headsets including Zeiss VR One, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive support is said to be coming soon. The debut also includes a 360-degree video marketplace where viewers can browse videos published by Vimeo creators, through Vimeo On Demand, and purchase or rent the videos.

Some of the first 360-degree video content will be coverage of South by Southwest, which is kicking off in Austin, Texas this weekend. 360-degree video has become a popular addition to existing platforms, with Facebook, Periscope, and YouTube all recently adding support for the format.

Tag: Vimeo
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Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of iOS 10.3 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming iOS 10.3 update to developers, just over one week after seeding the fourth beta of iOS 10.3 and almost three months after the release of iOS 10.2, the last major update to the iOS 10 operating system.

Registered developers can download the fifth iOS 10.3 beta from the Apple Developer Center or over-the-air with the proper configuration profile installed.

iOS 10.3 is a major update, introducing several new features and changes to the iOS 10 operating system. The biggest new consumer-facing feature is “Find My AirPods,” which is designed to help AirPods owners locate a lost earphone. Find My AirPods records the last known location of when an AirPod was connected to an iOS device via Bluetooth and can play a sound on a lost AirPod.

Apple’s latest update also introduces a new Apple File System (APFS), installed when an iOS device is updated to iOS 10.3. APFS is optimized for flash/SSD storage and includes features like strong encryption.

Apple plans to introduce some App Store changes in iOS 10.3, allowing developers to respond to customer reviews for the first time. iOS users are also able to label reviews in the App Store as “Helpful” or “Not Helpful,” which should help surface the most relevant review content.

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Apple also plans to limit the number of times developers can ask for a review, allow customers to leave app reviews without exiting an app, and provide a “master switch” that will let users turn off all app review request prompts.

Also new in iOS 10.3 is a redesigned app open/close animation, an Apple ID profile in Settings, a better breakdown of iCloud storage usage, warnings about outdated apps that won’t work with future versions of iOS, HomeKit support for programmable light switches, improvements to SiriKit (bill paying, bill status, and scheduling future rides), CarPlay interface improvements, iCloud analytics options, and more.

Related Roundup: iOS 10
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Apple Seeds Fifth Beta of tvOS 10.2 to Developers

Apple today seeded the fifth beta of an upcoming tvOS 10.2 update to developers for testing purposes, just over one week after seeding the fourth tvOS 10.2 update and more than a month after releasing tvOS 10.1.1, the current release version of tvOS.

Designed for the fourth-generation Apple TV, the fifth tvOS 10.2 beta can be obtained by connecting the Apple TV to a computer with a USB-C to USB-A cable, downloading and installing the software from a registered developer account via iTunes or Apple Configurator. Once a profile is installed, subsequent betas can be downloaded over the air.

Given the tricky installation requirements, tvOS betas are limited to developers and will not be provided to the public.

According to Apple’s release notes, tvOS 10.2 introduces improved scrolling behavior, allowing tvOS users to scroll through large lists of information more quickly. A large swipe on the Siri remote automatically activates the new scrolling mode, and a swipe on the far right side of the remote allows users to navigate specific indexes.

It’s likely there are other small feature tweaks and bug fixes included in tvOS 10.2, even though additional changes have not been specifically outlined by Apple. We’ll update this post should any new content be found in the fifth tvOS 10.2 beta.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy)
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QardioArm Smart Blood Pressure Monitor Now Available From Apple Stores

Qardio, known for its line of connected health products, today announced that it is expanding its partnership with Apple, a move that will see Apple Stores around the world offering the QardioArm smart blood pressure monitor.

The QardioArm, which is priced at $99, is an FDA approved blood pressure monitor that’s able to interface with an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch to help users keep an eye on their blood pressure. It was the first medical device available via Apple Health, and it’s designed to make it simple for users to share data with health professionals.

“We’re thrilled to expand our global retail presence in collaboration with such a visionary retailer,” says Alexis Zervoglos, Chief Business Officer at Qardio. “We share with Apple an absolute belief that purity of design coupled with technological innovation drives change, as we focus on creating beautiful, accessible products that lead to a healthier world without compromising lifestyle.”

QardioArm is available from Apple’s online store and from Apple retail locations starting today. It’s priced at $99 in the U.S., £99 in the UK, and €129 in other European countries.

Tags: Apple retail, Qardio, QardioArm
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Apple Releases Safari Technology Preview 25 With Bug Fixes and Feature Improvements

Apple today released a new update for Safari Technology Preview, the experimental browser Apple first introduced one year ago in March of 2016. Apple designed the Safari Technology Preview to test features that may be introduced into future release versions of Safari.

Safari Technology Preview release 25 includes fixes and improvements for Resource Timing, User Timing, WebCrypto, Web API, Web Inspector, CSS, Rendering, and Media. Today’s update enables Resource Timing by default.

The Safari Technology Preview update is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store to anyone who has downloaded the browser. Full release notes for the update are available on the Safari Technology Preview website.

Apple’s aim with Safari Technology Preview is to gather feedback from developers and users on its browser development process. Safari Technology Preview can run side-by-side with the existing Safari browser and while designed for developers, it does not require a developer account to download.

Tag: Safari Technology Preview
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Pebby the robotic toy means you’ll never miss your pet when you’re out

Why it matters to you

Pebby lets the animal lovers among us enjoy playing with their pets from a remote location, or simply keep an eye on them while away from home.

If you like the idea of playing with your pet even when you’re not around, then the solution could be in the form of a high-tech, remotely controlled ball called Pebby.

Touted as a “robotic pet sitter,” Pebby lets you interact with your dog or cat — or dog and cat — via your smartphone whenever you’re out of the house.

Features include a wide-angle camera so you can watch your canine or kitty dash around the house as you tease it by rolling the ball any place you like. Of course, the camera also lets you remotely snap images and shoot video so you can save the best moments or quickly share them on your favorite social media sites.

Pebby can also project a laser light onto the floor, ramping up the entertainment factor for your pet as it scurries after the light wherever you choose to point it. It includes a bunch of LED lights too, so you can even play about in the dark or in dimly lit rooms.

Tempting as it might sound, you won’t be able to play with your pet the whole time you’re out of the house. After all, there may be the small matter of work to consider, and what if you spot your boss heading in your direction just as you’re about to send the ball scuttling between Buster’s legs?

Thankfully, Pebby’s creators have thought of that and wisely included an automatic mode that’ll keep your four-legged friend happily entertained, at least until the battery gives up.

When that happens, the PebbyKennel comes into play. This is Pebby’s awesome charging station. Simply tap the auto-dock function on the robotic toy’s mobile app and it’ll automatically locate the charging station and slot itself in. Pebby offers 90 minutes of playtime and lasts for 12 hours on idle mode.

The kit also includes a smart collar so you can track your pet’s activities throughout the day, with all the data sent straight to the app.

And there’s more. The clever device can also emit a “woof” or “meow”, or your own prerecorded message, something like, “Who’s a good boy,” or “Fetch,” or even, “Stop wrecking the furniture,” if they have a habit of doing so.

More: Love your pets from afar with Petcube Bites and Petcube Play

Some more boisterous pets are bound to test the ball’s durability, but Pebby’s thick, shatterproof, polycarbonate casing, which includes a specially made “Shock suspension system,” means the device is a match for even the rowdiest of mutts.

It’s waterproof, too, so if it ends up in the water bowl you’ll have nothing to worry about.

As you can tell, the Pebby is a pretty comprehensive piece of kit, and the Sunnyvale, California-based team that built it hope its Kickstarter project, launched this week, will help take it into production.

Delivery is estimated for July 2017, with early bird specials offered at $124 for the whole package — that’s about half the expected retail price.

The 10 best USB Type-C cables to keep your gadgets powered

The shift toward USB Type-C cables is well underway, and with good reason. Thanks to a reversible connector, you can finally wave goodbye to the frustration of plug in failures because your cable is in the wrong orientation. With USB-C, you can also potentially benefit from the latest speed boosts that the USB 3.1 standard brings. More and more devices, including Google’s new Pixel phones and the forthcoming LG G6, sport the new port.

More: The best portable battery chargers

Devices generally ship with a cable, but they sometimes break or go missing from time to time, and it’s always handy to have a spare or two. You may also want a USB Type-C cable to attach to one of your older chargers or devices. If so, below are the USB Type-C cables we personally recommend.

Ravpower C to C Cable

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 6.6 feet
• Warranty: 12 months
• Price: $11

This cable is a great value and offers rapid charging or syncing between two USB Type-C devices. That means you can use it to plug your Pixel smartphone into your new Macbook, or connect it to the USB-C brick that ships with Google’s phone. It’s a strong cable with solid, anodized-aluminum casing on the connectors. It supports fast charging, too, so you should be able to get maximum charging speeds for a range of phones. Syncing data is also extremely fast with this cable.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

iOrange-E USB 2.0 C to C Braided Cable

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 6.6 feet
• Warranty: 12 months
• Price: $14

This nylon-braided cable is strong and sure to stay tangle-free. It’s another cable for hooking up Type-C to Type-C connections. It should support fast charging for most phones — delivering up to 3A — and it can also handle data syncing at up to 480 Mbps. If you don’t like the gold finish, the cable is also available in either black or silver.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Google USB-C to USB-C Cable

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 6 feet
• Warranty: 12 months
• Price: $25

Google offers a no-frills cable that’s a little more expensive than some of the others on the list. It has reinforced, rubbery plugs with a tapered neck. It can deliver up to 60W at 3A, so fast charging won’t be a problem. Data sync speeds are USB 2.0, so you’ll get up to 480 Mbps.

This specific offering is a USB-C to USB-C cable, but the same price will net you a USB-C to USB-A cable. Charging speeds will vary depending on your device and charger, but it supports USB 3.1 for data transfers at up to 10 Gbps.

Buy one now from:

Google

Belkin USB-C to USB-C Cable

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 3 feet
• Warranty: 2-year limited
• Price: $22

You’ll enjoy fast speeds based on the latest USB 3.1 standard with this USB-C to USB-C cable. That means you’ll be able to capitalize on data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps, gain support for Thunderbolt 3, and benefit from the ability to connect to a DisplayPort-enabled USB-C display, allowing for 4K resolution. It can deliver up to 3A of power. The design is minimalist, with slim connectors, which makes it easy to plug in. The necks are also reinforced, though that doesn’t mean the cable is all that rugged.

Buy one now from:

Apple

Anker Powerline USB-C to USB 3.0 Cable

• Quick charge: Limited to 2.4A
• Length: 3 feet
• Warranty: 18 months
• Price: $14

You can use this cable to connect a new device with a USB-C port to a charger or computer with a standard USB port. This is a durable cable that you can rely on, with a double-braided exterior and an aramid fiber core. The connectors also have reinforced necks to reduce damage from bending, and this cable won’t tangle or get knotted. It syncs data at up to 5 Gbps, but, sadly, it won’t charge faster than 2.4A, so you won’t be able to get the maximum charging speeds for phones like the Google Pixel XL. It comes with a neat carry pouch, however, one that has a Velcro strap to help you keep any excess cable out of the way.

Anker also offers an excellent USB-C to USB-C 2.0 cable for $10, which supports fast charging and syncing speeds at up to 480 Mbps.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Choetech USB-C to USB-A Cable

• Quick charge: Limited to 2.4A
• Length: 10 feet
• Warranty: 18 months
• Price: $8

If you need a longer USB Type-C cable to hook up to an older USB device or adapter, but you don’t want to spend too much, then this offering from Choetech could be the solution for you. It’s a plain, black cable that’s capable of charging at up to 2.4A. It won’t be able to charge at the maximum speed for some phones, however, and doesn’t work with the rapid charge function unique to the OnePlus 3. That said, it’s going to be fast enough for most people. It can also sync data at speeds of up to 480 Mbps.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Cable Matters USB 3.1 C to A Cable

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 3.3 feet
• Warranty: Lifetime limited
• Price: $6

This short, black cable is thick and sturdy. It offers fast charging and data syncing for connecting USB-C to USB-A. It also supports the latest USB 3.1 standard and transfer speeds of up to 5 Gbps. In conjunction with a fast charger, it should charge phones and other devices at the maximum speed. This is a quality cable that works well, especially given the price.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Belkin 3.1 USB-A to USB-C

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 3 feet
• Warranty: Lifetime limited
• Price: $18

If you want 10Gbps transfer rates, then this is the cable you’re looking for. It has a USB-C connector on one end, and a USB-A 3.1 connector on the other. Most of the time, you will find USB-C to USB-A 2.0 or 3.0, so this cable is a special find. It’s compatible with any USB-C device, but well suited for laptops such as the Macbook and Google’s lauded Chromebook. It has a maximum charging output of 3A, too, so it will quickly charge your devices when you’re in need of a little juice.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Snowkids USB-C to USB-3.0

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 6.6 feet
• Warranty: 18 months
• Price: $9

This 6.6-foot cable makes use of a braided-nylon design and attractive metallic housing, the latter of which adds durability. The cable is safe to use with USB-C smartphones, such as the Google Pixel, along with devices like the 12-inch Macbook. It also has a current output of 3.0A, ensuring a quick charge when paired with a 3.0A wall charger.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Bridgegen USB-C to USB-A 2.0

• Quick charge: Yes
• Length: 6.6 feet
• Warranty: 18 months
• Price: $10

Compatible with the LG G5, Google Pixel, and other USB-C devices, this nylon cable can endure more than 4,000 bends. Quick Charge 2.0 requires a maximum current of 3.0A, so this 2.1A cable will provide charging speeds more in line with Quick Charge 1.0. It’s not as fast as the aforementioned Snowkids offering, but it does provide transfer speeds of up to 480Mbps. The cable also comes in black, gold, and rose gold, just in case you want to pair it with your newfangled Macbook.

Buy one now from:

Amazon