How the UK plans to block illegal Kodi soccer streams

Last week, at the High Court, the Football Association Premier League (FAPL) was granted stronger powers to crack down on the illegal streaming of English football matches. Instead of chasing websites hosting live players, the League can now block the servers that provide the live feeds, cutting off Kodi boxes and similar IPTV services. But how will it enforced? Now that the order is publicly available, we can shed some light on how the FAPL intends to utilise its new powers.

It all starts with Mr Justice Arnold, who approved the FAPL’s application to introduce the first ever “live” blocks with help from the six major UK broadband providers. BT, EE, PlusNet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media have been told that they must now block a list of IP addresses associated with “the Target Servers.”

Before the ruling was handed down, the FAPL had engaged a third-party contractor (which isn’t named) to monitor shady feeds using a “proprietary video fingerprinting technology.” This generated a “large number” of servers (that sometimes switched IP addresses to evade tracking), which could then be shared with ISPs.

The second stage in the two-part process involves the FAPL’s own three-part method for identifying infringing servers. However, the League — with support from BT, EE, Sky and Virgin — requested that the process remain confidential in order to stop the public from identifying ways to circumvent the restrictions. Five of the six providers positively supported the order, but TalkTalk didn’t back the application. It also didn’t oppose it, so an agreement was reached.

On March 18th, the order will come into effect. This delay gives providers some extra time to ready themselves. As you’d expect, a live server block works a little differently to restrictions placed on a typical website. For a start, blocks will only be in force when Premier League matches are being played. Judge Arnold states that technological advances in video fingerprinting can identify illegal streams in near real-time, allowing ISPs to be notified of new servers “nearly instantaneously.”

Justice Arnold also noted that ISPs now have malleable blocking systems that can be automatically restrict access to IP addresses while a game is being played. The order will force providers to “re-set” their block list every week, allowing new servers to be added and old servers to be removed if they no longer serve infringing content.

To assess its effectiveness, the order will run until May 22nd, which is the final day of the Premier League season. All parties will then submit feedback, including any issues they faced, before the FAPL submits a new application for the 2017/18 season.

Although the Premier League is perhaps the biggest source of illegal streams, major bodies of other sports are watching the FAPL order very closely. The BBC, German/Spanish/Scottish football leagues, ECB, PGA European Tour, Professional Darts Corporation and Rugby Football Union all supported the order. Should it be a success, we could see one of these associations apply for their own server blocks.

Justice Arnold notes:

“FAPL contends that, taking into account the considerations outlined above, the Order is proportionate. It does not impair the rights of the Defendants to carry on business. To the limited extent that it interferes with the rights of internet users to impart or receive information, the interference is justified by a legitimate aim, namely preventing infringement of FAPL’s copyrights on a large scale, and it is proportionate to that aim: it will be effective and dissuasive, no equally effective but less onerous measures are available to FAPL, it avoids creating barriers to legitimate trade, it is not unduly complicated or costly and it contains safeguards against misuse. I accept this contention.”

The order is quite specific in its focus, no two IPTV services/plugins are the same. VPNs and proxy servers, plus a rise in peer-to-peer streaming, may help users circumvent the blocks, if only for a short time. The true test will come on Saturday, when Kodi plugin administrators will go head-to-head with the UK’s biggest ISPs.

Source: High Court Ruling

Google: 4 out of 5 US homes have solar power potential

A five kilowatt rooftop solar installation now costs just $12,500 on average after tax credits, and pretty soon, installing one might soon be a matter of re-tiling your roof. Whether it’s right for you, however, depends in large part on how much sun your house gets. That’s where Google’s Project Sunroof comes in — launched just two years ago, it has now surveyed over 60 million US buildings in 50 states. That means there’s a good chance you can see the electricity production potential in your city, neighborhood and even specific house.

Google calculates the amount of sunlight on your roof based on “3D modeling of your roof and nearby trees,” weather patterns, the position of the sun in the sky during the year and shade from buildings, trees and other obstructions. That info is then converted to energy production “using industry standard models for solar installation performance,” Google says.

The results are surprising: 79 percent of all US rooftops are solar viable, meaning they have enough unshaded area for solar panels. Obviously, some regions are better than others — over 90 percent of homes in Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico are technically viable, but even northern states like Pennsylvania, Maine and Minnesota are over 60 percent. Houston, Texas has the most solar potential of any US city, with 18.9 gigawatt-hours of total power generation capability if all roofs had solar panels.

Project Sunroof can give you a lot of city-wide information (above), including the percentage of buildings (both commercial and residential) that are solar-viable, the total electrical generating capacity, average roof space and the total CO2 reduction viability — in tons, cars taken off the road and seedlings planted.

There’s a good chance you can find your own house by drilling down more. I found three at random on Google Maps in San Francisco, Kirkland and Albuquerque, and Project Sunroof had mapped them all. (I live in France and Project Sunroof only works in the USA.) For the Albuquerque home, it showed 2,011 hours of usable sunlight per year and 1,427 square feet of roof space. Google figures that solar panels will reduce the home’s electric bill if it’s more than $175 per month, and recommends a 5.25 kW installation (370 square feet) to cover about 97 percent of its electricity usage.

You can see your upfront costs, 20-year benefits, total 20-year savings and years until payback. The calculator can even drill down to a detailed estimate, as shown in the example below. Google is figuring this out based on just a satellite photo, of course, so an estimate from an actual installer will likely be different. However, it’s a fabulous tool to get an eyeball idea as to whether solar is really right for you.

Source: Google

Chrome 57 Reduces Desktop Power Consumption By Throttling Background Tabs

Version 57 of the desktop Chrome web browser includes a new CPU throttling feature that Google says will lead to 25 percent fewer busy background tabs and help reduce overall power consumption.

Charges that Chrome is a battery hog have long dogged Google’s browser, leading the company to make efficient power usage a key pillar in its long-term development strategy for the software. Throttling background tabs by limiting Javascript timers is the latest attempt by Google to improve the browser’s reputation.

Javascript timers are often used by news sites and social media networks to update web page content in tabs, which uses up valuable CPU cycles. From version 57 of the browser, Chrome will delay timers in individual background tabs if their power usage oversteps the mark. Tabs that play audio or use real-time connections won’t be affected, however.

Chrome has focused on improving the user experience by throttling tab performance for many years. Like many browsers, Chrome has limited timers in the background to only run once per second. Via the new throttling policy, Chrome 57 will delay timers to limit average CPU load to 1% of a core if an application uses too much CPU in background. Tabs playing audio or maintaining real-time connections like WebSockets or WebRTC won’t be affected.

According to Google, the new throttling mechanism leads to fewer busy background tabs, which typically consume a third of Chrome’s power usage on desktop computers. In the long term, Google aims to fully suspend timers in background tabs and instead rely on new APIs to do the work instead.

Chrome 57 is available to download for Mac users now. Existing users can update by selecting Chrome -> Preferences via the menu bar and clicking the About section. Users downloading Chrome for the first time will automatically receive the updated version from the Chrome download page. An update for the iOS browser app has also been released with a new Read Later option.

Tags: Google, Chrome
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iOS Grew to Capture 42% of U.S. Smartphone Market Over Holidays

From November 2016 through January 2017, iOS devices accounted for 42 percent of smartphone sales in the United States, growing 2.9 percentage points year-over-year thanks to iPhone sales over the holidays. According to new data released by Kantar Worldpanel, the same period saw a decline for Android smartphones, which still captured the largest share of the market at 56.4 percent in the United States, but was down 1.8 percentage points from the same three month period last year.

A similar growth for iOS and decline for Android — likely due to the Note7 — was noted by Kantar in a report focusing on OS market shares ahead of the holiday season. In today’s findings, Kantar noted that as iOS and Android continue to battle it out in every market, “no other ecosystem is challenging the two giants.” Some re-emerging brands catalyzed nostalgic spending for consumers — including the Nokia 3310 and BlackBerry KEYone — but their reliance on Android’s OS instead of their own legacy OS helped boost Android’s market shares.

Gone are the days when a BlackBerry OS, Symbian, or Windows Mobile could make a significant impact. It is clear that there will only be two smartphone ecosystems moving forward – iOS and Android. To succeed, phone manufacturers will have to play by those rulebooks.

Kantar noted that the iPhone 7 continues to be a top seller in large markets, particularly in Great Britain, France, and Germany. In total, iOS made gains across most regions excluding Japan, Spain, and China. In China specifically, iOS saw its largest year-over-year decline of 8.4 percentage points, knocking its market share down to 16.6 percent below Android’s 83.2 percent. Kantar noted that while the iPhone 7 is the top-selling smartphone in China as well, increased competition from local vendors Oppo and Vivo contribute to Apple’s continued yearly declines in the country.

iOS saw its biggest growth in the three months ending January 2017 in France, increasing 4.9 percentage points year-over-year to capture 24.2 of the smartphone OS market share in the country. In all of Europe’s five big markets — Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain — iOS had a 22.7 percent market share, an increase of 2.4 percentage points from the same period last year. Like in the U.S., Android remains dominant in Europe at 74.3 percent of the smartphone market.

A redesigned “iPhone 8” will help boost Apple’s share of the market when it launches later this year, although recent rumors suggest that the tenth anniversary iPhone might launch much later than more iterative 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch “iPhone 7s” devices in September. When it does, the all-new iPhone is predicted to include an edge-to-edge OLED display, lack a traditional Home Button, and potentially have wireless charging capabilities.

Tag: Kantar Worldpanel
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The Morning After: Wednesday, March 15 2017

Hey, good morning!

Welcome to Wednesday. Remember all those big, beautiful TVs from CES back in early January? Well, we have prices for both Sony and Samsung’s newest screens. And if you can afford a $5 OLED TV, how about a $1,650 smartwatch? Welcome to the big-spender edition of The Morning After.

Everything has a price.Sony’s first 4K OLED TV starts at $5k

After Sony unveiled the beautiful XBR-A1E during CES, our next question was how much will it cost? Now we know, the price-tags are $5,000 and $6,500 for the 55- and 65-inch models, respectively. That puts them squarely between the mid- and high-end models from OLED pioneer LG, and Sony says they’ll be in stores next month.

Are you ready Neo? There could be a ‘Matrix’ relaunch on the way

It’s early, but Hollywood news outlets are reporting that Warner Bros. is working on a plan for another movie version of The Matrix. Names tossed around in the rumors include writer Zak Penn and actor Michael B. Jordan, although there’s no word on any level of involvement from the Wachowskis. The only question now is if there’s any thing left that can recapture the magic of the original movie and its bullet-time action sequences that blew away audiences in 1999.

You can swap the smart part out for a mechanical timepiece TAG Heuer made a modular $1,650 smartwatch

When TAG Heuer released its first smartwatch two years ago, it had a price tag of $1,800 and was dubbed the most expensive Android Wear device on the market. Still, more than 56,000 people bought it, which is certainly enough reason for the Swiss watchmaker to delve into the smartwatch business once again. And so it has.

It’s artSamsung’s 2017 QLED TVs start rolling out

Samsung is also ready to deliver on its 2017 TV lineup, with LED sets ranging in price from $2,800 for a 55-inch Q7, to $6,800 for a 75-inch Q8. The top of the line Q9 series has yet to appear, however. The company also promised its second-gen Ultra HD Blu-ray player launches next month for $400, and showed off a quirky ‘The Frame’ TV that doubles as a piece of artwork when it’s not in use.

It’s not a mistake this time‘La La Land’ composer on electronica’s key role in the film

Where does a drum machine fit in with traditional jazz music? That question drives the plot of not-quite Best Picture La La Land, and provided a challenge to its composer Justin Hurwitz. That challenge paid off with an Oscar for Best Original Music Score, and in an interview at SXSW, Hurwitz explains how he pulled off being a both a revolutionary and a traditionalist.

Say hello to Orisa Your new ‘Overwatch’ hero is a four-legged robot tank with a lot to prove.

Orisa, the latest character to enter the Overwatch fray, will be widely available on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 21st. Orisa is an “anchor tank,” as Blizzard calls it — this means she’s the kind of massive, damage-absorbing hero that an entire team can rally behind and use as a home base, even in the middle of hectic fights. Reinhardt is another example of an “anchor tank” in Overwatch. For experienced players, Orisa is described as a mix of Reinhardt (a big, healthy character with a giant shield) and Zarya (who has a laser gun and barriers she can throw onto her allies).

But wait, there’s more…

• ‘Full Throttle Remastered’ will tear up the road this April
• This self-cleaning bag freshens up your smelly gym clothes
• Microsoft’s Slack-fighting ‘Teams’ app rolls out to all Office 365 users
• ‘Fistful of Stars’ lets you experience a stellar birth in VR
• Russia finds Apple guilty of fixing iPhone prices

A pair of headphones caught fire on a woman’s head as she slept during a flight

Why it matters to you

It’s another reminder to take extra care with your battery-powered tech gadgets and be aware if they start to overheat.

There’s never going to be a good time to have a pair of headphones explode on your head, but you certainly don’t want it to happen while you’re cooped up in coach at 38,000 feet. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to a very unlucky woman on a recent flight from Beijing to Melbourne.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has just released details of the February incident, reporting that it occurred around two hours into the flight as the woman took a nap.

It’s believed the battery inside the wireless headphones caught fire after overheating. Safety officials have declined at this stage to release details of the device’s make and model.

More: Scientists shed light on why lithium-ion batteries sometimes go boom

As you can see from the shocking images, the harrowing incident left the unnamed passenger with a blackened face and burned hair, though it’s not clear if she suffered more serious injuries.

The woman described what happened in a statement to the ATSB: “As I went to turn around I felt burning on my face. I just grabbed my face which caused the headphones to go around my neck.

“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.”

A quick-thinking flight attendant extinguished the fire with a bucket of water, preventing the incident from becoming even more serious. The ATSB said both the battery and  its cover melted and stuck to the floor of the plane, adding that for the rest of the flight the passengers “endured the smell of melted plastic, burned electronics, and burned hair,” while the woman at the center of the incident said people were “coughing and choking the entire way home.”

More: Lithium-ion battery inventor unveils new ultra-efficient glass battery

The frightening episode appears to be another reminder that badly or cheaply made lithium-ion batteries that power many of today’s gadgets really do have the potential to cause serious havoc. Last year hoverboards were in the spotlight after multiple reports of exploding batteries, while Samsung’s reputation took a massive hit just a few months ago when its Galaxy Note 7 shipped with faulty batteries, a number of which caught fire.

The ATSB assessed that “the batteries in the [headphones] likely caught fire,” and reminded plane passengers who carry gadgets powered by lithium-ion batteries that:

– batteries should be kept in an approved stowage, unless in use– spare batteries must be in your carry-on baggage NOT checked baggage– if a passenger’s smartphone or other device has fallen into the seat gap, locate their device before moving powered seats– if a passenger cannot locate their device, they should refrain from moving their seat and immediately contact a cabin crew member.

Float lots of different objects above this magical levitating base

Why it matters to you

If you’re on the lookout for a fun ornament for your home, or simply like the idea of watching your dinner hover above the dining table, then the Levitating X could be for you.

We’ve seen quite a few levitating gadgets and gizmos float through the doors of DT in recent months, but while many feature a single levitating object, this latest offering from Levitating Design Labs lets you choose from a variety of items to suspend in mid-air.

Powered by electromagnetic suspension technology, the Levitating X collection features, for example, several 3D-printed decorative pieces, a drinking glass, a pot for your favorite plant, and a small pillow for your watch, jewelry, or other such diminutive item.

But you could probably have the most fun with the levitating plate, or a set of them if you have the cash to splash. It’d certainly impress any party guests when they walk in and see their first course hovering above the dining table. Or possibly freak them out a bit.

You have two different levitation bases to choose from. The larger one is wireless and incorporates a rechargeable battery, while the second, slimmer offering requires an AC power source.

As the video below shows, it’s easy to set up the Levitating X. Simply slot in the proprietary levitation assist plate. Next, place the object you want to levitate onto the base before gently removing the plate. It’ll then float above the base, at which point you can give it a gentle tap to make it slowly rotate.

The Chicago-based startup behind Levitation X says it opted for a square base rather than a round one because the former can be easily placed side-by-side with multiple bases, “allowing for the future creation of large-surface levitating products.”

More: Levitate your phone while you charge it wirelessly with the OvRcharge

The team is looking for Kickstarter funding to the tune of $35,000 to make Levitation X a reality. Early-bird offers include the base and a plate for $150, which is $100 off the expected retail price. The same deal also applies to the plant pot and pillow.

For $250 you can choose from one of the decorative pieces — that’s $150 off the expected retail cost. There’s also the chance to choose extra objects for between $20 and $130 a piece, and the aim is to add new products every month.

Assuming the team reaches its funding target, the kit will start shipping in June, 2017.

Own a Karma Grip? Then you might want to check out GoPro’s new drone kit

Why it matters to you

Karma Grip owners without a drone may be tempted to spend out on GoPro’s new Flight Kit designed especially for them.

If you bought GoPro’s image-stabilizing Karma Grip and you fancy doing something else with it other than just holding it in your hand, then how about sticking it on a drone?

The company has just launched the Karma Flight Kit offering everything you need to get your silky smooth videos airborne.

As well as the recently relaunched Karma drone, the $600 Flight Kit also includes a smart carrying case, the Karma Controller, a battery, a charger, and six propellers. The case also features a custom inlay for the Grip so you can carry all the gear together.

To get flying, all you have to do is remove the stabilizer, harness, and camera from your Karma Grip and then lock the device into the drone.

GoPro’s Karma drone got off to a dire start last year when, just weeks after launch, the company was forced to recall all units after discovering that the motors in a small number of machines were suddenly cutting out during flight.

The Grip sold together with the drone but didn’t reappear on the market until December when GoPro started offering it as a standalone device. The drone, however, didn’t return until February.

GoPro is presumably banking on some of the Grip owners turning their attention to shooting with drones, and with a Hero5 Black or Hero4 camera already in their possession, they could well be tempted.

More: DT’s pick of the best drones on the market today

Taking a closer look at the costs, we can see that anyone who already has the $300 Grip who goes for the $600 Flight Kit will end up paying $100 more than someone who buys the original Karma kit, which includes the Grip and costs $800. GoPro also offers a drone kit with a Hero5 Black camera as well as a Grip, which costs $1100.

The ability to use the Karma Grip separate from the drone was one of the flying machine’s big selling points, but the quadcopter’s motor issues turned its long-awaited debut into a disaster. Now that its full kit is once again back on the market, the California company is hoping for a 2017 as smooth as the shots that its Grip stabilizer provides.

Alexa, vacuum the rug, and make it snappy — Roomba now responds to your voice

Why it matters to you

The Roomba is already one of the easiest vacuum cleaners to use, what with being autonomous, but now that it has an Amazon Alexa integration, things just got even easier.

If autonomy in and of itself doesn’t make your Roomba the best vacuum cleaner of all time, perhaps voice activation will do the trick. Get excited, friends. Everyone’s favorite self-driving vacuum cleaner just added an Amazon Alexa integration, allowing you to communicate with your cleaning assistant with naught but your voice. Moreover, the Roomba’s associated iRobot Home app now comes with a Clean Map report, which displays information around the dirtiest floor areas and total space cleaned.

“iRobot is aggressively pursuing opportunities within the connected home to improve our customers’ experience with our cleaning robots,” said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. “The latest updates for the iRobot Home App make cleaning with an iRobot Roomba vacuuming robot even more user friendly, with voice-activated commands, enhanced mapping features and useful post-cleaning reports. These are exciting next steps towards our vision of an ecosystem of home robots that work collaboratively and further enable the smart home.”

More: Cocorobo: Japan’s emotionally needy answer to the Roomba now plays J-pop

The latest Roombas from iRobot, the 900 Series, promise to combine “adaptive navigation with visual localization,” helping these bots create a map of a home as they do their chores. Clean Map reports then allow you to see these maps. The new app feature also lets you know which areas of your home feature the highest concentrations of dirt or debris, so you might adjust your cleaning (or usage) habits.

As for the new Alexa integration, users will be able to start, stop, and pause Roomba cleaning jobs simply by saying so. For example, by saying “Alexa, ask Roomba to start cleaning,” your vacuuming bot will kick into action. This new skill will be made available to customers in the United States in the second quarter of this year, and will be compatible with any and all Roomba vacuums.

Moto G5 Plus launches in India for ₹16,999

Moto G5 Plus will be up for sale later today in India.

At a media event in New Delhi, Motorola launched the Moto G5 Plus in the Indian market. The Plus variant of the phone is making its debut today, and the standard version is set to launch at a later date in the country.

India is Motorola’s largest global market, and Lenovo is turning to the Moto G series to continue its sales momentum in the country. As such, the Moto G5 Plus features several key upgrades for 2017, including a beefier Snapdragon 625 SoC, metal chassis, and a 12MP camera with f/1.7 lens.

The Moto G5 Plus will be sold in two variants — a model with 3GB of RAM and 16GB storage that will retail for ₹14,999, and a version with 4GB of RAM and 32GB internal storage for ₹16,999. On the software front, the phone comes with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and an update to the Google app adds Google Assistant.

Other specs include a 5.2-inch Full HD display, microSD slot, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, and a 3000mAh battery. It also has NFC, for when Android Pay goes live in India.

The phone features a front fingerprint sensor that’s much more functional than its predecessor, with Lenovo bringing its gesture-based navigation interface to the G5 Plus. Dubbed One Button Nav, you can swipe left across the fingerprint sensor to access the multitasking pane, swipe right to go back, and set custom gestures for launching apps.

The Moto G5 Plus has an amazing camera tucked into a premium body.

With the likes of Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO gaining ground in India, Lenovo has focused on aggressive pricing to turn the tide in its favor. We’ve seen that with the Z2 Plus last year, with the Snapdragon 820-toting device debuting for just ₹19,999.

Following the release of the Redmi Note 4, Lenovo further reduced the price of the Z2 Plus to ₹17,499, making it one of the best bargains in this segment.

The company is sticking to a similar approach with the Moto G5 Plus. The base variant of the device will be available for ₹14,999, while the model with 4GB of RAM and 32GB storage will retail for ₹16,999. The phone will be sold exclusively on Flipkart, with sales kicking off at 11:59 p.m. IST. Motorola is incentivizing the launch with several offers, including a 10% discount for SBI customers.

What do you guys think of the Moto G5 Plus?