Learn Languages VR: Our first take

What if you could have a conversation with someone speaking in a different language, without being spoon fed individual words, whenever and wherever you want? This has long been the holy grail of language, and software has chased it for decades — with marginal success.

Yet there’s new hope to be found in virtual reaility, and Learn Languages VR by Mondly, the company’s first virtual reality application, shows why. In Mondly VR, you don’t interact with an instructor. Instead, you have conversations with a chat bot represented by a variety of digital characters, which asks you questions in the language you have selected.

More: Hands on with DirecTV Now, AT&T’s new streaming service starting at $35

During your conversations you are prompted with common responses to what the character says, and every answer you give is transcribed on screen, so you can see where you messed up. If you answer correctly, a green check mark will hover over the transcription of what you just said. Answer wrong, and the character will repeat the question. Not many human teachers would have this level of patience, but the chatbot is ready to repeat as often as needed.

Learn Languages VR doesn’t stop at chatbots. People learn best through real-world practice, and the application emulates that. You can choose from three VR experiences that test you knowledge — ordering at a restaurant, meeting someone on a train, and checking into a hotel.

So, can you really learn a new language in virtual reality? We gave it a go.

Robot Learning

Mondly is based on a server-side chat bot, which enables the app to speak with you without an actual person feeding it answers. Popular language learning program Rosetta Stone only teaches you new languages in conversations if you schedule a video chat session with one of its tutors. Being able to hear a voice recite a question often times made it easier to understand the pronunciation and context of how to use suggested phrases. And if you are planning to vacation in Barcelona, knowing how to say “can I get a cab” rather than simply a “cab” will certainly help you fit in.

The Mondly experience leverages the immersive quality of VR by the amount of interactivity you can access with just voice and head movements. You stare at the character in your simulation and as you speak, which is a much more natural environment than looking at a book or screen. With just the slightest head movement, you can view and access a transcription of what the chatbot said, see answer suggestions, view English translations, start audio recitations in the selected language, and more.

To get an English translations of suggestions and the chatbot’s answer, you simply hover the cursor over the phrase, and the translation will appear below. Hovering over the speaker icon near any phrase will prompt a voice to recite it back in the selected language. This helps pick up the nuances of languages predicated on vocal inflections, such as Japanese. But, sometimes the app accepts an answer that correctly pronounces a part of the phrase with a different inflection, if the app feels you got the gist of the response across.

Can You Hear Me Now?

The most important part of Mondly is not how intelligent it is, but how well it can hear. Learn Languages VR relies on the illusion of conversing with a person, and that means constant coordination between audio and visual components in order to make you feel like you are somewhere you actually are not. If you are learning a new language in VR, any noticeable lag or miscommunication between you and the instructor means the illusion is gone, which destroys the experience.

“The toughest challenge was to make the speech interaction feel natural in VR.”

“The toughest challenge was to make the speech interaction feel natural in VR,” Mondly co-founder Alexandru Iliescu wrote in a press release for the app. The primacy of sound to the experience is paramount. Before each experience you are prompted to remain quiet as Mondly’s voice detection system calibrates the microphone to the room’s background noise in order to ignore unintended sounds. I used Mondly in a silent office space and in a communal area with constant chatter around, and noticed no difference in the voice recognition.

Even so, the software has some issues to work out. Mondly’s voice recognition is consistently perfect…as long as it’s asked to handle phrases just a few words long. While trying to ask for a beer at a virtual restaurant in French, I could see only parts of my response transcribed.

Seeing the app wasn’t working, We decided to slowly say the sentence word-by-word to see if I was jumbling the pronunciation. When we did, the app displayed different words than what I was speaking, consistently. I yelled “Bier” in French 4 times, and was met “Heir.” Eventually, we gave up.

Too Smart To Teach

Mondly teaching you how to speak a different language through conversations is a double-edged sword. It is a crash course on context, verb tenses, and pronunciation in a language you probably never spoke before. The learning curve can be steep, and the app tends to throw users into the deep end before teaching them to swim.

We found a lesson might start with a simple phrase, then follow up by asking us to recite an eight word sentence introducing ourselves. This seems to make the app most useful to those who can read the language they wish to learn, but don’t know how to form sentences. Those Spanish classes you took in high school could come in handy.

Each experience yields different levels of difficulty, as well. We talked through a light conversation on the train in German without much trouble. Trying to reserve a room with a shower was considerably more complex. After numerous failed attempts at complete phrases, we would repeat each word of the phrase, one by one, to see which words were correct or not. The recognition issues already we mentioned earlier made this process even more arduous.

Mondly is not for beginners, and may not be developed enough for those who just want to brush up on their other languages. It does not necessarily teach you a new language as much as it helps you learn a new language. The average instructor would help you learn words — the building blocks of most languages — before jumping into full sentences.

In the end, Learn Languages VR by Mondly will frustrate you, but if you stick through it, you’ll learn a thing or two. The app is free to download in the Oculus Store for the Samsung Gear VR.

Highs

• Wide variety of languages to choose from at launch
• Can detect voice even in noisy enviornments
• Intuitive controls

Lows

• Voice detection accuracy needs work
• Doesn’t provide language fundamentals

Chrome 57 catches up with Firefox, now supports WebAssembly

Why it matters to you

You’re now one step closer to faster and smaller web apps as Chrome 57 follows Firefox 52 with WebAssembly support.

WebAssembly is a portable code format under development that aims to speed up web apps and create support for cross-browser languages other than JavaScript. Apps created with WebAssembly should run faster and use less code, allowing for faster delivery.

Firefox 52 was recently released with support for WebAssembly and now Google released Chrome 57 with support for the same. WebAssembly support was available in beta versions of Chrome and now it is available to everyone, Liliputing reports.

More: Firefox browser adds WebAssembly support, disables plugin support and prevents fake ‘secure’ cookies

If you want to check out what WebAssembly is capable of accomplishing, then you can fire up Chrome or Firefox and play some games. Tanks! Demo and Cube 2 are two examples, but make sure your browser has updated first before attempting to run either of them. Otherwise, you will get either a crash or an error message.

Chrome 57 also supports the new CSS Grid Layout specification, which makes it easier for web designers to create two-dimensional layouts using grids. Intended to provide for responsive user interface designs, the new layout allows grid elements to span multiple columns or rows. Developers can name CSS grid regions, which should make it easier for others to understand the layout code used to develop web pages.

Google also fixed up the usual bugs in the latest version of Chrome and enhanced some features in Chrome for Android. For example, progressive web apps can now be added to the Android home screen and app drawer, and Google has added a new Media Session API letting developers create custom media notifications that allow for handling media-related events like seeking through or changing tracks.

To get the latest version of Chrome, go to the menu and select Help > About Google Chrome. You will be looking for version 57.0.2987.98. If you were using Chrome when the update was installed, then you will need to relaunch to switch to the new version.

Love to Snapchat your pals? Now you can make Bitmoji shortcuts for your faves

Snapchat will soon let you pin your closest Snap pals to the Home screen for easy chats.

Ignore the fledging IPO struggling to find its footing for just a second. For those of you who may be signed up for the Snapchat Beta — you can sign up for it here — the Android app now lets you pin specific Bitmoji to your home screen, reports The Verge.

You might be wondering, why would I want to do that? Well, pinning a Bitmoji makes a shortcut to a Snapchat chat window with that friend or group of friends. It’s to encourage you to use the app for all your corresponding needs. You can access the ability through Android’s native widget functionality, which is likely why this particular feature is limited to Android users at present.

Thus far, my favorite part of trying out this feature is realizing how many of my friends and family have actually set up a Bitmoji avatar; I’m fascinated by how they’ve chosen to depict themselves in digital cartoon form. My second favorite part is sending a screenshot to my friends on Snapchat of their avatars pinned to my Home screen, to show them how devoted I am to communicating through this medium. No one has replied to my chats yet, however. Also, if your friend doesn’t have Bitmoji set up, there’s no way to pin them.

If you’d like to try out the new Snapchat feature, you can join the beta. However, the stable version of the app seems to include the Bitmoji update, too.

Amazon Echo finally supports Bluetooth speakers: Here’s how to connect them and why you should

Amazon Echo can’t pair with other speakers. Well, until now.

Previously, for some people, the Amazon Echo Dot seemed to have an advantage over its taller, full-fledged sibling. But thanks to an update that is quietly rolling out now, you can finally connect the original Echo – not just Dot – to any Bluetooth speaker and fully leverage its power.

For the audiophiles out there who want to stream better audio from Echo but through a Bluetooth speaker, here’s what you need to do.

• Buy Amazon Echo (UK), Buy Amazon Echo (US) 
• Buy Amazon Echo Dot (UK), Buy Amazon Echo (US)

Why would you want to connect them?

In our review of Amazon Echo, you’ll notice we were not super impressed with the device’s built-in speaker. If you’re using Echo as a music player, then you’ll probably want something with more oomph. The ability to pair it to another, Bluetooth speaker would allow you to stream better quality audio from that external speaker while still gaining access to the Alexa assistant inside of Echo.

How to connect Echo to Bluetooth speaker

Connect

Before we get started, Amazon recommends the Bluetooth speaker should be at least 3ft away from Echo to make sure it doesn’t interfere with Alexa’s ability to hear your commands. Also, you should use a speaker certified for use with Echo Dot (see the full list here).

• Disconnect any other Bluetooth devices from your Echo, as Echo devices can only connect to one Bluetooth device at a given time.
• Turn on pairing mode on your Bluetooth speaker (refer to the user guide for your Bluetooth speaker).
• Open the Alexa app on your mobile device and select Settings.
• Select your device, and then select Bluetooth > Pair a New Device.
• When your Echo device discovers your Bluetooth speaker, the speaker will appear in the list of available of devices within the Alexa app. Select your Bluetooth speaker. Alexa will tell you if the connection is successful.
• In the Alexa app select Continue. Your Bluetooth speaker is now paired.
• To connect to a previously paired device, say “Connect.” Your Echo will connect to the device that was last connected.

Disconnect 

If you want to disconnect, so you can play audio from another device on your Bluetooth speaker, just say “Disconnect.”

Can you control the speaker with Echo?

Yes. You can control audio volume when connected to a Bluetooth speaker using your Echo. You can do this by voice, volume options on the device, or the volume controls on your Bluetooth speaker.

• Amazon Echo: First 7 things you should do to get Alexa started

Want to know more?

Check out Amazon’s Help page. You can also see Pocket-lint’s Amazon Echo tips guide for more helpful tricks.

‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ gets new racers and revives old modes

Without any hint that a new version was in the works, it was pretty clear that Mario Kart 8, one of the best reasons to own a Wii U, would be ported to the Switch. This is good news for the record-breaking legions of folks who bought the new console and want a great first-party racing experience that’s been retooled and expanded. The Switch version, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, includes all current DLC and several new characters to zoom around your favorite tracks. And Rainbow Road, if you’re that person.

Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy from the instant classic Splatoon join the racer lineup (and bring their own custom carts, too), along with King Boo, Dry Bones and Bowser, Jr. It also includes a redone Battle mode that revives modes from Kart games of yore, from classic balloon battle to Double Dash’s Bob-omb Blast, Mario Kart Wii’s coin challenge and others. Plus, players can hold two items at once now — including the Battle-exclusive jump-enabling Feather, which hasn’t been seen since the original Super Mario Kart on SNES.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe comes out on April 28th alongside the strap-on Joy Con wheel peripherals released the same day, which will be sold in packs of two for $15.

Via: Polygon

Source: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe trailer (YouTube)

WikiLeaks CIA cache: Fool me once

This week’s poorly conceived distraction from Trump and Putin sittin’ in a tree was brought to us by WikiLeaks, who dumped 8,761 documents of the CIA’s hacking arsenal online for all to see. The leak factory didn’t even bother trying to play coy — it actually made the “Vault 7” password an anti-CIA JFK quote about destroying the agency.

Hilarity ensued. Well, if you think it’s funny when the press parrots WikiLeaks’ misleading claims wrapped in PR spin.

What sort of misleading claims? How about the suggestion that the safest encryption apps, Signal and WhatsApp (neither of which actually appear in the document dump), are broken. Or that the CIA bugs everyone’s phones. That our government is spying on us through our TV’s with the flick of a switch. And that the CIA, who is providing evidence to Congress in the Trump-Russia probe, is part of a conspiracy to damage… Russia.

When the news hit Tuesday morning the bigger outlets ran wild, uncritically repeating the WikiLeaks press statement, and reporting on the documents without having them verified. If only being first was better than being correct.

no they don’t. julian assange does, because he knows people will repeat it without qualification. https://t.co/ZQeb2Czr5Q

— John Cook (@johnjcook) March 7, 2017

WikiLeaks framed the whole media-attention sideshow as a giant embarrassment for an out of control CIA. Breitbart loved it. Especially the bit about how the CIA is trying to frame those completely innocent Russian government hackers. Hey, at least it was a break from WikiLeaks lending support to Trump’s ravings that Obama wiretapped him.

By Tuesday afternoon, people were starting to get over the shock of learning that the CIA is a spy agency. A few news outlets started to correct their shit. They might’ve even felt a bit swindled by having regurgitated that crucial first round of PR from WikiLeaks, casting the dump as some sort of Snowden 2.0. (Snowden, for his part, has done his very best to make it a Snowden 2.0.)

Many in hacking and security weren’t taking the bait to begin with. Many hackers were less interested this time by what was in the drop than by who it was from, and why it was being released now.

By now the press has started to sort things out — but only after the misinformation had spread. But as Zeynep Tufekci writes, this is just a page from the WikiLeaks playbook. This time, she said, “there are widespread claims on social media that these leaked documents show that it was the C.I.A. that hacked the Democratic National Committee, and that it framed Russia for the hack. (The documents in the cache reveal nothing of the sort.)”

In an unusual turn, the CIA made a statement. Intelligence officials told press the agency was aware of a breach leading to this very dump, and is looking at contractors as the likeliest source. A formal criminal probe has been opened.

Thanks to the disinformation, lots of people are concerned about what was in the dump and how it affects their privacy and security. The contents haven’t been confirmed by the CIA but it looks like it’s shaping up to be the real deal. It mostly contains a lot of attack tools, and lots of clues that CIA operatives love Dr. Who, Nyan Cat, and hoard cheesy memes.

The files consist mostly of notes and documentation on the CIA’s hack attack tools — very specific tools used when the agency focuses on a very specific target. These aren’t just Hoovering up everyone’s data like the lazy old NSA, this is what a modern Bond’s “Q” would use to go after a special someone, or someone’s.

As in, probably not you.

The attacks focus on operating systems, not on apps themselves. That bit you read about the CIA cracking Signal and WhatsApp was false. What this all shows, interestingly, is that encryption on those apps is tight enough that even the CIA hasn’t been able to break them and needs to pop old versions of iOS just to read some ambassador’s uncreative sexts.

There is literally no surprise here. The ubiquity of large systems having exploitable bugs, and the implications of this, have been reported on for decades.

Perhaps the non-stop cycle of social media outrage has given us collective amnesia. What’s old is new, and suddenly everyone is shocked to hear that there are 0days in Windows and Android, and people are taking advantage of exploits. We all jump on a chair and lift our skirts and cry “rat!” because someone, somewhere, hasn’t taken our advice about what to do with vulnerabilities.

So what’s vulnerable, according to the CIA’s hack attack tools circa 2013-2016? That would be Windows (Exchange 7 and 10 especially), OS X El Capitan, some Apple iPhone operating systems, and as we’d expect, a range of Android system exploits. The documents indicate that antivirus products like F-Secure, Bitdefender and Comodo are a pain in the ass to deal with, which makes them look pretty good.

The irony is that the best way to avoid these kinds of attacks is to update your system software when you’re supposed to, don’t get phished, and try not to become a CIA target by, say, committing treason. Oh, and don’t stop using reputable encrypted apps. Especially not because some guy with a hard-on for the CIA told press the apps were compromised.

The docs do reveal that the CIA is well into hacking Internet of Things devices to use for surveillance with its Embedded Development Branch. According to journalists who are actually reading the documents, meeting notes from 2014 show that the CIA’s analysts “are looking at self-driving cars, customized consumer hardware, Linux-based embedded systems, and whatever else they can get their hands on.”

This is to be expected, because spies gotta spy. Of course that since we live in a time when companies are using connected teddy bears to surveil kids and then getting owned by malicious hackers, we should expect spy agencies to roll IoT into their bespoke little government funded “Q” laboratories.

It should make you uncomfortable — and angry — as hell that the CIA can use your smart toaster to spy on you. But, what’s really troubling is that it’s just piggybacking on data that companies are already collecting. Truth is, the US government isn’t the early adopter here, it’s Amazon, Google and Facebook that are really the front-line developers of the surveillance state.

Image: REUTERS/Rick Wilking (Samsung TV)

Sky Devices offers up a Photo-Centric phone with the Elite Photo Pro (review)

There is an awful lot of publicity recently for the unlocked phone market. And it’s generally well-deserved: the recent flood of good (if not great) devices that can hold their water against the likes of the big boys Samsung, LG, and the Cupertino-based-company-that-shall-not-be-named.

The added draw is that with the death of traditional 2-year service contracts, you as a consumer aren’t tied to a handful of subsidized phone options. Instead, you can pick from a much larger pool of devices, and (generally speaking) if you break, lose, are just aren’t happy with your current ride, you’re only a SIM switch away from a new and different phone.

And the phone makers have responded to this growing market in a huge way. So much so that one manufacturer has already skyrocketed to become the world’s #3. On top of that are several up-and-coming manufacturers who has planted its flag in the market, looking to take its piece of the smartphone pie.

One manufacturer is Sky Devices, who has been selling Android smartphones throughout Latin America, and is now making its move into the U.S. While you would think this sounds like a brand with just a few devices, in fact, they boast 29 different phone models (not to mention 3 smartwatch/wearables).

Recently I was given the opportunity to test drive its finest offering, the Sky Devices Elite Photo Pro. While the initial looks are there, let’s see how this phone fares in the real world as a premium phone offering.

Specs

Let’s start with the numbers. With this device you get:

• Display: 5.0″, 1280p x 720p
• Operating System: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• Processor: MediaTek MTK6735, 1.3 GHz Quad Core
• Storage: 16 GB (expandable)
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Camera: 16 MP main; 13 MP front shooter
• Battery: 2000 mAh
• Connectivity: 2G 850/900/1800/1900
  3G/4G 850/900/1900/2100
  4G/LTE/2/3/4/7/17/20

To those up on their smartphone knowledge, these are obviously not top-tier numbers, but I consider myself “tech-frugal”, where there’s a definite value point where specs and price meet. And hey, this device retails for about $150; which leaves you with some breathing room in your day-to-day budget. That said, I believe it’s worth seeing how the phone performs in the hand.

What’s In the Box?

Sky Devices takes good care to set you up right with this phone. In the box you will find:

• The phone (duh)
• A pair of gloss-black earbuds
• A wall charger with USB cord
• Two screen protectors (stick-on, and tempered glass)
• A clear snap-on silicone case
• A couple of screen-cleaning wipes.
• The true bonus here is a wide-angle/macro clip-on stacked lens adapter for the phone’s camera, allowing an x0.63 magnification wide-angle, or if you choose, a 15x magnification macro. It comes in the package ready to go. More on this accessory below.

The stacked macro and wide-angle clip-on lenses.

Normal camera shot.

With the macro lens.

Normal camera shot.

With wide-angle lens. Notice the “fish-eye” effect happening, though.

What’s not in the box, but comes with the phone anyway, is a 2-year warranty from Sky Devices, complete with toll-free assistance direct from the manufacturer.

Body & Display

The Elite Photo Pro is a really good-looking phone right out of the box; sporting a “soft-etch” (my term) back… it’s plastic but hard to tell until you touch it. I was honestly impressed upon viewing & holding it for the first time.  Silver is your only color choice here.

This “soft-etch” gives a good feel to your hand. Around the device, there’s a micro-USB charging port at the bottom, along with a microphone. On the left side, you have both the power & volume up/down buttons. Up top are the 3.5 mm headphone jack and second mic. The right side is clean along its length.

Left side. Nothing to see here.

Bottom.

Top.

Right side w/power & volume.

Front display.

Rear cover.

On the front the display is up-front and center; it’s 5″ diagonal with minimal side bezels.

The 720p resolution is OK, but nothing that will blow your mind in terms of detail. The top holds the front-facing camera and notification LED, while the bottom has the now-traditional home, back, and recent app capacitive keys. These keys sit dark until one is touched, then provide a subtle blue illumination to all three. In general, these keys were very responsive, and if you’re an Android veteran you’ll have no problem tracing across the dark keys as they’re right where you’d expect them to be. There’s also a microSD card slot which accepts up to 32 GB of additional storage.

On the back is the camera lens, flash, and single speaker. The lens is given special visual treatment, with a pronounced circular bump-out.

Given the display, visuals are decent but not jaw-dropping. Still, the color saturation is pretty darn good, and overall it performs nothing short of above-average across all functions (Netflix, gaming, general apps, etc.).

Software

Lollipop 5.1. I know, I know; this is more than a generation old at this time. But given the specs, the price point, and the [perceived] target market, there isn’t really anything this phone can’t do for everyday usage. Power Android users may take umbrage to the OS, but what you’re missing is Now on Tap, Doze battery saver, fine tuning of app permissions, and fingerprint login (which this phone doesn’t have anyway). None of these I consider ground-breaking or must-have features, so to me, they’re no big loss.

There is a skin over the stock Android experience here; it reminds me a bit of LG‘s flagship devices, with a bit of a cartoon-style look and color scheme. Beyond this, there isn’t a lot of differentiation from the stock Google offering, and I claim this to be a good thing.

One anomaly I found is that the recent-apps button (bottom-right) wants instead to act the same as a long press on the screen, essentially backing you out to see the homescreens and select widgets & wallpapers.

I found performance to be really good given the price. Lag was minimal to non-existent, and switching between apps offered a satisfying small amount of delay and/or stutter; nothing to really write about here.

Camera, Camera, Camera

Here’s this phone’s big claim to fame (or marketing push) is the camera, a 16 MP unit teamed up with a 13 MP selfie shooter. And the phone design really tries to visually emphasize the camera, with a pronounced circular cutout tucked tightly into the upper corner of the body. A single flash unit sits just below.

Camera Modes

Real-world test shots were mixed. In good light the camera performed well, getting all the contrast and colors one would expect. But when the light levels dimmed, it had some trouble keeping up. And in darker interior environments the Elite Photo Pro struggled some, with quite a bit of noise and greatly reduced contrast capabilities.

Good detail and contrast mid-day.

Color saturation is pretty spot-on with good lighting.

Things get murky with less light.

HDR tries to bump up the light levels across the board.

Given that this is obviously the most-hyped feature of this device, I was somewhat disappointed by the performance. My personal holy grail of smartphones is to find one that doesn’t go all-out on all the specs but does focus on a truly industry-leading camera experience while providing a better cost value to the consumer. The Elite Photo Pro certainly wants to be this but doesn’t quite get there.

One other niggle is that the lens sits so very close to the edge and corner of the phone body, that it becomes entirely too easy to let your finger obscure a portion of your photos. I had to devise a non-traditional way (to me) of holding the device for photography purposes.

Conclusion

Ok, let’s go full-circle here. The Sky Devices Elite Photo Pro retails for $150; meaning you could literally buy 4 or more of these for the price of one mainstream flagship phone. So we have to keep our expectations in check here.

For the money spent, you get a very nice frame & body, a pretty good display, almost stock Android, decent storage and RAM (what would have been industry-leading a couple of years ago), a pretty good camera, some nice accessories, and enough money left in the bank to tackle some of other life’s challenges and opportunities.

So overall, I have to say I really like the Sky Devices Elite Photo Pro phone. If you are looking for a more-than-OK Android device and don’t want to spend upwards of $1,000 on something that will irrelevant two years from now, or if you have family members looking for good Android of their own, I do recommend this device.

You can purchase the Elite Photo Pro from the likes of Amazon, or directly from the Sky Devices website.

Community group: AT&T ‘digitally redlines’ poor neighborhoods

Cleveland-based community groups have issued a report accusing AT&T of engaging in a process known as “digital redlining” with regards to its broadband service in the city. The groups, Connect Your Community and the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), allege that AT&T has purposefully and “systematically discriminated against lower-income Cleveland neighborhoods in its deployment of home Internet and video technologies over the past decade.”

“Digital redlining” is an update to an older real estate term wherein lenders would refuse to loan money to people in low-income areas because they were deemed a financial liability. The technique was often used to segregate minorities and the working class from their wealthier white neighbors until it was outlawed by the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and again by the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. “When lending institutions have engaged in similar policies and practices, our communities haven’t hesitated to call it ‘redlining,’” the advocacy groups reported. “We see no reason to hesitate to call it ‘digital redlining’ in this case.”

However, AT&T has reportedly been practicing a similar technique in Cleveland, Ohio with its broadband upgrades. “Specifically, AT&T has chosen not to extend its ‘fiber-to-the-node’ VDSL infrastructure—which is now the standard for most Cuyahoga County suburbs and other urban AT&T markets throughout the US—to the majority of Cleveland Census blocks, including the overwhelming majority of blocks with individual poverty rates above 35 percent,” the report states.

So while folks out in the suburbs enjoy connection speeds from 18Mbps up to 1Gbps, those in the poorest urban neighborhoods were stuck with paltry speeds of 768kbps to 6mbps. That doesn’t even qualify as broadband according to FCC guidelines. What’s more, this practice violates state provisions that otherwise prevent cable companies from excluding customers based on their income and race.

This isn’t the first time that AT&T has been caught being sneaky with its service offerings in the Cleveland area. In 2016, the NDIA sounded the alarm on AT&T’s practice of overcharging customers in areas where the company had yet to upgrade its network architecture. In 2015, when AT&T and DirecTV were attempting to merge, the FCC required that AT&T discount its service fee to $5/month for low-income customers until the company upgraded its equipment. Instead, AT&T exploited a loophole in the requirement and continued to charge those customers full price even though their connection speeds didn’t top 3Mbps. It wasn’t until the NDIA brought this practice to light that the company announced it would comply with both the word and the spirit of the FCC ruling.

When reached for comment, a representative for the NDIA declined to comment but directed me to local news coverage of the story. A representative for AT&T issued the following statement: “Access to the internet is essential, which is why we’ve continuously invested in expanding service and enhancing speeds. The report does not accurately reflect the investment we’ve made in bringing faster internet to urban and rural areas across the U.S. While we are investing in broadband, we’re also investing in technologies that will mitigate some of the infrastructure limitations.”

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Digital Inclusion

5.8-Inch iPhone Expected to Have Flat Display Despite ‘Curved’ Rumors

Apple is widely expected to launch a 5.8-inch iPhone with an edge-to-edge OLED display later this year, made possible by slimmer bezels and no Home button. And while some reports have claimed the screen will be curved, a growing number of sources expect the device to stick with a flat display.

“We anticipate Apple will adopt a flat implementation of OLED design on their special iPhone model, which is analogous to the current 2.5D glass design,” IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam, who researches and analyzes the supply chain of smartphone makers such as Apple, told MacRumors today.

“Much like the recently announced LG G6, we anticipate a touchscreen with a new longer aspect ratio design to take advantage of higher coverage area of the iPhone in its entirety. This new design language is expected to become the trend for 2017, as we all anticipate Samsung’s reveal later this month,” he added.

Lam is referring to the LG G6’s 5.7-inch LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, meaning the screen’s length is double the size of its width. iPhones have a 16:9 aspect ratio. Likewise, leaked pictures of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 reveal a similarly longer display with slim bezels and no physical home button.

Last month, he explained how the LG G6 achieves a large screen while remaining holdable and pocketable:

LG’s G6 is a study in creating large immersive screen designs that do not break the ergonomic requirements of the average human hand. By addressing dueling consumer demands for larger screens but yet more pocketable device, LG took on the challenge of re-imagining what a modern smartphone should look like and function ergonomically.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Chinese research firm TrendForce have also recently said they expect Apple’s next flagship iPhone to have a 2.5D display, which refers to the slightly curved edges that iPhone displays have had since the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in 2014.

The Wall Street Journal recently said Apple’s next high-end iPhone will have a curved screen, but the report did not divulge any specific details. The Korea Herald also said the device will have a curved OLED display based on a flexible plastic substrate, rather than glass, which is typically used for flat displays.

Kuo and IHS Markit analyst Kevin Wang previously expected the 5.8-inch iPhone to have a curved screen, possibly with dual curved edges like the Galaxy S7 edge, but each source has since reversed course, which is understandable given Apple has reportedly tested at least ten different iPhone prototypes this year.

Japanese website Nikkei Asian Review and Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis have also outlined expectations for an iPhone with a curved display in the past, so there is clearly a divide between the rumors that might not clear up until “iPhone 8” part leaks likely begin to surface over the coming weeks and months.

One possibility is that reports calling for a “curved” screen are actually referring to the 2.5D cover glass, as seen in previous iPhone rumor cycles. Also, given the flexible properties of OLED, some reports might be simply assuming the next iPhone will have a curved display, when a flat design is still an option.

IHS Markit expects Apple to use OLED on a larger number of iPhone models in the future. Lam noted the longer aspect ratio will afford Apple new uses of the display, such as Touch Bar-like functionality. He also expects the 5.8-inch iPhone to have Touch ID embedded in the display, in line with previous rumors.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
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Asus ROG Maximus IX Extreme Z270 motherboard has built-in water cooling

Why it matters to you

If you want a liquid-cooled gaming PC but don’t want to design one yourself or buy a pre-built option, Asus has a great new motherboard option for you.

Not everyone has the time and expertise to design and build the perfect gaming PC. That doesn’t mean they should break down and buy a preconfigured and possibly more expensive PC from a system builder. Therefore, the more that components are able to integrate advanced features the better.

Asus has taken that idea to heart and is introducing a new gaming motherboard that includes one relatively advanced gaming feature — water cooling — with the board itself. The Asus ROG Maximum IX Extreme Z270 isn’t the least expensive option, but it builds in some convenient technology, as Hexus reports.

More: Asus gears up to sell three graphics cards based on the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

Asus dubs the solution the “Water Cooling Master,” and it’s a monoblock that Asus designed along with Bitspower specifically for the new motherboard. It cools the CPU, VRM module, and M.2 slot, and integrates eight fan connections and a number of sensors that provide flow-rate, water-leak, and temperature data to the ROG Fan Xpert 4 software. It’s also Asus ROG-themed and is designed to reduce some of the complexity of the typical liquid cooling system.

In addition, the Maximum IX Extreme Z270 includes all of the usual high-end gaming motherboard features. There’s an extensive array of connections with support for all of the latest technology, including dual M.2 PCI3 3.0 x4 with NVMe SSD RAID support, 2X2 802.11AC Wi-Fi with MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 4.1, and Thunderbolt 3.

There are a host of PCIe expansion slots including two PCIE 3.0 x16 slots supporting x16/x8/x8, a PCIe 3.0 x16 supporting x4 mode, and another PCIe 3.0 x4 slot. The board supports both Nvidia 2-way SLI and AMD 3-way CrossFireX mult-GPU setups.

High-end audio is supported via a SupremeFX S1220 codec and ESS Sabre Hi-Fi ES9023P digital-to-analog converter. A Texas Instruments RC 4580 op-amp pushes heavy volumes with low distortion. Sonic Radar III, Sonic Studio III, and LED-lighted 3.5mm jacks round out the audio support.

The Asus ROG Maximum IX Extreme Z270 uses an Intel Z270 chipset and supports all of the latest seventh- and sixth-generation Core, Pentium, and Celeron processors. Turbo Boost 2.0 I is on hand, as well as full support for Intel 14nm CPUs.

If you’re still on the Intel bandwagon and want to save yourself some hassle in setting up a liquid cooling system, then Asus’ newest gaming motherboard might be for you. Just know that you’re going to pay for it. The ROG Maximum IX Extreme X270 will be available first in Europe and at a whopping 620 British pounds ($755).