Second-gen Moto 360 smartwatches will get Android Wear 2.0 soon

A bunch of smartwatches got Android Wear 2.0 when it finally came out in April, but sadly, Moto 360 wasn’t one of them. The company promised a late-May availability, and it sounds like it’s staying true to its word. Motorola Support’s Twitter account has revealed that the updated OS will soon start rolling out to second-gen Moto 360s in phases — it might have even begun yesterday, which means some people could already have updated devices.

The long-delayed Wear 2.0 comes with a new user interface that was especially designed for computing on a tiny screen. It reduces the number of clicks and swipes needed to navigate the OS, and it puts the Play Store right on your smartwatch so you can download apps directly. The platform also adds Google Assistant to your device, giving you an easy way to make a query or to control your apps with voice commands.

Before you celebrate, though, make sure that what you have is the base second-gen version. The Moto 360 Sport will eventually get an update, but it won’t be anytime soon. As for the first-gen Moto 360, the company is unfortunately leaving it out of the update altogether.

@NamelessWing @Moto Happy to report that AndroidWear 2.0 will start rolling out in phases on Moto 360 2nd Gen, possibly as early as today.

— Motorola Support (@Moto_Support) May 25, 2017

Via: 9to5google

Source: Motorola Support

HTC just released a new VR headset, and it’s the first of its kind

Why it matters to you

By offering the first mobile VR headset to feature 6DOF tracking, HTC is expanding the options available to consumers in the VR space.

If you’re looking to dip your toe into the waters of VR, this may just be the product for you. The latest product from HTC isn’t part of its Vive family, but is rather a standalone product called the HTC Link. A step above, say, the Google Cardboard, this VR headset isn’t quite as advanced as the high-end options like the Oculus Rift (which feature their very own displays on depend on a computer to send content their way).

But it is a step above something like the Samsung Gear, which uses your smartphone as both a source of content and as a display. In short, the HTC Link is a compromise. While it connects with your smartphone, it features its own display, perhaps heralding a new phase in VR headsets.

As originally reported by Japanese site Mogura VR, the Link will work with HTC’s newest smartphone, the HTC U11. However, it will employ an outside-in tracking system, thereby supporting its full six degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking. This makes it the first mobile headset to offer such a feature. But alas, for now, the Link will only be available in Japan, and HTC told UploadVR that the kit isn’t currently slated to go on sale anywhere else.

There’s not a ton known about the HTC Link quite yet, but it doesn’t look like the headset will use HTC Vive’s lighthouse stations. Instead, the headset and its two controllers seem to have lights on them that are potentially trackable using an external sensor. Released specs note that the Link features two 3.6 inch 1,080 x 1,200 LCD panels with a 90Hz refresh rate. And it’ll weigh in at a manageable 554g.

The Link announcement comes just a week after Google announced its plans to create new standalone VR headsets alongside HTC. So if you’re a VR enthusiast, keep your ear to the ground. It looks like we could be expecting a lot more in the space in the near future.

From solar stoves to skewers, 12 grill gadgets that’ll crown you king of summer

It’s nearly summertime, which means barbecue season will soon be in full swing across the country. That being the case, we figured we’d round up a few of our favorite high-tech cookout contraptions for you, so you can get your grilling situation in order. Feast your hungry eyes on these drool-worthy grilling gadgets.

Front Runner Outfitters Spare Tire Mount — Stainless steel BBQ grate ($158)

Who says your cookouts have to be confined to your backyard? With this cleverly designed grill from Frontrunner, you’ll always be prepared for a backcountry BBQ, no matter where in the world you happen to end up. Once you’ve got a fire started, you simply place this grate atop the flames and start cooking. The grate’s three integrated legs hold it above the coals and also ensure that you’ve got a large, sturdy surface to cook on.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Steven Raichlen’s Best of Barbecue — Grilling grate oiler brush ($25)

Keeping your grates well oiled is the best way to make sure your food doesn’t stick, and the Steven Raichlen Grilling Grate Oiler makes it easy. Its design combines a grill brush with a small reservoir for the oil, letting you get solid coverage with each swipe. It’s even made from temperature-resistant plastic and silicone and is dishwasher safe for easy cleanup.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Grillbot — Automatic grill cleaning robot ($70+)

Grilling is awesome, but cleaning all the blackened, caked-on food goo afterward? Not so much. Fortunately, we live in a time where robots can perform most of the menial tasks we hate doing, and much like vacuuming and cleaning the gutters, grill maintenance can now be performed by a robotic underling. Just pop this little bugger on top of the grates when you’re done cooking, and he’ll go to work picking up all the baked-on burger bits you left behind.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Lynx Grills SMART30F — 30″ freestanding SmartGrill ($7,600)

Ever wished you could bark orders at your grill like you do with Siri on your smartphone? Well good news: With the Lynx Smart Grill, you totally can. Under its sleek chrome exterior, this beast boasts a slew of high-tech features — including temperature sensors, automatic heat controls, and voice recognition. That means you can scream “Make me a steak!” from the comfort of your patio chair, and the grill will take it from there. Read our full review here.

Buy one now from:

Lynx Grill

Refuel — Smart propane tank gauge ($30)

There’s nothing worse than inviting over all your buddies over for a cookout, only to discover that you’re out of propane and have to leave your beer to make an excursion to the supermarket to get more. If you’d prefer to avoid such a situation, you should check out Refuel. It’s basically an intelligent, app-enabled propane tank scale that keeps tabs on how much you’ve got left. When you’re running low, you’ll get a smartphone alert, so you’ll know well in advance that you need more gas.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Onward GrillPro 00150 — Cast iron smoker box ($18)

Cooking your food over an open flame generally imparts a little bit of smoky flavor into it, but if you want more of that delicious smokiness, you need to get yourself a smoker box. Fill this sucker with dampened wood chips and toss it on the grill, and after a while, it’ll begin to fill your grill hood with smoke. It’s not quite as good as putting your meat in a full-on smoker, but it’s a good, cheap substitute!

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Sur La Table Bitterman’s Himalayan salt block ($32)

If you can muster the courage to leave your meat off your perfectly seasoned grill grates, we highly suggest you try cooking your next meal on a block of Himalayan rock salt. It might just be our favorite new way to prepare food. The idea is fairly straightforward. You start by slowly heating a slab of salt on your grill, and once it’s up to temp, you just drop whatever you’re cooking on top and watch it sizzle for a few seconds. Because of the block’s unique composition, it imparts your food with a subtle hint of mineral saltiness that’s absolutely fantastic.

Buy one now from:

Sur La Table Amazon

Maverick PT-100 Pro-Temp — Commercial thermometer ($51)

For certain meats, there’s a fine line between cooking something to perfection and endangering everyone at the cookout. So, if you’d rather err on the side of caution and know for sure that your food has reached a safe temperature, you need to snag yourself a grilling thermometer. This particular model from Maverick is designed give you accurate readings in the blink of an eye, so you don’t have to hold your hand over the grill for too long and singe the hair on your knuckles.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Looft Industries Looftlighter — Fire lighting tool ($80)

Invented by a company from Sweden, Looftlighter uses a continuous blast of superheated air to ignite your charcoal without the help of matches or lighter fluid. It can also be used to “fast forward” your charcoal briquettes and get them up to grilling temperature in just a few minutes. Sure, you can achieve the same result with one of those old-school charcoal chimneys, but this gizmo has a lightsaber-like design, which ups the fun factor considerably.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

GoSun — Portable solar cooker ($198)

If you’d rather not mess with charcoal briquettes or propane tanks at all — and also happen to live in a section of the globe that has fairly reliable sunlight — check out this solar grill from GoSun. This model can produce up to 550 degrees of heat, which is more than enough to cook your favorite meals. At just eight pounds, the Solar Cooker is exceptionally portable, unlike many of the bulkier solar stoves on the market.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Fire Wire — Grilling skewer ($8)

A kabob is a classic grilling go-to, however traditional skewers can be rather hard to work with — especially on a full grill. These flexible skewers allow you to easily adjust the arrangement to more easily fit around or between your other foods.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Charcoal Companion — Stainless grill clips ($12)

Vegetables can can sometimes fall through the grates, wasting precious asparagus. Thankfully, these clips from Charcoal Companion allow you to flip your vegetables all at once, rather than painstakingly turning each cut. These clips also keep the vegetables just above the grill surface to minimize sticking.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Zotac lines up a gaming desktop, graphics cards, and mini PCs for Computex

Why it matters to you

Zotac is cramming Nvidia’s powerful GeForce GTX 1080 Ti chip into a small graphics card for PC gamers with compatible, compact systems.

Like clockwork, device makers are beginning to roll out their lineups for the upcoming Computex show, including Zotac. The company will have on display a huge load of devices spanning a new gaming desktop, graphics cards, miniature PCs, and more. However, PC gamers might be tickled green by the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini announcement alone, which crams Nvidia’s latest GPU into an 8.3-inch add-in card.

Let’s dive in.

MEK Gaming PC

For starters, Zotac is introducing a new brand called Zotac Gaming. Shown above, the first product launched under this umbrella is the upcoming MEK Gaming PC, a Mini ITX desktop packing a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor and a low-profile CPU cooler. The details regarding this desktop are scarce, but we know it will be powered by Zotac’s GeForce GTX 1080 Mini graphics card when it finally hits the market.

GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Mini

And here it is. Following Zotac’s recent GTX 1080 Mini graphics card launch, the company plans to sell a Mini version of the GTX 1080 Ti card as well. It will be offered in two versions: one “vanilla” model packing two cooling fans, and one ArcticStorm model with a full-card water block. Zotac says this is the world’s smallest and one of the lightest water-blocked graphics card to date.

As for other details, Zotac wouldn’t budge. However, both cards will require two 8-pin power connectors, and measure a mere 8.3 inches long (210.8mm). The ArcticStorm model will even include Zotac’s Spectra illumination system.

External VGA Box

In addition to the new PC and graphics cards, Zotac will showcase a new external enclosure built to beef up your PC’s graphics capability without breaking it open. Connecting via a Thunderbolt 3 port, this enclosure supports graphics cards up to nine inches long, and up to the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. It will include five USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports too, one of which is capable of charging mobile devices.

VR GO

This is Zotac’s backpack PC for tether-free virtual reality experiences. Zotac updated this wearable unit with a seventh-generation Intel Core processor, but currently we don’t have any other information regarding the overall VR GO refresh. The previous model had a sixth-generation Core i7-6700T processor backed by a GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card. The outputs are likely unchanged, providing three HDMI 2.0 ports, two DisplayPort 1.3 connections, and six USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports.

Pico PI225 / PI335

Moving away from the mainstream PC gaming products, we have Zotac’s portfolio of miniature PCs. As shown above, the Pico PI225 will be the company’s thinnest Zbox device yet, packing a fanless passive-cooled design and support for a 4K resolution. Zotac says the device is card-sized, meaning it should blend in at any location in the home or office. The larger PI335 will also passively cooled and capable of powering a 4K display.

Magnus EN1050K

Zotac’s Magnus-branded miniature PCs are built for PC gaming. They’re bigger than the Pico units and capable of playing host to “Mini” graphics cards built by Zotac. In the case of this model, it will include the GeForce GTX 1050 Mini graphics card, a seventh-generation Intel Core processor, or one of the new Ryzen processors from AMD. The Intel-based version will support Intel’s new Optane memory products, which are currently served up as 16GB and 32GB cache sticks for speeding up hard drive access.

Magnus EK71070 / EK51060

Staying with the Magnus family, this duo will sport “Mini” graphics cards built by Zotac, too. Based on the product names, the EK71070 will feature a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor and a GeForce GTX 1070 Mini graphics card. Meanwhile, the EK51060 will have an Intel Core i5 processor and a GeForce GTX 1060 Mini card. Both will support Intel’s Optane memory devices.

Magnus ER51070 / ER51060

As for these two units, they’re similar to the Magnus EK models listed above in their overall design. However, these Magnus ER versions are powered by AMD’s 65-watt Ryzen processors instead of Intel Core CPUs. Yet despite the processor switch, these two models will rely on “Mini” versions of the GTX 1070 and GTX 1060 graphics cards, respectively, instead of AMD’s own Radeon RX 500 Series of discrete graphics chips.

MI553 / MA551

Zotac says its “M” series of miniature PCs is getting a whole new design starting with these two units. The letter after the “M” in the name provides a clue as to what’s inside. Thus, the MI553 will have a seventh-generation Intel Core processor supporting Optane-branded cache sticks. Meanwhile, the MA551 will rely on one of AMD’s new 65-watt Ryzen processors. Both will include a Thunderbolt 3 port.

External Storage Box

Finally, Zotac will have an external storage box on display in addition to its external graphics enclosure. Connecting to a PC via a Thunderbolt 3 port, this storage box will consist of one PCI Express x16 slot for add-on storage cards, and four USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports. For example, during the show, this external storage device will be packed with Zotac’s Sonix 480GB NVMe PCI Express solid state drive.

We expect to hear more about the detailed specifications, prices, and release dates during or sometime shortly after the Computex tech convention. The show will take place in Taipei between May 30 and June 3.

The educational games of your youth have their own museum exhibit

The Minnesota Education Computing Corporation might not be the most recognizable game developer today, but if you went to elementary school in the US anytime in the eighties or nineties, then you’ve almost certainly played — and probably learned something from — one of its educational games. The company started in 1973 as an initiative to put more computers into classrooms across Minnesota and eventually created over 300 different software titles, including the version of The Oregon Trail that became the cultural touchstone it is today. Now MECC and The Oregon Trail are finally getting the recognition they deserve in a retrospective exhibit from the Strong, the National Museum of Play.

The museum actually inducted The Oregon Trail into the Video Game Hall of Fame back in 2016, and the new exhibit will include playable original versions of the game so younger generations can experience the excitement of hunting for buffalo in all it’s 8-bit glory. Aside from teaching countless schoolkids grammar with Word Munchers, MECC is also considered a pioneer in STEM education that popularized computer learning. To preserve that legacy, a group of former MECC employees, including Oregon Trail co-creator Don Rawitsch and co-founder Dale LaFrenz, recently donated a cache of documents, videos, and software to the museum that will show how the company evolved from a part of the public school system to a beloved piece of our collective memories.

The Oregon Trail, MECC, and the Rise of Computer Learning exhibit officially opens on June 17th. But if you can’t make it to Rochester, New York, you can also explore and play the original on Archive.org or take a trip down memory lane on MECC’s own site.

Source: The Museum of Play

Forget flexible displays, Samsung is moving on to stretchable ones

First there was bendable, rollable, and foldable… but now, thanks Samsung, we have stretchable displays.

The company has showed off a new display technology at Display Week – and it can stretch like a rubber band or a trampoline. The 9.1-inch stretchable OLED display is just a prototype for now, but Samsung said it can be flexed in two directions instead of just one. Keep in mind existing flexible OLED displays, such as bendable, foldable, and rollable displays, can only be formed in one direction.

When you press on the new screen, it’ll depress, and when you stop pressing, it’ll bounce back into its flat shape. Whether stretched up or down, it has sufficient elasticity to recover, Samsung explained. That also means the new display can also roll and bend when pushed on before snapping back to its original shape. Unfortunately, there’s no plans on when this screen will show up in a real-life device.

• Best smartphones 2017: The best phones available to buy today
• Samsung Galaxy X foldable phone now likely shelved until 2019
• Samsung Galaxy X roll-out OLED screen shown off, just 0.3mm thin

The company said it figured the technology could be used for wearables, internet of things devices, and automotive applications. Samsung even described how it could be used as a face for a robot. When it comes to displays, Samsung certainly stands out. Its flexible displays are now found in its Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus phones, which is why the the screen can curve around the sides of the phones.

Samsung has also shown off foldable and bendable displays in the past.

Samsung

Amazon opens its first drive-through grocery store

Need to pick up some supplies but can’t be bothered to walk across a parking lot for them? Amazon’s got you covered. In Seattle on Thursday, the company opened a grocery store that doesn’t require you leave your vehicle, promising customers will only have to “drive in… and drive out.”

The service, dubbed AmazonFresh Pickup, is now live at two locations: in the SODO and Ballard neighborhoods. It’s free for Prime members and there is no minimum order amount. Customers simply place their order online, drive to the store and wait. Once the order is ready, an employee wheels it out to the car and puts it in the trunk. That’s it.

The stores carry everything you’d expect to find at your local supermarket, albeit at a significantly higher price. Expect to pay $1 per lemon, $6.60 for a gallon of milk and $1.29 per apple. Or you can just do your shopping like you always have and save some cash.

Keybase brings seamless encrypted chats to anyone on the web

Keybase is on a mission to make end-to-end encryption as easy as possible, everywhere you go online. After launching frictionless encrypted file sharing last year, the open-source security company rolled out Keybase Chat, a desktop and mobile chat app that allows users to send encrypted messages to anyone on the internet using just their Twitter, Facebook or Reddit username. Today, Keybase announced a few new launches that will make it even easier to send encrypted messages to anyone — even if your recipient isn’t set up to receive them yet.

First, up a new Chrome extension adds an encrypted message button to user profiles on any of the social networks Keybase supports. (Aside from Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, the service also works with Hacker News and GitHub accounts.) If the user you’re trying to message isn’t already signed up for Keybase, they’ll be notified via the social network they’re on that they have an encrypted message waiting for them. The extension works alongside the Keybase desktop app, so your messages are encrypted end-to-end and they will be stored and unreadable until the recipient unlocks it. If you don’t use Chrome, you can also use the main app to search for social media profiles and send a message from there.

Speaking of the the app, Keybase Chat has also quietly made its way to Linux and Windows 10 machines, as well as mobile devices on Android and iOS. Since the project is open source, the company is still refining and adding features as more users come on board. Most importantly though, founder Chris Coyne has committed to implementing advanced blocking and abuse reporting features, which is important when you consider everyone on the web now has an encrypted inbox waiting for them.

Source: Keybase

Android exploit adds secret, thieving layers to your phone

Researchers from UC Santa Barbara and Georgia Tech have discovered a fresh class of Android attacks, called Cloak and Dagger, that can operate secretly on a phone, allowing hackers to log keystrokes, install software and otherwise control a device without alerting its owner. Cloak and Dagger exploits take advantage of the Android UI, and they require just two permissions to get rolling: SYSTEM ALERT WINDOW (“draw on top”) and BIND ACCESSIBILITY SERVICE (“a11y”).

This concerns researchers because Android automatically grants the draw-on-top permission for any app downloaded from the Play Store, and once a hacker is in, it’s possible to trick someone into granting the a11y permission. A Cloak and Dagger-enabled app hides a layer of malicious activity under seemingly harmless visuals, luring users to click on unseen buttons and keystroke loggers.

“To make things worse, we noticed that the accessibility app can inject the events, unlock the phone, and interact with any other app while the phone screen remains off,” the researchers write. “That is, an attacker can perform a series of malicious operations with the screen completely off and, at the end, it can lock the phone back, leaving the user completely in the dark.”

Google is aware of the exploit.

“We’ve been in close touch with the researchers and, as always, we appreciate their efforts to help keep our users safer,” a spokesperson says. “We have updated Google Play Protect — our security services on all Android devices with Google Play — to detect and prevent the installation of these apps. Prior to this report, we had already built new security protections into Android O that will further strengthen our protection from these issues, moving forward.”

One of the researchers, Yanick Fratantonio, tells TechCrunch the recent updates to Android O might address Cloak and Dagger, and the team will test it out and update its website accordingly. For now, he says, don’t download random apps and keep an eye on those permissions.

Source: Cloak and Dagger

Keep a lookout for the Nvidia Battlebox badge when buying your next gaming PC

Why it matters to you

Nvidia is making it easier for you to pick a new gaming PC by tweaking its Battlebox certification program.

If you’re in the market for a new gaming PC and don’t want to build your own, then you have a huge number of options to choose from. In fact, the number of configurations and pricing levels can be dizzying, and selecting a machine at various price points that nevertheless provides the right level of performance can be daunting.

Nvidia has a vested interest in making things a little easier for gaming PC buyers, and so it introduced its Battlebox certification program a few years ago. The certification essentially provides assurance that a gaming system will perform well for its stated purpose — namely, to run modern games at high frame rates and excellent quality levels. Now, the company is updating the program to better reflect the modern PC component environment, as PC World reports.

The biggest difference between the old and new Battlebox programs is that Nvidia is now accounting for the much-improved price-performance equation of AMD’s Ryzen processors based on the new Zen CPU architecture. In the past, Nvidia focused on Intel processors given the relatively poor performance of AMD’s previous Bulldozer architecture.

Today’s Nvidia Battlebox program will now certify two levels of PC gaming machines. The highest-level systems will be designated as Battlebox Ultimate and will require a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GPU and either an Intel Core i7 processor or AMD Ryzen 7 (at least), along with at least 16GB of DDR RAM. The lower-end certification, Battlebox Essential, will also require a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, but reduces the CPU requirements to an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, and the minimum RAM to 8GB of DDR4 memory.

Other Battlebox requirements include using a solid-state disk (SSD) for storage, G-Sync support if a monitor is included in a package, and Windows 10 as the operating system. Nvidia is aiming the Battlebox Ultimate certification at gamers who want the complete 4K and virtual reality (VR) gaming experience, while Battlebox Essential machines will ensure great 1080p gaming.

You can check out Nvidia’s Battlebox page for more information on the program and start exploring some of the manufacturer options. PC gaming system makers who are planning Battlebox systems or who already have some in the pipeline include Cyberpower, Origin, Maingear, and Velocity Micro. No matter which manufacturer you choose, selecting a machine with the Battlebox certification should help ensure that you have the expected level of gaming performance.