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
Discuss this article in our forums

New Apple Watch NikeLab Now Available for Purchase

Nike’s latest Apple Watch, the Apple Watch NikeLab, is now available for purchase from the Nike website, Nike Lab stores, and the Apple Watch pop-up shop at the Isetan department store in Tokyo.

First announced last week, the Apple Watch NikeLab pairs a Space Gray Apple Watch Series 2 aluminum case with a black and cream perforated Nike band.

According to Nike, the Apple Watch NikeLab is limited edition and designed to be the “ultimate style companion” for runners. Like the existing Apple Watch Nike+, the Apple Watch NikeLab features a Nike watch face and integration with the Nike+ Run Club app.

Apple Watch NikeLab has the same pricing as an aluminum Apple Watch Sport at $369 for the 38mm model and $399 for the 42mm model. The new watch is available exclusively from Nike and the Isetan department store, marking the first Apple Watch that is not available in Apple retail stores and from the Apple website.

Apple and Nike first teamed up in September of 2016 for the Nike+ Apple Watch that launched alongside Apple’s own set of Series 2 Apple Watch devices. Apple offers two Apple Watch Nike+ models in Silver and Space Gray aluminum along with standalone Apple Watch Nike+ bands.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch Series 2, watchOS 3
Buyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
Discuss this article in our forums

Gear Up: VRS Design cases for LG G6 and other flagships

Are you the proud owner of a new LG G6 smartphone? What are you using to protect that flagship device? As delicate and sleek as that phone is, the last thing you want to do is drop it or scuff its surface. You’ll want to get a case on that thing as soon as possible.

VRS Design has a variety of cases for the LG G6 which we think you’d be interested in checking out. We were sent samples of four different models and have been testing putting them through their paces. All of them are excellent choices for customers looking to cover up the G6; the variety ensures you’ll find something that speaks to your needs.

High Pro Shield

1 of 5

Slim enough that it doesn’t add too much bulk to the device, this series of case is still strong enough to withstand drops. The textured design is subtle at first blush but upon closer inspection, the hairline brushed back gives it a bit of flavor. The outer layer is a shock resistant TPU while the bumpers are comprised of a polycarbonate that helps absorb bumps. Offered in five colors for about $30.

Crystal Bumper

1 of 4

While the bulk of this series is made of a transparent polycarbonate material, the bumpers accent the design of your G6. Available in five colors: Dark Silver, Shine Gold, Satin Silver, Blue Mist, and Rose Gold, each complements the standard colors of the LG handset. Don’t mistake this case for something generic; it can withstand drops with the best of ’em. About $30.

Simpli Mod

1 of 4

When you want to add a level of sophistication or professionalism to your G6, reach for this series of case. It comes in two colors (black, brown) and dresses the flagship phone up with a stitched PU leather backing. Equally slim as others, its polycarbonate backbone can take a few direct hits. It’s more of a snap-on shell than a case so and offers up easy access to the ports and buttons. About $25.

Layered Dandy

1 of 4

More than just a pretty case, this series lets you carry up to three cards and cash with the aid of sleeves. Whether you select Coffee Brown, Wine Red, or Black, the PU leather classes things up quite nicely. The magnetic clasp ensures you don’t have a flapping wallet opening up on you at inopportune times. About $35.

VRS Design has a large selection of cases for not only LG phones, but Samsung, Google, HTC, iPhone, and much more.  Additionally, it has a decent lineup of accessories, too. Shop direct or through various retailers such as Amazon.

Truebill automatically cancels subscriptions and refunds bank fees

Why it matters to you

Managing subscriptions and fees is hard enough. Truebill does the heavy lifting for you.

Managing subscriptions may not sound all that difficult, but minor bills inevitably get lost in lengthy statements. Trying to track accounts across services like Spotify, Netflix, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office is enough to drive anyone crazy after a while, which is why Yahya Mokhtarzada thinks most people could use a helping hand. That’s where Truebill, an automated subscription and fee tracker, comes in.

“The way we spend money has evolved,” Mokhtarzada, CEO and co-founder of Truebill, told Digital Trends. “Every dollar you spend, check you write, and card swipe you complete happens automatically. It’s almost too easy.”

He gave a personal example: Gogo’s in-flight Wi-Fi. “I looked at my credit card statement one day and saw a charge for in-flight Wi-Fi,” Mokhtarzada said. “It wasn’t a one-time charge like I thought, but a $40 dollar-a-month subscription over 14 months. Turns out I’d inadvertently subscribed.”

Y Combinator-backed Truebill, which Mokhtarzada launched with his brother, Idris, a year and a half ago, uses a combination of machine intelligence and human curation to nip errant subscriptions in the bud. Once you link a bank account or credit card, Truebill automatically identifies recurring subscriptions and alerts you each time you make a payment.

“It tries to solve inefficiency,” Mokhtarzada said.

But starting this month, Truebill will start handling more than subscriptions. It’s publicly launching bank-fee tracking, a service that’s been in beta the past several months. Doing so required “reverse-engineering” the process that banks use to issue late fees and overdraft processes, Mokhtarzada said.

It’s a little more complicated than subscription tracking. When Truebill detects a bank fee, it performs a “likelihood” assessment before reaching out to the institution.

“We try to determine whether the bank account is in good standing,” Mokhtarzada said, “and whether multiple fees have been charged in the past week or month.”

If the account is in good standing and the assessment finds a high chance of success, Truebill contacts a bank representative and attempts to secure a refund. Mokhtarzada said that refunds average between $35 and $45, and that the biggest refund so far was $135.

Bank-fee tracking works with “any mid-sized and large banks,” Mokhtarzada said, and the number of supported institutions is constantly expanding.

“It’s something that’s almost unexpected,” he said. “A lot of people don’t assume they can get a refund.”

One other killer feature Truebill has is its ability to cancel subscriptions on your behalf. If it’s a service Truebill has never tried encountered before, a human employee processes the cancellation. After it’s completed, Truebill reviews the process and tries to automate it to the extent that it can. E-mail signups like Netflix and Spotify are a cinch to cancel, Mokhtarzada said, but some services, like gym memberships, require a bit more work. Worse case scenario, Truebill requests information like a billing address and date of birth in order to generate and mail a certified letter for you.

To ensure cancellations are successful, Truebill monitors charges over subsequent weeks. If they aren’t, it issues a refund and attempts a second cancellation. Mokhtarzada said that happens about two percent of the time.

Truebill is free to use, a model Mokhtarzada said he’d like to keep, and it’s encrypted.

“All we know is that somewhere out there someone signed up and paid for Spotify and Hulu,” he said. “We follow industry practice protocols around security. But we also really don’t touch any login credentials that could compromise a user’s identity or bank accounts.”

Mokhtarzada hinted that Truebill’s next big project might have something to do with “pausing” subscriptions — i.e., putting a subscription on hold for a number of weeks and resuming it later. “Last summer, I went to Europe for two months on vacation […] but I continued paying for Spotify and Dollar Shave Club razors. I kept it going because I didn’t want to log into Truebill and have everything paused instantly. There is more to management than just skipping.”

Razer’s new Lancehead gaming mice touted as the world’s most precise

Why it matters to you

If you need the absolute highest precision in your gaming mouse, then Razer has you covered.

Razer is perhaps best known for its high-end gaming notebooks that tend to combine excellent performance and relatively thin and light chassis with an instantly recognized brand. The company’s array of gaming accessories is also instantly recognizable, and the family had added its newest member.

The Razer Lancehead wireless gaming mouse incorporates some cutting-edge technology to go along with its classic Razer styling. It’s joined by a wired mouse sibling with similar specifications and the reliability that comes with connecting via cable.

In terms of the main component, namely the laser sensor that does the real work, both mice offer the same “world’s most precise” 16,000DPI and 50G performance. The wireless version provides 210 inches-per-second (IPS) performance, while the wired Tournament Edition version provides up to 450 IPS. This level of performance provides for fast and accurate tracking for competitive gamers.

The Lancehead wireless mouse utilizes Razer’s advanced Adaptive Frequency Technology (AFT) to ensure a perfectly synced connection between mouse and system. In addition, AFT helps to avoid interference in the 2.4GHz band by hopping frequencies only when available and thus maintaining the most interference-free connections.

The Razer Lancehead mice also use Razer’s mechanical mouse switches that are co-designed and manufactured with Omron. They switches are incredibly durable, promising up to 50 million clicks, and they are designed to provide optimal response times and one of the world’s lowest click latencies. Two DPI settings buttons allow users to change sensitivity on the fly.

Finally, Razer Lancehead buyers will be automatically and exclusively invited into the upcoming beta program for the new Razer Synapse Pro software. Synapse Pro is a unified configurator that combines local and cloud storage of mouse settings, meaning that a user can access the same configuration on multiple machines. Both mice also belong to the Razer Chroma line and thus can be customized with 16.8 color options and a range of effects and game-integrated reactive lighting.

The Razer Lancehead will retail for $140 and will be available in May. The Razer Lancehead Tournament Edition will be available starting this month for $80.

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

Everyone likes apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers make paid apps free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

These apps normally cost money, and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged. 

More: 200 Awesome iPhone Apps | The best Android apps for almost any occasion

Cloud Hub

Cloud Hub is a simple document reader and manager for the iOS platform. It allows users to download or upload files from clouds services like Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, Drive, and iCloud.

Available on:

iOS

Marble Camera

Create charming Marble-style photographs with real-time Marble effects. These effects work great on selfies and other portraits but also for many other subjects.

Available on:

iOS

Roam Blocker

Surf the web in a clean and roaming optimized way — just download the app and go. It blocks images and videos from being loaded in Safari.

Available on:

iOS

Crop Video

Crop Video is an easy video-cropping application that allows you to crop videos conveniently and in seconds. It offers a unique “Crop” function to crop your videos in a manner that lets you select only the most important parts.

Available on:

iOS

Percentages Calculator

Percentages Calculator is — odds on — the most powerful calculator of percentages, designed with simplicity and functionality.

Available on:

iOS

AirPhotoViewer

AirPhotoViewr is a Wi-Fi photo Viewer that lets you direct view your photos from your computer without sync.

Available on:

iOS

Acer updates PC line with thinner, cooler new options

Why it matters to you

Acer has some exciting new machines coming soon that give you thinner, cooler, and quieter Windows 10 PC options.

Acer held its 2017 Next@Acer event this morning, where it introduced a number of new and updated products coming next to its various product lines. In terms of PCs, Acer was focused on making things thinner without sacrificing performance or capabilities.

First up is the Swift 1, which received a refresh that squeezed its dimension from 17.9mm thick to 14.95mm, while utilizing a 13.3-inch FullHD display. Acer has incorporated a fingerprint reader supporting Windows 10 Hello, along with a number of Acer technologies including its True Harmony audio, blue light technology to reduce eye fatigue, and Skype for Business certification.

The Swift 3 line, which comes in both 14-inch and 15.6-inch display sizes, has also received a refresh. Its aesthetics have been upgraded with a new brushed hairline design in its aluminum chassis. Discrete graphics are now on hand, along with a fingerprint reader supporting Windows Hello.

Next up is an expanded Switch Alpha family of detachable tablet 2-in-1s. Given the Switch Alpha 12’s 120 percent year-over-year growth rate, Acer decided to add two new members that offer even more competition to Microsoft’s Surface Pro line.

The Switch 3 also offers 12-inch FullHD display and an adjustable second-generation U-hinge that features Acer’s Active Hinge technology, a hinge that can be adjusted to a wide variety of use positions. The detachable keyboard offers 1.4mm key travel.

The Switch 5 focuses on providing completely silent operation via Acer’s LiquidLoop liquid cooling fanless solution that also eliminates vents that could allow dust to enter the chassis. The hinge is a one-touch design and’s auto-retractable and only requires one hand to operate.

Finally, Acer introduced the Aspire U27 all-in-one that’s also meant to be thin and silent. It offers a 27-inch display and a thin unibody aluminum chassis, with Acer’s LiquidLoop liquid cooling system to make for a machine that can be placed anywhere without disruption. Windows Hello is supported via infrared camera.

More information is pending on these refreshes and additions to the Acer PC family. We will provide updated information as it arrives.