iRobot starts a patent war over robot vacuums

It’s getting nasty in the robot vacuum arena. iRobot has filed lawsuits against Bissell, Black & Decker, Bobsweep and Hoover for allegedly violating several patents for the concept of an autonomous room-cleaning robot. The company “will not stand by” as rivals “infringe on our intellectual property” by making similar competing machines, according to a statement. We’ve reached out to the companies targeted by the lawsuits and will let you know how they’re responding, although it’s safe to say they aren’t likely to roll over.

At first blush, the infringement claims appear to be part of a classic competitive strategy: if you’re an early participant in an industry that’s rapidly heating up, sue the competition to slow them down. iRobot effectively invented the robot vacuum category with its Roomba line back in 2002, but recent years have seen an explosion of alternatives, including Bissell’s SmartClean, Bobsweep’s Bobi and Hoover’s Quest series. While iRobot still has the best-known models, there’s a very real chance that it gets overshadowed by latecomers — especially anyone that can offer more for your money.

Source: Reuters

Tumblr’s Cabana app lets friends watch video along with you

Tumblr has released a new standalone app called Cabana, where you can hang out with your friends through video chat and force them to watch cute animal videos. It’s far from a being a new concept: Google already did it with YouTube party mode for Hangouts and Uptime. A simple search for “watch videos together” will bring up a lengthy list of choices, as well — there’s even an in-app option for Apple’s iMessage. Still, the company says the prototype was a hit among teens aged 13 to 18 during their tests. If you’re partial to Tumblr and you’re looking for a virtual party app anyway, Cabana might be worth a shot.

The app can accommodate up to six people, all of whom will have the power to pause and change what the group is watching. You’ll even have a ton of videos to choose from, since it comes with YouTube integration at launch. Cabana pulls your friends’ details from both Tumblr and your contacts list, so you can invite anybody you want…unless they’re outside the US. The app is only available in the country for now and only for iOS devices. The social network didn’t say if and when it’ll be available in other locations, but it’ll at least release an app for Android devices in May.

Source: Tumblr

UberEats now lets Brits schedule food deliveries

UberEats, like Deliveroo and Amazon Prime Now, can be useful if you don’t have the time, supplies or energy to rustle up some grub. When you’re really in a rush, however — the morning ‘I must not be late for work again’ dash, for instance — it can be a nuisance to open the app, complete an order and then wait for the courier to arrive at your front door. Now, in London, Birmingham and Manchester, it’s possible to schedule an UberEats delivery. It’s a small addition, but one that could prove useful if you’re time poor or like to have your meals organised in advance.

In the UK, Uber has some tough competition. Deliveroo, which also offers scheduled orders, is courting small restaurants with a network of small, delivery only kitchens called ‘Editions.’ Just-Eat, which hoovered up Hungryhouse last December, is still a household name, and Amazon Prime has the might of an e-commerce juggernaut behind it. In the food space, Uber is arguably the challenger. One that’s experienced in app development and managing a fleet of drivers, but a challenger nonetheless.

The fight for peckish Brits is the least of Uber’s problems, however. The company is losing a bunch of high-profile staff at the moment, including the director of its AI lab. There’s also “Greyball,” a program designed to deceive government officials from catching Uber cars, and “Hell,” an internal program used to identify and track drivers who are using Uber and Lyft simultaneously. Combine that with its self-driving car program, which was part of a crash in Arizona last month, and its ongoing court battle with Alphabet-owned Waymo, and the company has a lot on its plate.

Netflix finds ‘Carmen Sandiego’ for its latest reboot

In a bid to answer one of, if not the biggest unsolved mystery of Saturday morning kids’ TV, Netflix is making a new Carmen Sandiego show. Twenty animated episodes are apparently on the cards, with Gina Rodriguez, from Jane the Virgin, already cast to voice Carmen Sandiego — hopefully donning a crimson trench coat as she records her lines.

Carmen Sandiego started off as a live-action game show with awkward costumes, heavy word play and puns, and stealth geography lessons. Netflix’s remake sounds closer to Fox’s animated series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego that ran from the mid- to late ’90s. The show blended travelling the world with time travel, with early internet and computer game references a-plenty. For further temporal / third wall confusion, the entire show took place inside a video game, with the protagonists often talking and interacting with an off-camera kid and his giant, beige desktop PC.

In my still-developing tween brain, the original animated show struck the perfect balance between morning cartoon and, ugh, “edutainment”. Netflix appears to be making moves into this with its recent kids programming: The Magic School Bus is also set to be revived. hasn’t detailed when the show might arrive, but I’d offer one word of warning: don’t you dare ruin the theme song.

Panasonic can read your heart rate by looking at your face

Being a sports professional means keeping calm in high-pressure situations, or at least pretending you are when actually freaking out. Spectators are typically none the wiser, but Panasonic will be giving viewers some additional insight into the mind of golfers competing at the Panasonic Open Golf Championship 2017, which tees off in Japan later this month. Coverage of the tournament, which is being broadcast on Japanese TV and online, will show the heart rate of golfers on-screen, so you can watch the nerves kick in as someone steps up to attempt a clutch, chip-in birdie. It’s intended to add a bit more drama to the otherwise slow proceedings, but just as interesting is how Panasonic plans on making this happen, using what the company calls “contactless vital sensing” by way of a special camera.

Including heart rate measurements in sports broadcasts isn’t entirely new. Televised basketball, volleyball and rugby events, for example, have previously used this kind of data to make for more engaging viewing; but the vitals of players and coaches have always been measured by wearable devices of some form or another. At the upcoming golf tournament, though, Panasonic will instead use a kind of camera that estimates heart rate based on “the subtle color change on the player’s face caused by vascular constriction.”

If your immediate reaction is to be skeptical about the accuracy of such a measurement, we’re right there with you. But Panasonic isn’t messing around. The sensor technology was developed in collaboration with Kyoto University, and uses “millimeter-wave spread-spectrum radar” to track the minor changes in skin coloration. There’s even been a proper study done comparing the estimates of the sensor tech to readings from a traditional body-worn ECG monitor, with results confirming a “very strong correlation” between the two measurements. In other words, what you’ll be seeing on the broadcast will be a pretty reliable indicator of a pro golfer’s stress level as they compose themselves for a must-sink putt.

Source: Panasonic (1), (2), (3)

Apple Will Still Include a Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter With This Year’s iPhones, Says Barclays

Apple will continue to include a Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter with the trio of new iPhone models rumored to launch later this year, according to Barclays.

“We believe it stays this year but goes away at some point, potentially in the 2018 model,” said Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis, and his associates, in a research note distributed today.

Cirrus Logic would remain the primary beneficiary within Apple’s supply chain, as it’s believed to provide some of the tiny audio-related components inside of the adapter.

Barclays contradicts Japanese blog Mac Otakara, which said Apple will no longer include the adapter in the box with the so-called iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and iPhone Edition.

Apple eliminating the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7 was a controversial decision, so it’s easy to see why it might want to include the adapter in the box for at least another year. But, unlike when the iPhone launched last year, Apple’s wireless AirPods and BeatsX earphones are now available.

Apple sells the Lightning to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter for $9 as a standalone accessory, which is cheap by its standards, so customers that still prefer to use wired headphones won’t be forced to pay too much extra whether the adapter is removed from the iPhone box this year or later.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8 (2017)
Tags: Barclays, Lightning, headphone jack
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How to get the S8 with the Samsung Upgrade Programme

Time was, you had two ways to upgrade your mobile phone. Wait until your two-year contract expired and wait to see what your network had to offer or put down a chunk of cash to buy the phone outright if you had a Pay-As-You-Go SIM.

Now, though, there’s a third way that promises a new phone every year if you’d like one and doesn’t require a huge upfront sum. It’s called the Samsung Upgrade Programme and it works like this.

How it works

When you buy the latest premium/flagship Samsung phone, like the Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8+ via Samsung’s shop you can choose to opt for the Samsung Upgrade Programme as your payment option.

For a phone like the S8, which costs £689 upfront, you’d be able to break the cost down into more manageable payments. For the Galaxy S8 the total amount payable is £783.14 spread across a 24 month term at an interest rate of 14.9% p.a. (fixed) equating to monthly payments of £29.76 and an initial deposit of £68.90.

How you can upgrade ahead of time

The cool bit though is that after 12 months you can upgrade to the latest model and once you’ve done that you can send your current handset back in good working condition and the rest of your existing repayments are closed off.

This means you can have the latest Samsung phone – every year – without having a big upfront payment to deal with as you would if you bought the phone on day one.

It’s flexible, too. If, after a year, you decide you don’t want to upgrade again, you don’t have to, simply settling the existing credit agreement at any time.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+

The Samsung Upgrade Programme offer applies to  the larger Samsung Galaxy S8+ as well.

Both of the new phones offer amazing screens which almost cover the entire front of the handset (so much so that the brand name is scooted to the back of the device!) and have slick sloping edges, the standout Samsung trademark. And because there’s so much less bezel around the display, the phone fits the hand perfectly.

Add in extra innovations like an iris scanner so the phone unlocks when it recognises your eyes, a super-fast camera with a Pro mode for greater control and more. There are software innovations like advanced split screen, made possible by the bigger display, so you can watch a video at the top of the screen while you send a text message from the bottom. Multi-tasking at its most useful.

An Always On Display means a clock is always displayed onscreen, without you having to wake the phone to check the time, and without affecting battery life noticeably.

With the Samsung Upgrade Programme you can ensure you have access to the latest phone every year, without spending silly money.

If you pre-order before 19 April, you’ll get the smart new phone up to eight days early ahead of those walking into a store.

New sources confirm three iPhones for 2017, iPhone 8 with curved OLED display

There have been plenty of previous reports claiming Apple will launch three iPhones in 2017 and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has added extra weight to the rumours.

Gurman is renowned for his inside Apple knowledge and industry sources.

Citing information that comes from “people familiar with the matter”, his report states a new, flagship iPhone 8 will adopt a curved OLED display, much like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and, like that rival handset, the screen will cover the entire front of the phone. It will also feature stainless steel in the design of the chassis and “more advanced cameras”.

However, supply constraints could delay the handset from its usual September release slot.

• Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus: What’s the story so far?
• Great iPhone 8 schematic shows Apple’s next phone with an edge-to-edge display

As well as the iPhone 8, it is said that Apple will release updated models of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Previous rumours have suggested they will be called the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, which makes sense considering the company’s usual naming conventions. The iPhone 8, therefore, will be seen as a separate premium device.

Prototype handsets have been provided by some Asian manufacturing partners, it is claimed. At least one is reported similar in shape to the iPhone 4, with a steel band around the outside. The OLED display itself is said to be flat on that design, but the glass is curved around the edges.

Samsung is thought to be providing the OLED panels.

Report: Apple launching three iPhones this fall

Apple is prepping up to three iPhones for a possible fall launch, including a flagship stainless steel and curved glass tenth anniversary model, according to Bloomberg’s Apple guru Mark Gurman. That jibes very closely with past rumors from Fast Company and others that believe Apple will release two iPhone 7s models along with a pricey high-end version. Unlike others, however, Gurman thinks the new model will not have a curved OLED display, but merely curved glass on the back and front.

Recent supply leaks hinted that the next iPhone design would use a curved OLED display, but apparently Apple abandoned that idea, possibly over supply concerns. Even if it’s not curved, it’ll still have an OLED screen that takes up most of the front of the device, though. It would thus have a screen around the same size as the current iPhone 7 Plus, but crammed into a body the size of the iPhone 7.

That said, Apple is apparently testing multiple devices and hasn’t quite settled on a final design. For instance, it developed one prototype that uses a dramatically curved glass back like the original 2007 iPhone, which would be appropriate for a tenth anniversary device. However, suppliers reportedly struggled to build the highly curved glass, so it has also tested a slightly larger version with an aluminum back.

The one most likely to ship, however, is a device that uses subtly curved glass on both the back and front, Gurman’s sources believe. Whichever way it goes for the screen, it’s likely that Apple will use stainless steel rather than more expensive aluminum for the frame.

Apple has reportedly tapped Samsung for the OLED screens and ordered up to 100 million of them, as other suppliers don’t have enough capacity to meet expected demand. The screen is said to look dramatically better than those on the current iPhone 7 models, according to Fast Co’s sources.

As for the rest of the device, Apple is supposedly testing a vertical rather than horizontal dual-lens camera for the overhauled iPhone. It’s also trying a dual-lens front camera with a Sony sensor similar to those used on the back of the iPhone 7 Plus (above), along with the previously-reported depth sensor.

Apple has been experimenting with a screen-based Touch ID fingerprint reader, but it’s not clear whether that feature will make it into the next-gen iPhone. It has also been testing a 10-nanometer processor that would be more powerful and efficient, giving the device decent battery life without expanding its battery size over past models.

Much of this information isn’t new, but Gurman has one of the best track records for predicting new Apple devices, so the report helps further clarify its plans. It seems that Apple still hasn’t settled on an exact design for the iPhone 8 or X, or whatever the next-gen device will be called. Even if the company does unveil it this fall (which seems a stretch if all this is accurate), don’t count on buying one immediately afterwards — it could take several months for Apple to get all the parts it needs, Bloomberg says.

Source: Bloomberg

Huawei Watch 2 arrives in the US for $300

Huawei Watch 2, the wearable we think Google should have used to launch Android Wear 2.0, is finally out in the US. Starting today, you can get the $300 standard variant with its mixed rubber strap in Carbon Black and Concrete Grey from the usual retailers, including Best Buy, Amazon, NewEgg and Walmart. There’s a classic variant with a rubber-leather hybrid strap and a metallic casing in case you want something that looks more formal. However, that one’s not yet available (it’ll be out “soon,” the company promises) and will set you back $370. If you do snap up one of the standard variants, you’ll also get 10 free weeks of Google Play Music, which will come bundled with the device for a limited time.

It’s a clever freebie, considering the watch can directly connect to a pair of Bluetooth earphones. A Play Music subscription can get you accustomed to the idea of listening to music straight from your smartwatch instead of from your phone while jogging or commuting. You can even download songs on its 4GB onboard memory instead of streaming them if you frequent places with poor signal. It’s not entirely clear if the freebie will still be available for the classic version when it comes out, though you can always sign up for the service’s standard 30-day free trial if it doesn’t.