Never get lost inside Lowe’s again thanks to the In-Store Navigation app

Why it matters to you

Navigating the crowded aisles of a bustling Lowe’s can be difficult but augmented reality is here to help.

Can’t find your way around the stacks of two-by-fours and buckets of paint? Maybe Lowe’s new app can help. On Thursday, the home improvement mecca announced the launch of Lowe’s Vision: In-Store Navigation app, heralded as “the first retail application of indoor mapping using augmented reality.” The app makes use of Google’s augmented reality technology Tango and is meant to make improving your home easier — at least, the part where you buy the materials you need.

Beginning in April, customers in Sunnyvale, California, and Lynwood, Washington stores will be able to use Tango-enabled smartphones to aid in their shopping process. Just decide what home improvement goods you need, search for them via the app, and locate them in the store by way of augmented reality. You can even keep tabs on all the products you may need to purchase in the app’s shopping list.

“Our research shows that helping make it easier for customers to find products in stores not only makes for a better shopping experience, it allows our associates to spend more time advising on home improvement projects,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. “With Lowe’s Vision: In-Store Navigation, we’ve created a more seamless experience using breakthrough technology so customers can save time shopping and focus more on their project.”

More: Shoppers can now use augmented reality to pick out furniture from Pottery Barn

Lowe’s new app actually features quite a bit of technology — Tango-enabled motion tracking, area learning, and depth perception come together to help you find your way through the labyrinth that can be a sprawling store, all using a mixed reality interface.

This actually isn’t the first app from Lowe’s to leverage Tango. Lowe’s Vision is also available for home improvement customers, and promises to behave as a “digital power tool,” allowing users to measure spaces and visualize how products might look in their homes.

Fossil announces a slate of new smartwatches at Baselworld 2017

Why it matters to you

Fossil’s new smartwatches are hip, stylish, thin, and pack Google’s Android Wear 2.0 operating system.

Fossil is no stranger to smartwatches. Last September, the American fashion brand that makes wearables for Armani, DKNY, Michael Kors, Kagen, Kate Spade, and others teamed up with chipmaker Qualcomm to launch the Fossil Q Wander and Fossil Q Marshall. And at this year’s Baselworld 2017 Conference in Switzerland, it debuted new faces to its existing lineup: The Q Accomplice, Q Activist, Q Venture, and Q Explorist.

“Almost two years after our initial launch, it is abundantly clear why we entered this market: As creatives, we felt there was a void of beautifully designed smartwatches where users could customize technology to their unique lifestyle,” Jill Elliot, Fossil’s chief creative officer, said in a press release. “We are aware that our customers want, more than just an exceptional product, they want an exceptional experience.”

New hybrid smartwatches

Not everyone wants to deal with the hassle of full-blown smartwatches. That’s where Fossil’s coin battery-powered hybrid line comes in: The Q Accomplice and Q Activist. They’re the slimmest of the company’s hybrid watches to date, and boast design details that “highlight the goal to create the most functionally beautiful and elevated hybrid smartwatches on the market.”

To that end, the Q Accomplice and Q Activist ship with three customizeable “pushers,” a new hybrid model that replaces the the previous generation’s mode selector. Those pushers can be programmed through the Fossil Q app to trigger a selfie, skip to the next music track in a playlist, set a unique ring tone to help find a missing phone, and more.

More: Fossil could be the only company that really gets wearables right in 2017

Just like Fossil’s other hybrid watches, The Q Accomplice and Q Activist they deliver email alerts, activity reminders, call notifications, and more with haptic vibration motors. And the Q Activist, which is based on Fossil’s Vintage 54, uniquely features a double layer dial that tracks calendar dates and a tachymeter scale for stopwatch functionality.

The Q Accomplice and Q Venture will launch in stores later this year for $155-$175.

Touchscreen watches

For watch wearers who want a more technological fashion statement, there’s the new Q Venture and Q Explorist pack. The former sports a 11.5mm case (compared to the Explorist’s 12.6mm — the thinnest of Fossil’s smartwatches to date.

The watches feature round touchscreens with improved brightness and clarity over last year’s models, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor paired with 4GB of memory.

They also ship running the latest version of Google’s smartwatch operating system, Android Wear 2.0, which is almost worth the price of admission alone. The new Android Wear lets affords greater watch face customization, a stand-alone app store that doesn’t require a phone, improved fitness tracking, and Google’s voice-activated, AI-powered Google Assistant. It’s a big deal.

More: Android Wear 2.0 update is rolling out to Fossil’s fashion-focused smartwatches

That’s not all the Q Venture and Q Explorist pack. Both come with freebies like a “vintage-arcade inspired” game, interchangeable straps, and a fast magnetic charger. They’ll go on sale in fall 2017 for $255 to $275.

Fossil has also announced new watches from Diesel, Emporio Armani, and Michael Kors. The details are forthcoming, but the company said they’ll launch later this year.

Samsung needs to make this ultracool, retro Gear S3 Pocket Watch right now

From the new Nokia 3310 to the return of a physical keyboard on the BlackBerry KeyOne, 2017 is already quite a year for retro tech; but Samsung has shown everyone how to do it properly with the Gear S3 Pocket Watch. Yes, it looked back several centuries for inspiration and came up with a spin-off Gear S3 watches that slip into a pocket in your waistcoat. It’s totally off-the-wall, roaringly good fun, and completely unique. When we say unique, we mean it. There’s only one of each model you see here in the world.

Samsung had them specially made for Baselworld 2017, and each has an inscription on the back panel to commemorate the occasion. The pair are a part of a larger concept collection based around the Gear S3, showing what could be possible in terms of design. Calling it a “reinterpretation of the classic pocket watch,” Samsung says the watches pay homage to watchmaking in the 16th century, when the pocket watch was common.

More: Read our review of the Samsung Gear S3

How does centuries old design mix with modern day technology? The body on each watch is large, solid, and heavy. One model is obviously based around the Gear S3 Frontier, with a black textured finish and a compass on the cover. Lift the cover up to reveal the Gear S3’s watch face, complete with a touchscreen and all the usual features. Flip the watch over and there’s even a heart rate monitor, although you may look a bit odd holding it against your wrist while running on the treadmill.

On the sides of the body are buttons to interact with the software, but the rotating bezel is missing. The second model has a much more ostentatious design, with an analog watch on the cover, and a flashy metal body. A bow to attach a strap is on both watches so the watch can be attached to your jacket or waistcoat, just like the original models, or adapted to work with a belt clip.

The pocket watches were joined by other Gear S3 concept watches, but were the only ones to deviate so drastically from the Gear S3’s look. They stood out in a refreshingly fun way. While not the most fashion forward version of the Gear S3, we can see lovers of retro tech (hipsters, we’re definitely looking in your direction), and those who adore tech curios being interesting in owning one. Samsung told us it’s not an official product at the moment, but there wasn’t a refusal to say it wouldn’t become one in the future.

More: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 review

It’s interesting to note that the pocket watch has traditionally been suitable for both men and women, with designs for women being more enduring over time than those made for men — an approach that may appeal to the wearable industry today. Additionally, not everyone wants to wear a watch, smart or otherwise, so what about one that clips to your belt and slips in a pocket? Perhaps Samsung is about to kick-off a pocket watch revival, tech-style?

If so, would you buy one?

Corsair One launches today, starting at $1,799 for standard version, $2,299 for Pro edition

Why it matters to you

If the Corsair One gaming PC is a success, expect to see the company field more prebuilt systems alongside its range of components.

Corsair’s first prebuilt PC, which was initially unveiled in February 2017, is now shipping. The robust Corsair One is a powerful system aimed squarely at gamers that combines plenty of horsepower under the hood with a slick, understated case design.

The Corsair One adopts a custom shallow-depth mini tower form factor, according to a report from AnandTech. However, its major internal components use standard PC form factors, with the majority being either existing parts manufactured by Corsair or special editions designed specifically for this system.

More: Corsair targets PC gamers on a budget with its new compact mechanical keyboard

The standard version of the Corsair One boasts an Intel Core i7 7700 CPU, while the Corsair One Pro and its web-store-exclusive variant are fitted with an i7 7700K. Similarly, the standard model utilizes an air-cooled Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, with the other versions opt for a water-cooled MSI GeForce GTX 1080.

All three models feature 16GB of DDR4-2400 RAM, and a Mini-ITX motherboard that utilizes the Z270 chipset. All versions of the system use a custom edition of the Corsair SF600 power supply unit. The standard edition comes with 240GB of solid state drive storage and a 1TB hard disk drive,  whereas the Pro model comes with a 480GB SSD and a 2TB HDD, and the web-exclusive variant boasts a 960GB SSD.

The case itself isn’t quite as flashy as other gamer-centric PCs out there. Its front face is accented with aqua blue lighting, which is single-color rather than RGB, so its hue can’t be changed by the user. However, it can be controlled via the Corsair Link application, or turned off entirely.

It seems that the Corsair One might not be particularly accommodating for users who plan to upgrade components down the line. The system has been assembled to use the available space as efficiently as possible, which makes it more difficult to work with than a standard build.

Corsair’s debut into prebuilt PCs carries a high price tag, with the standard model costing $1,799, the Pro version retailing for $2,199, and the Pro variant that’s exclusive to the company’s web store coming in at $2,299.

Your wearable could soon be your wallet, too, if Samsung gets its way

Why it matters to you

Mobile payments are growing increasingly popular, but what if you didn’t have to swipe your phone to pay and used your wrist instead?

Today’s wearables may be useful for tracking the number of steps you’ve taken or calories burned, but soon, they may be able to help you keep tabs on another kind of activity — your bank account. If Samsung has its way, mobile payments of the future may not come from your smartphone, but rather your connected watches, rings, and other wearables. According to a new report from The Verge, Samsung has plans to load connected devices with cash, turning them into prepaid credit cards. Because wouldn’t you just want to scan your wrist to check out?

Because these wearables would only have a fixed value (remember, they’re like prepaid credit cards), ostensibly, you won’t have to worry quite as much about your ring slipping off your finger or getting your smartwatch stolen. The thief wouldn’t be able to make large purchases, and you wouldn’t lose untold amounts of money. This new method of mobile payments could also make the act of giving cash as a gift a bit more tech-savvy or could be used by parents to give children set allowances.

More: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 review

It seems as though Samsung would also place restrictions on when the money in the wearable could be used. For example, if the funds in a smart ring languished for months on end without seeing any activity, they could just disappear and return to the owner’s bank account.

While Samsung hasn’t revealed whether this concept is actually live on any devices quite yet, or what companion app would be necessary to make this payment system work, it seems that plans are underway to bring this dream into a reality. It will all be part of the company’s Contactless Companion Platform (CCP), which is being launched with two partners — mobile wallet developer called Smartlink and the payment terminal manufacturer Ingenico.

Power boost: EVGA has three GTX 1080 Ti graphics cards in the works

Why it matters to you

EVGA is one of the first third party’s to show off its non-reference GTX 1080 Ti designs, which could give you an idea of what to expect from others.

EVGA is planning to launch three graphics cards based on Nvidia’s GTX 1080 Ti flagship reference design, offering different levels of performance and cooling options. For those who really care about the look of their system’s internals too, each card comes with a unique lighting profile.

When Nvidia debuted its GTX 1080 Ti, it was immediately clear it was the new king of the graphics card pile. Its performance even beats the monstrously expensive GTX Titan X, which had many people surprised. The 1080 Ti Founders Edition is set to go on sale at the end of March and will no doubt draw a lot of interest from early adopters, but many people will be eagerly awaiting cards from third-party manufacturers, so EVGA is looking to generate some buzz before its release.

The first in its trio of new cards is the GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition, which raises clock speeds from the stock of 1,480/1,582 MHz on the core and memory respectively, to 1,556/1,670MHz. That nice bump to its clock speeds doesn’t do anything to the max power draw of 250w, though EVGA has installed its own dual-fan cooler on the design.

More: AMD’s Vega graphics chip appears on CompuBench as its launch nears

Moving up the range, the 1080 Ti SC2 maintains the same clock speeds, LED configurations and color (white), but where it differs is in its sensor suite. EVGA claims that it comes with nine different temperature sensors, which could make improving its cooling with aftermarket heatsinks or new directional fans, a little bit easier.

The big daddy of the new range is the GTX 1080 Ti FTW3, which ups the ante with an additional cooling fan and increases clock speeds a little further to 1,569/1,683 Mhz. It also has dual BIOS chips, which lets tweakers flash one with something experimental, without the fear of bricking the card and RGB lighting.

Power-wise, we’re told that its max draw has still yet to be determined, which suggest it’s more than the 250w standard for a GTX 1080 Ti. We do know, however, that it will require twin eight-pin connectors, so make sure your PSU is compatible before buying.

Unfortunately, right now we don’t know when you will be able to do so, though, as we don’t have any pricing or availability dates just yet. We will update this piece when they appear.

When they do release, each card will come with free copies of Rad Rogers and For Honor or Ghost Recon: Wildlands.

Michael Kors unveils Access line of smartwatches, new hybrid watches

Why it matters to you

Michael Kors’ new style-focused smartwatches are made especially for men or women, but its hybrid smartwatch takes a simpler approach.

Michael Kors, the luxury watch brand behind last year’s Access Bradshaw, announced a bunch of new smartwatches at the 2017 Baselworld conference in Switzerland this morning. And they’re worth getting excited about.

“It’s clear to me that the future of fashion will combine great design, personal style, and innovative technology, and the amazing response to Michael Kors Access has confirmed that that future is now,” the company said in a press release. “We’re thrilled to be able to offer this next generation of smartwatches and hybrids.”

Touchscreen smartwatches

Michael Kors has two new wearables in the pipeline: The Access Sofie, which is aimed at women, and the the Access Grayson, which targets men.

On a technical level, they’re fairly comparable. Both the Sofie and Grayson boast colorful AMOLED touchscreen displays, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, and Android Wear 2.0, the latest and greatest version of Google’s Android Wear operating system.

More: Michael Kors’ new smartwatches finally here, and they’re big

Android Wear 2.0 is sort of a big deal. It’s a major upgrade over the last generation of Google’s wearable operating system, featuring customizable watch faces, a stand-alone app store, improved fitness tracking, and Google’s super-smart digital Assistant.

It’s also one of the only similarities between the Sofie and Grayson.

The Sofie’s “sleek” and “feminine,” with a thin, lightweight case body, pavé, and full round display that comes in eight different color combinations.

Michael Kors describes the Grayson, in contrast, as a “luxury” watch with “sporty looks.” To that end, it sports a full-round dial with a rotating crown button that scrolls Android Wear’s lists and menus, and comes in four colors: Gold tone, stainless steel, and blue and black.

The Michael Kors Access smartwatches start at $350.

Hybrid smartwatches

For folks who prefer a simpler brand of smarwatch, there’s Michael Kors’ new hybrid wearables. The brand is introducing new analog watches that feature vibrating alerts, fitness and sleep tracking, and pusher buttons on the side that remotely trigger selfies and control music.

The men’s hybrid smartwatches will arrive “Holiday 2017,” and the women’s watches will land in fall. They start at $250.

Michael Kors Micro app

New watches aren’t the only thing Michael Kors announced. The watchmaker previewed the next major release of its app for smartphones, the Michael Kors Access Micro. In the coming weeks, it’ll gain My Social, a feature that’ll let users link to a personal Instagram account, select an image, apply filters to it, and set it as your smartwatch’s default face.

Michael Kors said that by the end of 2017, it will have released 15 new digital watch faces.

Finally, Michael Kors announced that it’s launching in new markets. Later this year, the brand’s watches will hit mainland China, Brazil, and others.

“When we launched, we stated that we would grow our wearable technology line by listening closely to our customers,” company chief and chairman John Idol said. “We’re pleased to be introducing exceptional new smartwatches and software that deliver on those fronts and others, and in more markets than ever.”

Restricting robocalls: The FCC votes to block more automated phone call spam

Why it matters to you

If the FCC’s ruling is successful, it could mean far fewer automated phone calls bugging you in the future.

Getting calls from telemarketers can be annoying in itself, but being called by an automated system can be even more irritating. To try and cut down on the number of nuisance calls being made across the country, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a new plan to help phone companies block more of those sorts of calls, The Verge reports.

“Robocalls are the number one consumer complaint to the FCC from members of the American public,” FCC chairman Ajit Pai said. “We aim to take an important first step in ending the scourge of illegal robocalls.”

One of the difficulties with automated robot callers is that they often use spoofed numbers — that is, they appear to be calling from somewhere that they aren’t. To prevent this, the FCC’s rule will make it so phone providers can block numbers which couldn’t exist because they haven’t been assigned, or that existing subscribers have explicitly asked to not be spoofed. No doubt many companies will jump at the opportunity to protect their customer support numbers from being spoofed.

More: AT&T introduces Call Protect feature to automatically block fraud, spam calls

While the FCC’s new rule has been passed by a 3-0 vote, it will not go into effect just yet. The next step is to send it through a period of public consultation, where phone companies and consumers alike, can have their say on the changes it would make.

As part of the consultation, amendments can be suggested, with the FCC particularly looking for any solid solutions to nuisance calls coming from overseas, or ways that it can prevent legitimate calls from being blocked accidentally should this new rule come into effect.

A secondary vote on any and all amendments will be taken later in 2017.

Instagram is rolling out new safety features, will blur ‘sensitive content’

Why it matters to you

Last year, Instagram promised to cut down on cyberbullying and other problematic content on its platform. Now, it has new tools to help do that.

Instagram is continuing to act on a promise it made last year to keep the photo-editing and sharing app “a safe place for everyone.” On Thursday, the Facebook-owned social media platform announced the addition of a few new features that seek to help foster a safer, kinder community.

Sometime soon, Instagram plans to start blurring out “sensitive photos and videos” from your feed or a user’s profile. Moreover, the app has made two-factor authentication available to everyone, helping you keep your account safe. And finally, Instagram has created a resource page where you can learn how to protect yourself while enjoying your and your friends’ photos.

In terms of Instagram’s plans to blur certain content, the app hasn’t clarified what it will classify as “sensitive.” In a blog post, Instagram pointed out, “While these posts don’t violate our guidelines, someone in the community has reported them and our review team has confirmed they are sensitive.” The hope is that by placing a screen over these photos and videos, users won’t have any “surprising or unwanted experiences in the app.” That said, if your curiosity gets the best of you, all you need to do is tap the covered post, and you’ll be able to see it in all its … glory.

More: Now 1 million advertisers strong, in-app booking is coming to Instagram

As for two-factor authentication, users who elect to enable this security feature will have to provide an additional code from their smartphone every time they log in. To enable this extra layer of protection, tap the gear icon in Instagram, and toggle the Two-Factor Authentication option in order to switch it on.

Finally, Instagram’s new safety site promises more information on tools like account blocking, comment controls, and photo tagging. Users will also be able to access support services in their respective countries, and learn more about Instagram’s efforts in building a positive community, such as its upcoming Worldwide InstaMeet on March 25 and 26. The 15th such meetup of its kind, InstaMeet encourages folks from around the world to spread kindness by leaving a nice comment, liking an inspiring person, or sharing a supportive message. You can find an InstaMeet near you, and spread a little love this weekend.

Wikileaks’ ‘Dark Matter’ release reveals CIA efforts to infect the Mac

Why it matters to you

If you’ve been thinking your Mac was safe from the CIA, Wikileaks’ latest release proves otherwise.

Wikileaks isn’t done with its Vault 7 release of CIA hacking documents, which has already created quite a stir by outlining various exploits that the CIA created for a variety of platforms. While Wikileaks has not revealed sufficient detail to allow the exploits to be easily used by cybercriminals, it has pointed nefarious parties in the right directions.

Now, Wikileaks has released another bundle of documents, this time dubbed “Dark Matter.” This time, the organization turned an eye to Apple’s Mac, with a number of exploits that are both insidious and persistent, MacRumors reports.

More: Some companies are having problems with Wikileaks’ demands over CIA hack fixes

The leak highlights a specific CIA program, “Sonic Screwdriver,” that was created by the agency’s innocuous-sounding Embedded Development Branch. The exploit uses infected USB drives to inject code that attacks a Mac while it’s starting up and bypasses a user password to instead “boot its attack software.” Allegedly, the code has even been installed to modified firmware on Apple’s own Thunderbolt-Ethernet adapter.

Sonic Screwdriver isn’t the only exploit contained in the Dark Matter leak:

“‘DarkSeaSkies’ is ‘an implant that persists in the EFI firmware of an Apple MacBook Air computer’ and consists of ‘DarkMatter’, ‘SeaPea’ and ‘NightSkies’, respectively EFI, kernel-space and user-space implants.

Documents on the ‘Triton’ MacOSX malware, its infector ‘Dark Mallet’ and its EFI-persistent version ‘DerStake’ are also included in this release. While the DerStake1.4 manual released today dates to 2013, other Vault 7 documents show that as of 2016 the CIA continues to rely on and update these systems and is working on the production of DerStarke2.0.”

As MacRumors points out, Dark Matter also has iOS in its sights, with a number of iPhone-related exploits that are injected into target devices during the actual manufacturing process. These exploits have allegedly been underway since 2008, or soon after the iPhone was first released:

“While CIA assets are sometimes used to physically infect systems in the custody of a target it is likely that many CIA physical access attacks have infected the targeted organization’s supply chain including by interdicting mail orders and other shipments (opening, infecting, and resending) leaving the United States or otherwise.”

You can check out the Wikileaks source documents here. We’re likely to see additional leaks going forward, which, along with efforts to understand the documents that have already been leaked to date, will keep security analysts and the companies that make affected machines busy.