Exploding earphones burned a plane passenger’s face

John B. Goodenough, one of lithium-ion battery’s creators, truly has a good reason to find a better power source. Lithium-ion batteries have the potential to catch fire regardless of what device they’re powering, whether it’s a large phone, a kid’s toy or a pair of wireless headphones. One Australian woman on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne found that out the hard way. She was woken up by the sound of a loud explosion and “felt burning on [her] face” — her unnamed wireless headphones exploded and caught fire.

She said in a statement:

“I continued to feel burning so I grabbed them off and threw them on the floor. They were sparking and had small amounts of fire.

As I went to stamp my foot on them the flight attendants were already there with a bucket of water to pour on them. They put them into the bucket at the rear of the plane.”

Battery explosion mid-flight prompts passenger warning. Read more: https://t.co/ggCwATEiDI pic.twitter.com/YTTP9rEzFf

— ATSB (@atsbinfo) March 14, 2017

Since the number of wireless devices can only grow as electronic makers churn out new models, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau took this chance to remind passengers of battery safety on planes. But since passengers are allowed to bring gadgets on board, there’s no guarantee something like this would never happen again even if people are careful.

As for this particular case, the passenger said the headphones’ battery and cover melted into the floor of the plane and filled the cabin with the scent of burning electronics. Since it happened two hours into the long-haul flight, other passengers spent over nine hours or so “coughing and choking the entire way home.”

Source: Australian Transport Safety Bureau

Ofcom to investigate Sky and 21st Century Fox merger

The UK’s media regulator will investigate a proposed merger worth £11.7 billion ($14.6 billion) between 21st Century Fox and Sky. Speaking in the House of Commons, Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said she had referred the matter because of “public interest considerations” which “warrant further investigation.” These include media plurality — the need for citizens to have access to a variety of independent news sources — and a “commitment to broadcasting standards.” Ofcom has 40 days to investigate and deliver its report, which will undoubtedly shape Bradley’s decision to approve or block the deal.

21st Century Fox already owns 39 percent of Sky, and media mogul Rupert Murdoch has attempted to buy the remaining share before. That takeover bid was dismantled, however, once the company — then called News Corporation — was caught up in a huge phone hacking scandal. If the two were to merge, it would give Murdoch enormous influence over the news and media industries. Sky is a huge telecoms player and pay-TV provider in the UK, with a range of mobile, broadband and satellite TV packages. The broadcaster also runs Sky News, a prominent online and TV news organisation. Critics argue the deal would give Murdoch too much power, given he also controls The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun.

Ofcom’s investigation will also examine whether Sky’s suitor is “fit and proper” to own a broadcast licence. It’s a separate legal process required under the UK’s Communication Act, and will no doubt examine Fox’s business practices, past and present. In a statement, the company said:

“21st Century Fox looks forward to working with UK authorities in their reviews of our proposed transaction to combine with Sky. We are confident that a thorough review of our track record over 30 years will underscore our commitment to upholding high broadcast standards, and will demonstrate that the transaction will not result in there being insufficient plurality in the UK. The media market has changed dramatically in recent years, as has our business. We believe our proposed £11.7 billion investment will benefit the UK’s creative industries. We look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders and are confident that the transaction will be approved.”

Via: The Guardian

Source: 21st Century Fox

The Galaxy S8 may use your face for secure mobile payments

Facial recognition is a done thing. So are contactless payments. So why not put them together? Samsung might do just that according to Bloomberg sources. The incoming Galaxy S8 will reportedly feature facial recognition payment tech “within months of release” in a bid to stand out (and grab those feature headlines) in a world where lots of us are plenty happy with our current smartphones.

The S8 will apparently blend together fingerprint, iris and facial detection to verify a user for payment services — and Samsung is apparently already working with banks to get the feature adopted. The company’s flagship phones have offered facial recognition to unlock for years, and it’s gotten much better at detecting faces as the Galaxy series has matured.

As Bloomberg notes, Apple is approaching facial recognition too. Although it doesn’t form any software features in existing iPhones, the company has picked up several facial recognition developers in the last few years. The Galaxy S8 will give Samsung the chance to make up for last year’s blunders, and get ahead of a highly-anticipated iPhone that will mark 10 years of Apple’s smartphone series. The big Samsung event is in a few weeks — we won’t have wait long.

Source: Bloomberg

Apple Not Listed on New Legal Brief Opposing Trump’s Second Travel Ban

Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and more than 60 other companies have either decided not to sign, or have yet to sign, a new legal brief filed in federal court in Hawaii this week, constituting the makings of a lawsuit looking to block the second version of President Donald Trump’s travel ban (via Reuters). Trump referred to the new order as a “watered-down version” of the original, but a federal judge in Hawaii nevertheless blocked the revised order.

Over a month ago, Apple joined 100 U.S. companies in support of a legal brief that opposed the first immigration ban. That order banned Syrian refugees from entering the United States, blocked citizens of seven countries (Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Syria, and Yemen) from entering the U.S. for 90 days, and suspended entry of all refugees entering the U.S. for 120 days. The new ban removed Iraq from the list, exempted green card and visa holders, and toned down “contentious language referring to religious minorities.”

On Tuesday, a new legal brief was filed in a Hawaiian court on behalf of 58 total Silicon Valley companies voicing support for the state’s blocking of Trump’s order, down from 127 companies on the first brief. A few companies mentioned on the new opposition brief include Kickstarter, Airbnb, and Dropbox. Although the current list is small, hope for the lawsuit to succeed is growing, and New York lawyer Robert Atkins — who co-authored the new brief — said “we do expect the group to expand.”

Apple Inc, Alphabet Inc’s Google and Facebook Inc are among more than 60 technology companies that appear to have backed away from the legal fight against U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban, deciding not to put their weight behind a lawsuit seeking to block the second version of his executive order.

A legal brief filed in federal court in Hawaii on Tuesday on behalf of Silicon Valley companies listed the support of 58 companies, less than half the 127 signatories to a similar brief filed in an appeals court last month after Trump’s first executive order banning travel from a number of countries the administration said posed a security risk.

It was not immediately clear why fewer of them signed on to the “friend-of-the-court” brief this time around.

Apple was a large part of the opposition to the travel ban last month, helping pen an open letter to Trump explaining that the U.S. is a “nation made stronger by immigrants,” while Apple CEO Tim Cook said that it “is not a policy we support.” Trump himself said he plans to appeal against the federal judge’s halting of his revised order and take the case “as far as it needs to go,” including the Supreme Court.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tag: Donald Trump
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Netflix Planning to Stream Mobile HDR Content Ahead of ‘iPhone 8’

Netflix is planning to offer HDR quality mobile content for viewing on supporting devices because of an increasing mobile subscriber base and the company’s belief that the format will eventually be universally adopted on mobile platforms.

The comments were made yesterday by Netflix executive Neil Hunt during a briefing with journalists, as part of a two-day event at Dolby Laboratories and Netflix headquarters in San Francisco. Hunt made the remarks as the two companies prepare to launch new Netflix series Iron Fist, which is being shot natively in HDR.

HDR stands for high dynamic range, meaning a display supporting the standard is capable of reproducing a wider and richer range of colors, brighter whites, and deeper blacks. HDR content is already available on Netflix and Amazon Video, but only for streaming to televisions that support the standard. However, Hunt and Dolby executives told The Verge that HDR is about to make the leap from big-screen to mobile, with Netflix aiming to be at the forefront of a global transition.

It’s been about a year since Netflix became available globally — with the exception of a few markets, including China, and since then it has seen mobile usage soar. In established markets like the US and Canada, most Netflix watching still happens on TVs, Hunt said; but in some Asian countries, especially India, “mobile screens are the majority consumption device.”

Both Netflix and Amazon are said to be gearing up to stream HDR content on mobile devices, possibly as early as April this year, although a specific date from either company has yet to be confirmed. Samsung’s recently announced Tab 3 with AMOLED display is the first tablet to support videos with greater dynamic range, while the LG G6 is the first phone to support both HDR10 (the 10-bit open standard) and Dolby Vision HDR.

Apple is expected to announce new iPad models soon, possibly as early as next week, but apart from plenty of speculation regarding screen sizes, no rumors have mentioned the display technology that could feature. The same can’t be said for Apple’s rumored “iPhone 8”, which will reportedly have a Samsung-supplied OLED display, making it more likely to support the HDR10 standard.

In addition to the mobile HDR announcement, Netflix said it was considering the idea of streaming mobile-specific cuts of its original movies and TV shows.

“It’s not inconceivable that you could take a master [copy] and make a different cut for mobile,” Hunt said. To date, Netflix hasn’t been delivering different cuts for different viewing platforms, Hunt said, but “it’s something we will explore over the next few years.”

According to The Verge, the idea would be to create a version of the content with scenes or shots that are more easily visible or immersive on a mobile phone, given that certain shots can be hard to see or can appear diminished on a relatively small phone screen.

Tag: Netflix
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WePay Now Supports Apple Pay on Web

WePay, an online payment service provider, today announced that its customers can now accept Apple Pay and Android Pay on the web.

WePay’s biggest customers include popular crowdfunding website GoFundMe, cloud productivity software company Zoho, and cloud-based accounting software service FreshBooks. Some of its other clients include Constant Contact, Meetup, Chargebee, Infusionsoft, Invoice Ninja, and RallyBound.

Apple Pay on the web launched in Safari on iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, expanding upon in-store and in-app payments. The feature started rolling out in September 2016 on websites such as Indiegogo, StubHub, and Wayfair, with other committed partners including Airbnb, Fandango, Target, Ticketmaster, and more.

Apple Pay on the web works with iPhone 6 and later, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 and later. iOS 10 or later is required. On Macs, Apple Pay on the web requires an iPhone with Touch ID and Apple Pay support or an Apple Watch, as payments are authenticated through the smartphone or watch.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Netflix TV shows and movies may end up different on mobile to bigger screen versions

Netflix is considering presenting different cuts of TV shows and movies for mobile users specifically. It has a growing audience of viewers on mobile and the cuts could make portable presentations more enjoyable.

Speaking at a briefing in San Francisco, Netflix’s chief product officer, Neil Hunt, said that the streaming company will look into alternative versions for different platforms to improve viewing experiences: “It’s not inconceivable that you could take a master and make a different cut for mobile,” he said.

“It’s something we will explore over the next few years.”

The idea is that different camera angles in scenes might be more suitable for smaller screens, so they could be substituted for the ones that appear in the TV and set-top-box editions.

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The Verge also reports that Netflix and Dolby Laboratories believe HDR is a format that will be universally adopted by mobile platforms, as well as TV. New Netflix series Iron Fist was entirely shot in HDR and will be presented on Netflix in Dolby Vision for compatible screens.

That will include the LG G6 which was the first phone to confirm it will be supporting Dolby Vision during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month. Other manufacturers are adopting HDR for their handsets too.

Grohe Sense can help protect your home from flooding and water damage

There are a fair few smart home products on the market but not all of them really help or improve our lives. The technology is maturing but there are many devices that exist because they sound cool in paper but have little benefit in the real world.

Grohe Sense, on the other hand, is something we can see making a big difference to people’s homes. It doesn’t switch on the lights, or play music when you stroll into a room, but it can save you an enormous amount of money.

That’s because it does the invisible but useful job of helping to prevent expensive leaks and water damage in your home. The smart water sensor monitors humidity and leaks in order to inform you before true disaster happens.

• Best of CES 2017 – Smart home devices: Alexa everywhere, connected fridges and even smart windows

A Grohe Sense Guard can even be installed in the mains water pipe to switch off the water supply automatically if there is a burst pipe somewhere in the home. It can also detect for frost risk.

Both devices work with a Grohe Ondus application for iOS and Android.

Grohe

They will be available from May priced at £51.99 for the Grohe Sense, which can be placed anywhere around the house, £439 for the Grohe Sense Guard.

You can find out more information, including stockists, from the dedicated website.

The Morning After: Thursday, 16 March 2017

There’s two more days left this week, but we’re not stopping, and neither should you. Russia is going to the moon, while some of the country’s agents have been blamed for the Yahoo hack from last year. We also talked to Frank Oz and rode an 8K ‘VR’ ride. That should perk you up.

Your fantasy football secrets weren’t so secretRussian FSB officers indicted over Yahoo breach

Yahoo previously indicated that “state-sponsored” hackers were behind a breach covering more than 500 million accounts, and now US authorities have raised criminal charges against four people. All are linked to Russia, and two of them work for the country’s FSB intelligence agency (like the FBI). While the hacking allegedly occurred for spying purposes, the charges claim at least one defendant used it for financial gain by trolling for credit card numbers, sending spam and redirecting web traffic.

CG vs. puppetsSXSW: Frank Oz on Muppets, puppets and CG Yoda

Creative legend Frank Oz sat down with us at SXSW to discuss his upcoming documentary Muppet Guys Talking: Secrets Behind the Show the Whole World Watched. That film will reveal how five of the original Muppet performers came together under the leadership of Jim Henson. For now, we asked Oz a lot about special effects, both new and old.

New cosmonaut candidates needed.Russia’s space agency preps for its first manned moon landing

NASA, the US government and American space corporations aren’t the only ones with their eyes on the moon. Russia’s Space Agency (Roscosmos) has begun planning for its first manned lunar landing, starting with a recruitment drive for potential cosmonauts. The agency is looking for six to eight trainees with a background in engineering/aviation or those who already have experience working in the space industry.

It didn’t stand a chance.Drone versus Patriot missile

What do you think won?

It’s one way to show off high-res video, but clearly not the best way.
This 8K ‘VR’ ride is the craziest thing I saw at SXSW

Devindra Hardawar strapped himself into a hydraulic carriage for a ride that didn’t quite show 8K (4K? Psch!) in the best light. It capped off the rest of our SXSW coverage, which you can read in all its ridiculousness right here.

2.0Federal judge temporarily suspends the revised travel ban

A federal judge in Hawaii has halted President Donald Trump’s immigration ban targeting six majority-Muslim nations, just one day before the order was scheduled to take effect. The technology industry has been a loud voice of opposition to a proposed travel ban, and yesterday morning 58 companies signed an amicus brief in support of Hawaii’s lawsuit.

But wait, there’s more…

• Moog celebrates music and the machines that make it
• Netflix offers up 20 classic ‘MST3k’ episodes
• How the UK plans to block illegal Kodi soccer streams (sorry, Dad)
• Google’s Project Sunroof reveals 4 out of 5 US homes have solar power potential
• McDonald’s tests mobile ordering on coastal elite

Google Play Music Gets New Playback Quality Options For Streaming and Offline Listening

Google has updated its Play Music app with new options to control the quality of music playback over wireless networks and choose the compression level of downloaded tracks.

Previously, users of the streaming service could only adjust the quality of music when listening over their mobile connection, but the additional options offer the same control over WiFi and when listening offline.

The options to adjust streaming and download quality are listed simply as Low, Normal, and High, so it’s unclear exactly what bitrate Google is referring to, but it’s safe to say any increase in quality will eat further into any data caps, or use more storage in the case of downloaded tracks.

For comparison, Spotify offers a streaming choice of 96kbps, 160kbps, or 320kbps, while Tidal offers 96kbps, 320kbps, and Apple Lossless (Hi-Fi). Apple Music streams at 256kbps by default, but does include a 80kbps option for cellular connections.

(Via Engadget.)

Tag: Google Play Music
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