‘The Crown’ gives Netflix its best shot yet at a TV BAFTA

Despite producing a long list of critically-acclaimed TV shows, Netflix’s original programming has yet to be rewarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). The streaming giant has received Academy nominations in the past and recently scooped a BAFTA film award for Ava DuVernay’s prison documentary 13th, but so far a British TV accolade has proved elusive. Next month, however, Netflix will travel to Royal Festival Hall full of hope, because today it found out that The Crown is dominating this year’s list with five nominations.

In total, Netflix received a total of six nominations. Claire Foy, Vanessa Kirby, John Lithgow and Jared Harris are all up for acting awards and the show itself is a frontrunner for Best Drama Series. Amazon, which won its first BAFTA with Transparent in the International category at last year’s awards, is up for the same award again. However, it will have tough competition from Netflix’s sci-fi hit Stranger Things.

Earlier this year, The Crown snagged two Golden Globes, winning best drama series and best actress. Those successes look likely to be mirrored on this side of the Atlantic too, particularly as two other acclaimed BBC shows — War and Peace and The Night Manager — only managed to secure one nomination each.

Source: BAFTA

Samsung Pay in India: Everything you need to know

Samsung Pay offers an incredibly convenient way to pay for your purchases.

Samsung Pay is now live in India, and the digital payments service works at millions of retail stores across the country. With the current uptick in mobile wallets and digital payments, Samsung timed the launch of Samsung Pay in India to perfection and has partnered with leading banks and card issuers to facilitate support for millions of payment cards. Here’s what you need to know about using Samsung Pay in India.

How does Samsung Pay work?

The best part about Samsung Pay is that it offers both NFC and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST), making it compatible with newer payment terminals and older card readers that rely on a magnetic signal from traditional payment cards.

Essentially, Samsung Pay mimics the magnetic signal of a payment card and transmits that information wirelessly via a tiny metal coil located at the back of supported devices (the company acquired the tech from LoopPay). Doing so allows Samsung Pay to work with millions of older payment terminals that can’t accept NFC payments.

You’ll need to be connected to the internet to set up your payment cards, but you don’t need an active connection to use Samsung Pay at retail stores.

Which Samsung devices are supported?

Samsung Pay currently works on the following devices in India:

• Galaxy S7 edge
• Galaxy S7
• Galaxy Note 5
• Galaxy S6 edge+
• Galaxy A7 (2017)
• Galaxy A5 (2017)
• Galaxy A5 (2016)
• Galaxy A7 (2016)

More devices will be added as they’re launched, and with the Galaxy S8 set to make its debut shortly, Samsung will undoubtedly talk up its payments solution at the launch event. Samsung has also mentioned that the service will go live on the Gear S3 smartwatch shortly.

Which payment cards support Samsung Pay?

If you have a credit or debit card from Axis Bank, HDFC, ICICI, or Standard Chartered, you can use Samsung Pay. Credit cards from American Express, Citibank, and SBI are also compatible with the service. Samsung Pay will pick up more partners in due course.

If you’re having trouble setting up your card or running into issues while using the service, you can call Samsung’s customer service line at 1800-123-7729.

What about Paytm and UPI?

Samsung Pay’s integration with Paytm means that you can link your mobile wallet to the service and send money or scan a QR code from within the Samsung Pay interface. You’ll also be able to top up your Paytm wallet balance, and you don’t necessarily need to have the Paytm app installed on your phone to link your wallet to Samsung Pay.

There’s no timeline for when the feature will go live, but Samsung is also adding the ability to transfer money using UPI.

Where can I use Samsung Pay in India?

You can use Samsung Pay at most stores that accept card payments. Its compatibility with MST gives Samsung Pay a noticeable advantage over competing payments services Android Pay and Apple Pay.

Samsung is also the first out the gate with its payments solution, and while Android Pay is slated to make its debut at some point later this year, the service relies on NFC exclusively to transmit payment information. A majority of POS systems in India have to be upgraded to be compatible with Android Pay, but you can use Samsung Pay at nearly all retail stores, thanks to MST.

Samsung has partnered with several retail brands to promote Samsung Pay in the country, and even if your store isn’t mentioned on the list, you should be able to use the mobile payments service as long as the retail store has a card reader. Samsung Pay also works for online purchases in other markets, but for now, the service is limited to in-store payments in India.

Is Samsung Pay secure?

Samsung Pay relies on either your fingerprint or PIN to authenticate, and the app itself is secured using Samsung’s Knox platform. When it comes to transmitting payment information, Samsung uses tokenization, which substitutes your physical card’s number with a unique identifier. Your card information isn’t revealed, ensuring an added layer of security.

The Samsung Pay app stores your payment data locally, and therefore your card data won’t transfer over when you switch devices. You’ll have to set up your cards all over again.

Is there a transaction limit for Samsung Pay?

As long as you’re making purchases that come under a lakh, you should be fine. To incentivize the launch of Samsung Pay, the manufacturer has rolled out several cashback offers that are valid until the end of June. If you’ve got an eligible device and payment card, you should take a look.

Your take

That’s a quick look at what’s on offer with Samsung Pay. Are you using the service in India? If so, what do you like the most about it? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Boeing uses first FAA-approved 3D-printed parts for the 787

Boeing expects to shave $2 to $3 million off each 787 Dreamliner’s manufacturing costs by 2018, thanks to 3D-printed titanium. The company has teamed up with Norwegian company Norsk Titanium to create the first printed structural titanium components for a plane. As Reuters notes, General Electric already prints fuel nozzles for aircraft engines. However, this is the first time a company is using 3D-printed components for parts of a plane that bear the stress of an airframe during a flight.

Boeing turned to 3D printing for the 787, because it requires more metal than its other models. Plus, traditionally manufactured titanium alloy can be very expensive, especially since the company makes 144 Dreamliners a year. The aerospace corporation’s partnership is a resounding recommendation for printed metals in the aviation industry and is proof that companies are starting to trust the manufacturing process and its resulting materials.

From early 2016 to February 2017, Boeing worked with Norsk to be able to pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s rigorous testing program for the components. The partners expect to get additional FAA approval for the material’s properties and manufacturing process later this year. That will allow the Norwegian firm to make more 3D-printed titanium parts without having to get each of them approved, leading to even more savings per plane.

Via: Reuters

Source: Norsk Titanium

Google says its own analysis shows ‘no gender pay gap’

In a new post on pay equity, Google VP Eileen Naughton says the company was “taken aback” by the US Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) accusation that it paid women less than men, especially since the regulator gave no data to back up the claim. To counter it, the company supplied its own study that it called “extremely scientific and robust,” showing that women and men are paid equally at the firm with a 95 percent confidence rating.

The OFCCP filed a lawsuit against Google demanding the release of employment data, which it’s obliged to supply as a government contractor. When Google refused to hand over some of the information, saying the request invaded its employees’ privacy, the regulator accused it of “systemic compensation disparities against women pretty much across the entire workforce.”

Google says its own “gender-blind” analysis has the same accuracy as those used in medical testing, and that it has made its methodology available to other businesses who want to test their compensation practices. The study compares employees with the same jobs and locations, then analyzes their base salary, bonus, equity and latest performance ratings.

If the analysis reveals that men or women, as a group, “are paid a statistically lower amount,” managers are required to “make adjustments to the affected group’s compensation to bring it in line.” It said that late last year, a study of 52 major job categories “found no gender pay gap.”

The OFCCP office based its accusation that Google paid women less on a snapshot of 2015 salaries, and used that information to argue in court that the search giant should be compelled to release more data. It’s specifically seeking pre-2015 salary information, and wants to be able to interview employees confidentially. “Google, on the other hand, called the request a “fishing expedition,” and said it violated its fourth amendment rights.

It added that it has already released hundreds of thousands of documents in response to 18 separate requests, implying that a request “seeking thousands of [additional] employee records, including contact details” is a bridge too far. The OFCCP, on the other hand, told the Guardian that it “received compelling evidence of very significant discrimination against women in the most common positions at Google headquarters.”

Google’s release of its own analysis doesn’t address the OFCCP’s request for employment data, which the regulator could in for its own study. Since the lawsuit put Google’s pay practices in the spotlight, it’s likely hoping to convince the public, at least, that its house is in order. Any bad publicity is likely a bigger problem than the relative pittance it makes in government contracts.

Source: Google

Someone stole a piece of the Space Shuttle’s thermal tile

A six-inch piece of thermal tile like the ones lining the belly of the space shuttle was stolen from an exhibit at NASA Kennedy Space Center over the weekend Popular Mechanics reports. Although the tile itself never actually flew on a shuttle and was only used for training purposes, NASA security is asking the internet to keep an eye out for it in case it pops up for sale online.

According to Popular Mechanics, NASA docent and shuttle program seamstress Jean Wright was standing near the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit when the theft occurred. The tile is encased in plexiglass and Wright normally keeps it on a cart near the exhibit along with several other educational pieces she shows off to visitors. After she noticed the piece was missing, she contacted security and did what anyone else would do when a piece of NASA history goes missing: she asked her “space peeps” on Facebook to keep an eye out for it on eBay. From her Facebook message, which was shared on Twitter by freelance photographer Brandon Thonen:

I had a somewhat traumatizing experience at the Atlantis exhibit today! I wasn’t even up there for 10 mins. when someone STOLE one of my shuttle tiles! I had it on our upper shelf behind the cart where it’s a bit difficult to reach it. I was about 10ft. away and every now and then looking at it while I was talking to guests. I noticed a large crowd surrounding the cart, and scurried back. I ‘footprint’ everything I have there; and immediately noticed it was gone!

The piece should be identifiable by its serial number: “VT70-191” plus three more digits that Wright couldn’t recall. Reddit is already looking for answers about the missing part’s whereabouts, but if anyone else notices a contraband thermal tile for sale they are encouraged to contact their local authorities.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Qualcomm countersues Apple over iPhone and iPad royalties

For years, Apple and Qualcomm have worked together on technology that’ goes inside your iPhone and iPad. Qualcomm specifically handles a lot of the modem chips that connect devices to cellular or WiFi networks, and are crucial to any mobile hardware. Since Apple needed a lot of chips, Qualcomm supplied them, and everything seemed good — until January when Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit claiming Qualcomm charged royalties on tech it had nothing to do with, and then followed up with two antitrust lawsuits in China. Tonight, Qualcomm has responded with a lawsuit of its own (you can grab the 139 page PDF here), claiming that Apple is in the wrong, and has breached its contract with the company.

Among a number of accusations, Qualcomm chose to highlight charges claiming that Apple “Chose not to utilize the full performance of Qualcomm’s modem chips in its iPhone 7, misrepresented the performance disparity between iPhones using Qualcomm modems and those using competitor-supplied modems; and
Threatened Qualcomm in an attempt to prevent it from making any public comparisons about the superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones.”

Further along in the document, it also says:

Qualcomm has been relieved of its obligation to make Cooperation Agreement payments to Apple because, among other reasons, Apple has misled government agencies around the world about Qualcomm’s business practices in order to induce regulatory proceedings against Qualcomm. As merely one example, on August 17, 2016, Apple told the Korea Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) that “Apple has yet to add a [second chipset] supplier because of Qualcomm’s exclusionary conduct”. But when Apple made that statement to the KFTC, it already had added Intel as a second baseband chip supplier and had purchased Intel chips to incorporate in the iPhone 7, which was only a few weeks away from its September release. Apple already knew that every iPhone 7 offered for sale in Korea would incorporate an Intel chip, not a Qualcomm chip. Apple’s statement to the KFTC was false

Apple started using Intel modems in some versions of the iPhone 7 in 2016. Qualcomm also claims that Apple encouraged regulatory attacks, and interfered with agreements it has with the companies that manufacture iPads and iPhones.

Source: Qualcomm

Air Force tests air-to-ground strikes with an autonomous F-16 wingman

There’s so much focus around autonomous cars these days it’s easy to forget that the military’s trying to plug artificial intelligence into fighting vehicles, too. And not just in computer mock-ups, like last June’s exhibition wherein a flight AI beat a retired USAF Colonel in simulated dogfights. In a recent test, military contractors used an unmanned system autonomously flying an F-16 combat jet as a wingman to support a human pilot in a separate aircraft. The system successfully met its goals to adapt, plan and execute maneuvers all on its own.

#SkunkWorks partnered with @usairforce to demonstrate manned/unmanned teaming capabilities: https://t.co/lewPOLz1fI Photo via U.S. Air Force pic.twitter.com/FThukW424N

— Lockheed Martin (@LockheedMartin) April 10, 2017

The two-week demonstration, Have Raider II, was the second in a series of tests run by key players in the aerospace industry, including Lockheed Martin, Skunk Works and the Air Force Research Laboratory. The first exhibition focused on keeping the autonomous F-16 flying in formation as a wingman, while the recent tests pushed the self-flying plane to react to changing threats during an air-to-ground strike mission and calculate new plans on the fly. Tech developed for this recent battery of tests will allow the autonomous system’s operators to insert new software components that will improve its flexibility.

This is a big step in Loyal Wingman, a program dedicated to building a system to pilot autonomous planes that operate as wingmen to human pilots. Crucially, the unmanned aircraft are directed by the lead aviator, not ground control. This setup lets the human pilot offload some cognitive workload to their AI partners to preserve brainpower for mid-flight plans and mission management — assuming the computer doesn’t go rogue like all the bad sci-fi films predict.

Source: Lockheed Martin

PewDiePie starts a weekly Twitch show

Let’s say you’re YouTube star PewDiePie, aka Felix Kjellberg. You’re facing an exodus of advertisers that could hurt your bottom line, and it doesn’t help that you shot yourself in the foot by making tasteless jokes. How do you keep the money coming in? By shifting some of your attention to Twitch. PewDiePie has launched a weekly Twitch show, Best Club, that airs every Sunday at 11AM Eastern. The talk show won’t be anything shocking if you know Kjellberg’s style (for better or for worse), but it gives him another avenue — and notably one where he’ll make the brunt of his revenue through direct contributions, not ads.

In a YouTube clip, PewDiePie jokes that he decided to start the Twitch show “before anything.” The timing may just be coincidental in that case. Whether or not that’s true, he clearly has a good reason to avoid putting all his streaming eggs in one basket. His dependence on YouTube has worked out well for years, but it’d only take one policy decision or rule violation to cut off his main source of income. Twitch also helps spread his brand — you might be more likely to associate him with what he streams rather than where he streams.

No matter what, it’s safe to say that YouTube won’t be pleased. While it did back away from PewDiePie’s YouTube Red original series, it’s likely not relishing the thought of one of its most popular personalities hopping aboard a rival service. It not only represents a potential loss of revenue, but suggests that YouTube isn’t doing enough to court livestreamers. And to some extent, that’s true: while YouTube’s live feeds are technically sound, they don’t have Twitch-style perks like subscriber-only emotes. Even with the presence of apps like YouTube Gaming, there’s still a feature gap for broadcasters.

Via: Eurogamer

Source: Twitch

Qualcomm Countersues Apple, Says iPhone Wouldn’t Be Possible Without Its Technologies

Qualcomm today announced it has countersued Apple [PDF] in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, nearly three months after the iPhone maker sued the chipmaker for $1 billion in alleged unpaid royalty rebates and accused the company of engaging in anticompetitive licensing practices.

Qualcomm, which earlier called Apple’s lawsuit “baseless,” officially denied the majority of Apple’s allegations and accused the Cupertino-based company of failing to engage in good faith negotiations for a license to its 3G and 4G standard essential patents on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms.

The chipmaker also accused Apple of breaching its licensing agreements, making false statements, and encouraging regulatory attacks on its business in multiple countries. Qualcomm added that Apple has deliberately “chose not to utilize the full performance” of its LTE modem in its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Apple uses Intel’s XMM7360 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X12 modems for GSM and CDMA models of the iPhone 7 respectively.

Independent testing last year found Qualcomm’s LTE chip to significantly outperform Intel’s LTE chip in the iPhone 7, but it could theoretically be even faster. Apple, however, said there is “no discernible difference” in performance between the Qualcomm and Intel modems in any of the models.

Qualcomm said Apple’s statement misrepresented the performance disparity between iPhones using its modems and those using Intel-supplied modems. Apple then allegedly threatened Qualcomm about making any public comparisons about the apparently superior performance of the Qualcomm-powered iPhones.

Qualcomm, the exclusive supplier of 3G and LTE modems for iPhones until 2016, said Apple has “launched a global attack” against its company, using its “enormous market power” to coerce unfair and unreasonable licensing terms. But the chipmaker insists that it will “vigorously defend” its business model.

“Over the last ten years, Apple has played a significant role in bringing the benefits of mobile technology to consumers with its popular products and services,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm. “But Apple could not have built the incredible iPhone franchise that has made it the most profitable company in the world, capturing over 90 percent of smartphone profits, without relying upon Qualcomm’s fundamental cellular technologies. Now, after a decade of historic growth, Apple refuses to acknowledge the well established and continuing value of those technologies. It has launched a global attack on Qualcomm and is attempting to use its enormous market power to coerce unfair and unreasonable license terms from Qualcomm. We intend to vigorously defend our business model, and pursue our right to protect and receive fair value for our technological contributions to the industry.”

Qualcomm said Apple “could not have built the incredible iPhone franchise” without relying upon Qualcomm’s “fundamental cellular technologies.” In its countersuit, Qualcomm went as far as saying Apple has “contributed virtually nothing to the development of core cellular technology.”

Apple is the world’s most profitable seller of cellular devices. But as a late-comer to the cellular industry, Apple contributed virtually nothing to the development of core cellular technology. Instead, Apple’s products rely heavily on the cellular inventions of Qualcomm and others. Apple’s iPhones and other products enjoy enormous commercial success, but without lightning-fast cellular connectivity—enabled in large part by Qualcomm’s inventions—Apple’s iPhones would lose much of their consumer appeal.

Qualcomm is seeking, among other things, both compensatory and punitive damages from Apple in amounts to be proven in a jury trial for “reneging on its promises in several agreements.” It is also seeking to be released from any obligation to make further payments to Apple, per the court filing.

Apple for its part accused Qualcomm of using its position as the supplier of a key iPhone component to drive up patent licensing fees. In January, the Federal Trade Commission alleged that Qualcomm required Apple to exclusively use its modems from 2011 to 2016 in exchange for lower patent royalties.

Tag: Qualcomm
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How to strike a pose (and light the scene) for taking a proper selfie

Taking a self portrait might seem like a straightforward process, but the truth is, getting the lighting, composition, and mood just right can be a challenge, as is the case with any photograph.

To ensure your Snapchat post is up to snuff or your Tinder photo is as smooth as your pickup line (which will inevitably fail after you match with someone), we’re here to offer a few tips to improve your selfie game.

There are three components to any self-portrait: lighting, composition/framing, and stance. Each of these aspects intertwine with one another to ultimately determine what the resulting image will look like. Below, we’ll dive into each to help you better understand how to make the most of the selfie trinity.

Lighting

Lighting plays the most important role in the overall quality of your selfie. After all, the word photography literally means “painting with light.”

More often than not, you’ll want a soft, even light for selfies. Harsh light can accentuate unwanted features and overall tends to yield a less attractive aesthetic, although, as with anything in the world of photography, there are exceptions to this rule.

The easiest way to achieve soft, even lighting is to capture your selfie by a window during the day. Depending on what direction the window is facing, you might need to adjust where it is you’re standing. But overall, natural light is far more likely to yield a better image than the usual artificial lighting you’ll find in your house or while out and about. Below is an example selfie, taken by model Tess Holliday, showing the benefits of soft, even light from a window.

In the event you’re outside and there’s no shade to take cover under, your best bet is to shoot with the sun at your back and expose the image for your face. Better yet, use your body or head to block out the sun in the frame to minimize flares. This should yield a far more usable image than shooting with the sun at your face – not to mention it’ll save you from squinting your entire way through the selfie-shooting process.

If natural light isn’t a possibility, try to find an area that offers a large, diffused source of light, preferably a light source that isn’t facing straight down from the ceiling either, as it will cast unnatural and unappealing shadows, most notably under your eyes and nose. Play around with fill flash, which helps to illuminate the face in backlit situations.