Smartphone case gives the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual lenses six new perspectives

Why it matters to you

Smartphone lenses offer more versatility but are a hassle to carry and swap — this iPhone 7 Plus lens and case combo aims to solve both complaints.

The company that brought one of the first attachments lenses for the iPhone 7 Plus’ dual camera system is now giving users of the smartphone six additional lenses swappable with a quick slide. Ztylus this week launched the Switch 6, a six-in-one set of iPhone 7 Plus lenses with an integrated case and the Revolver Lite, a similar case with four lens options.

The Switch 6 puts three pairs of lenses on the back of the case inside a sliding track. With a quick slide, the lenses are placed over the smartphone’s built-in cameras to swap out the different options, or you can simply store the lens set while using the integrated camera.

The lens pairs include a 180-degree fisheye and 2x telephoto; 10x macro and 20x super macro; 120-degree wide angle and 2x telephoto. Switching between the smartphone’s two cameras allows users to access both lenses in each pair.

The lenses slide into a notch at the back of the case that weighs just two ounces and is 12 mm thick. The case protects the back and sides of the phone, while a raised edge helps prevent some screen scratches. A grip at the back and optional wrist strap help give the system better shooting ergonomics.

The Revolver Light takes on a similar case design, but an entirely different approach to swapping lenses. The lens set still slides up over the built-in lenses or down for simple storage, but the set of four lenses can also be rotated around, allowing the user to swap lenses with a quick twist. The lens options include a 2x telephoto, 180-degree fisheye, 10x macro and 20x super macro.

The cases are a follow-up to the Kamerar Zoom Lens that gave the iPhone 7 Plus add-on lenses shortly after the smartphone first launched. Unlike the new options, the Kamerar used two lens pairs that slide out of the case entirely to swap, without the sliding or rotating lens changes.

The Switch 6 retails for $50 with the Revolver Lite selling for about $45.

Wikileaks release reveals CIA broke into many popular wireless routers

Why it matters to you

Chances are, the CIA has been able to break into your Wi-Fi router for years now.

Wikileaks and its cache of CIA documents are making the news again, this time concerning an agency tool that is used to hack into a variety of the most popular Wi-Fi routers. Apparently, the tool allowed the CIA to break into routers and perform a variety of surveillance and other functions for years now, ZDNet reports.

The documents, which could not be immediately verified, are part of an ongoing series of leaks released by the website WikiLeaks.

Dubbed “Cherry Blossom,” the hacking tool was able to attack around 25 routers from a variety of manufacturers in 2012. According to a document titled “Cherry Bomb: Cherry Blossom (CB) User’s Manual,” the tool can essentially be injected into the router’s original firmware and then a new version with CB implanted can be used to upgrade the router.

According to the document:

“As of August 2012, CB-implanted firmware can be built for roughly 25 different devices from 10 different manufacturers (including Asus, Belkin, Buffalo, Dell, Dlink, Linksys, Motorola, Netgear, Senao, and US Robotics), although only 7 devices have undergone the formal FAT procedure … Additionally, the CB implant has been built for a few Motorola WiMax devices under the Roundhouse project.”

CB allowed the CIA to perform a number of functions once a router was compromised, all included under the general category of creating a “Flytrap.” A Flytrap is defined in the document as “a wireless device that has been implanted with CB firmware,” and it can do everything from hiding its presence, to sending a beacon reporting its status and security settings, to committing suicide if it cannot send a beacon.

WikiLeaks/ZDNet

Once it is up and running, the Flytrap can harvest email addresses and chat users, redirect browsers to whatever site the CIA desires, and more. All of this can be targeted by a user’s email address, geolocation, wireless adapter address, chat usernames, and voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone numbers. Simply put, a router that has been compromised by CB become a fairly powerful tool that allows the CIA to direct a target’s internet usage and gather significant amounts of information.

There are many additional details in the leaked document, and as ZDNet points out there is no indication of whether the CIA is still using Cherry Blossom. Router vulnerabilities are well-documented lately and in a twist of irony, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been active in pushing router manufacturers to improve their security. In the meantime, the best that users can do is make sure that their routers are updated with the latest firmware and then hope that the manufacturers are doing their jobs in making them more secure.

Huawei Nova 2 Plus: Our first take

Research Center:
Huawei Nova 2 Plus

Huawei launched the Nova series at the end of 2016, and marketed them as phones for fashionable folk, who wanted a slim device with a great camera to slip into skinny jeans. It hasn’t taken such a bullish approach with the newly-announced sequels, that have arrived far earlier than usual in the smartphone industry.

The Nova 2 and Nova 2 Plus have been revealed for China, and a wider international launch hasn’t been confirmed yet. We managed to get some time with the Nova 2 Plus in China, to see how it stacks up against the first Nova phones.

Inspired design, mid-range specs

There’s a lot to like about the Nova 2 Plus. The metal body has a pleasing grain to the finish, and comes in either a great-looking black, green, or blue — we’d go for the latter. The style draws plenty of influence from the Huawei P10, with antenna bands blending into the body, minimal branding, and a dual-lens camera at the top. In turn, this means the style is also reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

The fingerprint sensor is on the back of the phone, rather than in the home button, and it only weighs 169 grams, so it’s very lightweight. At 6.9mm, it’s one of the thinnest phones you can buy.

The Nova 2 Plus is a mid-range phone. It has a 5.5-inch screen with a piece of 2.5D curved glass over the top, and a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. A Huawei-made Kirin 659 processor with 4GB of RAM powers the phone, a shift away from the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips used in the first Nova phones. The Nova 2 has a smaller 5-inch screen, is even lighter at 143 grams, and has a smaller 2,950mAh battery compared to the Nova 2 Plus’s 3,340mAh cell. The Nova 2 Plus comes with a hefty 128GB of internal storage space.

All the right moves

Performance in our brief hands-on time was great. It slid through the menus and in and out of apps without a problem, just as you’d expect. We doubt anyone will miss not having a Snapdragon processor inside, especially as the faster Kirin 960 chip has been such a winner in the P10 and Mate 9.

The Moving Picture feature is fun, and opens up some interesting creative opportunities.

Android 7.0 Nougat is installed with Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 user interface over the top — we like EMUI 5.1, but the Chinese version we tried was filled with bloatware. However, the app drawer can be activated, there are algorithms working to keep the software running quickly over the lifetime of the device, and it’s considerably more user-friendly than previous versions.

Dual-lens cameras are a Huawei trademark, and they’re present on both the Nova 2 and the Nova 2 Plus. We tried the camera — which has a 12-megapixel and an 8-megapixel lens — indoors, so the results were never going to be astounding, but the software is typically simple to use, and the operation is fast. There’s an added mode we haven’t seen before called Moving Picture, and it’s similar to Apple’s Live Photos mode. A short video is captured when you tap the shutter release, and it works like a GIF. Press on the screen in the gallery, and it animates. The Moving Picture feature is fun, and opens up some interesting creative opportunities; but it’s likely to suffer from the same problem as Live Photos — there’s nowhere to share them natively. The 20-megapixel selfie camera captured great images, but the small sensor didn’t enjoy challenging light conditions. Despite the many megapixels, don’t expect amazing results.

Stiff competition

When you pick up a Nova 2 phone, it becomes clear why Huawei hasn’t rushed to sell them internationally yet. It’s because of the Honor brand, a tech-sharing spin-off that makes excellent phones that don’t cost very much. The 5.5-inch Nova 2 Plus costs the equivalent of $425. That’s a lot more than the Honor 6X, which offers a similar specification sheet. It also shares a visual resemblance to the Honor 8 Pro, which has a far more powerful internals for only a little more money.

This is the same problem Huawei faced with the first Nova. The $300 to $500 smartphone market is absolutely stuffed with strong phones, so competition is really stiff. In China, it’s perhaps even tougher, with solid options like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X costing half of the Huawei phone. The Nova 2 Plus looks and feels the part, and it operated well in our time with the phone, plus the camera should impress on a longer test given Huawei’s prowess in this area. But there’s nothing here that makes the Nova 2 Plus stand out.

Huawei Nova 2 Plus Compared To

ZTE Blade V8 Pro

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X

LeEco Le S3

ZTE Axon 7

LeEco Le Pro3

HTC Bolt

Lenovo Moto Z

Alcatel Idol 4S

Meizu M3 Note

Moto G4 Plus

Oppo F1 Plus

Lenovo ZUK Z1

LG G4

Asus ZenFone 2

OnePlus One

How to keep up with 24 hours of Le Mans online

They say slow and steady wins the race, but Aesop never saw a Porsche.

This weekend marks the 85th installment of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s oldest active sports car endurance race. True to its name, the race is a 24-hour endurance run on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a roughly 8.5-mile track in Le Mans, France. The winner is the car that travels the greatest distance in those 24 hours. As one of the three events that form the Triple Crown of Motorsport — along with the Indianapolis 500 and Monaco Grand Prix — Le Mans is one of the most prestigious racing competitions in the world.

Unlike many races, however, Le Mans is not merely a test of speed. Because of the grueling hours involved, manufacturers participating in the race must design their cars with an eye for sturdiness and fuel efficiency. Each team fields three drivers, who rotate throughout the race. Le Mans is also a showcase for some of the most aerodynamic cars. The Circuit de la Sarthe has numerous long, straight sections where cars that can maintain a high top speed can quickly rack up miles.

Sporting events are always a dramatic stage, and this year’s running of Le Mans is no exception. The field of cars has been expanded to 60, and the competition among the top teams will be particularly fierce. Toyota lost last year’s race to Porsche with only a few minutes to spare, so you can bet the team will be back this year with a vengeance. Audi is out of the race, which means it’s just two manufacturer teams going all out for the podium.

The race begins on Saturday at 9 a.m. ET. Here is our guide for how to watch coverage of the race.

Fox Sports Go

While Fox Sports will be broadcasting the event intermittently on the Fox Sports 1 and 2 cable channels, constant coverage will be available via Fox Sports GO. In addition to watching through the website, you can also download the official mobile app if you want to view an up-to-date feed regarding the race or watch it on your smartphone or tablet. The stream will also include footage from in-car cameras.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Le Mans Website

As expected, the official Le Mans organization provides some of the best race coverage surrounding the 24-hour event. With extensive pre-race coverage on its Facebook and Twitter pages, you’ll able to keep up with anything and everything Le Mans. You’ll also get access to last year’s results and the 2017 entry list, as well as a noteworthy list of all race regulations.

However, you’ll want to check out the organization’s video service, Le Mans TV, for actual race coverage. Here, you’ll be able browse a host of interviews, news pieces, and various Le Mans coverage leading up to the big race. Once the race is underway, the feed will feature nonstop live coverage, in English and French, along with images from each the 14 on-board cameras. Moreover, special reports will routinely summarize updates on the different race classifications, provide a closer look at the Michelin technical rendezvous, and provide historical context regarding the race and endurance cars in general.

FIA Race Pack

The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) — the 24 Hours of Le Mans’ sanctioning body — streams the entire race on its website. Its Race Pack costs 9.99 euros, which represents about $11 at the current conversion rate. For the price, fans get live, uninterrupted coverage of all the actions with insightful commentary and without any commercials.

The Race Pack is an excellent way to watch the race if you don’t have cable. You can even display the live stream on your television by hooking up your laptop via a HDMI cable. If Le Mans gets you hooked on endurance racing, the FIA will let you stream the rest of the season for about $22.

Ford Performance

The Ford Chip Team Ganassi team is entering no less than four GTs in this year’s race. Ford Performance lets enthusiasts keep up with each one on its official YouTube channel. The Blue Oval will be live during the entire race with exclusive footage from in-car cameras, and even a look at what goes on in the garage. If you’ve ever wanted to see close-up footage of mechanics changing brake pads in record time, this is the feed to watch.

Radio Le Mans

If you won’t have access to a constant video stream, then Radio Le Mans will help pick up the slack. Renowned sports commentator John Hindhaugh hosts weekly motorsport updates regarding the race, and as expected, he’s poised to be at the helm during the big race as well. Furthermore, the website boasts a slew of podcasts that cover the qualifying races and race highlights — all of which are available in English.

FIA World Endurance Championship Live Timing

If you want to get up-to-the-minute timing and scoring updates, head over to the FIA World Endurance Championship website. Here, you’ll have access to the other endurance races which fall under the FIA World Endurance Championship series. It also features news articles and updates regarding 24 Hours of Le Mans. If you’re looking to get even more information on the endurance racing series, FIA’s website is an excellent resource.

Watching this mind-bending projection mapping demo will melt your brain

Why it matters to you

Projection mapping is not a replacement for VR, but this tech demo shows how immersive it can be.

What do you get when you cross some cutting-edge tech with the world’s most terrifying bad acid trip? Probably something like the setup created by French creative studio Theoriz. Using its proprietary tech, Theoriz staged a mind-bending demonstration of a “mixed reality room,” in which users eschew bulky virtual reality headsets in place of some clever motion-tracking video projection technology. The result is an impressive demo of a room that appears to respond in various crazy ways to a person walking around.

In terms of tech, the demo involves Theoriz’s in-house Augmenta tracking system, combined with Vive VR tracking technology. The creators of the above video are keen to point out that the tech demo is entirely real-time projection mapping, with no post-production trickiness.

“We are currently developing a set of technologies aiming at providing new creative techniques for audiovisual production,” David-Alexandre Chanel, co-founder of the studio and the artist and engineer behind the technology, told Digital Trends. “We think that by changing the content creation process, we can open new creative possibilities and achieve unprecedented kind of visuals. This demo is the result of us starting to play with the creative possibility of the system for the first time. We are also using cheap equipment for this test and are in the process of shooting a more professional dance video soon.”

While it is definitely not going to have exactly the same uses as virtual reality, it is still a pretty awesome tech showcase that we could imagine finding a good home in theme parks and other settings. Oh, and did we mention how trippy it all looks?

“For now, we are providing the system and our creativity as a service,” Chanel said. “We are also developing the software and hardware during that time and it might be commercialized at some point, but it’s not a priority for us.”

Waterproof iPhone 7 cases let you surf, swim, or splash without fear

Update: We’ve added a waterproof case from OTBBA, and updated availability and prices for other cases.

The iPhone 7 is water-resistant, which is a new feature for Apple’s flagship, but there’s a difference between being water-resistant and waterproof. The iPhone 7 scores an IP67 rating. IP stands for “Ingress Protection,” while the 6 means that it’s dustproof and the 7 means that it can survive being submerged in up to a meter of water for 30 minutes. In practice, it may survive longer than that or cope with greater depths, but Apple isn’t making any promises in that regard and we would strongly advise against putting it to the test.

If that water resistance isn’t going to cut it for you, and you want to be able to take your new phone surfing, swimming, or around the pool without having to worry, then you should snag a waterproof case. You should be careful when shopping for waterproof iPhone cases, however, because there are a few out there that only match the IP67 rating that the iPhone already has. The cases below offer a little something extra.

Lifeproof Fre Case ($60+)

This rugged case from Lifeproof boasts an IP68 rating, which means it can be immersed at a depth of up to 6.6 feet (2 meters) for an hour. It will also keep dirt, snow, and rain from damaging your iPhone 7. Drop protection is good, too, and your iPhone can survive drops of up to 6.6 feet (2 meters) unscathed when it’s wearing the Fre case. It’s a fairly bulky case with a built-in screen protector, chunky button covers, and port covers; but all your iPhone features are still accessible. Lifeproof is offering a wide range of different color combinations.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Dog & Bone Wetsuit Case ($49)

Here’s another tough iPhone case that offers IP68 protection. This one combines silicone, polycarbonate, and rubber for a secure fit that also offers drop protection at up to 6.6 feet (2 meters). As you’d expect, there’s a secure port cover, button covers, and accurate cut-outs for the camera and Touch ID, but there’s no screen protector – this case forms a seal with the touchscreen. That ensures touch sensitivity isn’t impacted, but it does also leave your screen exposed. The rubber bumper and textured back add some grip and there are four colors to choose from.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Catalyst Case ($80)

You won’t be surprised to hear that Catalyst’s case also scores an IP68 rating, but Catalyst tests each unit to greater than usual depths and claims that its cases are waterproof up to 33 feet (10 meters). You also get good drop protection, for falls from up to 6.6 feet (2 meters). The soft rubber exterior is comfortable to hold and adds some grip. You have easy access to the Touch ID, buttons, and camera. There’s a thin screen protector built in, which doesn’t seem to interfere with touch sensitivity, and a rotating crown dial for the mute switch. It comes in black or white, with a transparent back.

Buy one now from:

Catalyst Amazon

Hitcase Shield ($70)

Waterproof cases don’t have to be ugly. The Hitcase frame is crafted from aluminum in colors designed to exactly match your iPhone 7. The flexible front panel includes built-in screen protection and makes it easy to fit. The case scores an IP68 rating and Hitcase says it’s good at depths of up to 10 feet (3 meters). It does also offer drop protection at up to 6 feet (2 meters), though the aluminum may chip or scuff. There are metallic button covers on the side and a dial for the switch.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Tech21 Evo Aqua 360 ($90)

The Evo Aqua 360 scores an IP68 rating and offers protection at depths of up to 9.9 feet for an hour. It has a built-in screen protector, button and port covers, a dial for the switch, and cut-outs for access to Touch ID and the camera. The back of the case is also transparent to show off Apple’s design. It was launched alongside the basic Evo Aqua, which doesn’t have the screen protector built in and is good at up to 6.6 feet for an hour. Both offer solid drop protection from falls of up to 6.6 feet and they come in black or white.

Buy one now from:

Tech21 Best Buy

Pelican Marine Case ($56)

This waterproof iPhone case scores an IP68 rating, so it can be completely submerged in water to a depth of 6.6 feet for up to an hour. Pelican has an impressive pedigree when it comes to protective cases and the Marine case will also safeguard your iPhone 7 against drops, bumps, and all the elements. It seals your phone inside, but the Touch ID, touchscreen, and camera work just fine. There are button covers for the controls and ports for audio, though you may find sound is a bit muffled at times. There’s a completely clear version, or you can opt for the bumper in teal or black.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Vansky Floatable Dry Bag ($10)

If you only want waterproof protection for your iPhone 7 on the odd occasion, then it makes sense to consider a simple dry bag like this one. Pop your iPhone in the bag and seal it and it’s good to go. The case has an IPx8 rating, and the manufacturer claims it can handle depths of up to 100 feet. It has an adjustable lanyard strap, so you can hang it around your neck, and there’s an optional armband, too. Both the front and back are clear, and you can use your iPhone while it’s in the bag. The other advantage of this bag is that it floats, so if you drop your iPhone it won’t disappear into the depths.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

OTBBA Waterproof Case ($20)

This chunky, waterproof case will make your iPhone 7 look like an over-sized iPhone 5, but it also boasts an IP68 rating, which means your iPhone is submersible in up to 10 feet of water for up to two hours. OTBAA also promises rugged drop protection, and claims the case will help protect your device from falls of up to 6.5 feet. It comes with a built-in screen protector, too, and covers all of your phone’s buttons and ports. Your camera and Touch ID sensor will still work with the case on, but sound is inevitably muffled, as is the case with most waterproof offerings. The real attraction here, however, is the low price point.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

With AI and Instagram, researchers study cultural patterns all over the world

Why it matters to you

Future anthropologists could study the world’s cultural trends just from some Instagram photos and AI.

Instagram can serve as a valuable cultural analysis tool — if you have the time to go over a couple million photos. But Cornell University researchers recently trained an artificial intelligence program to analyze the images, uncovering how cultural clothing trends vary around the world with some photos, location data, and a computer.

The group worked directly with the social media platform and downloaded images in multiple time frames, between 2013 and 2016, from near 44 cities around the world. Those search parameters resulted in about 100 million Instagram photographs to analyze.

The group of researchers, led by Kevin Matzen, Kavita Bala, and Noah Snavely, decided to look specifically for fashion trends based on time and location. To eliminate all the photos that were not related, the group first used facial-recognition technology to exclude all the photos that did not include people in them. Then, the group further filtered the results to include photos that included the upper half of the body (sorry, #toesinthesand). That left the group with about 15 million photos.

With the narrower selection of photos, the team developed an object-recognition program that recognized items of clothing, for example, determining a jacket from a sweater and a scarf from a necktie. The program also learned a number of descriptors, like sleeve length, color, and popular patterns.

Once the images were tagged, the group put the data through another program, this one designed to recognize patterns not in the clothes but in the data, churring out information on what clothing items were being paired with what, which trends were popular to which areas and how the trends changed over the three-year time period.

The group discovered oddities like black and brown popping up more often during winter and white and blue favoring the summer season. While the system was designed to recognize fashion trends, the technology has implications for future studies analyzing anthropological data over large areas and wide time frames with just some photos and programming.

“Imagine a future anthropologist with access to trillions of photos of people — taken over centuries and across the world — and equipped with effective tools for analyzing these photos to derive insights,” the team wrote. “What kinds of new questions can be answered? This problem area of data-driven visual discovery is still new, but is beginning to gain attention in computer vision and graphics.”

With AI and Instagram, researchers study cultural patterns all over the world

Why it matters to you

Future anthropologists could study the world’s cultural trends just from some Instagram photos and AI.

Instagram can serve as a valuable cultural analysis tool — if you have the time to go over a couple million photos. But Cornell University researchers recently trained an artificial intelligence program to analyze the images, uncovering how cultural clothing trends vary around the world with some photos, location data, and a computer.

The group worked directly with the social media platform and downloaded images in multiple time frames, between 2013 and 2016, from near 44 cities around the world. Those search parameters resulted in about 100 million Instagram photographs to analyze.

The group of researchers, led by Kevin Matzen, Kavita Bala, and Noah Snavely, decided to look specifically for fashion trends based on time and location. To eliminate all the photos that were not related, the group first used facial-recognition technology to exclude all the photos that did not include people in them. Then, the group further filtered the results to include photos that included the upper half of the body (sorry, #toesinthesand). That left the group with about 15 million photos.

With the narrower selection of photos, the team developed an object-recognition program that recognized items of clothing, for example, determining a jacket from a sweater and a scarf from a necktie. The program also learned a number of descriptors, like sleeve length, color, and popular patterns.

Once the images were tagged, the group put the data through another program, this one designed to recognize patterns not in the clothes but in the data, churring out information on what clothing items were being paired with what, which trends were popular to which areas and how the trends changed over the three-year time period.

The group discovered oddities like black and brown popping up more often during winter and white and blue favoring the summer season. While the system was designed to recognize fashion trends, the technology has implications for future studies analyzing anthropological data over large areas and wide time frames with just some photos and programming.

“Imagine a future anthropologist with access to trillions of photos of people — taken over centuries and across the world — and equipped with effective tools for analyzing these photos to derive insights,” the team wrote. “What kinds of new questions can be answered? This problem area of data-driven visual discovery is still new, but is beginning to gain attention in computer vision and graphics.”

Apple is expected to sell a whopping 41.5 million iPhones this quarter

Why it matters to you

The iPhone has always been popular, and time has just made it more popular, according to the latest forecasts.

It looks like the perennially popular iPhone is growing more popular still. According to a note from Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri, experts are forecasting that Apple will ship a whopping 41.5 million iPhone units in the current quarter. That represents an increase of more than one million units from the same quarter last year, indicating that retailers continue to believe that the Apple smartphone will fly off the shelves.

However, Arcuri also pointed out that sell-through of these units (which means, the number of phones actually bought by customers) could go down, noting that last June, Apple had a “4 million unit channel inventory drawdown.” Regardless, confidence in Apple seems as robust as ever, as investors suggest that Apple will earn $44.9 billion in revenue this quarter, which again represents an increase from last year’s figure of $42.4 billion.

Perhaps much of this goodwill stems from the anticipation surrounding Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 8, which is slated to make its debut later this fall. For the 10th anniversary of the now iconic handset, Apple is expected to go all out, and you can check out all the rumors and news we’ve been rounding up here.

Apparently, experts are expecting what they call a “super cycle” for this new iPhone, with a great deal of hype surrounding its release, along with its new features and new design. And even though it will likely be six months before we can actually get our hands on the iPhone 8, Arcuri thinks that the mere announcement of the phone in September of this year will be enough to send the market and investors into a frenzy. Indeed, Arcuri “sees the handset being a ‘powder keg’ for sales and the company’s stock price,” according to Apple Insider.

So if you’re looking for a time to buy into Apple, it seems like you might want to beat the fall rush.

Weekly Rewind: A better hoverboard, solar paint, and a healthier tan

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 what happened at E3 2017 to how to tan safely this summer — it’s all here.

Streamers and press duke it out at E3 2017, but let’s not forget we’re all gamers

Streamers and YouTubers are attending E3 2017 in record numbers, and that’s creating a bit of tension on the show floor. With bigger media outlets and streamers jockeying for the same demos and access, these growing pains are only natural, but it’s important to keep in mind that democratizing access at E3 is ultimately a good thing for gamers.

Since the event is open to the public for the first time, fans, streamers, and content creators who may not have large enough followings to qualify for press access are able to enjoy the biggest gaming event of the year right alongside big media outlets. At a few pre-show events, some publishers set aside streamer-centric seating right alongside the press.

Read the full story here.

Grab an umbrella! Animated GIFs are raining down on Facebook

The image format, Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF — commonly associated with those animated, looping photographs — is turning 30 on June 15, and Facebook is celebrating by adding the option to find and use GIFs within comments. Facebook is also asking readers that quizzical question: How do you pronounce GIF, anyway?

GIF support isn’t new to Facebook, of course, but the company says GIFs have become increasingly popular since support was introduced to Facebook Messenger in 2015, allowing users to chat with GIFs without opening up a web browser to find the appropriate animation. To date, users have shared almost 13 billion GIFs, from cute animations to funny video-like memes, inside the Messenger app in the last year alone. This amounts to about 25,000 per minute. Facebook says that number is triple the amount of GIFs sent from the previous year.

Read the full story here.

We could soon be painting our houses with ‘solar paint’ for clean energy

Imagine if painting the outside of your house not only made it look easy on the eye, but also took care of all of your home’s energy needs.

This, it seems, could soon be a reality as researchers in Australia have come up with a “solar paint” capable of absorbing moisture from the air and turning it into hydrogen fuel for clean energy.

Based at RMIT University in Melbourne, southern Australia, the research team has developed a unique paint containing a newly developed compound that acts like silica gel — that’s the stuff used in those little sachets that absorb moisture to keep things like food, medicines, and electronics in good shape.

Read the full story here.

Toyota is researching heart-monitoring cars that could prevent crashes

As occasional news reports have shown, having a heart attack or some other medical emergency while driving can prove devastating both for those in the affected vehicle and for anyone nearby when it happens.

With that in mind, Toyota is looking at the idea of incorporating technology into its cars that can predict such an event and bring the vehicle to a quick and safe stop.

Of course, with self-driving cars expected one day to rule the road, there would be no need for such technology. But with the widespread use of autonomous vehicles still a ways off, Toyota’s plans could prove an effective interim safety measure to prevent injuries (and potentially worse).

Read the full story here.

Roaming charges end in the EU, but Brexit confusion dampens celebrations

Mobile roaming charges for Europeans traveling to other European countries are no more. From June 15, 2017, travelers making a call, sending a text message, or using data will pay exactly the same as they do at home. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement: “Roaming charges will now be a thing of the past. As of June 15, you will be able to remain connected while traveling in the EU, for the same price as at home.”

The agreement was finalized in February, and had been a long time coming. Preliminary agreements were made in June 2015, but negotiations had been happening for a decade. What does it mean to you? If you’re an EU citizen, and travel to another EU country, you won’t pay extra for using your phone. The commission calls this a “roam-like-at-home” plan. The deal doesn’t mean everything will be free. Instead it means the services you use while roaming will be charged at the same rate you pay when on your home network.

Read the full story here.

Study finds ecigs may cause as much DNA damage as unfiltered cigarettes

Ecigarettes are still relatively new, which means that, unlike the case with regular cigarettes, we’re still in the early stages of working out how they’ll affect our health in the long term.

While some research has reported that they are considerably safer than tobacco cigarettes, a new study from researchers at the University of Connecticut claims something different: that vaping using a device filled with nicotine-based liquid can cause just as much DNA damage as smoking regular cigarettes.

The study involved the use of a new, 3D-printed electro-optical screening device capable of quickly detecting DNA damage. It showed that the damage caused by nicotine ecigarettes is approximately equivalent to that caused by smoking unfiltered tobacco cigarettes. The cellular mutations caused by DNA damage can lead to cancer. The level of potential DNA damage depends on how much vapor is inhaled by the smoker, as well as the quantity of other additives present.

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We talk demigod-fatherhood with ‘God of War’ director Cory Barlog

The new God of War was first unveiled at E3 2016, revealing a wholly new game that builds on the storied franchise, and discards much of its conventions in favor of a fresh, bold new look and narrative style. At E3 2017 (watch the new GOW E3 trailer here), we got the chance to sit down with its director Cory Barlog, who we also spoke with last year. This time around, he discussed some of the finer points of demi-god fatherhood.

Perhaps the most noticeable change to God of War is Kratos himself. He’s still angry, but he’s sad about it. Which makes sense considering the horrors he endured — and inflicted — during his campaign of revenge against the gods of Mount Olympus.

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Canvas replaces over-the-phone job interviews with texting

We’ve all been there: you send your spruced-up resume and references to a job recruiter, get a friendly acceptance email from said recruiter, and set up a phone interview. That’s where things get tricky; once you’ve spent days or weeks nailing down a time that fits both of your calendars, you’re stuck with logistical challenges like dodgy cell reception, background noise, and awkward questions that sound much better in an email than over the phone. That’s why Canvas, a new startup, is tackling things from a different angle: Text messaging.

Canvas, the brainchild of Aman Brar, Kelly Lavin, and Jared Adams, takes a “messaging-first” approach to job interviews. Instead of scheduling a phone call with a recruiter, prospective employees text them via a smartphone, PC, or tablet, as if they’re exchanging messages with a friend. Brar compared it to online dating.

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New ‘hoverboard’ offers more practical features, less spontaneous combustion

Radical Moov’s name makes it sound a bit like a politically conscious 1990s electronic dance music collective. In fact, it’s a Mark Cuban-backed hoverboard which promises to be so good that it’ll banish all thoughts of lesser quality rideables that have sullied the good name of hoverboards over the years.

“Though Moov looks like a sleeker version of the hoverboard, the riding experience is very different since it’s a rigid platform and has weight-based steering,” co-founder and engineer EJ Williams told Digital Trends. “It’s a premium, American-made rideable that is both fun to ride and useful to get around.”

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Scientists may have found a safer way to tan, minus the cancer risk

With summer here, chances are that you’ve probably spared a bit of thought for getting that sun-kissed, tanned look often associated with youth and vitality. The sad irony, of course, is that while we might associate suntanned skin with good health, prolonged sun exposure can lead to accelerated skin aging, as well as associated risks like skin cancer.

A new research project published in the journal Cell Reports suggests that things don’t have to remain that way, though. Scientists have discovered is a small molecule that may be able to stimulate the darkening of human skin, without exposing it to potentially harmful UV radiation. This involves inhibiting an enzyme called Salt Inducible Kinase (SIK), which naturally suppresses pigmentation. By inhibiting it, pigment synthesis is instead stimulated.

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