These freaky VR sex dummies pose some dark questions about the future

Why it matters to you

Project raises some big questions about the kind of society VR porn is ushering in.

Anyone who has watched and grappled with some of the issues raised by last year’s breakout hit Westworld knows that, when it comes to sex and the fantasy world of artificial beings, there are some pretty dark questions to explore. While we’re not yet in the technologically advanced world that show depicts, there’s no doubt that things like AI-equipped sex dolls and virtual reality pornography are (no pun intended) on the rise. What, then, will be their impact — and will they make society a better or a worse place?

That’s something Central Saint Martins graduate Marta Dunjó set out to explore with a recent project called Virtual X that combines virtual reality what used to be referred to as “marital aids.” Essentially, she’s created a series of proof-of-concept VR accessories that a user could *ahem* interact with while engaging in virtual fantasies.

The catch? That if regular sexually-explicit tech devices on the market aren’t meant to immediately make you reel in horror; these ones kind of are. In terms of highlighting the objectifying undercurrent of similar “tools” — and the questions they prompt about subjects like consent — Dunjó’s Virtual X products do exactly that. All the while looking like something out of a David Cronenberg movie.

“The project began with my interest in VR and its impact in society,” she told Digital Trends. “One of the first industries to begin investing in the technology was the pornography industry and I began to explore what the industry looks like today and how VR might create a shift in its production, distribution and consumption. Currently, the internet has normalized and facilitated access to extreme pornographic imagery, such as simulated rape scenes towards women. My aim was to understand if hardcore pornographic experiences in VR would become an outlet for deviant behaviours so people can satisfy and explore these types of fantasies, or rather if it would become a trigger for these impulses to happen in real life.”

Questions like this aren’t clear cut, of course. Just like the issue of whether violent video games make people more violent, queries about whether ever-more-immersive (and probably shocking) adult content will normalize deviant behavior or give people an outlet for taboo fantasies will continue to be argued both ways.

Dunjó makes clear that Virtual X is a conceptual art project, rather than, say, a Kickstarter waiting to happen (there are no plans to bring this to market), but it certainly gives plenty of pause for thought. “The technology [for this] wasn’t there until recently and there seems to be a lack of research in the field because it is clearly a taboo topic and there is little funding for it,” she said.

Hopefully projects like this force us to confront some of these inevitable realities.

Sixers and Celtics and trades, oh my! How to stream the 2017 NBA Draft live

The NBA postseason has wrapped up, and the Golden State Warriors have left a smoking crater where a competitive league once stood. For the other 29 teams, the choices are these: Make bold moves to create a roster that can topple the 2017 champions, or resign themselves to years of stockpiling assets while the Warriors rule the world. Whether your favorite team is trying to get better, or to take shelter in a Sixers-esque bunker of ineptitude for the next five years, the 2017 NBA draft is the first step on the path. As such, we’ve created this streaming guide to help you watch the madness.

If you’re new to basketball, you’ve started at an exciting time, despite the embarrassment that was this year’s playoffs — the league is experimenting with new technologies like virtual reality and machine intelligence software, and even embracing esports. Although the NBA seems locked in a yearly struggle between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, there are plenty of young teams eager to disrupt the established order.

As the draft commences Thursday, 30 NBA teams will take turns picking players from the draft class. The first seven picks are awarded via a lottery, in which teams that did not make the playoffs have a number of ping pong balls based on how they did in the previous season; the team with the worst record has the most balls, and thus the highest chance of a top pick. After the lottery picks are awarded, teams pick based on their record, with lower-winning teams going first. The top five picks in order are: the Philadelphia 76ers, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics, the Phoenix Suns, and the Sacramento Kings. The complete draft order is available here.

The draft will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn starting Thursday, June 22, at 7 p.m. ET. ESPN will be presenting, so legal streaming options are limited, but below are the best ways to watch online without paying a dime.

WatchESPN

If you have cable (or someone you know does) and the provider includes ESPN, you can stream the draft on WatchESPN via a wide variety of devices. In addition to the draft itself, ESPN’s coverage includes real-time commentary by basketball luminaries and analysts. WatchESPN also has apps for viewing the draft on on your mobile device.

Download now for:

Android iOS

If you do not have cable, there are several subscription-based streaming services that include ESPN, each with their own selection of channels and features. And while you may not want to put down the dough for such a service, the best part is that they all offer free, no-risk trial periods.

PlayStation Vue

Sony’s live TV streaming service, Playstation VuePlayStation Vue, has access to ESPN, and thus the draft. Vue has a few different packages, but even the basic Access Slim package ($30 per month) includes ESPN. To sign up for Vue, you need a PlayStation Network account, and if you only want it for the draft, a free five-day trial is available.

SlingTV

Sling TV offers two packages, Sling Orange and Sling Blue, but Sling Orange ($20 per month) is the only one with ESPN. SlingTV offers new customers a seven-day free trial.

DirectTV Now

DirectTV Now’s most basic package, Live a Little, includes ESPN. This package is $35 a month, and is offered in a free, seven-day trial.

YouTube TV

YouTube TV offers one package, priced at $35 a month, that includes ESPN and many other sports channels. The service offers an extremely generous 30-day free trial, as well, so it just may be your best bet.

Hulu with Live TV

Hulu offers a $40 per month package that boasts ESPN, and offers a seven-day free trial.

When in doubt, check Reddit

If you don’t want to try one of those sanctioned services, you can certainly find alternative streams online, though they will be of varying quality and dubious legality. A good place for live coverage and discussions — and possible links to streams — is the NBA subreddit, one of the most active basketballs communities on the internet. To be clear, Digital Trends does not recommend streaming via any illegal services, which can pose a serious security risk. Assuming you can tolerate tired memes and the insane ramblings of Sixers fans, however, /r/NBA is a great place for news posts, highlight videos, and occasionally, insightful commentary.

Bright light pulses bamboozle mosquitoes, could help fight malaria

Why it matters to you

Discovery could help suppress the deadly spread of malaria by stopping mosquitoes in their tracks.

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have made a potentially significant breakthrough in the battle against malaria by discovering a way to suppress mosquitoes’ natural biting behavior. The secret weapon? Exposure to just 10 minutes of pulsing white light during nighttime.

In a study involving the malaria-carrying Anopheles gambiae mosquito, the scientists tested mosquitoes’ biting preferences in different conditions by separating them into two groups. One group was kept entirely in the dark, while another received the pulses of light. Those mosquitoes which had received the light dosage showed “significant suppression” in terms of their biting.

In another experiment, the mosquitoes were pulsed with light every two hours, which minimized their biting through a large portion of a 12-hour night period.

“Anopheline mosquitoes are mostly nocturnal and bite at night, and Anopheles gambiae is the major vector for the transmission of the human malaria parasite in Africa,” Dr. Giles Duffield, associate professor of biology at the University of Notre Dame, told Digital Trends. “It is the bite of a female Anopheles gambiae mosquito that can transmit the malaria parasite. We examined the effect of light on both the biting behavior and flight activity of mosquitoes. We discovered that discrete treatments of light could suppress biting behavior when assayed on a human subject, specifically exposure of a container of mosquitoes to a human arm. This inhibition effect was observed during the light exposure, immediately afterwards, and several hours after the treatment.”

Sarah Craig, University of Notre Dame

As Duffield noted, flight activity was also affected in the mosquitoes — with those which received the light pulses appearing less interested in flying at the onset of the night.

The work is still at a relatively early stage. Duffield said that more work is still to be done, in order to discover exactly what the mosquitoes are reacting to. “Determining the optimal dose of light is important, which can be accomplished by testing different durations and intensities of light exposure; as well as examining the different wavelengths of light,” he said. “The aim would be to find a wavelength of light that is optimal at suppressing biting, while also being less disturbing to the human who may be sleeping.”

Long-term, he suggested that some kind of light-based tool could be used as a mosquito bite prevention measure, presumably in conjunction with some of the other innovative technologies being used in the battle against malaria.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Parasites and Vectors.

Save up to $414 on Microsoft Surface 2-in-1 tablets and notebooks

Microsoft has just released the newest additions to its highly successful Surface family of laptops and 2-in-1 tablets, and deal-savvy techies will know that launches like this mean new promotional discounts and slashed prices on previous-generation devices. If you’ve been eyeballing one of these portable computers, then now’s a great time to score one. We’ve found some of the best Microsoft Surface deals currently available that can save you hundreds.

Microsoft Surface 3 128GB 10.8-inch tablet

The Microsoft Surface 3 is an excellent entry-level option for those looking for a no-frills Windows tablet. This device boasts a 10.8-inch touchscreen display with a sharp HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,280, making it a great portable entertainment device. A quad-core Intel CPU and 4GB of RAM deliver plenty of juice for enjoying videos and light gaming, while 128GB of high-speed flash memory provides sufficient storage for your apps and files.

The Microsoft Surface 3 tablet can be yours for just $360 from Amazon after a $40 discount. Note that this particular model does not come with a folding keyboard cover but you can grab one for $65 to $75.

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 64GB 12-inch tablet

Moving up to the Microsoft Surface Pro series brings us to the Surface Pro 3 tablet, which features a larger 12-inch 2,160 x 1,440 touch display, and comes with a handy Surface Pen and built-in folding stand. This work-focused tablet comes loaded with the latest Windows 10 operating system, as well as a snappy Intel i3 1.5GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of flash storage.

The Surface Pen makes the Surface Pro 3 ideal for graphic designers and other professionals who do visual work,. At only $480 on Amazon, this Windows tablet represents a solid 40 percent discount off of its normal price of $799.

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 128GB 12.3-inch 2-in-1 tablet

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is a true 2-in-1 notebook/tablet hybrid, and a serious portable work machine. With its sixth-generation Intel Core CPU and 4GB of RAM, this Surface Pro 4 delivers laptop-like performance. Its included folding keyboard cover completes the package, letting you use the tablet as an ultra-thin notebook PC. The vibrant 12.3-inch PixelSense touchscreen is great for both work and entertainment.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 comes with 128GB of internal memory and is currently available for $649 from the Microsoft store after a limited-time $150 discount.

Microsoft

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 256GB 12.3-inch tablet

If the Surface Pro 4 caught your eye but you’d like something with more internal storage, more processing power, and a Surface Pen instead of a keyboard, then the Surface Pro 4 256GB Tablet might be a better option. Sporting an Intel Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM, this tablet packs more horsepower than the previous model. That added power, combined with the included Surface Pen, makes this Surface Pro 4 ideal for more demanding graphical tasks and visual work.

The Intel Core i5 Surface Pro 4 can be yours for $966 from Amazon after a tidy $333 discount. While this particular package does not come with a keyboard cover, you can purchase one separately.

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Book 128GB 13.5-inch 2-in-1 notebook

If the tablet format isn’t your style, but you still want touchscreen capability, then the Microsoft Surface Book might be just the ticket. This device features a more traditional laptop form factor, but the 13.5-inch touch display gives you all the functionality of a tablet screen and can even be completely separated from the keyboard if desired. The Intel Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM provide plenty of power for both work and play, and the Surface Book comes with 128GB of storage and a Surface Pen.

At $429 off its normal price of $1499, the Microsoft Surface Book 2-in-1 laptop represents the best deal on our list and can be yours for just $1070 from Amazon for a limited time.

Amazon

Save up to $414 on Microsoft Surface 2-in-1 tablets and notebooks

Microsoft has just released the newest additions to its highly successful Surface family of laptops and 2-in-1 tablets, and deal-savvy techies will know that launches like this mean new promotional discounts and slashed prices on previous-generation devices. If you’ve been eyeballing one of these portable computers, then now’s a great time to score one. We’ve found some of the best Microsoft Surface deals currently available that can save you hundreds.

Microsoft Surface 3 128GB 10.8-inch tablet

The Microsoft Surface 3 is an excellent entry-level option for those looking for a no-frills Windows tablet. This device boasts a 10.8-inch touchscreen display with a sharp HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,280, making it a great portable entertainment device. A quad-core Intel CPU and 4GB of RAM deliver plenty of juice for enjoying videos and light gaming, while 128GB of high-speed flash memory provides sufficient storage for your apps and files.

The Microsoft Surface 3 tablet can be yours for just $360 from Amazon after a $40 discount. Note that this particular model does not come with a folding keyboard cover but you can grab one for $65 to $75.

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 64GB 12-inch tablet

Moving up to the Microsoft Surface Pro series brings us to the Surface Pro 3 tablet, which features a larger 12-inch 2,160 x 1,440 touch display, and comes with a handy Surface Pen and built-in folding stand. This work-focused tablet comes loaded with the latest Windows 10 operating system, as well as a snappy Intel i3 1.5GHz processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of flash storage.

The Surface Pen makes the Surface Pro 3 ideal for graphic designers and other professionals who do visual work,. At only $480 on Amazon, this Windows tablet represents a solid 40 percent discount off of its normal price of $799.

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 128GB 12.3-inch 2-in-1 tablet

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is a true 2-in-1 notebook/tablet hybrid, and a serious portable work machine. With its sixth-generation Intel Core CPU and 4GB of RAM, this Surface Pro 4 delivers laptop-like performance. Its included folding keyboard cover completes the package, letting you use the tablet as an ultra-thin notebook PC. The vibrant 12.3-inch PixelSense touchscreen is great for both work and entertainment.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 comes with 128GB of internal memory and is currently available for $649 from the Microsoft store after a limited-time $150 discount.

Microsoft

Microsoft Surface Pro 4 256GB 12.3-inch tablet

If the Surface Pro 4 caught your eye but you’d like something with more internal storage, more processing power, and a Surface Pen instead of a keyboard, then the Surface Pro 4 256GB Tablet might be a better option. Sporting an Intel Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM, this tablet packs more horsepower than the previous model. That added power, combined with the included Surface Pen, makes this Surface Pro 4 ideal for more demanding graphical tasks and visual work.

The Intel Core i5 Surface Pro 4 can be yours for $966 from Amazon after a tidy $333 discount. While this particular package does not come with a keyboard cover, you can purchase one separately.

Amazon

Microsoft Surface Book 128GB 13.5-inch 2-in-1 notebook

If the tablet format isn’t your style, but you still want touchscreen capability, then the Microsoft Surface Book might be just the ticket. This device features a more traditional laptop form factor, but the 13.5-inch touch display gives you all the functionality of a tablet screen and can even be completely separated from the keyboard if desired. The Intel Core i5 CPU and 8GB of RAM provide plenty of power for both work and play, and the Surface Book comes with 128GB of storage and a Surface Pen.

At $429 off its normal price of $1499, the Microsoft Surface Book 2-in-1 laptop represents the best deal on our list and can be yours for just $1070 from Amazon for a limited time.

Amazon

Everything you need to know about Bixby Voice

We have early access to the Galaxy S8’s built-in Bixby Voice. Here’s another look at what’s coming to a Galaxy S8 near you.

We’ve already written plenty about the Galaxy S8’s Bixby functionality, but what we haven’t touched on is what to expect with Bixby Voice — ostensibly the main reason there’s an extra button on the flagship device in the first place.

Up until the latest preview, all we knew about the Bixby is that it enabled you to press a button to control the phone with your voice. Well, now that we’ve had some time with it, we can confirm that Bixby Voice really is all about talking to the Galaxy S8. It’s not the same as Google Assistant, though, as Bixby is more conversational and apologetic when it messes up. This is a voice-activated virtual assistant that aims to please.

Note: At present, you can only set up Bixby if you’re part of the Early Access Preview, which is currently limited to the United States. There’s no word yet on when Bixby will go live.

Setting it up

After you’ve updated all the apps in your Galaxy Apps queue, you can click over to the Hello Bixby panel to start the prompt for setting up Bixby Voice. At present, only American English and Korean are the available languages for the virtual assistant.

Bixby will walk you through a rather storied setup process. You’ll need to first agree to a long list of terms and then continue on to update any Bixby Voice-compatible apps, as well as any third-party apps that have access to experimental features from the Bixby Labs. The entire onboarding process is pretty straightforward, and it even starts you off gently by having Bixby dictate the sequence. In the English-speaking version, Bixby is a sprite young female, though you can choose from male or female for the Korean variant.

How to access the Bixby Voice settings menu.

Once Bixby Voice is raring to go, you should be able to press and hold the Bixby button to give it a command from any screen. If you start on the Home screen, you can ask Bixby to open an app and then perform an action. If you’re already in an app, however, you can press the button to instruct Bixby on what to do within that app. I tried it first with the Gallery app to crop a photo, and then in the browser to navigate to a web page; Bixby worked effortlessly in both situations.

“Hey Bixby”

Like Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri, you can call out to Samsung’s Bixby in your time of need. The virtual assistant will help you set up the ability to wake up the phone with a voice command from the get-go; you’ll be asked to record yourself saying “Hey, Bixby” about three times, and then you’ll be asked to recite a few commands so that the software can learn the different intonations in your voice. When it’s finished, you can actually play back what you recorded to ensure it sounds exactly the way Bixby would hear you every time.

Like Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri, you can call out to Samsung’s Bixby in your time of need.

I have to admit: part of the reason I didn’t use Google Assistant much until the Google Home came into my life is that my phones would often struggle to hear me or understand my commands. But Bixby has the opposite problem, as it understands me so well that I was triggering it even while podcasting in a nearby room in my house. I guess there are plenty of words out there that sound like Bixby, so naturally, Bixby thought I was speaking to it.

You don’t have to really say a particular phrase to get Bixby to listen, either. I’ve said both “Hey, Bixby” and “Okay, Bixby” with the Galaxy S8’s screen both on and off and it worked remarkably well. I also just shouted “BIXBY!” a few times and that seemed to work, too, despite the fact that I was being antagonistic. Sorry, Bixby.

Of course, if Bixby doesn’t understand what you said — which will happen, as it happened to me plenty of times — it will ask that you let it know it didn’t perform so well before offers for you to retry your command. You can skip all that if you don’t care to do it, though, and simply tap the Bixby icon or press and hold the side button to continue engaging.

What can you do with Bixby?

What is the meaning of life? Sorry, Bixby can’t help you with that.

I’m still figuring out all that’s possible with Samsung Bixby. It’s like Google Assistant in that it can assist you with even the most basic of smartphone commands, but it doesn’t appear to be explicitly tied to a search engine in the same manner.

When you do ask Bixby the kind of question you’d ask Google Assistant — like “What’s the meaning of life?” for example because apparently, I had to make this as existential as possible — Bixby will reply quietly in the main home screen. When you ask it to help with doing something, however, it’s much more responsive.

Samsung’s Bixby works a bit differently than Google Assistant in that it’ll require you to be very specific with your commands. The result can be more effective, however, if you consider that you can do things like crop an image with just your voice.

Perhaps the best example for showing Bixby’s abilities is the crop-and-post example. For instance, I asked Bixby to open up the gallery and select the latest photo. From there, I pressed the Bixby button and asked it to first crop the photo and then, crop the photo in 4 by 3. The Gallery app then cropped the photo as I asked it to, though it waited for me to choose where the crop placement should go before it continued.

Once again, I pressed the Bixby button and asked it to save the image and share it, and from there it popped up Android’s sharing dialog window.

I also used Bixby to launch the Gmail app and dictate a message. It was strikingly easy, and I was impressed by the way Bixby seemed to move forward with what it figured I’d ask it to do next.

There is certainly more that you can do with Bixby, and the commands change whenever you’re inside another app. With this preview mode, the trick is to test what it can do and take it from there.

About that extra button

Let’s talk about that extra button on the side of the Galaxy S8.

There’s good news for those of who you’ve managed to either successfully remap the Bixby button or just aren’t interested in the push-the-talk action of Bixby Voice. The app doesn’t actually require you use the added hardware to interact with your assistant. Rather, it’s there to help in times of need, like when the environment is too loud for the phone to pick up on your command. Bixby pops up an on-screen indicator to let you know it’s working hard, and there’s a quick toggle shortcut in the Hello Bixby app.

Admittedly, using the Galaxy S8’s built-in Bixby button feels a bit strange as it’s not something that I’m accustomed to. I’ve been long using Google Assistant — or Google Now, as it were — to do my bidding and that merely requires I utter “Okay, Google” or tap on an icon.

Regardless, the push-to-talk ability is a nice alternative when you’re in situations where it’ll come in handy, though it would be nice to be able to officially remap the Bixby button when the situation calls for it.

Bixby’s Home screen

Bixby’s home screen reminds me quite a bit of Apple’s Siri because of its black-to-purple ombre background, but besides the similarities of the female voice, it’s really quite different. For one, you can type in your command to Bixby if talking to it isn’t a possibility (that’s coming soon to iOS 11 for Siri users), or you can cycle through some of your past commands. There’s even an easy screenshot toggle if proving your friend right requires photo evidence, and you can individually adjust the sound of Bixby Voice.

Bixby Voice’s home screen.

If you’re inside an app and you conjure up the Bixby home screen, the app will offer up a bevy of suggestions for commands you can use specifically within that app. It’s helpful to have this resource to learn what it is you can control with just your voice, though you might find that it’s simply easier to go by trial and error. After all, the best way to learn something is to practice it (as my math tutor told me all those years) and with Bixby, you’ll have to learn how to be really specific without being long-winded.

Bixby points system

Bixby requires quite a bit of validation to ensure it’s properly operating. But the upside is that each positive interaction earns you “points” towards leveling up your Bixby experience.

Bixby will improve itself over time, though it relies quite a bit on feedback to steer itself in the right direction. Each time you command Bixby, you’ll rack up points towards your overall Bixby Level. If your interaction is less than stellar, however, you can let Bixby know that it needs improvement over a particular subset of commands, and the virtual assistant will do its best to accommodate you during the next round.

Take a gander at what Bixby’s point system looks like.

If you’re curious to see where you’re at on the points scale, tap on “My Bixby” in the main Hello Bixby overflow menu. This will reveal all of your growth stats. There’s also a counter that keeps privy to how many conversations you’ve had with Bixby, and you’ll see how many times you’ve given it props and when you’ve told it that it could have done a better job.

Frankly, Bixby’s “level up” screen looks akin to the dashboard you’d find in a roleplaying game — all it’s missing is a counter for the hit points. But that’s sort of the point of this page existing in the first place. The “experience points” you can procure to effectively level up Bixby were clearly added in an effort to encourage users to play on by gamifying the experiences with the virtual assistant. I’m curious to see what I’ll unlock the more I interact with it; I’m close to unlocking more background colors, for example, and I wonder what other little treats are hidden in the interface.

What you can change

Bixby Voice’s settings panel seems limited in its beta state.

The Bixby Voice settings aren’t as customizable as Google Assistant, but there are some extra features you can enable to make the virtual assistant more robust. In addition to the ability to enable constantly, always-on voice command capabilities, you can also choose Bixby’s feedback style. If you prefer quick, terse answers, you can choose to keep Bixby’s responses short. Or if you’re really aching to connect with it, you can opt to have the assistant talk to you in full sentences.

Bixby also offers a helpful dictation featurette, which I found to be just as useful as the ability in Google Keyboard. This ability doesn’t require that you tap on a microphone icon when the keyboard app is up, however; rather, you’ll want to toggle on the Dictation on keyboard capability to enable the ability to start the dictation mode by pressing and holding the Bixby key while the Samsung Keyboard is open. This means you’ll have to actively use the Samsung Keyboard, but the dictation ability appears to work just as accurately as Google when it comes to forming sentences.

It’s still just a preview

There is still plenty to discover about Samsung’s Bixby Voice.

Bear in mind that all that we’ve experienced with Bixby thus far has been entirely a preview. The kinks have yet to be worked out, not to mention the fact that there are very few people using the service at present. Bixby’s overall purpose in the industry has yet to materialize, too, and we won’t know where it fits into the virtual assistant space until the software is ready to go live to everyone with a Galaxy S8 in their hands. It’s not meant as a replacement assistant for Google, either, so I’ll be curious to see what it’s like using the two assistant suites in tandem in my day-to-day.

We’ll be updating this page once Bixby is ready for primetime. If you have any questions until it’s ready for the stage, however, leave us a comment and we’ll investigate for you in the interim.

And if you’re in the preview, how is Bixby treating you? What command do you like to use with it? Are you finding it’s a better way of interacting with your Galaxy S8 or S8+ than, say, simply tapping around?

TYLT Energi Pro review: MrMobile’s favorite battery backpack

I knew I needed to review the TYLT Energi Pro when I first saw Daniel Bader rocking one on an overseas trip a few months back – and even though he’s beaten me to the official take with his own excellent review, I’ve gathered some followup thoughts on the backpack in the weeks since. See, the TYLT Energi Pro isn’t just any old backpack. It’s a bag with a built-in 20,100 mAh battery beefy enough to recharge your tablets, phones, and even some laptops – and with 12+ compartments, it’s big enough to hold all of that gadgetry, too. Combine that with water resistance, internal cable routing and enough comfort gel to keep your shoulders padded even with 20 lbs of cargo aboard, and you’ve got yourself a battery backpack that lives up to its high price tag (even though it’s a stretch).

Click on through to MrMobile’s TYLT Energi Pro review to see the best battery backpack of 2017 – or if you want to save some coin, check out some of the runner-ups below!

Featured Products

• TYLT Energi Pro Battery Backpack at Amazon
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• ARTIX Charging Battery Backpack
• Ghostek NRGbag Battery Backpack
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Valve’s Knuckles VR controllers will track each of your fingers

Valve’s new controllers for SteamVR have shipped to developers.

Called Knuckles, the controllers are still in the prototype phase, but Valve has now revealed several details about how they work. For instance, to use them, you slide your hand into the main part of the controller; the strap will hold it in place, and you adjust the fit with the attached cord. Then, you’re free to interact with objects.

That means you should be able to grab items and move around like you normally would, and because the controllers are supposed to have a fit that you can loosen or tighten, you won’t be able to drop them easily. There’s also capacitive sensors that helps track your hand motions, including separate tracking for each finger.

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In other words, Knuckles can tell whether your individual fingers are curled or straightened out, etc. Existing VR controllers, such as the Vive Wand for HTC Vive, do not offer such finger-tracking functionality, which obviously opens up a lot more use-cases when it comes to gripping and handling different things in a virtual world.

And from what we can tell so far, Knuckles appears to be more ergonomic than anything else available on the market, including the Oculus Touch controllers for Oculus Rift. Unfortunately, we still don’t know when Knuckles will be available for everyone to use, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Valve

Asus’ new VivoBook S has MacBook-like looks, but at a better price

Asus introduced a VivoBook S laptop line at Computex earlier this year, and now it’s launched a new addition to that line.

Called the S510, it features a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1280) display, seventh-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and several ports including USB-C, USB Type-A, USB 2.0, HDMI, a 3.5mm jack, and an SD card reader. It weighs 3.7 pounds, has a 7.8mm-thick bezel, and looks just like a MacBook.

This VivoBook S comes with a brushed aluminium chassis. However, when we checked out the VivoBook Pro S15, which starts at £600, we noticed it doesn’t have a full aluminium body; the base is plastic, with a brushed metal lid and deck. We’re assuming the S510 is the same way, though we’ve contacted Asus for more details.

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The VivoBook S S510 runs Windows 10 Home out of the box and starts at $699. It goes up to $799 depending on your desired configuration, however. We’re not yet sure about UK pricing or availability, but in the US, you can get the ultrabook now through Asus, ABT, B&H, Computer Upgrade King, and Newegg.

We think this laptop would be great for those of you who want a robust, ultra portable laptop with MacBook Air-level looks, but at a price that’s a little easier to swallow. And because it doesn’t run Windows 10 S, you don’t have to worry about limited functionality such as the inability to download third-party apps.

Airbnb to target wealthy customers who prefer luxury hotels

Airbnb keeps expanding its core disruption with new features to help increase its audience. The company has made it easier for business travelers to find a room with the Airbnb app and has tried its hand at tour guiding with a new activity suggestion feature. Now the room-sharing company is reportedly looking at ways to attract customers who would rather book at high-end luxury hotels.

According to Bloomberg, the new premium service is expected to launch as a pilot with a “select group of hosts as soon as this week.” The full service could roll out by the end of this year. To qualify for this select status, hosts will need to allow Airbnb inspectors to check and make sure that their rental space meets a specific set of quality standards. If their homes pass muster, they’ll reportedly be eligible for a featured section on Airbnb’s website and mobile apps.

A source close to Airbnb confirmed the new pilot program and told Engadget that the company’s internal work has identified consumers who are slightly older and have never used Airbnb as a significant growth opportunity. They said that internal research shows that business and family travelers want more space, kitchens, yards, laundry and want to stay in unique neighborhoods. Airbnb thinks the key to unlocking this type of audience is to focus on quality.

The hotel industry has already been feeling the pinch from the home-sharing service, and have been promoting local experiences and pursuing legislation that could limit Airbnb’s expansion. A new high-end service like this one could attract wealthier, older customers who may prefer to stay in guaranteed nicer accommodations.

Via: The Independent

Source: Bloomberg