More Google Pixel 2 details emerge, Pixel 2 XL to sport 5.99-inch OLED display

More details surrounding the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL have leaked to XDA-Developers by a “source familiar with the matter that spent time with at least one of the phones”. The details suggest the two devices, currently codenamed Taimen and Walleye, will come with 5.99-inch and 4.97-inch screens.

• Google Pixel 2: What’s the story so far?

This confirms that Taimen will be the larger of the two devices, something that was alluded to a couple of weeks ago, when it was suggested Google will only be releasing two devices, not three. It was rumoured that LG would be responsible for making the Taimen phone, while HTC would handle the Walleye.

XDA-Developers has since learned that the Taimen will come with a 1440p OLED panel provided by LG Display, which could explain the reference to LG in the Android Issue Tracker. It’s highly likely that HTC will once again manufacture the Pixel 2 and 2 XL after S2 and M2 codenames were found in the HTC U11’s system files.

XDA’s source says the Taimen/Pixel 2 XL will have a 5.99-inch display and much smaller bezels than on the previous Pixel XL, meaning it could have a similar form-factor than its predecessor. Being a flagship device it will almost certainly run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, and should come with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

The two-tone glass and metal finish on the rear panel is expected to make a return, but XDA says the glass section at the top won’t house the fingerprint scanner anymore. However it doesn’t say where it will be moved to.

The Walleye device meanwhile will be the smaller device, with a 4.97-inch full HD display. Design-wise it’s not expected to shift too much from last year’s Pixel, so will sport similar-sized bezels. It too will get the Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

XDA is confident of its source’s credibility, and features such as the Snapdragon 835 processor are a given, so we have some faith in these rumours. But as with any rumour, it should be taken with a pinch of salt for now. 

Mohu’s latest indoor antenna has a 65-mile range

Mohu has something new for all of the cord-cutters out there. The company has upgraded its indoor Leaf antenna and the new version delivers a 65-mile reception range. That’s up from the 50-mile range of the previous model. Mohu says that its SignaLift technology puts the Leaf Glide more on par with outdoor antennas. The Leaf Glide is also a little bit bigger at 21.5 inches by 11.5 inches, allowing it to pick up lower frequency bands.

Mohu’s Leaf antennas are super thin, multi-directional indoor versions that you can use to pick up free over-the-air TV channels. The company announced earlier this year that it’s also launching a wireless version of its indoor antenna soon. Mohu began producing the thin Leaf antenna line in 2011 and they claim to have saved customers more than $300 million in cable fees.

Mohu’s antennas don’t require an additional subscription service and the Leaf Glide is available only through Mohu or Amazon. It costs $90.

Netflix remains ruthless as ‘Girlboss’ cut after one season

Netflix never talks audience numbers with its shows, but there’s one sure way to know when one is doing poorly. The streaming company cancelled Girlboss, the third series over the last month to get canned. The show was unpopular with critics from the start, with just a 32 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — a rarity for a Netflix comedy. Though the premise about a “broke anarchist” who develops a successful company was promising, the main character (loosely based on Nasty Girl founder Sophia Amoruso), “was not very likeable,” Deadline said.

Netflix recently cancelled The Get Down and Sense8 after just one and two seasons, respectively. Unlike Girlboss, however, both of those were incredibly expensive to produce, especially The Get Down, which reportedly cost Netflix $120 million for just one season. At the same time, the latter show reportedly drew just a fifth the audience of Orange is the New Black.

Girlboss, however, appears to have just fared poorly from the start. Netflix has generally done well with comedy, with shows like Master of None and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt generally receiving critical raves. However, the premise of a “genius asshole,” could only work “if it showed some semblance of self-awareness,” said IndieWire, noting that it wastes a fine performance by lead actor Britt Robertson.

Netflix is less willing to tolerate a show with rough edges than before. “Relative to what you spent, are people watching it?” Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos asked earlier this month. For Girlboss, it appears that not nearly enough were.

Via: AV Club

Source: Deadline

Bug-zapping laser will only kill bad insects

There are good insects, and then there are bad bugs. And the folks at Seattle-based Intellectual Ventures Lab (IVL) have been working on a device that will only kill pests and leave the others unharmed. It’s called the Photonic Fence, and has been in development as early as 2009, but according to a Wired report, it’s recently been “installed on a US Department of Agriculture site in the state for its first real-world test.” If all goes well, IVL plans to market the Fence to farmers who need to protect their crops from pests.

Using cameras and other optics, the Photonic Fence scans for pests within 100 metres, looking at each bug’s “form, velocity, acceleration and wing-beat frequency.” When a target has been recognized as being from the kill list, the Fence will shoot it with the laser, and the insect will be dead within 25 milliseconds. According to the company, the device can kill up to 20 insects per second, and can cover areas of up to 30 metres wide and 3 metres high — creating the so-called Fence in its name.

It’s not yet clear when the trial began nor when the results are expected, although the test was slated to start this summer. There’s still a ways to go before the Photonic Fence becomes available to individual farmers (nor corporations), not to mention us regular folks who want a good bug zapper for our balconies or porches. Still, pending the test results, it shouldn’t be too long before we can keep our plants and living areas safe from harmful pests.

Source: Wired

Turn your Chromebook into a killer workstation with the best Android apps on Chrome OS

Google opened up its Chrome OS platform a while back, bringing its massive Android ecosystem to the ultra-light operating system. That means you can install Android apps on your Chromebook, that light, little thing running on a modified version of the Chrome browser. That’s over 2.5 million apps! With that in mind, we went ahead and sorted through the Google Play store for the best Chrome OS Android apps currently available.

Netflix

There’s not really any app list on the internet right now that would be complete without Netflix. Without it, how would you procrastinate, how would you fill your evenings, how would you chill? Exactly. The Netflix app for Chrome OS is every bit as capable as the Netflix app on every other platform, and if you’ve ever used it on an Android device, it should be pretty familiar. Just sign into your account (or your old roommate’s account you still have access to) and pick up where you left off — presumably watching some of the best movies on the service.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

YouTube

Okay, maybe you could still procrastinate without Netflix. But good luck putting off those deadlines without YouTube, right? The site has everything, from viral videos to movies, and now you can easily browse on your Chromebook. The Chrome OS app is ultimately a carbon-copy of the Android version — it’s pretty much the same as the YouTube web app, but a little cleaner. Don’t worry, your subscriptions and weird faves are right where you left them.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Google Photos

If you have an Android phone, you probably already enjoy Google Photos, particularly after a recent redesign. The Google Photos app also works pretty well on Chrome OS. It’s a great place to browse for old photos you had no idea your phone backed up — and subsequently delete them. All of them. Yeah, especially those ones. You can also edit photos, organize them into albums, and apply the usual assortment of filters.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Spotify

No more firing up Spotify in your browser, nope, now you an download the dedicated Android app for the full Spotify experience. It features the same functionality, but now you can free up a browser tab and keep listening to all the Tay Swift you can handle. That’s right, she’s on Spotify now — so you can cancel your secret Apple Music subscription.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Slack

Now you can run Slack from your Chromebook’s desktop rather than trying to keep up with your co-workers in a browser tab that will inevitably get closed by accident. It runs a little better from the app than it does in a browser tab anyway — even if you can’t blame missed messages on your browser anymore.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Outlook

Outlook, everyone’s favorite productivity app, provides a fully-featured experience that you just don’t get when its tethered to a flimsy browser tab. Now you can get all those important notifications, meeting invites, and calendar alerts that you’d been missing out on.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

SignEasy

All right, this one’s nothing exciting but if you’ve ever tried to digitally sign something in a browser, it’s a very welcome change. SignEasy allows you to sign, initial, and submit important documents and keep a detailed record of them right there in the app.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Kindle

Fire up the Kindle reader in a browser. Go ahead, we’ll wait. Not a great reading experience is it? Well, now you can just open the Kindle Android app and actually enjoy reading that digital copy of War & Peace you’ve been chipping away at for years. Or, you know, read literally anything else.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Infinite Painter

Paint, infinitely. Seriously, this app will let you paint forever and ever. Most other painting apps do that too, but it’s nice to have options now that your Chromebook can run Android apps — and legit digital art suites. Infinite Painter includes a set of customizable brushes, and editing tools to create or add-on to existing works, and since it’s optimized for Android, it’s not going to make your poor Chromebook struggle to keep up.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Autodesk Sketchbook

You can’t discuss digital media creation tools without mentioning at least one Autodesk app. Sketchbook combines a vast array of digital brushes, pencils, and other tools to round out a remarkably full-featured Android app. It’s not as responsive as a pencil and paper, but with the right Chromebook — and the right stylus — it comes pretty close.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

ArtCanvas

Designed more for painting than sketching, Art Canvas offers a multi-layer painting experience filled to the brim with professional-grade tools and palette options. It even goes so far as to emulate oil and watercolor paints, so your work looks vibrant and lifelike.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Adobe Photoshop Express

If you found any decent photos in your Google Photos backlog, you might want to put them into Adobe Photoshop Express to touch things up a bit before posting it to Instagram. It’s not as robust as a full-on desktop version of Photoshop, but the basics are here — color adjustments, cropping, and of course filters. So many filters.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Duolingo

Duolingo for Android also runs very well on Chrome OS, so you can finally polish up those Spanish skills with the help of a nagging little owl who will message you every day until you cave and re-learn your verbs again. It’s for your own good, the little owl will say, relentlessly prodding you day and night.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Asphalt 8

Chromebooks aren’t exactly known for their gaming prowess, and Asphalt 8 isn’t going to knock your socks off with its visuals, but it runs well and it’s about as visually stunning as Chromebook gaming is going to get in the near future.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Sacred Legends

Something like Sacred Legends is a bit less demanding, but still runs well on Chrome OS. Here, you take on the role of an adventurer fighting — what else — an ancient evil come to take over the world. Not the most original premise, but when it comes to Chromebook gaming, you take what you can get.

Download now for:

Chrome OS

Ex-NASA scientist calls Goop’s ‘healing stickers’ a load of BS

You’re probably used to ignoring all those overpriced New Age-y therapies and miracle cures Gwyneth Paltrow’s website Goop tends to promote. Remember that time when it suggested inserting jade eggs into the vagina to “increase chi?” No? Well, you can’t make this stuff up. One of its latest recommendations, wearable stickers by a company called “Body Vibes,” is pretty hard to turn a blind eye to, though, because its creators claimed that it uses NASA technology. Goop wrote that the body stickers are capable of rebalancing “the energy frequency in our bodies,” since they’re made of the “same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line spacesuits” to “monitor an astronaut’s vitals during wear.” Except, as a NASA rep told Gizmodo, that’s not true — at all.

Here’s the meat of Goop’s writeup for your reading pleasure:

“Human bodies operate at an ideal energetic frequency, but everyday stresses and anxiety can throw off our internal balance, depleting our energy reserves and weakening our immune systems. Body Vibes stickers (made with the same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line space suits so they can monitor an astronaut’s vitals during wear) come pre-programmed to an ideal frequency, allowing them to target imbalances.”

Spacesuits have complex structures and are made of several layers of various materials like nylon, spandex, Kevlar and a number of other synthetic fabrics. They do not, however, use any conductive carbon material lining to monitor an astronaut’s vitals or any other purpose, the spokesperson said. Former NASA human research division chief Mark Shelhamer backed what the agency’s rep said and added that the product is “a load of BS.” The ex-NASA scientist didn’t pull any punches: “not only is the whole premise like snake oil,” he said, “the logic doesn’t even hold up.”

Despite the criticism, Body Vibes wouldn’t explain the research and development behind the product, as it’s apparently confidential. The company at least apologized for the “communication error,” though it insisted that the stickers, which will set you back $120 for a pack of 24 (of course), work as advertised:

“We apologize to NASA, Goop, our customers and our fans for this communication error. We never intended to mislead anyone. We have learned that our engineer was misinformed by a distributor about the material in question, which was purchased for its unique specifications. We regret not doing our due diligence before including the distributor’s information in the story of our product. However, the origins of the material do not anyway impact the efficacy of our product. Body Vibes remains committed to offering a holistic lifestyle tool and we stand by the quality and effectiveness of our product.”

I guess the lesson here is, you can sell products with the most outrageous promises, but you can’t drop NASA’s name and expect to get away unscathed.

Via: Washington Post

Source: Gizmodo

Former Apple Executives Recall Designing Touchscreen Interface of Original iPhone

As we near the ten-year anniversary of the iPhone later this week, a few stories posted online have delved into the rich history of where the device started, how the original team came up with the idea for the touchscreen smartphone, and what it was like reviewing the device back in 2007.

In a new video shared by The Wall Street Journal today, three former Apple executives — Scott Forstall, Tony Fadell and Greg Christie — have taken a look back at the first days of designing the iPhone with Steve Jobs. Apple’s former senior vice president of the iPod division, Tony Fadell, recounted a time when Jobs showed him the company’s first demo for what would become the iPhone’s touch-based operating system.

Image via WSJ
Jobs and the rest of the team were seeking a more elegant solution to a smartphone interface than the one they began with, which was an iPod click wheel interface, when Jobs invited Fadell into a demo room.

“Steve goes, “Come over here I need to show you something.” So he walked me into the room…and it was basically like a ping pong table sized demo with a projector that was projecting a Mac interface on it. And you could use your whole hand and you could touch different things on it, like it was a big big Mac.

It was literally a ping pong sized multi-touch display. And he goes, “I think this is gonna solve our problem.”

Former Apple vice president of iOS, Scott Forstall, recalled a specific time in 2005 when the iPhone team was put on a deadline of two weeks to come up with a better design for the smartphone’s user interface. Jobs was not satisfied at the time with early iterations of the iPhone’s look, and told Forstall and the team that he’d give the project to another group at the company if they failed to deliver.

Greg Christie, former Apple vice president of human interface, said that the team’s design ultimately satisfied Jobs, and led to even more work over the next two years before the iPhone’s launch in 2007.

“The first time he saw it he was completely silent, he didn’t say a thing. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t gesture, he didn’t ask a question. Then he sat back and he said, “Show it to me again.” And so we go through the whole thing again and Steve was pretty much blown away by the whole demonstration. It was great work.

Our reward for doing a great job on that demonstration was to, you know, kill ourselves over the next two and a half years.”

In 2006, Forstall froze development across the iPhone’s user interface divisions to force the team to focus on one troublesome part of the smartphone’s UI: the keyboard. At the time, Forstall said it was difficult to use and that if someone tried to type out an e-mail, they’d just “give up.”

Forstall explained that one of the best keyboards pitched by a developer had a few clever advantages over all the others designed by the team. Namely, it could intelligently predict words, so if a user would type “T,” the keyboard would make the hit region for “H” larger — while the actual key remained the same size — so that common words such as “the” were easier to type.

The full ten-minute video created by The Wall Street Journal, which is called “How The iPhone Was Born: Inside Stories of Missteps and Triumphs,” is well worth checking out. Other topics discussed by Forstall, Fadell, and Christie include the creation of the iPhone’s visual vocabulary (like pinch to zoom and rubber banding to mark the end of a scrollable page), as well as the company’s Fight Club secrecy tactics for “The Purple Project,” the code name for the original iPhone’s creation.

Tags: Tony Fadell, Scott Forstall, Greg Christie
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Pearl Automation Shuts Down After Poor Sales of Its $500 Vehicle Backup Camera

Pearl Automation, the vehicle accessory company founded by ex-Apple engineers and which debuted its $500 “RearVision” wireless backup camera system just one year ago, has shut down following poor sales of the device, reports Axios.

What happened: Early product sales disappointed, which was exacerbated by a high burn rate.

What next? The Pearl Automation team received several “acqui-hire” offers, but opted instead to shut down and part ways, according to a source close to the situation.

RearVision, which went on sale last September, was a license plate frame with dual HD cameras, solar power, and Bluetooth to wirelessly connect to an OBD port hub and an iPhone or Android phone. While it was a slick and easy to install system, the $500 price tag undoubtedly contributed to its downfall.

Pearl appears to have had larger ambitions related to autonomous driving technology and driver safety, but with its initial project suffering from poor sales, the company lacked the resources to push forward on its follow-up products.

Tags: Pearl, RearVision
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Report: Facebook to pay Hollywood millions for original shows

Facebook is very serious about its original programming ambitions — $3 million per episode serious. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the tech giant is courting Hollywood agencies for original scripted TV shows, in some cases offering up to $3 million per episode. It’s also keen on procuring less-expensive productions that would cost hundreds of thousands each episode to make. The Journal’s sources said that Facebook has set late summer as a tentative launch window, and that it hopes to reach audiences aged 13-34.

In particular, the company is reportedly focusing on those aged between 17 and 30, and is therefore looking for shows like ABC’s Pretty Little Liars, Scandal or The Bachelor. We’re already expecting about two dozen titles from the social network when it launches its programming lineup, including reality show Last State Standing.

We’ve yet to hear back from Facebook on this, and the company has kept mum about previous rumors. The Journal’s report falls in line with everything we’ve heard so far on the social network’s push into original content, though. Last year, Facebook offered media companies millions of dollars to stream live content on its website.

The focus on high-end content could help Facebook better take on its rivals like Snapchat and, to a lesser extent, Twitter. Snapchat already has a large stable of original content coming from major names in entertainment, including Disney, MTV, MGM, Time Warner and A&E. But Snapchat shows are of a different format — each episode lasts between 3 and 5 minutes long.

It’s not yet clear if Facebook plans to have similarly short clips just yet, but the Journal’s report indicates it is considering a variety of runtimes from ten minutes to thirty minutes. If these latest rumors are true, we could be looking at a greater diversity of shows coming to our Facebook feeds very soon.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Protect your modular midranger with one of the best Moto Z2 Play cases

Motorola’s new Moto Z2 Play is thinner and lighter than its predecessor, and comes with a better camera to boot. It supports all the existing Moto Mods, meaning it has the same connector at the bottom of the back plate. Since it also has a large, protruding camera module, it’s a good idea to get some protective clothing on there before an accident occurs. It can be difficult to pick a good case, however, so here are our picks for the best Moto Z2 Play cases to safeguard your modular device when it arrives.

Case Mate Waterfall Case ($40)

You will capture plenty of attention if you wrap your Moto Z2 Play in this gleaming, glitter-filled case. As you turn your case or shake it, the shiny flakes inside move around in the “mineral oil” housed inside. You’ll also find accurate openings for your phone’s camera, microphone, and ports. The volume and power buttons even have metallic covers to match the case’s glittery aesthetic. This is also one of the toughest Moto Z2 Play cases on our list, one that offers solid drop protection.

Buy one now from:

Case Mate

Cruzerlite Bugdroid Circuit Case ($10)

If you just want a basic layer of shock-absorbing TPU, this case will do the trick. The circuitry design etched into the plastic features the Android mascot. The cut-outs for your phone’s camera, ports, and microphone are also present and correct, and there’s a raised lip around the screen that helps protect your device when placed face down. The “M” logo and connector faintly shows through the matte plastic, and the frame and design have a contrasting, gloss finish. You can pick this one up in a wide range of colors, too.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Case Mate Wallet Folio ($40)

With this classy offering, you can leave your wallet at home and cram your plastic in beside your phone. The folio case’s leather exterior is neatly stitched and there’s a large opening on the back for your phone’s camera module. Inside, you’ll find a plastic cradle for your phone, with cut-outs for easy access to everything. The cover includes four card-sized pockets and the front one has a window, which makes it perfect for stowing your ID. There’s also a larger cash pocket on the back.

Buy one now from:

Case Mate

Cimo Protective Cover ($8)

If you like to keep it simple, and you don’t want to spend much, then this slim cover from Cimo might be for you. It’s made from flexible TPU, and comes with a raised lip around the screen. You’ll also find accurate openings for your phone’s ports, microphone, and camera, and slim covers for the power and volume buttons. The back features a frosted, matte finish — meaning the ionic “M” logo shows through slightly with the lighter offerings — but the frame itself is glossy. This case currently comes in black, white, purple, or light blue.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

LK Wallet Case ($10)

Maybe you like the idea of a wallet case for your Moto Z2 Play, but you balk at the $60 price tag on Case Mate’s offering. Well then, perhaps this polyurethane option from LK will better suite your budget. The design is fairly similar to the aforementioned Case Mate offering, in that it has three card pockets inside, one windowed slot for your ID, and a cash pocket on the back. Your Z2 Play slots into a plastic shell with reinforced corners, and you can use the case to prop it up in landscape view. It also comes in rose gold, purple, brown, or black.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Oeago Protective Case ($8)

We’re not big fans of the tire tread look, but this case does offer dual-layer protection and comes with a fold-out kickstand. The inner layer, which is available in a range of colors, is soft and completely covers your phone. It also comes with all the cut-outs and button covers you need, along with an outer layer made of hard plastic. The bezel extends well beyond the screen for all-round protection, making this one of the most rugged Moto Z2 Play cases available.

Buy one now from:

Amazon