Google’s Classroom is open to anyone with an urge to teach

Forget those pesky teaching qualifications, because Google has now found a way to make educators out of us all. Starting today, any Google Classroom user will be able to create their own classes. Working as an app or via desktop, what started as merely a service to organize coursework now lets users share their own wisdom. Previously, in order to create and attend classes you’d need a G Suite for Education account, now anyone with a Google account can enjoy its benefits.

While the video above is old, it gives you a good idea of what the software is all about. With teachers all around the world drowning in paperwork and bureaucracy, Google Classroom aims to make their lives easier. With students able to submit everything online, assignments are all easily accessible from the cloud — unfortunately making them much more dog-proof.

Keen to show how versatile the service can be, Google recruited a handful of teachers and hobbyists to pilot the feature. One teacher commented on how he prefers using Classroom to email students weekly summaries, as every question, assignment and announcement generates its own link.

Highlighting various test cases on its blog, Google shows how Classroom can be used from everything to teaching graphic design to helping to run a student-led gameDev class. This initial pilot saw the software helping after school programs too, with classes being used by an elementary school teacher to continue sharing ideas with her Girl Scouts Robotics Club.

While it’s still early days for the service, it’s good to see that as well as helping to reduce teachers’ burdens, Classroom might also have uses outside of traditional education.

Source: Google Blog

It looks like Apple is resurrecting its Venmo competitor

Apple began considering its own peer-to-peer payment system back in 2015. Since then, however, nothing seems to have come of it. Today, however, Recode reports that Apple is again in negotiations to launch its own money-transfer system to rival competing services like PayPal’s wildly popular Venmo. Apple’s new service, likely a feature for Apple Pay, could enable you to send money to a friend’s iPhone from your own.

Apple Pay is doing well for the tech giant, but extending its influence into the peer-to-peer space could encourage more consumers to actually use it. Mobile payments between peers are hot right now, with companies like PayPal, Square, and even Facebook getting into the act. While businesses like Square aren’t making much from peer-to-peer payment systems, the ease of sending money to friends and local service providers is bound to become more ubiquitous as more people try it out. Venmo itself continues to grow rapidly, with a reported $6.8 billion in transactions through its app. US banks have also launched their own competing service, Zelle, thereby cutting out third-party middlemen.

While one source told Recode that Apple may announce its new payment service this year, another noted that the launch date and announcement may not be set as of yet. Whatever the timeline for the new Apple service, having the ability to pay rent or split a dinner bill with just your iPhone could be just the thing to convince many of us to use it.

Source: Recode

McDonald’s will satisfy your Big Mac craving with UberEats delivery

McDonald’s already tried delivering Quarter Pounder combo meals via Uber in Florida and now the fast-food restaurant it ready to expand the option. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that McDonald’s will launch its delivery option in more cities before the end of June. And yes, it’s still powered by UberEats.

That original testing phase included 200 locations in Florida, and for now, there’s no word on exactly where the delivery option is headed next. Those details are likely to come soon, so you might be able to satisfy your Big Mac craving without leaving the house in the near future. For now, McDonald’s is trying to perfect the process of accepting orders, finding the right packaging for deliveries and tackling other “operational challenges.” The company also tried its hand at delivery in 2015 with help from Postmates. That initiative is limited to New York City, though.

Delivery isn’t the only move McDonald’s is making to meet the needs of diners in 2017. The company began testing mobile ordering and payments back in March, a feature of its app that’s now available for 400 locations in Chicago, California, Washington state and the DC area. The plan is for every location to have the mobile ordering system in place eventually. As part of the Uber news, McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook explained that restaurant redesigns and digital options like mobile ordering are top priorities over the next two years.

Source: Crain’s Chicago Business

Mars-like soil makes super strong bricks when compressed

Elon Musk’s vision of Mars colonization has us living under geodesic domes made of carbon fiber and glass. But, according to a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, those domes may end up being made of brick, pressed from the Martian soil itself.

A team of NASA-funded researchers from UC San Diego, and led by structural engineer Yu Qiao, made the surprising discovery using simulated Martian soil — that’s dirt from Earth which has nearly the same physical and chemical properties. They found that by compressing the simulant under high pressure, it readily created blocks stronger than steel-reinforced concrete.

This isn’t the first time that researchers have attempted to create building materials from native resources on alien worlds. Last year, a team from Northwestern University figured out that you could create concrete by mixing Martian soil with molten sulphur. Qi’s own team had previously sought to make bricks from lunar soil material, managing to reduce the amount of binder needed from 15 percent of the final weight to just 3 percent, before turning their attention to the red stuff.

Interestingly, it’s the red stuff itself (specifically, iron oxide) that enables Martian soil’s compression trick. Iron oxide cracks and shears easily when crushed and its resulting surfaces tend to be angular and flat. When those broad surfaces are subsequently smashed together with sufficient force, they form strong bonds that don’t require a binding agent.

While the research team still needs to confirm that the soil property holds up on the macro level (they only made very small bricks during this experiment), Qi figures that if it does, future manned missions to Mars could use soil as the source material for additive manufacturing efforts. And why not? We’ve already done it with other alien metals.

Via: Verge

Source: Scientific Reports

A kickstand is the most interesting feature on Acer’s new 2-in-1

Of all the new Switch laptops and convertibles that Acer unveiled today, the most eye-catching is the Switch 5. It’s a slick 12-inch Windows 10 hybrid with what the company calls an “auto-retractable” kickstand that lets you adjust the angle at which it’s propped up by pushing it with one finger. Everything else about the convertible is pretty much par for the course, but we’ll get to that later. At the crowded demo area, I was taken by how easy it is to shift viewing angles on a Switch 5 — it works just like a laptop’s lid.

Adjusting the kickstands on competing convertibles (like the Surface) requires you to lift or prop up the device and push the stand out. The Switch 5’s setup makes it a lot more convenient to adjust your screen’s angle while you’re looking at it. You just have to push down on the device (which I did with just one finger) as you would on a regular laptop.

Acer has done a good job balancing the kickstand’s resistance here. It doesn’t take too much force to push the Switch down to a lower angle, nor is it too easy to move out of place by accident. The stand is reminiscent of the Surface Studio’s adjustable hinge, although Acer’s offering is less sophisticated. In line with the company’s previous superthin Switch 7 laptop, though, the new device has a pleasantly slim profile and a premium build.

The new Switch convertibles come with a companion keyboard that connect magnetically to the tablet via a POGO connection. I enjoyed typing brief sentences on my demo unit, as the keys were comfortable and springy. There’s also a trackpad below the keyboard, which was responsive during my brief time with it. On the sheltered rooftop where we checked out these devices, the Switch 5’s 2K display was crisp, colorful and bright enough to easily navigate the Windows 10 Home system.

One thing I found jarring was the way the kickstand snaps into the tablet’s back when you don’t need it anymore. It requires a very deliberate push to merge into the device’s frame, and about half an inch of the stand’s base sticks out, which would make storing or carrying the Switch complicated. I imagine it would frequently get stuck in my backpack from getting caught on a random pocket or lining.

We don’t know much else about the Switch 5, except that it will be ready for back-to-school season this year for an undisclosed price. Depending on the region, a stylus may be included with the convertible and keyboard. Acer is also promising up to 10.5 hours of battery life, and the device’s seventh-generation Intel Core i7 or i5 CPUs should provide ample power for multitasking. We’ll have to wait till the Switch 5 is ready for testing to see if that holds true.

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

Amazon taught Alexa to whisper sweet nothings in your ear

Soon enough, Amazon’s Alexa will shout out your grocery list. That’s assuming developers take advantage of the new language framework that Amazon has added to its digital assistant. The idea is that the Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML) will hopefully give Alexa more natural speaking patterns. Specifically, now Alexa is capable of whispering, bleeping out swear words and adding emphasis to a phrase in addition to changing volume, speed and pitch of its voice.

The Amazon Developers page has sample code available too, so you can hear what Alexa is supposed to sound like before adding the SSML to your project. This is a pretty big step toward actually getting a digital assistant that sounds like a human in addition to it being another move from Bezos and Co. that opens the platform up to outsiders. Alexa still has a ways to go to becoming Samantha from Her, but this common programming language could get us there faster. Hopefully it doesn’t mean the pants from that movie are en route as well.

Source: Amazon Developers

MIT’s mobile 3D printer built the largest structure to date

Your next house could be built by a robot. Following the recent success of San Francisco-based startup Apis Cor, a team of MIT researchers have created a mobile autonomous 3D printer of their own. And to prove that the prototype works, the team had it build a 12-foot tall, 50-foot-wide igloo out of quick-setting foam — the largest such structure made by a robot to date.

The team recently published their work in the journal Science Robotics, arguing that automation should help lower construction costs and expedite building times. Their creation, dubbed the Digital Construction Platform, consists of a large hydraulic arm mounted on caterpillar treads. At the tip of its arm, the team installed a one-fingered gripping attachment though it can be swapped out for a number of different tools including foam and thermoplastic extruders, a welder, a water hose or a bucket. Rather than rely on fossil fuels, the entire 81,000-pound system is solar powered.

This setup makes the Digital Construction Platform ideal for off-world construction projects, especially when combined with some of MIT’s other 3D-printed programs like its Foundry software and memory-shape materials. However, the platform still needs further development before it starts working on real-world construction sites. The team wants to install proximity sensors, for one, in order to prevent the machine from running into structures or people as it moves about the work site. They should probably address the whole “doesn’t do right angles” issue as well.

Via: The Verge

Source: Science Robotics

The Wirecutter’s best deals: Vizio’s 65-inch 4K P-Series TV drops to $1,455

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, they may earn affiliate commissions that support their work. Read their continuously updated list of deals here.

You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.

Vizio P65-C1 LED TV

Street Price: $2000; MSRP: $2000; Deal Price: $1455

Since this deal is from Costco, you’ll either have to have a membership or you can pay a $70 surcharge. Luckily, the 1-year membership to Costco is $55, meaning you can get the TV and a Costco membership for $1455 ($1400 + $55 for the membership). Even with the additional membership cost, it’s still $140 cheaper than the current deal from Best Buy. It comes with free shipping, and is also available for in-store pickup, depending on local availability.

The Vizio P65-C1 is our top pick in our guide to the best TV. Since the 2017 model of this TV is coming out in a few weeks, we asked Chris Heinonen his thoughts, “The 2017 models only change the remote, replacing a tablet with a larger remote with a keypad, and an updated matte finish. The TV hardware remains the same and all the software changes, including being able to stream from the TV directly without a tablet, will roll out to the 2016 versions”

On the image quality, he wrote, “Of all the LED TVs we tested, the Vizio P65-C1 offers the best overall image quality across all types of content. The full-array local-dimming backlight provided superior contrast ratios and was the least noticeable in use with challenging content. Equipped with support for wide color gamut and high dynamic range, including both HDR standards, it’s ready for current and upcoming HDR content. The preset Calibrated and Calibrated Dark modes do a good job of producing an accurate image without requiring any work.”

2TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable Hard Drive

Street Price: $80; MSRP: $110; Deal Price: $70

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB rarely drops below $80, so this discount to $70 is a solid one. If you’ve been procrastinating about backing up your data or just need the additional storage, time to take note.

The Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB is our top pick in our guide to the best portable hard drive. Justin Krajeski and Kimber Streams write, “The 2TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim is one of the lightest, thinnest hard drives we tested, and it was consistently faster than the competition in our multifile music and photo transfer tests. More importantly, it’s reliable. The Slim was our top pick for two and a half years before being bested by the lighter, faster Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Slim. But the Ultra Slim’s reported failure rate skyrocketed after we picked it, so we no longer recommend it. We’ve switched our pick back to the tried-and-true Slim, which has a low 6.5 percent reported failure rate among nearly 9,000 user reviews. We recommend the 2TB model because it’s the best value. Seagate includes handy backup software and 200GB of free OneDrive storage for two years.”

iRobot Roomba 960

Street Price: $700; MSRP: $700; Deal Price: $600

We’ve only seen the Roomba 960 hit this price point once before, so this is a great price to pick it up. The only other time we’ve seen a deal matching this one was during Black Friday sales, so it’s unlikely that this deal will last.

The Roomba 960 is our upgrade pick in our guide to the best robot vacuums. Liam McCabe wrote, “For tougher jobs, like cleaning a large home or digging a lot of pet hair out of carpets, we really like the iRobot Roomba 960. It has more cleaning power than our main pick or runners-up, and a sophisticated navigation system that lets it clean an entire level of your home, room by room, without missing any patches. It also works with a smartphone app, so you can control and monitor it when you’re away from home. When we compare it with other high-end, full-featured robot vacuums, we think the Roomba 960 hits the right balance of price and performance.”

Bissell SpotClean Pro

Street Price: $125; MSRP: $130; Deal Price: $107

Another nice deal on our top carpet and upholstery cleaner pick, the Bissell SpotClean Pro, matching the price of the previous sale a few weeks back. While this deal doesn’t quite hit the lowest price we’ve seen, it is within $10. Most of the sales we’ve seen on the SpotClean Pro tend to be brief, so this one may expire soon.

The Bissel SpotClean Professional Portable Carpet Cleaner is our top pick in our guide to the best portable carpet and upholstery cleaners. Tyler Wells Lynch wrote, “The Bissell SpotClean Pro is the best carpet and upholstery spot cleaner we tried. It was one of the only machines to completely remove stains from upholstery and it did a better job at minimizing stains on our white shag rug. It’s less likely to damage fabric than a steam cleaner, cheaper than most competing devices, and fairly easy-to-use with very few safety hazards.”

Because great deals don’t just happen on Thursdays, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.

Acer’s $139 fitness watch promises to monitor your stamina

Acer is adding to its stable of quirky fitness trackers that measure unusual health metrics with the newly unveiled Leap Ware. It follows the company’s Liquid Leap lineup, which offered continuous heart-rate monitoring and stress-measuring for less than $200. Although I was skeptical of the Ware’s novelty stamina-tracking feature at first, I was convinced to give the device a more serious look once I strapped it on. The Ware is an attractive watch that’s impressively slim and comfortable for its $139 price tag, and will be available at the end of June.

As a person with slender wrists, I dig the Ware’s interchangeable 20mm band, which is slightly narrower than the 22mm option on competing devices. The blue rubber strap on the unit I tried on was comfortable and easy to put on, thanks to its standard buckle clasp. I found the device’s round 1.1-inch screen dim, although an Acer spokesperson explained that the display is transreflective, meaning it’s easier to see when it reflects light back to your eyes. Indeed, when I twisted my wrist to catch some light, the display became easier to read.

The watch itself is mostly responsive, although the touchscreen on my demo unit stuttered occasionally, as it struggled to respond to my swipes and taps. Still, I was intrigued by some of the Ware’s unique features. It has a light bulb on each side of the case’s edge, and you can turn these on with the physical buttons next to each bulb. This is handy when you need to hunt for something buried deep down in your dark purse, or looking at your ticket stub in a dimmed movie theater. But what’s more intriguing is the device’s SOS feature, which causes the bulbs to flash S-O-S in Morse code when you press a button in the watch’s OS. It’s ultimately a gimmicky tool, though, since the use cases for this are incredibly rare.

Speaking of, the biggest difference between the Ware and other fitness watches is its “stamina monitoring” feature. It sounds vague and unscientific at first, since it’s strange to consider endurance as a metric that can be tracked. But an Acer spokesperson explained that it’s not meant to be a data point that you can chart as you would your calorie loss or distance traveled. What the Ware can do is alert you during your workouts when you’re about to run out of energy, based on its understanding of your stamina. When you’re about to overexert yourself, the interface will flash red as a warning. If you’re still doing well, a green light will appear.

Acer calculates your stamina through a combination of your resting heart rate, your stress level (using the onboard galvanic skin response readers) and a blood pressure-like metric. To get that last piece of data, you’ll have to place your fingers on the two sensors on the Ware’s edge, similar to how you would grip the heart rate sensors on a treadmill. I wasn’t able to test the accuracy of this system during my brief demo, but even if I had more time with the device, I’m not sure I would be able to find a way to verify this information.

The Ware is supposed to last up to 5 days on a charge, which is longer than other smartwatches offer. In addition to tracking your activity, the device also delivers notifications from select apps on your phone, and is compatible with iOS and Android. Although I still find the stamina-monitoring claim dubious, the Ware is an ambitious watch with a low price — a compelling combination.

Apple Increases App Store Pricing in Mexico, Denmark, and Countries That Use the Euro

Apple today sent out an email to developers announcing App Store pricing increases in Denmark, Mexico, and all territories that use the Euro currency. The new pricing changes will go into affect before the end of next week, with Apple citing changes in foreign exchange rates as the reason behind the price hike.

Due to foreign exchange rate changes, prices for apps and in-app purchases (excluding auto-renewable subscriptions) will increase in Denmark, Mexico, and all territories that use the Euro currency in the next 7 days. Auto-renewable subscription prices will not be affected. You can change the price of your subscription at any time in iTunes Connect with the option to preserve prices for existing subscribers.

French site iPhoneAddict has shared a chart listing the new pricing tiers in Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, and Slovakia. In those countries, app pricing will now start at 1.09 euros, up from 0.99 euros. Similar pricing increases will be seen in the other affected countries.

Along with the App Store price change, Apple has announced that a value added tax (VAT) rate of five percent will go into effect for customers in Taiwan starting on May 1, 2017. Apps and in-app purchases will be affected.

On May 1, 2017, a value added tax (VAT) rate of 5% will go into effect for customers in Taiwan buying apps and in-app purchases. We will administer the collection of taxes from customers and the remittance of taxes to the appropriate tax authority in Taiwan. Your proceeds will be reduced accordingly, and will be calculated based on the tax exclusive price.

Apple’s App Store price hike in Denmark, Mexico, and countries that use the Euro comes just a few days after Apple announced a significant decrease in its affiliate program commission rate. Sites linking to the App Store used to receive a 7 percent cut when someone purchased an app, but that number will drop to 2.5 percent next week, impacting many websites that rely on App Store commissions.

Tag: App Store
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