Early Apple Macintosh emulation brings classic games right to your browser
Why it matters to you
For a nostalgia trip, or an informative look at what Apple computing was like in the 1980s, this collection offers a very true-to-life emulation.
If you didn’t live through the mid-80s period of Apple Macintosh computing and gaming, now you can get a real taste for it without any need for the original hardware and software. The Internet Archive now offers full emulation of that era’s operating systems and games, all playable through your browser.
Over the past few years, the Internet Archive — the same group behind the Wayback machine — has made it possible to emulate a variety of retro technologies, from arcade machines, to console games and home computers. This latest addition sees it tackling early Apple computers, by bringing the famed black-and-white period of ’80s Macintosh computing to the contemporary masses.
The official software library for the Macintosh era includes 45 different applications, giving users the chance to have a play around with the various MacOS operating systems, as well as a variety of classic games, from Space Invaders to Dark Castle.
“If you have not experienced the original operating system for the Macintosh family of computers, it’s an interesting combination of well-worn conventions in the modern world, along with choices that might seem strange or off-the-mark,” the Archive blog post reads. “At the time the machine was released, however, they landed new ideas in the hands of a worldwide audience and gained significant fans and followers almost immediately.”
As much as some of the early games on offer will be a fun insight for some, the arguably most interesting aspect of this release is looking at how the software of that era continues to inspire creations today. Visual interfaces, virtual memory, simple artistic applications and more can be found in their earliest iterations in retro technology such as this.
The project was the child of many different creative minds, bringing together a variety of emulation experts to make it possible to use some of these antique pieces of software.
Anyone who likes this style should keep an eye out for Papers Please developer Lucas Pope’s upcoming creation, Return of the Obra Dinn, which is built to emulate classic software from the same era.
Researchers use haptic feedback to simulate walls and heavy objects in VR
Why it matters to you
Virtual reality can already be a jaw-dropping experience, but research projects like this one are set to ensure that it continues to evolve in years to come.
Virtual reality technology has made some major leaps forward over the past few years, but there are still some niggling issues that need to be addressed. However, a promising project being undertaken by the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany could help developers tackle one of the biggest barriers to full immersion.
When VR experiences display the user’s surrounding via the display in their headset, the effect can be very convincing — but reaching out with your hand and finding nothing there can quickly break this sense of immersion. A team working under Dr. Patrick Baudisch is attempting to improve upon this situation by implementing haptic feedback.
The project uses electrical muscle stimulation to force the user’s muscles to respond as if a heavy object were there, according to a blog post published on the HPI website. The two examples given are a large box that can be carried, and a wall situated in the environment.
The system that the team has created is capable of stimulating up to four different muscle groups. It works by activating the opposition muscles for the desired movement, which simulates how the user’s body would respond to the weight or resistance of an object.
The entire hardware setup can be housed with a small backpack, with sensors attached to various positions on the wearer’s arms. The potential of the technology seems to far outweigh the mild inconvenience of having to wear a backpack as well as a headset.
The team at HPI has already carried out two user studies to field test its implementation of this technology. There’s no guarantee that their work will become a consumer product — but it wouldn’t be surprising to see one of the major players in the VR industry pursue this concept further.
Many would argue that VR is already prohibitively expensive, and additional hardware isn’t going to help matters. However, it’s been proven that there’s a market for high-quality VR experiences, no matter the cost, and this technology seems well placed to serve that crowd.
At five pounds, the GTX 1050 Ti gaming laptop is light and powerful
Why it matters to you
If you’re in the market for an affordable portable gaming laptop, Origin PC’s latest offering ticks a lot of boxes.
Origin PC is looking to expand its portable gaming range of laptops with the new EON15-S. Packing an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti graphics chip alongside Intel core processor technology and up to 6TB of storage, it should be quite a versatile machine. Better yet, it weighs five pounds and is just more than an inch thick.
The Origin PC EON15-S will start at $1,000 with a base configuration that includes an Intel Core i3-7100H from the seventh generation of Intel CPUs. Depending on your preferences, that can be paired up with up to 32GB of DDR4 memory with options for Kingston HyperX Impact 2,133Mhz, G.Skill Ripjaws 2,666Mhz, and Origin’s own branded kits.
Other CPU options include an Intel Core i5-7300HQ clocked at 2.5Ghz and a Core i7-7700HQ clocked at 2.8GHz. Whatever options you go for though, the GTX 1050 Ti 4GB graphics chip is identical in each configuration. That goes on to power the 1,920 x 1,080, 15.6-inch IPS matte display, according to Tom’s Hardware).
When it comes to storage there are plenty of options. You can opt for everything from 120GB, all the way up to two terabytes of M.2 solid-state storage, as well as a secondary 4TB SATA SSD if you need it, though there are also more typical hard drive options and hybrid, flash-caching drives.
Connectivity wise, the Origin PC EON15-S comes with USB 3.0 Type-C and Type-A (x2) ports, as well as an additional USB 2.0 port. There are also two miniDisplayPort connections and a singular HDMI port, so you can output to several external displays with this laptop if you so choose.
All configurations come with an RGB backlit keyboard which can be tweaked with back-end software and a battery that should last up to six hours, though of course, we all know how those can be exaggerated.
The EON15-S laptop comes with a matte-black casing, though in typical Origin fashion, it has options for various metallic colors and themes, though they can cost up to $250 extra. Regardless of options, all come with Origin PC’s lifetime service and support guarantee, as well as a 45-day no-dead-pixel guarantee.
Additional warranties and protections are available at an added cost.
Verizon’s Wear24 arrives May 11 to take on LG Watch Sport and Samsung Gear S3
Why it matters to you
Verizon’s first smartwatch boasts a laundry list of features many others can’t match, which could make it a promising candidate for a wearable.
In February, Verizon unveiled an exclusive smartwatch called the Wear24. Built by Taiwanese firm QDM Quanta, which has produced devices on contract for HP, Dell, and Lenovo, the Wear24 was slated for release in March. But that day never came and consequently, the watch slipped out of the public eye — until now. Verizon will launch the Wear24 on May 11, the company announced.
Now, while it is easy to write off most carrier-branded products, the Wear24 surprisingly has quite a bit going for it. For starters, it’s launching with Android Wear 2.0 in tow — which many smartwatches from better-known tech companies are still waiting to receive. With Wear 2.0 comes the arrival of Google Assistant, as well as a variety of new complications, which place information like fitness goal tracking, stock prices, or calendar appointments right on the watch face for immediate viewing.
Further, the update adds a variety of ways to respond to messages from your favorite chat apps, from dictation to handwriting to selecting an emoji that describes your feelings. Google Fit also figures prominently into the new version of Android Wear, with support for pace, distance, heart rate, and rep tracking.
But what makes the Wear24 even more exciting is on-board Wi-Fi and LTE connectivity. With it, the device can make and receive calls and texts, browse and download apps, and access the internet without the need of a paired phone. The watch features a 450mAh battery — large for a smartwatch — to help keep that radio from quickly running the juice dry. NFC means you can use it for payments, too.
Finally, the Wear24 is IP67 rated, allowing it to withstand being submerged under 3.3 feet of water for a maximum of 30 minutes. The combination of all these features creates what is — on paper at least — a very versatile and complete smartwatch, with fitness-minded features that could make it a compelling alternative LG’s Watch Sport.
The Wear24 comes in three colors: gunmetal black, stainless steel, and rose gold. It will be available for either $350 outright, or $300 with an agreement to a two-year contract with Verizon. The carrier notes that subscribers will be able to add the device to their existing plan for an extra $5 per month.
Windows 10 Creators Update lets administrators take away some user options
Why it matters to you
If you work for an organization that’s transitioning to Windows 10, you might find that your work machine is less configurable than it was previously.
Microsoft’s latest major Windows 10 update started making its way to users last week. Known as Creators Update, the update brought Windows 10 to version 1703, and introduced a host of new features and functionality. Most of what’s new in Creators Update is aimed at creative professionals, gamers, and other users, and is visible as new apps and settings, such as the 3D Paint app, Game Mode, and enhanced privacy and security settings.
As is usual with such significant updates, Creators Update also made changes to the core operating system and to policies that are accessible to more technical users. IT administrators are an important audience for Microsoft as it continues its quest of pushing Windows 10 to a billion machines, and it’s appealing to that group with a new way to make the Settings app work better for larger organizations.
One of the more important aspects of making a machine more manageable and easier to administer for such organizations is how easy it is for users to make changes to the machine’s configuration. Windows 10 introduced a new Settings app that’s a bit more user-friendly than the old-school Control Panel app, and while that’s great for users, it can introduce headaches for IT administrators.
In response, Microsoft now gives administrators a way to hide Settings app pages in the same way that it allowed Control Panel applets to be hidden. The overall details of how to keep settings hidden away from users are a little complicated and of interest mostly to IT staff, but it’s also easy enough to accomplish via Group Policies. As the following screenshot demonstrates, the Settings app can be significantly limited by making a few small Group Policy changes.
The net result is that an organization looking to keep certain settings unavailable to users needs to make a few changes that can then be rolled out to all of the machines that fit certain criteria. There’s a host of settings that can be turned off, from device encryption settings to network options to power configuration.
The bottom line is that Microsoft needs large organizations to transition to Windows 10 if it has any hope of hitting its goals for its most strategic OS. Making it possible for administrators to limit how users can customize their machines is an important step along the way. Creators Update just made that possible.
Ultra Mobile rolls out new plans that offer more data than ever before
Why it matters to you
Paying for data, especially on monthly subscription plans, can get expensive pretty quickly. But Ultra Mobile wants to offer an affordable prepaid plan that can compete with the big dogs.
Forget about what you think you know about prepaid phone plans. Ultra Mobile wants to give you a whole new look at what it means to pay before you talk, text, and otherwise use your smartphone. On Monday, the mobile carrier announced the launch of two new high data plans, which give users 10GB or 20GB of data every month for the relatively low price of $45 and $54, respectively. This marks the largest amount of data ever offered to Ultra Mobile customers.
The company, which is focused on folks with international needs, said that these higher data plans were created to appease customers who, now more than ever, are demanding high-speed data. Citing a recent Ericcson’s Mobility Report, Ultra Mobile noted that the average data consumption for 2016 was 5GB, but many other service providers “put international calling at a premium over large data allotments.” Ultra Mobile, however, has the international component built into its plans, allowing customers to pay less for what could amount to more.
“Our customers and retail partners continue to request larger data offerings and we’ve listened by rounding out our portfolio with these new data plans,” said Tyler Leshney, president of Ultra Mobile. “At Ultra Mobile, we are always looking for the next best way to service our rapidly growing customer base and with these new data plans, we truly see an opportunity to satisfy the needs of a growing customer base while also offering our current subscribers additional upgrade options. As our international customer base grows we will continue to innovative and provide valuable service to our users.”
Ultra is also working to expand its unlimited calling list to more than 60 countries around the world. Some existing plans, like the New $19, already allow for unlimited talk and text across the U.S., along with 100 MB 4G LTE data and calling to over 60 countries for $19 a month. So if you have friends and family aplenty abroad, you may want to take a closer look at Ultra and its latest offerings.
Win a free Huawei P10 from Modern Dad!
Y’all want a contest? We’ve got a contest.
It’s time for Modern Dad to give away his first smartphone, and we’re going to start with one of the more interesting ones of 2017. The Huawei P series isn’t all that well known in the United States, but worldwide, it’s made quite a name for itself. It’s a powerful smartphone that has the added bonus of not being huge. It’s got a very capable camera system — two, in fact, with the secondary lens leading an artsy monochrome movement.
Basically, you now have the opportunity to be the first kid on your block with one of these.
For more on the P10, be sure to check out the full AC review. And to enter to win, hit up the widget below. Good luck!
Win a FREE Huawei P10!
Or enter to win at Modern Dad
Modern Dad
- Subscribe on YouTube
- Snapchat
- See the gear
AIVAnet 