OnePlus 3T Midnight Black color option is now up for sale for $479

You can now pick up the OnePlus 3T Midnight Black color option without waiting in line.

The sleek Midnight Black color option for the OnePlus 3T is now available for purchase. The phone is up for sale on OnePlus’ website for $479 in the U.S., €479 in Europe, and £439 in the UK.

The Midnight Black variant features “space-grade aluminum with three carefully applied dark coatings 14 microns thick” to bring out the natural look of the metal. It also undergoes two sandblasting treatments with various sizes of metal, and has an anti-fingerprint coating to prevent smudges.

Other than that, the hardware itself is unchanged from the standard variant, and includes a 5.5-inch Full HD panel, Snapdragon 821 SoC, 6GB of RAM, 128GB storage, 16MP front and rear cameras, and a 3400mAh battery with Dash Charge tech.

OnePlus has mentioned that the device will be sold in limited quantities, so if you’re interested, you’d best act fast.

See at OnePlus

Ikea goes after Philips Hue with own budget smart lighting collection

Ikea just introduced a “Smart Lighting” collection.

The range, which will arrive in UK stores in April, includes energy-efficient LED bulbs, as well as lighting panels and doors. These different products can be managed remotely via an app, called Tradfri, which Ikea said will let you completely personalise your home lighting setup. The Swedish retailer’s Smart Lighting collection is part of its “Home Smart” initiative that aims to make expensive, smart home devices more affordable.

Ikea has described its new range, which starts at £15 for a kit with a steering device and an LED bulb, as a “plug-and-play solution”, meaning that there is no need for hardwiring. You can simply switch your traditional lightbulb with a Tradfri LED bulb, for instance. Other pieces in the range include the £69 Tradfri gateway kit (includes two white spectra LED bulbs), £29 Tradfri dimming kit white spectrum, £25 Tradfri wireless motion kit sensor, and £90 LED light doors and panels. Again, all of these can be managed and customised via the Tradfri app for phones and tablets.

• What Philips Hue smart bulbs are there and which should you buy?

The lights can be switched from warm to cold light using a remote control or the app, and you can group individual lamps together to create lighting moods. And sometime this autumn, Ikea said the Tradfri app will be updated with an “Away from Home” function that will allow you to set lights to timers or remotely turn lights on and off. If any of this interests you, check out Tradfri at IKEA’s UK website.

Ikea is basically going after Philips Hue and other smart LED lamp products, but unlike Hue, this offering is much easier on the wallet. We plan to test them out soon and will let you know how they compare to similar products we’ve reviewed.

NASA prepares the ISS for its second space taxi dock

NASA has begun preparing the ISS’ second space taxi dock for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. Flight controllers at NASA Johnson Space Center have taken control of the station’s robotic arm, the Canadarm 2, to relocate one of its Space Shuttle-era docking modules. To prepare for the move on March 26th, two crew members conducted a spacewalk to detach the power and data cables connecting the module to its old location. Now, it’s placed right next to the first dock astronauts installed last year.

The 2,600-pound module called Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 (PMA-3) was flown to the ISS on October 2000. While it worked on its own for NASA’s space shuttles, the agency has to install an adapter on top of it for the companies’ space taxis that use a more modern docking system. It employs low-impact technology and can be used for both piloted and autonomous dockings.

On March 30th, ISS crew members will conduct another spacewalk to connect PMA-3 to its new power and data cables. They will then install a docking adapter on the module like crew members did for the first one when it arrives aboard SpaceX’s CRS-16 flight. ISS’ operations integration manager Kenny Todd said they’ll “be ready to install a docking adapter [on PMA-3] at the end of the year [or] first of next year time frame that will provide that second docking port that we’re going to desire when we start seeing commercial crew coming to station.”

Source: CollectSpace

IKEA launches its own low-cost smart lighting range

For many people, their first foray into the world of home automation begins with lighting. There’s a good reason for this: smart bulbs easily fit into existing furnishings and can be operated using just a smartphone, which (mostly) everybody now owns. Philips, with its Hue range, is perhaps the most well known smart bulb maker, but that could soon change thanks to a new entrant: IKEA. That’s right, the world’s biggest furniture is today debuting its own smart lighting range in the UK. As you’d expect, the prices are a lot easier on the wallet.

The Smart Lighting collection consists of TRÅDFRI LED bulbs and remote control, a gateway kit, a motion sensor kit, dimming lights and a selection of LED light panels and doors that can be built into kitchen and bedroom cabinets. To begin with, all of IKEA’s new bulbs provide various shades of white, so don’t start dreaming of a multi-colour setup just yet.

For £69, the gateway kit provides two white LED bulbs, a remote control and a gateway that connects to your router via ethernet. The bulbs are controlled by the TRÅDFRI app, which offers to personalised and user-created presets of warm or cool light. The £29 white spectrum dimming kit, on the other hand, is a lot more analog and requires the use of a handheld control that will change the white colour to one of three settings. IKEA says the bulb is perfect for switching your dining room from a makeshift office into a low-lit dinner party setting, but it could also work as a child’s night light.

There’s also a warm white dimming kit, which comes in at £15. This cheaper plug-and-play kit includes one bulb and a magnetised remote (available in black, white and yellow) that will dim the light between “subtle and strong warm white light” with a simple twist.

With the TRÅDFRI wireless motion sensor kit, which costs £25, IKEA says it wants to “give you and your home a sense of safety with lighting that responds instantly.” When you walk into a room, the light will automatically switch on and remain lit until one, five or 10 minutes have passed. Like all of IKEA’s Smart Lighting products, the sensor itself does not need to be fixed, allowing you to place it in a spot that suits you.

Rounding off the collection is a selection of SURTE, FLOALT and JORMLIEN door and light panels that range between £55 and £100. They’re designed to fit in BESTÅ cabinets and METOD kitchens, offering personalised lighting in one of the most important areas in the house.

Although the lights are going on sale in the UK for the first time, customers in Europe have been able to get their hands on the remote controlled solutions since September last year. The gateway kit, however, is new to all markets and allows customers to add new bulbs starting from £9, depending on the fitting. There’s no word on US availability, but as this is Ikea, you never know.

Source: IKEA

Google Home and WiFi launch in the UK on April 6th

Google’s Home speaker is coming to the UK on April 6th, the company said today. Hosting an event in a makeshift London home, the search giant unveiled its hardware plans for Europe, confirming that the smart speaker will cost £129, undercutting the Amazon Echo by £20. That isn’t all, though: Google WiFi is also coming to the UK on the same day, starting at £129 for a one pack and £229 for two modules.

The Home launched at Google I/O almost a year ago, but has been only available to US customers since November. However, in the time between launches, the company has localised the smart speaker, integrating a number of services and sources tailored specifically for Britons. The BBC, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Sun, The Telegraph, Huffington Post, Sky News and Sky Sports are available from launch, with more being added over time.

The launch of the Home in the UK sees Google go up against one of its biggest rivals: Amazon. The Echo and Echo Dot has largely had the smart speaker market to itself until now, but the Home — with its intelligent Assistant — builds on top of Google’s existing search and AI expertise. It taps into Knowledge Graph, delivers weather updates and keeps you on top of news, while connecting to streaming services like Spotify and Google Music and radio.

Google says the Home and WiFi router will be available via the Google Store, as well as Argos, Dixons, John Lewis and Maplin. The swappable coloured bases will start at £18 for fabric and £36 for metal.

IKEA Announces Affordable Smart Lighting Product Range

Swedish home furniture store IKEA announced its own affordable smart lighting system today called Trådfri, which means “wireless” in Swedish.

The Smart Lighting range of products includes Trådfri LED bulbs, a remote dimmer switch puck, a gateway kit, a motion sensor kit, and dimming lights. IKEA is also introducing a selection of LED light panels and doors that can be built into cabinets for the bedroom and kitchen.

The Gateway starter kit will cost around $80 and includes two bulbs, a remote, and a gateway hub to connect everything to the app. The Trådfri bulbs have three white color temperature options (2200K, 2700K, and 4000K) that IKEA claims each last around 25,000 hours.

“The Ikea vision is to bring affordable home furnishing solutions to the many people. We know from research that existing smart lighting technology is perceived to be too expensive and difficult to understand, so we have worked to remove those barriers to make smart lighting more accessible,” IKEA Home Furnishing expert Helen Longford said in a statement.

Like the Philips Hue series, IKEA’s first range of automated lighting products is based on the ZigBee Light Link standard that got released in a number European countries late last year and should see a larger rollout at the end of this month.

IKEA gives a March 31 availability date for the lighting range in Sweden, with the range expected to arrive in the U.K in April, making them likely to roll out to other countries soon. The IKEA website makes no mention of compatibility with existing smart home platforms like Apple HomeKit, but support for other standards seems likely at some point down the line.

Tag: Ikea
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Apple May Join SoftBank-Backed Investment in Didi Chuxing to Avoid Dilution of its Stake

Chinese ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing is considering a $6 billion investment offer by the Japanese SoftBank Group that could dilute Apple’s stake in the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg on Tuesday reported that the potential funding would be the single largest for a Chinese technology startup on record, but that it would mean Beijing-based Didi would have to balance the interests of its more than 100 investors, which include the likes of Alibaba and Foxconn. Apple is now said to be considering if it should join the investment on a pro-rata basis to avoid dilution of its stakes, according to sources.

Apple invested $1 billion in the company last year, earning it a seat on Didi’s board. However, overall the startup amassed $10 billion in cash in 2016 in order to fund its efforts to develop driverless technology. The company currently faces stringent regulations that limit the number of private vehicles and drivers it operates, which may delay its timeline for an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the company’s business strategy.

SoftBank has been a Didi backer since 2014, but it’s not clear if its $6 billion bid would come from Softbank Group or its $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund, which is expected to close soon and also counts Apple among its investors. Apple has yet to comment on the matter.

Tag: Didi Chuxing
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SpaceX prepares to reuse the first rocket it landed on a barge

We might be days away from witnessing SpaceX make history. The private space corporation has conducted a static test fire (yet again) of the first rocket it landed on an ocean platform. SpaceX wants to make sure it’s in tip-top shape for lift off, because it has finally decided on a date after almost a year of putting it off: March 30th. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin already sent a used rocket back to space in early 2016. But if the launch on Thursday is successful, it’ll be the first orbital mission ever to fly with a used rocket.

SpaceX has a lot riding on the mission, seeing as it’ll prove that its Falcon 9 rockets truly are reusable. It’s been working on the technology for quite some, as it will save NASA and companies sending payloads to space a lot of money. The first company to take a chance on SpaceX’s booster is Luxembourg-based communications satellite owner SES S.A. In fact, Thursday’s launch will ferry an SES-10 satellite into geostationary orbit to deliver direct-to-home broadcasting, broadband and mobile services in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

We’ll let you know more about the launch once we hear more, but as always, it could be delayed due to weather issues and other factors. For now, check out NASA Spaceflight if you want to read up on the test fire’s technical details.

Static fire test complete. Targeting Thursday, March 30 for Falcon 9 launch of SES-10. pic.twitter.com/0tZ7u6gngI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 27, 2017

Via: SpaceX

Source: SpaceX (Twitter)

JavaScript-Based Safari Ransomware Exploit Patched in iOS 10.3

iOS 10.3, released to the public this morning, fixes a bug that allowed scammers to attempt to extort money from iOS users through a JavaScript pop-up in Safari.

As explained by mobile security firm Lookout (via Ars Technica), the scammers targeted iOS users viewing pornographic material and abused JavaScript pop-ups to create an endless pop-up loop that essentially locked the browser if the user didn’t know how to bypass it.

Using “scareware” messages and posing as law enforcement, the scammers used the pop-ups to extort money in the form of iTunes gift cards from the victim, promising to unlock the browser for a sum of money.

The scammers abused the handling of pop-ups in Mobile Safari in such a way that a person would be “locked” out from using Safari unless they paid a fee — or knew they could simply clear Safari’s cache (see next section). The attack was contained within the app sandbox of the Safari browser; no exploit code was used in this campaign, unlike an advanced attack like Pegasus that breaks out of the app sandbox to install malware on the device.

The scammers registered domains and launched the attack from the domains they owned, such as police-pay[.]com, which the attackers apparently named with the intent of scaring users looking for certain types of material on the Internet into paying money.

The endless pop-up issue could be fixed by clearing the Safari cache, but many users likely did not know they didn’t need to shell out money to regain access to their browsers.

Pop-up scams are no longer possible with iOS 10.3, as Apple has changed the way pop-up dialogs work. Pop-ups are now per-tab and no longer take over the entire Safari app.

Related Roundup: iOS 10
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What’s on TV: ‘Planet Earth II,’ ‘Review,’ ‘Legion’ and ‘Walking Dead’ finale

This week it’s time to pick up some new demo material for your Ultra HD television, since Planet Earth II is available in 4K and HDR. Other than that it’s a big week for finales, with Legion and The Walking Dead wrapping up their most recent seasons and my personal favorite Review calls it a series. For gamers, MLB The Show 17 arrives, along with new DLC for Mafia III.

On streaming, critically acclaimed film Hidden Figures is available on video on-demand and the last two Fast & Furious movies are available on Ultra HD Blu-ray. Hulu and Netflix also have new series, with Harlots, 13 Reasons Why, Bordertown, Five Came Back and Trailer Park Boys between them. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Hidden Figures (VOD)
• Planet Earth II (4K)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (4K, 3D)
• Patriots Day (4K)
• Silence
• The Handmaiden
• Furious 7 (4K)
• Fast & Furious 6 (4K)
• A Monster Calls
• The Smurfs (4K)
• Blow-Up (Criterion)
• Why Him?
• The Walking Dead: The Telltale Series – A New Frontier, Episode 3 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
• Mafia III: Faster, Baby DLC (PC, PS4)
• MLB The Show 17 (PS4)
• APB Reloaded (PS4 – 3/31)
• Anoxemia (PS4, Xbox One)
• RBI Baseball 17 (Xbox One, PS4)
• Fated: The Silent Oath (PS VR)
• Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix (PS4)
• Punch Club (PS4, Xbox One)

Monday

• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• 24: Legacy, Fox, 8PM
• Dancing With The Stars, ABC, 8PM
• Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8PM
• Young & Hungry, Freeform, 8PM
• Man With a Plan, CBS, 8:30PM
• Baby Daddy, Freeform, 8:30PM
• Superior Donuts, CBS, 9PM
• Jane the Virgin, CW, 9PM
• APB, Fox, 9PM
• Cold Case Files, A&E, 9PM
• The Twins, Freeform, 9PM
• The Great Indoors, CBS, 9:30PM
• Rock and a Hard Place, HBO, 10PM
• Scorpion, CBS, 10PM
• The Breaks, VH1, 10PM
• Bates Motel, A&E, 10PM
• Taken, NBC, 10PM
• Quantico, ABC, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Tuesday

• The Mindy Project, Hulu, 3AM
• Jo Koy: Live from Seattle, Netflix, 3AM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• The Flash, CW, 8PM
• New Girl, Fox, 8PM
• The Game of Dating (season finale), TV One, 8PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• The Mick, Fox, 8:30PM
• Bones (series finale), Fox, 9PM
• DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, CW, 9PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9PM
• Switched at Birth, Freeform, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• Trial & Error, NBC, 9 & 9:30PM
• The Americans, FX, 10PM
• The Partner, CNBC, 10PM
• People Icons (season finale), ABC, 10PM
• Rebel (series premiere), BET, 10PM
• The Detour, TBS, 10PM
• Cosplay Melee, Syfy, 10PM
• Stranded with a Million Dollars, MTV, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Imposters, Bravo, 10PM
• Detroiters, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Wednesday

• The Path, Hulu, 3AM
• Harlots (series premiere), Hulu, 3AM
• Shots Fired, Fox, 8PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8PM
• Catfish, MTV, 8PM
• The Goldbergs, ABC, 8PM
• Arrow, CW, 8PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Imaginary Mary (series premiere), ABC, 8:30PM
• Are You the One: All Star Challenge, MTV, 9PM
• Empire, Fox, 9PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 9PM
• Law & Order, NBC, 9PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
• The Comedy Jam, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10PM
• Chicago Justice, NBC, 10PM
• Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, CBS, 10PM
• The Expanse, Syfy, 10PM
• Nobodies (series premiere), TV Land, 10PM
• Legion (season finale), FX, 10PM
• The Quad, BET, 10PM
• Suits, USA, 10PM
• Time: The Kalief Browder Story, Spike TV, 10PM
• Ripper Street, BBC America, 11PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Thursday

• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
• Supernatural, CW, 8PM
• Powerless, NBC, 8:30PM
• The Great Indoors, CBS, 8:30PM
• Riverdale, CW, 9PM
• Mom, CBS, 9PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• Kicking & Screaming, Fox, 9PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30PM
• The Amazing Race (season premiere), CBS, 10PM
• Review with Forrest Macneil (series finale), Comedy Central, 10PM
• The Catch, ABC, 10PM
• The Blacklist: Redemption, NBC, 10PM
• Colony, USA, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Friday

• 13 Reasons Why (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Five Came Back (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Bordertown (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Trailer Park Boys (S11), Netflix, 3AM
• Dinotrux (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• The Discovery, Netflix, 3AM
• Tangled: The Series, Disney, 7:30PM
• The Originals, CW, 8PM
• Grimm (series finale), NBC, 8PM
• Dr. Ken (season finale), ABC, 8:30PM
• Disgraced, Showtime, 9PM
• Tattoo Age, Viceland, 9PM
• Sleepy Hollow (season finale), Fox, 9PM
• Robert Klein Still Can’t Stop His Leg, Starz, 10PM
• Vice, HBO, 11PM
• Animals., HBO, 11:30PM

Saturday

• NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four: South Carolina vs. Georgia, CBS, 7PM
• NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four: Oregon vs. North Carolina, CBS, 8:49PM
• Fatal Defense, Lifetime, 8PM
• Samurai Jack, Cartoon Network, 11PM

Sunday

• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3AM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime, 8PM
• Top Gear, BBC America, 8PM
• Once Upon a Time, ABC, 8PM
• The Missing (season finale), Starz, 8PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 8PM
• Sunday Night Baseball: Cubs/Cardinals, ESPN, 8:30PM
• Making History, Fox, 8:30PM
• Home Fires (season premiere), PBS, 9PM
• Family Guy, Fox, 9PM
• Time After Time, ABC 9PM
• Big Little Lies (season finale), HBO, 9PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 9PM
• The Walking Dead (season finale), AMC, 9PM
• Black Sails (series finale), Starz, 9PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9PM
• The Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30PM
• Into the Badlands, AMC, 10PM
• American Crime, ABC, 10PM
• Feud: Bette and Joan , FX, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10PM
• Trapped, Viceland, 10PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Talking Dead (season finale), AMC, 11PM
• Crashing, HBO, 10:30PM