Queen’s Speech 2017: What it means for UK tech

The General Election has been and gone, but questions remain regarding the suitability of Theresa May as Britain’s premier. Nonetheless, as part of traditional ritual, MPs have once again descended upon the House of Lords for the reading of the Queen’s Speech, where Her Majesty details the formal plan for the current government. Brexit and Britain’s security were the banner announcements, but technology also played a key part, with driverless cars and spaceports the notable inclusions.

Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill

In last year’s Queen’s Speech, the government rammed home the message that Britain will become a leader in autonomous transportation. It’s largely the same this year, with Theresa May outlining the need for car insurance to cover the use of self-driving cars so that “compensation claims continue to be paid quickly, fairly, and easily.” Measures that first appeared in the proposed Vehicle Technology and Aviation Bill earlier this year will now be included in the new Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill.

Under this, UK insurers will need to separately cover when the driver is in manual control and when the car is driving itself. Car owners will also be made liable for accidents if they’ve decided to modify the software on their vehicle or have failed to install important updates.

The bill also reiterates the need for more electric charging and hydrogen points, which includes forcing motorway services and major petrol station operators to build charging spots alongside traditional fuel pumps.

Space Industry Bill

In order to secure the growth of UK’s space industry, Theresa May put forward new legislation that would help Britain in its mission to become the number one place for commercial spaceflight in Europe. The Space Industry Bill features powers that would pave the way for the UK’s first spaceports and facilitate the launch of vertically-launched rockets, space planes and satellites.

The government believes investment in this area will increase its share of the global space economy from 6.5 percent today to 10 percent by 2030. Businesses may be incentivised to invest in UK-based space programs and the availability of private space flights may increase tourism to more remote parts of Britain.

In 2014, the government earmarked eight locations for the first UK spaceport. Six were in Scotland, with Wales and England housing one apiece. Over time, locations were removed, with Newquay, Cornwall now believed to be the ideal candidate.

Data Protection Bill

Plans for new data protection laws were also included in the Queen’s Speech. The proposed Data Protection Bill would deliver on the Conservative manifesto pledge to let young people demand that social networks remove any personal information that they shared before they turned 18. Before the Election, Theresa May said she’d take a tougher stance on Facebook and Twitter as part of her “right to innocence” plan.

Other key government priorities include giving people the “right to be forgotten” when they no longer want a company to retain data on them and allowing police and other authorities to “continue to exchange information quickly and easily with international partners” in order to better tackle terrorism and other major crimes.

“My government will bring forward proposals to ensure that critical national infrastructure is protected to safeguard national security. A commission for countering extremism will be established to support the government in stamping out extremist ideology in all its forms, both across society and on the internet, so it is denied a safe space to spread,” May said.

Brexit may be looming large, but the UK will implement the General Data Protection Regulation, new European data protection rules that will come into force next year. This will allow the UK to share data with other EU member states and internationally after Britain uncouples from the European Union.

The new bill would update and replace the Data Protection Act, which was first introduced in 1998.

Source: Queen’s Speech 2017 (PDF)

Airbus imagines a faster helicopter with wings

Airbus has showed off a new helicopter concept at the Paris Airshow that could give operators everything they want: speed, versatility and economy. The Racer (rapid and cost-effective rotorcraft) features a main rotor like a regular helicopter, but uses pusher propellers to accelerate it forward and a new “box-wing” system for extra lift. As a result, it’ll power along at up to 400 km/h (250 mph) while being able to take off on a dime like a regular chopper.

The Racer is based on Airbus Helicopters’ X3 prototype helicopter, which set a helicopter speed record at 255 knots in level flight in 2013. Like that model, it uses the main rotor for STOL take-off capabilities, but once the propellers start pushing forward, the main rotor slows down and the box wings take on some of the lifting chores. As such, it works a bit like a hybrid gyrocopter, though such aircraft use unpowered main rotors and powered pusher props.

It will improve on the X3 in a few areas. It uses a single shaft (with a gearbox) and twin-engine Safran RTM322 engines, making it easier to maintain. The concept also moves the propellers behind the wings, isolating passengers from noise and vibration — an idea it patented back in 2014.

To further reduce noise and increase speeds, Airbus replaced the rear tail rotor with a simple tail wing. Anti-torque for the main rotor will instead come from the counter-rotating propellers, or “lateral rotors,” as Airbus calls them. The aim is to offer 50 percent more speed than a normal helicopter, with just 25 percent more cost, saving operators over 20 percent per mile, per passenger.

Regular helicopters can normally fly up to around just 160 mph, because at cruising speeds, the advancing main rotor blades have a much higher relative speed than the retreating ones. As a result, the retreating blades can approach a “stalled,” non-flying condition if the speed is too high, while the advancing blades can be buffeted by shock waves as they hit near-supersonic speeds.

The Airbus X3 and Racer get around this by decreasing the main rotor RPM by around 15 percent at high cruising speeds. The pusher props over the thrusting chores, while the wings can handle as much as 80 percent of the lift, helping the next-gen copters fly faster and more economically. “It will pave the way for new time-sensitive services for 2030 and beyond, setting new benchmarks for high-speed helicopter transportation,” said Airbus Helicopters CEO Guillaume Faury in a statement.

Via: Design Boom

Source: Airbus

Former iOS Chief Scott Forstall Discusses Creating the First iPhone

Former iOS chief Scott Forstall gave a rare interview last night at an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, where he discussed the birth of the iPhone and his relationship with Steve Jobs.

Speaking to journalist John Markoff after an opening hour with original iPhone engineers Nitin Ganatra, Hugo Fiennes, and Scott Herz, Forstall’s appearance was the first time he had spoken publicly since he was ousted from Apple in October 2012, following the botched launch of Apple Maps.

Scott Forstall (right) speaking to John Markoff
Forstall proved a charismatic storyteller on the night as he discussed his school education and his early career at Steve Jobs’ NeXT, before moving on to his work on the first iPhone at Apple. The former iOS chief spoke with genuine warmth about his time with the company, but stopped short of offering any huge revelations, although the audience was treated to a few more details as well as some humorous episodes along the way.

For example, Forstall claimed that before the iPhone was conceived, Jobs had initially wanted a tablet with capacitative touch and multitouch in order to get one over on someone he “hated” who worked at Microsoft.

“It began because Steve hated this guy at Microsoft. That is the actual origin,” Forstall said, before adding that it wasn’t Bill Gates. After hearing the person boast about Microsoft’s tablet and stylus development, said Forstall, “Steve came in on a Monday, there was a set of expletives and then he said, ‘Let’s show them how it’s really done’.”

Regarding the iPhone, Forstall said the idea for the device was initially born when he and Jobs were eating lunch and they noticed everyone was using their phones. “We hated them,” he said. “No one seemed like it was a pleasurable thing to use a phone, but it’s a nice thing for communication.” The episode prompted Jobs to ask the tablet design team to redouble their efforts to perfect multitouch but to miniaturize it for a device that you could put in your pocket.

Forstall also touched upon the concept of skeuomorphic design, claiming he had “never heard of skeuomorphism” when he was working on iOS and that it sounded “unnatural”.

“When I look at design – when I look at good design – it’s approachable, friendly, you can use it without a manual. It’s fun. We talked a lot about photo-illustrative design. It was infused into the design sense of Apple by Steve Jobs since the original Mac. We used these design philosophies. It doesn’t mean we loved it, or loved every single part of it. We know it worked. How do we know it worked? You just have to watch people use it.”

Elsewhere, Forstall chose to highlight the many emails he received from customers explaining how the iPhone and iPad had changed and even saved lives. One email was from a 100-year-old woman who had been an avid reader and writer all her life, before age had made these pastimes impossible. The iPad bought for her by her family had allowed her to take up reading and writing again, long after she had all but given up hope.

Forstall also spoke touchingly about his friendship with Jobs, including the time when Forstall contracted a rare and potentially lethal vomiting virus which left him in hospital for months, before the late Apple CEO arranged for an acupuncturist to treat him. After two sessions, Forstall was discharged from hospital and went on to make a complete recovery.

Forstall shared a particularly funny anecdote about how Jobs insisted on paying for both their lunches at the Apple cafeteria, despite the fact that the $8 meals were charged against staff paychecks with each scan of their badges, and as CEO, Jobs only got paid a dollar a year.

Lastly, Forstall said he is not currently developing technology himself, and will continue his work in an advisory capacity. You can watch all of the interviews on Facebook.

Tags: Scott Forstall, Computer History Museum
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iPhone 8 is Causing Other Smartphone Makers to Scramble for NAND Memory Chips

Apple’s ramping up of “iPhone 8” component production is causing some electronics manufacturers to scramble for parts, particularly DRAM chips and NAND memory chips, ahead of the expected September launch of the three 2017 iPhones. The companies are said to be “paying a premium” to sign longer-term contracts as well as placing component orders ahead of time to prevent low inventories from disappearing completely amid Apple’s supply chain dominance.

One of the manufacturers looking to make sure it doesn’t run out of parts is LG Electronics, which said it has decided on an earlier procurement strategy for gathering components “to ensure a stable supply.” NAND chip maker SK Hynix also told Reuters that its supply conditions were “tight” and that its inventory levels “were at an all-time low,” with no clear indication in sight when they would rise to normal again.

iPhone 8 renders combined with iOS 11 via iDrop News
Analysts believe that the NAND memory chip market will be particularly affected, given Apple’s move in recent years to bump up storage on the smartphone. The current shortage is said to have been making waves through various smartphone device suppliers beginning in the first half of 2017.

Some analysts say device makers could be forced to cut down on the amount of DRAM chips, which help devices perform multiple tasks at once, or NAND chips that are used for long-term data storage, on new products if the cannot get enough chips.

“The problem will be more acute for the NAND market, where the iPhone remains a critical source of demand given the huge sales volumes and recent moves to increase storage capacity on the device,” said the source, who declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

“Heavyweight” NAND suppliers, like Samsung, are said to be in the clear in regards to the predicted component shortage, but in the worst case scenario it has already hit smartphone maker Huawei in China. Customers in the country have raised criticisms at the company after it used a collection of “less advanced and powerful chips” in its flagship smartphone, the P10, resulting in drastic performance variations among users.

In total, Apple is said to purchase 18 percent of the world’s supply of NAND memory chips and that number will only increase if Apple decides to ship more iPhones than usual, or further bump up the storage tiers on the 2017 iPhone models. A rumored premium price tag on the iPhone 8 suggests that Apple might be planning to introduce a storage capacity above the iPhone 7’s top-tier option of 256GB, but reports still vary, with TrendForce believing the device will come in 64GB and 256GB only.

In separate supply chain reports this week made by DigiTimes, smaller Apple component suppliers have begun ramping up manufacturing for parts believed to be coming to iPhone 8, iPhone 7s, and iPhone 7s Plus. Metal-alloy chassis maker Catcher Technology is gearing up production for the 2017 iPhone 7s’ aluminum metal casing — stainless steel is reportedly coming only to iPhone 8 — as well as its glass back covers.

Similarly, Lite-On Semiconductor is said to have entered the supply chain for the three new 2017 iPhones by becoming a provider of glass passivated package bridge rectifiers “for the support of fast wireless charging.”

Analysts believe Apple could ship as many as 100 million iPhone 8 devices this year, and that “meaningful new supply” for NAND and DRAM chips won’t arrive in the supply chain until 2018.

Related Roundup: iPhone 8
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JanSport’s latest backpack is basically a giant QR code

Why it matters to you

If you get one of these, you may have to attach a small sign telling others that

You may well consider QR codes as a relic of a past digital age, but leading bagmaker JanSport is having none of it.

The company has recently developed a backpack that acts as a kind of QR code so the wearer can share stuff like their favorite music video or an Instagram profile or website.

The backpack — part of a project aimed at repurposing fabrics as programmable devices — is currently a prototype and could be a new way for people to share interests instead of adorning their bags with stickers and patches, CNN reports.

Steve Munn, president of JanSport Americas, said that while a backpack is primarily “a place to put something to eat, something to drink and something to wear … now it becomes potentially an avenue for social interaction.”

JanSport partnered with Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Yoel Fink, CEO of Advanced Functional Fabrics of America, to create the special QR-code backpack.

Three hundred of the bags have been produced, each with their own unique design. At the current time, the technology requires a special app to read the bag’s unique “code,” making it rather less useful than typical QR-code technology that works with a slew of existing reader apps.

But it works in a similar way. In other words, if you point your smartphone camera at the bag and take a picture, the app reads the unique code and takes you to online content to which the bag’s owner has already linked.

Munn told CNN that many companies ask him about the possibly of incorporating “complex gimmicks” into bags, but this particular design appealed to him because there’s no physical technology involved, although it still links users directly and quickly to the digital world.

While JanSport’s experimental bag may appeal to some, the likelihood is that most people who see it won’t even know it features a connection to the digital world, causing many to ignore it. In that case, the user’s efforts to share online content will prove largely ineffective. With that in mind, a QR-code sticker or patch attached to the bag is likely to prove far more useful.

JanSport’s bag is, however, another indication of how smart fabrics and clothing are gaining traction, with many viewing the technology as the future of wearables.

The company is yet to decide whether to put the backpack on the market, though if it does it won’t be until the end of 2018 at the earliest.

Download the official OnePlus 5 wallpapers in 4K

Abstract wallpapers from the latest OnePlus flagship.

With the OnePlus 5 announced and about to go on general release, the man behind the stock wallpapers from the new phone has stepped forward. Artist Hampus Olsson has taken to his personal blog to tell the story of these new abstract wallpapers, which draw inspiration from macro photography.

I thought I would experiment with macro photography this time, together with my dad, who was currently visiting me in India. We got a bunch of plastic containers which we started pouring acrylic, ink, and mediums into. We captured a bunch of photos of the fluid mix, while it was changing pattern quickly. Many of the photos could be used in various ways, like being wrapped onto 3D surfaces, or mixed to look like hot lava and cold winds to complement the final artwork. However, most of these photos weren’t used. Instead, I created a more refined and subtle style that was developed to fit the style OnePlus was looking for with this phone.

The final artworks have a greater focus on the individual shapes, blending into its surrounding, barren environment. The focus became the centerpiece, which is abstract, yet easy to grasp. I love how these wallpapers turned out, and I will experiment with this style more extensively in the future.

Olsson’s site also offers all seven OnePlus 5 stock wallpapers for download in 2K or 4K resolution, so there’s no need to pull the 1080p versions from the OnePlus 5 ROM. While these abstract wallpapers look great on any display, the vibrant colors and deep blacks make them a great fit for phones with AMOLED screens.

More: Hampus Olsson

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Add Samsung’s silicone case to your Galaxy S8+ for just $20

The Galaxy S8+ has a beautiful design that you probably don’t want to hide, and Samsung’s own silicone case does a great job of adding a bit of protection without hiding it. You can grab the case in a variety of colors, and today it is just $20.

Firefox Focus browser with built-in ad blocking lands on Android

Firefox’s privacy-focused browser is finally available on Android.

The Firefox Focus browser made its debut last year on the iPhone and iPad, and now the company is bringing the privacy-focused browser to Android. The highlight of the browser is built-in ad blocking, which not only gets rid of ads on websites, but also prevents web trackers from serving you ads across the internet.

Ad blocking is enabled by default, and the home screen is sparse but for an address bar where you can enter the URL of the site you want to visit, and an action overflow button that gives you access to the browser’s settings. Yahoo is the default search engine, but you can choose between Google, Amazon, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, and Wikipedia. You won’t find any tabs, and there’s the option to delete your browsing history with a single tap of the erase button located in the bottom right corner.

The browser automatically loads in “stealth mode,” which disables screenshots and greys out whatever website you’re viewing from being visible in the recent apps list. By automatically blocking ads, Firefox claims that it can deliver pages faster while consuming less data.

The Android version has a counter that shows you how many ad trackers that are blocked per site, and you can turn off the tracker blocker with a quick toggle if a particular page isn’t loading correctly. Firefox will also deliver a notification if it detects that the browser is still running in the background. And you can also set it as the default browser on your phone.

There’s certainly a lot to like here, particularly if you’re interested in protecting your privacy online. The Firefox Focus browser is now available for free from the Play Store. Who’s looking to give it a go?

Where to buy the OnePlus 5 in the UK

OnePlus continues its exclusivity deal with O2 — but you can still buy unlocked directly from the manufacturer.

The OnePlus 5 is now available to order in the UK, with prices starting at £449 for the 6GB RAM + 64GB storage version, rising to £499 for a whopping 8GB + 128GB. As usual, you’ll be able to order an unlocked 3T directly from OnePlus.net. And OnePlus has continued its exclusive partnership with O2, so that carrier will be the only place to get hold of a 3T on the high street.

See at OnePlus

O2 is carrying both flavors of OnePlus 5 — the slate gray model with 6GB + 64GB, and the midnight black variant with 8GB + 128GB. Pre-orders begin June 22, with orders shipping on the official launch date of June 27 — and as usual, O2 offers a wide range of tariffs depending on how much data you want. On-contract prices start at £34 per month for 6/64GB, or £36 per month for 8/128GB, both with a £9.99 upfront fee.

O2 is also stocking the midnight black 8/128GB model on Pay As You Go for £513.99 outright.

See at O2

As usual, customers on an O2 Refresh tariff can pay off the phone portion of their contract and upgrade to a OnePlus 5. The carrier is offering £80 to customers who “recycle” their old 3T in-store, however you’ll almost certainly get a better deal elsewhere — electronics trader CEX offers as much as £229 for an 128GB 3T.

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How to use Alexa for sports updates

Alexa can make sure you always know the score of the big games!

If you’re a sports fan, then it can be difficult at times to keep track of the score for all of your favorite teams. With Alexa, you can program in your favorite teams and get updates by simply asking her for sports updates. You can add multiple teams too, so you’ll never miss a score again.

We’ve got all the details here!

Alexa can give you sports updates

With Alexa, you can stay up to date on your sports teams by adding them from within the app. While the list of teams isn’t inclusive of every sport, you do have access to the major leagues for baseball, football, soccer and hockey. There are 13 different leagues you can add teams from, including the UEFA, NHL, WNBA and NCAA. The search function also means that if you’re having trouble remembering a specific team, you can enter the city or state they hail from and the team name will pop up for you.

How to use Alexa for sports updates

Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button that looks like three horizontal lines in the upper left corner of your screen.

Tap settings.

Tap sports update.

Tap the search bar that says search for your teams.

Using the keyboard type in your team name.

Tap to select your team.

How to remove a team from your sports updates

Open the Alexa app on your phone.
Tap the menu button that looks like three horizontal lines in the upper left corner of your screen.

Tap settings.

Tap sports update.

Tap the X to the right of the team name you want to remove.

Questions?

Do you use Alexa to stay up to date with your favorite teams? Do you still have questions? Be sure to leave us a comment about it below!

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