Facebook Enables User-Generated Crowdfunding Campaigns Related to Medical, Education, and More

Facebook today announced that it will begin allowing its users to generate their own crowdfunding campaigns directly within the social network’s mobile app, meant as a way “to raise money for themselves, a friend, or someone or something not on Facebook, for example a pet.” Any user 18 or older will be able to set up a personal fundraiser, which Facebook hopes will be a way for people to more easily reach potential project backers like close friends and family members.

The catch is that fundraisers will be locked into six specific categories: education, medical, pet medical, crisis relief, personal emergency, and funeral and loss. Every fundraiser will also face a 24-hour review process by Facebook to ensure that the project’s creator and its goals are legitimate. The company broke down the six categories in today’s press release:

• Education: such as tuition, books or classroom supplies
• Medical: such as medical procedures, treatments or injuries
• Pet Medical: such as veterinary procedures, treatments or injuries
• Crisis Relief: such as public crises or natural disasters
• Personal Emergency: such as a house fire, theft or car accident
• Funeral and Loss: such as burial expenses or living costs after losing a loved one

On the donator side of things, friends and family will be able to support a user’s fundraiser in a few taps and without leaving the Facebook app. The company said that all payments are secure and that donators will have more peace of mind thanks to Facebook’s use of real profile information for the person raising the funds, and the person or cause the money will go to.

Personal fundraisers allow people to reach friends where they already are to quickly build momentum for their cause. Friends can donate in a few taps with secure payments, without leaving Facebook. Since you can see real profiles on Facebook, donors will see how they are connected to the person who created the fundraiser, the person benefiting and others who are supporting the fundraiser.

The update is also bringing donate buttons to Facebook Live streams of verified pages, which the company said will give “public figures, brands, businesses and organizations new ways to fundraise on Facebook for the nonprofits they support.” With a simple tap, watchers of live streams can donate to a specified cause that the page is supporting.

Facebook said that personal fundraisers will be entering a beta over the next few weeks, and should face a wider launch sometime after that.

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Bose QuietControl 30 review: In-ear noise-cancelling doesn’t get any better than this

Bose is one of those brand names that invokes a response from most consumers. They’ll know first hand, or through others, that the name is synonymous with quality audio – especially those products with top notch noise-cancelling, such as the QuietComfort 35 on-ears.

With the QuietControl 30, however, Bose is bringing its highly regarded noise-cancelling nous into a wireless in-ear product. Is it possible for these to live up to the lofty standards set by its on-ear QC35 cousin?

Bose QC30 review: Design

• Neckband design
• Wide cone-shaped tips
• Flexible fins keep them secure

Like a number of new earphones, such as the Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Wireless, Bose has opted for a neckband design for the QuietControl 30. This means the internal components like the processors, Bluetooth chip and battery are all housed inside a collar that sits around your neck.

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While the Sennheiser’s neckband is a horse-shoe shaped and covered in leather, the Bose is more circular design that’s finished in a soft, grippy plastic. It’s noticeably thinner at the arch than at the ends, too, thus giving it a flexible center that’s necessary to make it easy to put on and take off. It’s not just a rigid piece of plastic sitting on your neck.

When you first wear the QC30, the plastic does feel a little cold and takes a few minutes to warm up, otherwise it’s really comfortably to wear. One other thing we noticed is that if you move a little too much – bending down to pick things up, for example – the neckband has a habit of sliding around so that one ear was being tugged on a little.

The eartips are virtually identical to those we used on the Bose SoundSport Pulse: soft silicone tips with attached ear fins to keep them in place securely.

As with the sporty earphones, the QC30’s tips are a wide, cone-shaped design which sits comfortably in the ear. This shape also helps isolate noise, creating a decent seal without pressing all the air out of your ears (which would otherwise give you that horrible pressured feeling).

The ear fins are designed to keep the tips in your ears are soft and easy to manipulate. So soft that you can barely feel them. They hold in firmly, but aren’t so secure that they don’t move at all. During a brisk walk, the right earbud did sometimes feel as though it was getting looser, although it never fell out.

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If you find the default sized tips and fins are too big or small, there are smaller and larger pairs included in the packaging along with a USB cable.

They’re built on to slightly chunky earbuds containing the drivers, which then attach to the neckband using traditional cabling. The right earbud cable plays home to the inline remote, which we would have prefered to be built into the neckband. It adds a little extra weight to the cable, but more importantly, you can feel a tugging in your ear whenever you reach to skip a track, or change the volume. That wouldn’t happen if the controls weren’t attached to the earbuds.

Despite this, the controls are really well designed. The three main buttons for adjusting the volume and playing or pausing tracks are easy to distinguish blindly thanks to the recessed centre button. There are two other buttons on the side as well for increasing or decreasing the level of active noise-cancellation.

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The only button on the collar itself is the power button which you press once to power on, or press-and-hold to launch Bluetooth pairing.

When you’re done with the earphones, you can carry them in their slim soft-touch hard case which looks just about the right shape and size to be repurposed as a case for your old, round Sony Discman.

Bose QC30 review: Features and performance

• 10-hour battery life
• 10 metre Bluetooth range
• Share music with other Bose earphones

Similar to the Momentum In-Ear Wireless from Sennheiser, the Bose QC30 offer a 10-hour battery life per full charge. In our testing we found it wasn’t far off this claimed figure. With between four to five hours of listening to music, the headphones were down to 50 per cent.

We had no issues with Bluetooth connectivity either, although the claimed range of 10-meters is slightly generous. Saying that, we still managed to step into the next room and remain connected without drop-outs. With the phone in the same room as you, or in your pocket, you should never have the slightest issues with connectivity.

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One cool feature we weren’t able to test – due to lack of other Bose headphones in our possession – is the fun-sounding Music Share feature. This allows you to beam your music to another pair of wireless Bose earphones in the same room. This means you can share what you’re listening to with someone else, presuming they wear the right brand of headphones.

Bose QC30 review: Sound, no noise

• Active noise-cancelling
• Trademark Bose sound

Connect the QC30 to your phone, play your favourite album, and it’s immediately apparent you’re listening to a pair of Bose earphones. They have that trademark full and clear sound profile which is consistent throughout the frequency range.

The quality lets you hear all the slightest details in the music, like ends of drumsticks paradiddling on a hi-hat, or a plectrum plucking a top E string. It’s detailed and clear, while also being full and immersive with ample bass.

It’s a great balance, but one that’s sadly not customisable as there’s no equaliser (EQ) adjustment in the Bose Connect app that you download to manage the earphones.

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One of the most standout elements of the QC30 is how ambient noise is treated. The active noise-cancelling and ambient noise pass-through is simply superb. Using the Connect app you can fine tune how much or how little surrounding noise you want to allow through, using a simple slider.

With noise-cancelling turned all the way to the top we could put on a coffee grinder, or listen to music near a washing machine in its spin cycle and only just about hear them. With the setting turned down, we walked along a road and could hear cars coming from more than 100m away. It’s probably the best example of active noise-cancelling we’ve seen (or heard) in a pair of in-ears.

Verdict

With Bose you expect audio quality and noise-cancelling to be great – and the QuietControl 30 definitely deliver on that reputation.

The only thing holding them back from in-ear perfection is the high price point and the neckband design and controls placement not feeling as balanced as, say, the likes of the Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Wireless.

That aside, however, the QC30 shows that Bose knows exactly what it’s doing. In-ear noise-cancelling doesn’t get any better than this.

The alternatives to consider…

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Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Wireless

You may not get the high end noise cancelling found in the Bose, and may get a slightly less durable design, but the Sennheisers cost £100 less, offer great battery life, sound and are very comfortable to wear. Definitely one to consider if you like the neckband idea, but don’t want to spend over £200. 

Read the full review: Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear Wireless review

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Denon AH-C821

They might be wired, but the Denons are among some of the best in-ears we’ve used. At £169, they cost the same as the Sennheisers, and they deliver incredible sound through their well-built drivers. From the moment we put them in our ears fell in love and didn’t want to take them out. We love their premium look and finish, their fit and , ultimately, the sound they produce.

Read the full review: Denon AH-C821 review: Big sound in a small package

Marshall’s next long-lasting wireless headphone has a familiar look

Until now, if you wanted a set of wireless headphones that matched your Marshall guitar amp, you had to choose between two on-ear options. Today, the company revealed an over-ear model in the Monitor Bluetooth. As the name suggestions, this new entry into Marshall’s personal audio line is a wireless version of the Monitor headphones it launched it 2013.

You can expect 40mm custom-tuned drivers to blast the sound and some degree of noise isolation due to the over-ear design. No active noise cancellation here. However, there is Bluetooth aptX to help improve sound quality and offer 30 feet of listening range between you and the device you’re playing music on. There’s also a built-in control knob for play/pause, shuffling tacks and adjusting the volume. Most notably, Marshall is promising at least 30 hours of playback with the wireless version of its Monitor headphones. That’s the same figure it quoted for the Bluetooth versions of the Mid and Major II cans.

If the combination of those features and Marshall’s iconic design is too much to pass up, the Monitor Bluetooth goes on sale today for $250 (€250/£209).

Source: Marshall

Double Fine’s mesmerizing ‘GNOG’ comes to PS4 in May

If you thought that Persona 5 would be the most stylish game you’d play this Spring, you might want to think again. In a move set to please PlayStation owners, Double Fine has announced that it’s bringing the beautiful puzzler GNOG to PS4 and PSVR on May 2nd. Developed as a collaboration between toy maker Samuel Boucher and Canadian art collective Ko_Op, this stunningly realized puzzle game sees players exploring a strange world of interconnected heads. With an achingly cool soundtrack complementing GNOG’s gorgeous visuals, players are tasked with solving various physics-based puzzles as they attempt to find their way to each head’s exit.

With games often living and dying by their mechanics, it’s refreshing to see a game from a studio that’s led by artists. Known for its graphic design work and interactive art experiences for Canada’s National Film Board, Ko_Op’s flair for striking design has given GNOG a captivating style. Thankfully, it looks like GNOG has more to offer than just its eye-catching aesthetic. With each of the game’s heads containing their own unique universe and their own rules, players will have to use everything from Rubik-cube style problem solving to time manipulation if they are to make it to the next puzzle.

Currently, there are no details on how the game will work in PSVR. Still, with Sony’s VR headset’s software lineup still woefully lacking in big hitters, the game is certain to be a welcome addition to the platform’s library regardless. GNOG is available to preorder now from the PlayStation Store for $14.99 (or $13.49 for PS Plus members) and will be coming to Steam and iOS at a later date.

Sway is a slick meditation app that makes sure you relax

Sway is a smartphone-based meditation (kind of) game, that comes from Ustwo, the company behind acclaimed mobile hit Monument Valley. No, this isn’t a dreamily designed puzzler, but the same gentle aesthetics and attention to detail are definitely found in this app’s DNA. I got to test Sway a few times earlier this week, and it’s a cleverly distracting way to get into mindfulness — something I’ve been wrestling with over the last few months.

Ustwo’s Nordic studio worked with Pauseable, a Danish mental wellness company, to make its “interactive meditation” app, with an aim to getting users racking up at least a few minutes of calm each day. While it’s not a game, per se, it works like one. On your first attempt, notch up three minutes and you’re upgraded to the next level, up to the top stage where you’ll need to meditate for a full 20 minutes. Each level toys with the gentle dreamy landscape you’ll see on the phone, and the background noises you’ll hear. (The makers recommend headphones — which makes complete sense.)

Sway uses your phone’s sensors to track movement — you’re asked to slowly wave your phone around as you use it — and feedback displayed on the screen will remind you of the task at hand, or that you should slow down. This meditative movement can be triggered by swinging your body, waving your arm (slowly!) or gently walking around.

While the app pitches itself as relying on movement rather than screen interaction, your phone’s screen still forms the basis of your feedback — you’ll still need to look at your smartphone sometimes. Sway uses a “generative soundscape” built out of ambient and calming sounds, which reminds me of the background melodies in No Mans Sky and even Everything. Similarly, visuals are constantly, gently changing colors and shapes, with the aim of settling the user.

Ustwo has dabbled in relaxation apps before: it launched the paid-for Pause a few years ago, but Sway appears a lot more involved: and has some science to back it up. The app has already been tested with EEG brain scanners in both noisy and quieter situations, where helped to increase relaxation and lowers mental workload levels in test subjects, according to data scrutinised by Dr. Chi Thanh Vi, Human-Computer Interaction Researcher at the University of Sussex. It’s another addition to the recent surge in relaxation and meditation tech: if it’s not Apple Watch’s ‘Breathe’ feature, it’s posture correction and heart-rate monitoring apps. Good health isn’t just made in a gym or running around the block. If you’re interested in testing out some mildly gamified chill, Sway launches today on Apple’s App Store, priced at $2.99.

Uber finally lets you adjust your pickup location

Lest we forget among all the corporate stupidity, Uber is actually popular for a reason: It’s convenient, and taxi service often sucks. The ridesharing firm has just fixed one of the main bugaboos with its app, the fact that you can’t modify your location once you order a ride. Riders in the UK, US and Canada can now change their pickup address if they notice it’s wrong, avoiding a “frustrating situation where riders aren’t riding and drivers aren’t earning,” Uber says.

Uber amusingly avoids blaming passengers, saying “pick-ups are one of the hardest parts of the experience to get right” (really?). To fix it, you just tap “edit” next to the pickup location, enter the correct address and tap confirm, as shown in the GIF below. Drivers will get a notification and automatically be re-routed.

Uber says that “minor tweaks” like this make a major difference, though I imagine drivers see a way for passengers to fix their carelessness as a pretty big deal. In fact, Uber could perhaps market such tweaks as not just conveniences for passengers, but also a way to make drivers’ lives easier, too. Folks will no doubt embrace the app more (and stop deleting it altogether) if they know that Uber is at least trying to treat drivers fairly.

Toyota is using AI to hunt for new battery materials

Toyota has turned to artificial intelligence for help in the hunt for new advanced battery materials and fuel cell catalysts. The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) is investing $35 million into the project and is teaming up with various institutions and companies, including MIT and Stanford University. According to the automaker’s research devision, materials development usually spans decades. By using artificial intelligence techniques, such as machine learning, the researchers can reduce the time it takes to conjure up new materials it wants to use for future zero-emission and carbon-neutral vehicles.

TRI Chief Science Officer Eric Krotkov said:

“Toyota recognizes that artificial intelligence is a vital basic technology that can be leveraged across a range of industries, and we are proud to use it to expand the boundaries of materials science. Accelerating the pace of materials discovery will help lay the groundwork for the future of clean energy and bring us even closer to achieving Toyota’s vision of reducing global average new-vehicle CO2 emissions by 90 percent by 2050.”

Toyota became a leading manufacturer of eco-friendly vehicles thanks to the Prius. In fact, the company announced that it has already sold 10 million of the hybrid cars as of January this year. While the automaker might make the materials this project develops available to its competitors, it has plans to expand its own eco-friendly offerings. The company has been working on fuel cell-powered cars for quite a while, and it announced last year that it’s also building its first all-electric vehicle.

Source: Toyota Research Institute

iPhone to Officially Debut in Argentina Next Month, Could Cost Double the Price of Models in U.S.

All regulatory hurdles that previously made it difficult for Apple to sell the iPhone in Argentina are set to be removed next month, allowing Apple’s suite of smartphones to be legitimately sold in the country for the first time in years. According to a person familiar with the Argentinian government’s plans (via Bloomberg), President Mauricio Macri is seeking to lift restrictions placed by his predecessor in 2009 that pressured companies to assemble products locally.

Some companies abided by these rules and opened factories in Argentina, including Samsung, but Apple never did. Now with the restrictions being lifted, Apple will be able to import and sell iPhones created elsewhere to customers in Argentina, although the company will face a hefty import tax. iPhones in Argentina could be “at least 25 percent more expensive” than smartphones assembled locally, according to Bloomberg’s source.

One Apple reseller in the country, Hector Goldin, thinks it could cost even more than that. Goldin is already preparing pre-orders for iPhones, even though the customers placing the orders have yet to discover exactly how much they’ll be paying for Apple’s smartphone. Goldin is set to sell five iPhone models at his reseller location in Argentina beginning April 7, and is said to have been informed of the prices of each model, some of which could run “double the price in the U.S.” In the past, Apple devices like the iPad have sold for three times as much in Argentina as they did in the U.S.

He declined to give prices, saying Apple doesn’t like to disclose such details until device goes on sale, but said it will be expensive — perhaps double the price in the U.S. and 40 percent higher than in neighboring Chile because of sales, import and income taxes. But Argentines who do buy local will have be able to get full service on certified iPhones, he said.

“It’s hard to explain how happy I am,” he said. “I am already receiving the new ones for sale and at the same time getting reservations from clients who still don’t know the final price.”

Despite the steep price of the iPhone, local phone companies have been wanting to offer the smartphone “for high-end users” who aren’t bothered by the expensive cost. Monthly installment plans will also be used by carriers in a bid to make iPhones “more accessible” to a wider group of Argentinians. Before the restriction’s lift, iPhones found their way into users’ hands in Argentina thanks to “gray market” resellers that imported the devices to sell online.

Apple is also expanding into Argentina with a new retail location set to open up in Buenos Aires in 2018, which will become Apple’s first official retail location in the country. It was reported last month that a group of third-party retailers will also begin selling Apple products in 2017, including electronics chain Frávega, and with today’s news that should begin including the iPhone as well.

Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Tag: Argentina
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New 9.7-Inch iPad Teardown Confirms It’s Basically an Original iPad Air

iFixit has shared a brief teardown of Apple’s new 9.7-inch iPad unveiled last week, and unsurprisingly, the tablet looks just as much like an original iPad Air on the inside as it does on the outside.

In the side-by-side photo above, iFixit noted the original iPad Air on the left has a slightly larger Wi-Fi module compared to the new 9.7-inch iPad on the right, but otherwise the tablets look virtually identical.

iFixit said the new 9.7-inch iPad remains difficult to repair due to the front panel being glued to the device and strong adhesive holding everything in place. One plus is that the battery is not soldered to the logic board.

The new 9.7-inch iPad is all about price. It’s the cheapest new tablet that Apple has ever sold, starting at $329, yet with a brighter display and a faster A9 processor compared to the now-discontinued iPad Air 2.

The fifth-generation iPad, as it is officially known, is also somewhat thicker and heavier than the iPad Air 2 since it lacks a fully laminated display with anti-reflective coating in order to keep costs down.

The tablet’s tech specs are otherwise identical to the iPad Air 2, including a display resolution of 2,048‑by‑1,536 at 264 PPI, 8-megapixel rear iSight camera, 1.2-megapixel front FaceTime camera, two speakers, Lightning connector, 3.5mm headphone jack, Touch ID with Apple Pay, and Bluetooth 4.2.

The new 9.7-inch iPad can be ordered now on Apple’s website in the United States and dozens of other countries.

Apple said the new 9.7-inch iPad is also available to purchase at select Apple Stores, authorized resellers, and carrier stores starting this week in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tags: iFixit, teardown
Buyer’s Guide: 9.7″ iPad Pro (Caution)
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Telegram Messaging Platform Introduces Encrypted Voice Calling Feature

Mobile messaging app Telegram introduced voice calls today, bringing the communications platform’s secure feature list up to date and more in line with rival chat apps WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger, and Signal.

Telegram said in a blog post that the voice calls are based on the same end-to-end encryption methods as its Secret chats feature, but says it has introduced a new “key exchange mechanism” to make sure calls are even more secure.

The key verification UI we came up with in 2013 to protect against man-in-the-middle attacks served well for Telegram (and for other apps that adopted it), but for Calls we needed something easier. That‘s why we’ve improved the key exchange mechanism.

To make sure your call is 100% secure, you and your recipient just need to compare four emoji over the phone. No lengthy codes or complicated pictures!

Whenever possible, calls go over a peer-to-peer connection, “using the best audio codecs to save traffic while providing crystal-clear quality”, according to Telegram. If a peer-to-peer connection can’t be established, the closest server to the user is connected to instead.

Once a voice call is made, a dedicated tab for calls appears on the main screen of the app. The Voice Calls feature rolls out in Western Europe today, with the rest of the world to get them “very soon”.

In addition to voice calls, the latest v3.18 version of the app also offers users direct control over the quality of videos shared over the platform. Telegram remembers the compression rate once it has been selected, and uses it as the default setting for future video uploads.

Telegram is a free download for iPhone on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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