German engineers develop nanoscale filtration membrane

Why it matters to you

These nanoscale filters can remove harmful and unwelcome substances, including antibiotics and hormones, from water, potentially providing communities with much needed drinking water.

Engineers at Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS in Germany have developed a filtration membrane that can filter particles at an unprecedented scale. Made from ceramic, the tubes have pores smaller than a nanometer, allowing them to filter particles as small as 200 Daltons (Da), which means even substances like antibiotics and hormones could be filtered from water. This is the first time this size has been achieved and manufactured at an industrial scale, according to Fraunhofer.

“Our first generation of ceramic nanofiltration membranes had a molecular weight cut-off of 450 Da,” Ingolf Voigt, one of the engineers behind the project, told Digital Trends. The first filtration plant was commissioned in 2002. Since then the team has focused on making its filtration even more sensitive.

“We learned from many field tests that a lower cut-off would be beneficial for certain applications,” Voigt said. “So we started the development of the second generation of ceramic nanofiltration membranes with a cut-off of 200 Da.”

Fraunhofer’s filters are long tubes with layers of membranes, the innermost of which is the specialized filter. As dirty water is pumped through the tube, particles get caught in the membrane and clean water is pushed out to the exterior. The result looks like a pipe sweating clean condensation.

These ceramic nanofiltration membranes have a number of uses, Voigt said. For one, they can be used to treat “produced water,” completely removing organic compounds and removing some salts up to 80 percent. Since the filters are durable, they can also be used to process water with extreme heat and caustic chemicals.

The tubes, which were commissioned by Shell, have undergone trials at a plant in Canada, where they have been extracting oils and sand from water since 2016.

Beyond the factory, the researchers hope their filtration tech will be used to provide communities around the world with potable water.

Verizon offering new prepaid plans, summer discounts, and a design contest

Why it matters to you

Verizon’s new plans and deals make a few of its prepaid options cheaper than ever.

Sunny days are here and so are summer discounts — especially on cell phones. On Friday, Verizon announced new phone, plan, and accessory promos good enough to make any wireless subscriber consider switching.

On Tuesday, Verizon is slashing the price of prepaid plans across the board: 3GB will start at $40, 7GB at $50, and 10GB at $60. Taking advantage of those rates means putting up with 480p video, unfortunately, but the plans comes with extras like Carryover Data, which lets you carry unused data over to the next month, and Always On data, which allows you to stay connected at 2G (128Kbps) speeds when you run up against your data allowance.

Verizon notes, too, that all plans include unlimited talk and text across the U.S., unlimited text to more than 200 countries, and unlimited calling from the U.S. to Mexico and Canada.

To sweeten the pot, Verizon is offering $100 bill credit for customers who bring in and activate their number. And it notes that phones already compatible with the Verizon network work on the new prepaid plans — including the iPhone 7, Samsung S8, and Google Pixel.

That is not all Verizon is launching — for a “limited time,” new postpaid unlimited subscribers can get a substantial month-to-month discount on device payment plans. Starting this week, customers who trade in their phones can pick up a Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, Moto Z Droid, Moto Z Droid Force, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, or LG G6 for $15 a month and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Existing customers can get a Google Pixel or Google Pixel XL for as low as $15 a month.

Verizon’s throwing in a free smart home speaker with select purchases. New and existing customers who buy a Google Pixel or Pixel XL can get a Google Home for free after a mail-in rebate — a $130 value.

Finally, Verizon is offering a break on its Total Mobile Protection plan. $11 a month nets you protection against theft, accidental damage, and loss. If you complete a claim by midnight, you get a replacement device as soon as the next day, and most Verizon brick-and-mortar locations offer cracked screen repairs for $50.

And in the spirit of summer, the mobile carrier is teaming up with Otterbox to launch a new contest. Beginning Friday, customers will get the opportunity to submit an Otterbox case design and have it sold exclusively at Verizon stores, Verizon.com, and Otterbox.com later this year. The winning designer gets a $5,000 cash prize, and runners-up receive a $1,000 price and an Otterbox prize pack.

Tasker’s long-overdue redesign is in beta, and it looks awesome

Tasker has never been a beauty queen.

Android’s most powerful automation app Tasker has always been about for over function, and when so much functionality is crammed into one app by one single developer, it’s easy to see why he’d rather spend that time on adding more functionality instead of making things look pretty. That said, every app eventually needs a redesign, and Tasker’s is finally in beta.

And it honestly looks pretty good.

Tangerine, Clouds, Dark, Light, Light with Dark ActionBar

There are two completely new themes in Tasker 5.0: the new default Tangerine and the greyscale Clouds. We also have the new UI in some of the old theme colors: Dark, Light, and Light with Dark ActionBar. Beyond the colors of each theme, the new layout is quite similar to the old one function-wise with some Material Design loving, but there are a few functional switches, too. Most notably, the New Task/Profile/Action button is now consistently in the bottom right Floating Action Button rather than moving to the bottom middle during Task assembly. This now pushes the icon picker for a task to the middle of the bottom bar where the new action button used to be during Task assembly.

This is for certain a beta, and while the new UIs are interesting to play with, the app is a little crashy right now, so if you rely on Tasker for anything super important like your alarm clock, you might want to wait a while. Tasker 5.0 also seems to only support Android 5.0+, so if you had any old devices kicking around on Kit Kat, it looks like you’ll be staying on the current version.

Tasker 5.0 Beta

Google Home gets pre-order and release date in Canada

“OK Google… when the heck are you coming to Canada?!”

Google Home has been out in the United States since November, it’s been out in England since spring, and Google promised to bring it to five more countries, including Canada, with the ever-vague “this summer”, but not concrete release date. Well, we’ve got that release date, and open pre-orders to go with it.

Google Home is available for pre-order at $179.99 starting today at the Google Store and Best Buy Canada, and if you’d rather wait for it to hit store shelves, you’ll be able to walk into Google Store, Bell, Best Buy, Indigo, London Drugs, Rogers, Staples, The Source, Telus, Visions, or Walmart on June 26th and buy one. Google is promising that when the Google Home launches in Canada, Google Assistant will work in both French and English, which might be part of the reason behind the long wait we’ve seen.

If you’re keen on dropping $179.99 to pre-order a Google Home, we suggest Best Buy Canada, which is offering a free Chromecast with your purchase.

Pre-order at Best Buy Canada

Pre-order at the Google Store

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Keep your mouth feeling fresh and clean with this Aqua Water Flosser!

The last time you went to the doctor, they asked you whether you’ve been regularly flossing and you said yes — but have you been? Probably not. But maybe that’s because you don’t have the proper tools.

Get this water flossing kit for under $35! Learn more

Here at Android Central Digital Offers, we want to help. That’s why we’ve got this great deal on an Aqua Water Flosser and dental health kit that’s perfect for an individual or family.

With this kit you get a Aqua Flosser Water Flosser with a 150ml water tank and a rechargeable lithium ion battery along with four color-coded bonus tips for other members of your family to use. If the deal stopped right there, it would be well worth the discounted price of $33.99, but we’re also throwing in a four-piece dental set complete with the same professional tools used to fend off extra stubborn plaque and tartar. We’re not saying you’ll never need to see a dentist again, but if you use these tools they might actually believe you when you say you’ve been flossing next time.

Keep your mouth feeling fresh and clean between dentist appointments! Learn more

This kit is regularly sold for $150, but you can get everything listed above for over 75% off that regular price. Your dental health is important, so keep it in check between appointments with the Aqua Water Flosser.

What Android phone from the past deserves a refresh? [Roundtable]

We play the wishing game and ask for a new version of our old favorites in this week’s roundtable.

Android has come a long way since the beginning. 2008 may not sound like it was forever ago, but in smartphone years it’s ancient history. We’ve seen a lot of Android phones come and go since then, and while some were good and some were bad, a few were absofreakinglutely awesome.

This week the AC staff goes around the table to talk about those awesome phones from the past to tell everyone which phone deserves a refresh.

Jerry Hildenbrand

Hail to the King, baby.

I want it, many of you want it and probably some people at Google want it: A 2017 Nexus One. Glowing trackball and all.

Bring back the Superphone.

Andy Rubin called it the “Superphone” when he helped announce it in 2010, and then promised it was the start of bigger things to come. He nailed it (at least the second part). The original Motorola Droid kicked off Android as the carriers’ dream device but the Nexus One showed the world a glimpse what Android could be when Google was able to do whatever the hell they felt like. It even had amazing specs for its day with that incredible 1GHz processor. Android was glitchy and geeky back then, but the Nexus One carried it forward through countless updates that fixed things and broke others. It was fun as hell.

Imagine a 5.5-inch Nexus One with a Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM. And a glowing trackball. Oh yeah.

Andrew Martonik

I would love to see OnePlus take another swing at the OnePlus X. Despite all of its flaws of missing some specs and having some baffling radio band choices in the U.S., the OnePlus X was a gorgeous phone. It was compact, simple, brilliantly made and had a great screen — all for just $249. None of the devices today you see at that price point offer this level of hardware.

The OnePlus X was compact, simple and brilliant.

I’m sure the economics of such a phone don’t really make sense — which was part of the issue with the whole thing — but I think OnePlus is in a far better state operationally now than it was when the OnePlus X first came out. A sequel would be greatly loved by those of us who really appreciated what the original did.

Marc Lagace

All I ever wanted in a phone was found in the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, so I’m pretty stoked that my “refresh” pick is actually happening. In fact, Samsung is supposed to start selling them sometime this month in South Korea, with hopefully a North American re-release following shortly afterward? Right now, the price is rumored to be over $600, which will be even higher for us Canadians so I’m holding out hope that these will be sold through the major wireless carriers so I might be able to pick one up on contract.

The note 7 was all I ever wanted in a phone.

When Samsung first announced they would be selling refurbished Note 7s, they mentioned market availability would be “dependent upon consultations with regulatory authorities and carriers as well as due consideration of local demand”. I guess that means I should tweeting at Samsung and Bell to sell them in Canada.

Seriously, I will jump through whatever hoops are necessary to own a Note 7 again. I will avoid bringing it on flights, I will have it registered as a potentially deadly weapon, and I will deal with the barrage of jokes about it being the “Fire Edition” if they end up calling it the Note FE — I just want a non-explodey version of the best phone I’ve ever used.

Russell Holly

The original Moto X had features that still don’t exist in anything else.

I would give my good arm for a refresh of the original Moto X. It was small, unique, felt good to hold, and offered features that still don’t really exist in the exact same way elsewhere. It wasn’t a perfect phone by any stretch, but it was a breath of fresh air and Moto quickly deviated from it in search of those bigger phones “everyone” wanted.

Give me a Moto X with new gesture controls, a killer camera, and a body small enough to actually fit in my hand. Keep that curved back, keep MotoMaker designs available, and stay as far away from maximum display size as possible.

Florence Ion

A low-end phone that felt like its high-end counterparts.

I echo Andrew’s sentiments — bring back the OnePlus X! Whatever happened to making low-end smartphones feel like their high-end counterparts? Just because I don’t want to pay premium prices doesn’t mean I don’t deserve a premium-seeming experience. The combined package of the stylish glass and metal bezel on the OnePlus X and its aging-but-not-archaic processor remains unparalleled to this day. Will we ever see a reprise of this fabled affordable device?

Jen Karner

I’d love it if an updated version of the Nexus 5X were to appear in my hand.

I’m not really one of those people who falls head over heels in love with a phone, so this is a tough one to really decide on. Really though, I’d love it if an updated version of the Nexus 5X were to appear in my hand. I loved how well it fit into my — admittedly tiny — hands, and I used the phone until it had basically given up on life. If I could get a new and improved version with an updated camera, more storage space, and Android 7.1 I’d be a pretty happy camper.

Harish Jonnalagadda

An updated HTC One M8 with the same BoomSound experience would be awesome.

HTC got a lot of things right with the One M8 — the aluminium chassis was downright gorgeous, the phone had amazing stereo speakers, and it had an in-hand feel that few phones can match today. Most of all, the phone had the best BoomSound setup of any HTC phone before or after.

The stereo speakers threw out an impressive amount of volume, making the One M8 an ideal device for viewing multimedia content on the go. An updated variant with Snapdragon 835, HTC’s latest software skin, and a much better camera would make for a very compelling device.

Your turn

Have a favorite Android phone from years past that would be great with updated hardware? Hit the comments and let everyone know!

Modern Dad on the LG G6

For the first time in years, LG has ratcheted back its habit of crazy design, and that’s led to a pretty darn capable Android smartphone.

The Modern Dad 2017 Smartphone Tour continues, this time with the LG G6. And it’s a bit of a departure for LG, which has experimented with modular designs in the LG G5 (spoiler: it didn’t work), leather in the LG G4 (spoiler: it didn’t last), and buttons on the back of the phone with the G2 and G3. (That was pretty great, actually, even if the volume keys have moved back to the side.)

So what’s so special about the G6? Maybe that it’s just a really good Android smartphone. Definitely a little more demure in its design, lacking the overt sex appeal of the Samsung Galaxy S8 (among other things, for that matter). The rounded corners on the screen are, well, rounded. And occasionally that’s led to software glitches. (And LG’s software is the same story I’ve been telling for years — it’s better, but not great.)

The reason I’d buy this phone? The dual cameras. Yeah, they’re still a bit of a novelty (having first been introduced on the G5), but they’re also really good and a great way to change the composition of the same old smartphone pics. Couple that with what otherwise is just a solid smartphone (including water resistance!), and this is right up there in my favorite phones of the year.

See at Amazon

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All about Chrome Notifications settings

Cut through the noise and see what’s important by setting up your Chromebook notifications.

Just like Windows or macOS, your Chromebook can get desktop notifications. These can come from web pages, extensions, and apps (including Android apps), and they all live down in the status area where your profile photo is. Managing them is easy once you know where to look!

How to manage global website notification settings

Click the Notifications symbol inside the status area. That’s the bell in the bottom right corner where your account picture lives.
Click the Settings symbol (the gear), then click Advanced settings.
Click Privacy, you’ll see Content settings.
In the pop-up window that appears, scroll down to Notifications.

• You can turn on a prompt that asks you each time a website wants to send you a notification by moving the switch.

For any websites that can send notifications, you’ll be prompted when you first visit if this setting is enabled. If you turn it off, websites will send notifications by default. You’ll also see two lists: a Block list and an Allow list. Sites in either will override this global setting.

How to manage individual website notification settings

You can also manage notifications that you’ve already allowed. You’ll find every website that can send you a notification listed here. Changing the settings is simple:

To change the setting for a site that’s listed, click the three dots in its entry in the list and use the combo box to choose Block or Allow.
To delete a site and fall back to the default global setting the next time you visit, click the X on its entry.
To create a new exception for a website or domain:

• Decide if you want to add a website to the Allow list or Block list. This will override any global setting.
• Click the ADD label on the right side of the page.
• Enter the web address in the text box that opens.
• Insert a star Shift 8 [*] before the domain name. It should look like this [*.]androidcentral.com. This would affect both http://www.androidcentral.com and forums.androidcentral.com.
• You can also use an IP address or an IPv6 address instead of a hostname.

Once you’ve entered the website or domain and saved, every visit to this site will follow your Block and Allow list rules for notifications instead of using the default setting.

Managing notifications for app and extensions

An app or extension that wants to send you desktop notifications will ask you the first time it tries. You also might find extra settings inside the app or extension itself. If you have allowed notifications for an app or extension and want to change the setting:

Click the bell symbol in the notifications area, next to the clock.

• Any notifications you have waiting will pop up.
• If you have no notifications pending, you’ll see No notifications.

In the pop-up window, click the Settings icon that looks like a gear.
Find the app or notification in the list and uncheck the box next to it.

• If you added an exception using the directions above, unchecking its box here will remove it from the list.
• If an app or extension updates, its entry will stay on the list but its box will be unchecked. This is because you need to grant permission the first time the new version runs.

Desktop notifications can be pretty handy, but it’s also easy to get overwhelmed. Use these tips to set things up so you get the information you need without a bunch of extra notification cards that aren’t as helpful.

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Adding a second pair of arms is as easy as putting on a backpack

There’s only so much you can do with two arms and hands. That’s basic science. But what if you could add extras without the need for ethically shady surgery or trading your apartment for a hovel in the shadow of a nuclear power plant? That’s what researchers from Keio University and the University of Tokyo hope to achieve with their “Metalimbs” project. As the name suggests, Metalimbs are a pair of metal, robotic arms that doubles the amount of torso-extremities and worn with a backpack of sorts. And unlike thought-powered prosthetics we’ve seen recently, these are controlled not with your brain, but your existing limbs. Specifically, your legs and feet.

Raise your left leg and the left arm moves in kind; curl your toes and the robot hand will make a fist. And to give feedback for how everything is working, feet-worn haptic motors will buzz and whir so you can feel what your new limbs are doing. The tech was designed to be used while seated, but as you’ll see in the video below, it works while standing too. More than that, the hands can be exchanged for other attachments, like, say, a soldering iron. While this could be a boon for multitaskers, the real beneficiaries of these could be amputees.

The tech will be shown off at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles as part of the Emerging Technologies showcase beginning July 31st. Unlike recent advancements we’ve seen, these actually look practical and not too far off from leaving the concept phase.

Via: Nerdist

Source: Inami Laboratory (YouTube), SIGGRAPH