Weekly Rewind: Flying taxis, cheap shipping container homes, and more

A lot can happen in a week when it comes to tech. The constant onslaught of news makes it nigh impossible for mere mortals with real lives to keep track of everything. That’s why we’ve compiled a quick and dirty list of this week’s top 10 tech stories, from everything you need to know about AT&T’s unlimited plans to how you can watch the NFL on Amazon — it’s all here.

‘Thursday Night Football’ is coming to Amazon Prime next season

Amazon scored a deal with the NFL to stream 10 Thursday Night Football games during the upcoming season. The news, confirmed to Digital Trends via email, is a serious blow to Twitter, which secured the rights for the same coverage last season. This time, however, Amazon outbid not only Twitter, but also YouTube and Facebook. The retail giant paid a reported $50 million to take the prize — that’s $40 million more than Twitter’s payout last year.

Read the full story here.

Spotify vs. Apple Music: Which service is the streaming king?

When it comes to subscribers, the undisputed king of on-demand streaming music is Spotify. The Swedish-born service helped pioneer the current market and has tens of millions more paid users than the competition, not to mention millions more free users. But Apple Music, known for its high-level exclusive releases and full integration into Apple’s popular iOS system, is the hottest service on Spotify’s heels. Apple’s streaming service has shown impressive growth in its audience since its inception, so which is better?

Read the full story here.

Has Intel turned into a virtual reality film studio? We found out

Few companies have been as integral to bringing the future to computing for as long as Intel. Now the technology conglomerate is putting its chips where the films are, acting as a sort of “tech whisperer” to help filmmakers create in virtual reality. Does this mean Intel, and other companies that power VR films, are becoming de facto movie studios? assisting moviemakers in acheiving their look is nothing new to Intel. The company provided processing technology to Dreamworks Animation in 2008, for instance. If you thought 2009’s Monsters vs. Aliens looked cool, you can thank Intel.

Read the full story here.

Think inside the box with these tricked-out shipping container homes

Do you have an inordinate amount of shipping containers? Are you trying figure out what to do with all them? In the unlikely event that the answer to this question is “Yes,” you’ll be pleased to learn that they’re far more practical than you may have imagined. And if you answered in the negative, then good news! You can grab yourself a decent size shipping container for just over $1,500.

Read the full story here.

NASA’s retiring EO-1 satellite changed how we see Earth with these stunning photos

Last week, NASA retired one of its greats — the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. Initially commissioned for the agency’s New Millennium Program, EO-1 proved to be the satellite that could. Its one-year mission nearly extended to 17 years. EO-1 was never meant to be such a star. In fact, its original purpose was to test and refine technologies for future Earth imaging. It was launched on November 21, 2000 with 13 new technologies, three of which had never been tested. Many of the most stunning images were capture by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI).

Read the full story here.

Trials for driverless shuttles currently being held in London

Why it matters to you

Self-driving public transport may not be ubiquitous just yet, but this trial run in the U.K. capital offers a preview of what we’ll be able to expect.

We may not yet be at the point where driverless cars become a standard fixture on our roads, but a pilot scheme (or should that be “pilotless scheme?”) in the U.K. shows that we’re getting closer by the day.

A trial of autonomous public transport is currently taking place in London’s Greenwich Peninsula, with seven prototype shuttles — each designed to carry four passengers — ferrying select members of the public as part of the city’s GATEway (Greenwich Automated Transport Environment) research project.

“What we’ve introduced are our driverless pods, going up and down the Greenwich Peninsula,” Dr. Graeme Smith, CEO of Oxbotica, the company which developed the vehicles, told Digital Trends. “An early version of these pods has been in operation at Heathrow Airport for two or three years. They’re totally driverless, but at Heathrow they run on a special modified railway track. What we’ve done for the GATEway Project is to add sensors and a lot of clever AI software that lets them run in lots of different places, such as regular cycle paths or roads.”

More: The latest player in the self-driving car game? Oxford University’s Oxobotica

Along with the technological research aspect of the test, part of the trial is to show how driverless vehicles might work as zero emission, low noise transport for residents; maybe even one day as an alternative for cars or buses.

“We’ve got a list of about 5,000 people who have signed up to experience the pods,” Smith continued. “We’re letting them have a test ride, and before we’ve done that we ask them about their preconceptions about driverless cars. Then after they’ve had some real-world experience, we ask them again and see if their views have changed.”

The pods are described as the world’s first fully automated shuttle vehicles, although for the trial a trained staff member is on hand at all times to stop them if necessary. The trial will run for the next three weeks.

Similar to other self-driving car projects, the pods use technologies like cameras and lasers to locate themselves on a map, perceive and track dynamic obstacles around them, and plan a safe trajectory to their destination. Over an eight-hour period of operation, one vehicle alone collects four terabytes of data — which is roughly equivalent to 2,000 hours of film, or 1.2 million photographs.

Other driverless vehicle tests will take place in the U.K. later this year.

Google’s Chief Game Designer leaves company, wants to actually design games again

Sometimes you realise it’s just time to move on.

Noah Falstein has left his post as Google’s Chief Game Designer after four years with the company, making the announcement official in a post on his blog. Falstein explains that he’s leaving because “the opportunity to actually build the big, consequential games” had “failed to materialize”.

While you might be thinking “Why would Google design games themselves?”, keep in mind the historical context at the time of Falstein’s hiring. Back in 2013, Google was still the parent company for a little game developer named Niantic, which had just released the innovative augmented reality game Ingress the year before. Falstein brings over 30 years of game development and design experience to the table — an ideal candidate if Google had set goals to foster development of new, innovative gaming initiatives from within.

But it became apparent those gaming initiatives would never come to pass. During the Alphabet restructuring of 2015, Niantic became an independent company and went on to create the wildly popular Pokemon Go, which continues to garner awards and acclaim while still pulling in over 65 million users monthly. Meanwhile, aside from one-off titles like Tilt Brush and smaller scale experimental games like Quick, Draw! and the regular Google doodle games and gaming-related April Fools’ Day easter eggs, Google does not appear to have any intentions on designing the big, consequential games that drew Falstein’s attention in the first place.

Here’s Falstein’s statement in full from April 6, 2017:

Four years ago this month I became Google’s Chief Game Designer. It seemed an auspicious time to be able to make games at a company known for its world-spanning technology. Unfortunately, the opportunity to actually build the big, consequential games that I had been hired to help create failed to materialize, even as the world market for games has continued to grow in size, diversity, and geographic reach. Accordingly, I’ve decided to leave Google, and today, April 6, was my last day.

Google is a tremendous company and I know I will miss the perks, the excitement, and most of all, my colleagues there. But with 37 years as a professional game developer, making games is in my blood. I’m not ready to give up on it, certainly not when there are exciting new fields just opening up. I’m particularly energized by the confluence of games, neuroscience, and VR. Before I came to Google I had the pleasure of working on a number of health and neuroscience game titles, and that field is now maturing, and I think about to come into its own both in terms of its benefits to humanity, and feasibility as a business. Related to that, I think the emotional connections possible in VR, most prominently shown in the empathy evoked by a sense of physical proximity and eye contact that no previous technology can match, is going to open up an entire new merging of movies, interaction, and games that may need a new name. I don’t know what’s next, and that’s part of what attracts me. The only way that I or my long-term colleagues stay fresh in an industry that is constantly changing is to evolve to meet that adapting environment.

Whether neurogaming, interactive VR films, or some other yet undreamt-of territory will be my next challenge, I’m eager to begin exploring!

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How to share your Daydream adventures on a second screen

Sharing your experiences in VR to a second screen is easy with Daydream.

Adventuring through VR with Daydream is a blast. From games that have you trying to figure out puzzles, to immersive videos that can bring you to exciting new locales. Trying to get your friends to try out VR can be pesky though, and if you have a few friends over, you might be tempted to share what you’re seeing, to a larger screen that everyone can enjoy. Thankfully this is totally doable, and we’ve got the details for you here.

Read more at VRHeads.com

Leaked images show the refurbished Note 7R and its 3200mAh battery

Samsung is bringing the Note 7 back from the dead with a smaller battery that is probably safe.

First, Samsung said it wasn’t going to be selling refurbished Galaxy Note 7 phones with newer, smaller batteries. Then it had a change of heart and decided to do just that, and even gave us some poetry about the situation.

Applicability is dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand.

Now we get to see what is reportedly a set of photos of the Galaxy Note 7R, courtesy of the Vietnamese site SAMSUNGVN with a 3,200mAh battery inside the same familiar case.

What we don’t have is any information about pricing or exactly which countries Samsung will have those “consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers” to get permission to sell the refurbs. It’s a given that Samsung isn’t going to try and sell this in North America after the highly-publicized battery failures of the original Note 7. But users in Asia (and maybe parts of Europe) might be able to snag one.

We know plenty of people loved the Note 7. What’s your take on this situation? Would you buy a refurbished model with a new battery?

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

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• Join the Note 7 discussion in the forums!

Ford’s baby crib isn’t a car, but it feels like one

When it comes to getting a baby to fall asleep, sometimes a car ride is the only thing that will do the trick. I know that all too well because that’s the tactic my parents used when I was a tyke. Of course, cranking up the car driving around just to get your child to nap burns fuel, so Ford designers in Spain developed a baby crib that simulates the experience of a ride in the backseat.

Officially dubbed Max Motor Dreams, the bassinet-sized device features muffled engine noise, gentle movements similar to a car ride and LEDs that move to simulate the glow of passing street lights. There’s also an app that tracks your car’s unique sounds and movements from your route before sending them to the high-tech crib. That means the familiar feel of a trip around the neighborhood will be what your baby experiences here rather than a generic simulation.

While Ford is reproducing a car ride here, we’ve seen smart cribs in the past. The Snoo smart sleeper mimics the sounds of a mother’s womb while keeping a baby from rolling over into a dangerous position. It also has built-in microphones so you can monitor you child from the next room and it can gently rock a little one to sleep.

If you’re already considering a Max Motor Dreams of your own, you’ll have to wait a while. Roadshow reports Ford only built one so far, but if there’s enough demand for the smart crib, the automaker says it will consider a full production run in the future. The company’s Spanish arm is holding a raffle which customers can enter if they sign up to test drive one of Ford’s Max vehicles.

Via: Roadshow

Source: Ford (Spanish)

Uber’s legal defense: Waymo does LiDAR better, for now

Uber has finally responded via the courts to Waymo’s allegation that it’s using the Alphabet company’s Lidar technology. The ride-hailing company called Waymo’s injunction motion to stop using technology that was allegedly misappropriated from Google servers a “misfire.” It also insisted that because it’s developing multi-lens LiDAR technology instead of the single-lens that Waymo uses, it’s not using stolen technology.

Waymo’s lawsuit against Uber claims that former Google engineer, Anthony Levandowski stole 14,000 confidential documents pertaining to the search giant’s LiDAR tech and that Uber is using the technology found in those documents.

After he left Google Levandowski went on to form the self-driving trucking company Otto that was acquired by Uber for $680 million. He currently leads Uber’s driverless car initiative.

In the response to the injunction, Uber was forced to note that Waymo’s self-driving technology is currently ahead of the ride-hailing company’s. That’s not too surprising considering that Google started working on its self-driving tech in 2009, five years ahead of Uber. Uber also admitted that it’s still using off-the-shelf technology from LiDAR supplier Velodyne.

Still Uber notes that it’s upcoming proprietary LiDAR is vastly different from Waymo’s.

“Waymo’s injunction motion is a misfire: there is no evidence that any of the 14,000 files in question ever touched Uber’s servers and Waymo’s assertion that our multi-lens LiDAR is the same as their single-lens LiDAR is clearly false,” said Angela Padilla, Uber associate general counsel said in a statement “If Waymo genuinely thought that Uber was using its secrets, it would not have waited more than five months to seek an injunction. Waymo doesn’t meet the high bar for an injunction, which would stifle independent innovation and competition.”

The Alphabet company brought the lawsuit in response to an Uber email that was accidentally CC’d by a LiDAR component vendor to one of Google’s employees that contained an Uber circuit board that allegedly resembled Waymo’s proprietary design.

In its response Uber states: “Waymo took one Uber schematic (inadvertently sent to a Waymo employee) and made several assumptions based on that one document to conclude that Uber’s LiDAR used a single-lens design”

A Waymo spokesperson told Engadget: “Uber’s assertion that they’ve never touched the 14,000 stolen files is disingenuous at best, given their refusal to look in the most obvious place: the computers and devices owned by the head of their self-driving program. We’re asking the court to step in based on clear evidence that Uber is using, or plans to use, our trade secrets to develop their LiDAR technology, as seen in both circuit board blueprints and filings in the State of Nevada.”

This trial could be spell trouble for Uber. If it’s found that one of its top executives did pilfer those documents and use the information within them to build Uber’s LiDAR technology, the financial judgement could cripple the ride-hailing company and give competitors like Lyft the opportunity to overtake it.

Via: The Verge

Mice brains store backup copies of memories

Turns out that even the human brain might use redundancy when it comes to storage. New research out of the Riken-MIT Center for Neural Circuit Genetics suggests that memories are stored in two places in the brain: the hippocampus for short-term and the cortex for longterm. Previously, the prevailing theory was that once a memory was formed in the hippocampus, it would then move to the cortex for storage. But that may not be the case, according to a paper published in Science.

Recently, researchers called in the mice (of course) and watched a cluster of brain cells that formed after the rodents were administered a shock. From there, the scientists used light to “control the activity of individual neurons,” as the BBC reports, which let them turn memories on and off. As a result, the mice forgot about the jolt of electricity until the memories were manually activated in the cortex.

This hasn’t been proven to hold true in humans just yet, and it’s only one experiment, but the learnings could shape how we understand brain disease in the future. Specifically, this might give us a chance to see how things like dementia and Alzheimers affect the way memories are formed and stored, and devise ways to sidestep those heartbreaking conditions.

Via: BBC

Source: Science

Google hires Vive and Oculus developer to bolster its VR team

If you want to see the potential of virtual reality, check out SoundStage: a virtual reality music sandbox app for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Google just snapped up developer Logan Olson for its VR team, further proving the company’s continued interest in becoming a true player in the space.

SoundStage launched on Steam last month, though it ended active development on the app at the time as well. We won’t be seeing SoundStage on Google’s Daydream VR anytime soon, either. Google told The Verge that it would build upon Olson’s work within existing and upcoming Google products.

Google acquired VR art app Tilt Brush in mid-2015 and has been pushing the open source app to get developers interested. Olson’s hire is yet another step toward a true Google VR presence. Ironically, Google’s chief game designer, Noah Falstein, just left the company, citing an interest in the “confluence of games, neuroscience and VR.”

Source: The Verge

Huawei finally has a phone worthy of the Leica brand

From super slow-mo cameras and bezel-less displays to banking on the power of nostalgia, smartphone makers have tried almost every trick they can to stand out. Huawei’s latest strategy is to partner with color authority Pantone to come up with a variety of eye-catching hues for its latest flagship. The Huawei P10 (and the slightly larger P10 Plus) will be available in a slew of colors and finishes. But, while that’s nice for people looking to personalize their phones, it’s not particularly useful.

What’s actually useful about the new flagship are its powerful camera and reliable performance wrapped in an understated, elegant frame. And although the phones won’t officially be coming to the US for now (they’ll sell in Europe starting at €649), they’re still a tantalizing preview of what Huawei might have in store.

Huawei has already proven it is capable of building premium, good-looking handsets, and the P10 is further evidence of that. Its slim, 6.98mm (0.27-inch) profile and gently curving edges aren’t just pleasant to look at, they’re a pleasure to hold as well.

Many of my friends have pointed out the P10’s resemblance to the iPhone. And indeed, that’s true of the basic white/gold version I tested. If you aren’t feeling the Apple-esque look, you can opt for one of many customization options that Huawei offers. Pick a different color — there are seven hues, including Pantone-approved “Dazzling Blue” and “Greenery,” to choose from. Or try a different finish. You can get a smooth, sandblasted back, a glossy coat or a gritty texture that’s reminiscent of ridged, holographic lenticular cards. That last option is popular with a couple of my coworkers, and it does help the P10 stand out. The colors and textures available vary between countries, though, so you might not be able to get the exact combination you want.

The P10’s 5.1-inch full HD display is sharp and colorful, and while It won’t wow you with richly saturated images or deep blacks like Samsung’s flagships do, it’s good enough for my Instagram and Netflix binges. The same can be said for the P10 Plus’ 5.5-inch WQHD panel, which offers more space for gaming and reading. I just wish both phones were a tad brighter so I could read more easily in strong sunlight.

While we’re on the subject, the P10 and P10 Plus come with screen protectors out of the box. It didn’t bother me, but might annoy people who want direct access to the display. The trouble for these folks is it appears the protector was applied in lieu of an oleophobic coating on the screen, which other phones have to avoid fingerprint grease and water damage.

When we asked about the reported lack of this coating, Huawei said “The P10 is the world’s first smartphone with capacitive under-glass fingerprint sensor for seamless navigation.” In layman’s terms, that all but confirms that Huawei did away with the coating to prevent interference with its under-glass fingerprint sensor. The company also said, “For screen protection, we have used premium materials such as Gorilla Glass 5 and include a screen protector as part of the integrated product.” Basically, if you want to remove the screen protector (which by the way is incredibly difficult), do so knowing you risk damaging the display.

Below the screen sits a pill-shaped home key that houses the fingerprint sensor. Think of this as an etched-out touchpad. It doesn’t depress or click; it simply senses your touch. There aren’t separate Back and Recent Apps buttons on its sides; You’ll have to tap once on the sensor to go back, hold down to go home and swipe sideways to multitask. This takes a bit of getting used to, but it’s worth learning now, since Huawei is not the only company implementing this method (the Moto G5 uses a similar format).

If that’s too much trouble, you can still opt for a set of onscreen navigation keys, which is the default setting for the larger P10 Plus. This feels more intuitive, but makes the physical sensor redundant and confusing since I still keep hitting it instinctively to go to the home screen.

Just like it has with the recently released Mate 9, Huawei has integrated artificial intelligence into the P10’s system. Thanks to the company’s custom octa-core Kirin 960 processor, the smartphone can learn your habits over time and divert resources like RAM and power to preparing the apps it predicts you will next open. During my month of testing, I most commonly used the P10 for taking pictures, looking at them in the gallery, and sharing them either on Instagram or to Google Drive. Switching between these apps is zippy, which could be a sign that Huawei’s algorithm is working well here (or, you know, that the processor and RAM are more than adequate for how I used the phone). Like I noted when I reviewed the Mate 9, though, this isn’t something you’ll notice until it doesn’t work. And it’s not like the phone stuttered when pulling up apps I didn’t use as frequently; In general, the P10 is responsive and multitasks well.

Capable performance and pleasant aesthetics are important basics to nail, but Huawei has come far enough that delivering those is no longer surprising. What I wasn’t expecting, though, is the P10’s ability to take stunning pictures. When Huawei first teamed up with Leica to co-engineer the P9’s cameras in 2016, the result was underwhelming. Now, the collaboration finally seems to be paying off. I’d actually reach for the P10 over my iPhone 6s every time I want to snap a pretty picture (or a gratuitous selfie). The P10 Plus has newer Leica sensors and a larger f/1.8 aperture than the regular P10’s f/2.0 setup, but I didn’t notice a significant difference in image quality other than more-saturated colors on the larger handset. Both cameras performed similarly well.

The P10’s rear features a 12-megapixel RGB sensor and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor, similar to the setup on a handful of Android phones from ZTE and Xiaomi. Together, the cameras capture crisp, colorful photos with pretty bokeh, thanks to software that applies an artificial depth-of-field effect to pictures. From my experience, though, the iPhone 7 Plus is more accurate at identifying outlines of faces while the P10 tends to be more muddy with its boundaries. It causes parts of my head, like my hair, to be blurred out along with the background. Still, the pictures look lovely, and the accuracy is already an improvement over the P9. Plus, it could easily be fixed with a software update.

What the P10 does that the iPhone can’t though, is apply that same soft focus to selfies. I was won over the instant I saw the results — they’re almost pretty enough to make me switch to Android. It sounds vain, but the front-camera integration makes getting the bokeh effect much easier, and is a bonus for anyone who wants better selfies.

The P10’s front camera also has a handy tool for group selfies that detects faces in the shot, and zooms in or out to accommodate them. This feature was finicky in my testing and didn’t always work. When it did kick in, it did a good job of providing enough room for everyone in the picture, but it’s too unreliable right now to be useful.

Software is a big reason the P10’s pictures are superb. Its camera app features a trio of color profiles — standard, vivid and smooth, that let you take richer, more saturated images that are Instagram-ready without any edits. These sometimes result in slightly overexposed photos because of the high contrast, but you can always shoot in standard mode to avoid that. The P10 is also impressive in low light. Pictures of buildings at night displayed almost no noise — details were clear and colors were vivid. Portrait mode can introduce noise, but even there it’s minor.

There is very little to dislike about the P10 — even its battery life is satisfying. The regular P10 has a 3,200mAh cell while the Plus packs a 3,750mAh one. During my testing, both phones easily lasted about a day and a half of average use. But, any time I started playing games or watching videos on YouTube, that runtime drops to a day at best. That’s still impressive, though, and recharging the phone is speedy enough, thanks to quick-charge support. I was surprised to see the P10 go from zero percent to 25 percent charged in a mere 15 minutes.

Ultimately, the P10 and P10 Plus are good-looking, responsive phones with excellent cameras. But they’re not perfect. I’m not a fan of the home key navigation, nor do I like the limited availability of Huawei’s unique color options. Plus, the handsets won’t officially be coming to the US. If you get your hands on one and stick an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM card in there, the phone will work, though you may not get full LTE speeds since the radio isn’t optimized for US spectrums. Huawei has only just begun bringing its popular handsets stateside, so hopefully the P10 will make its way here soon.