Apple iPhone 8 in pictures: Renders and leaked photos

The iPhone turns 10 this year and to commemorate the occasion, industry analysts are expecting Apple to release not the usual two, but three iPhones. We’re expecting there to be the regular ‘S’ incremental updates to the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, but Apple is also expected to unveil the iPhone 8.

The new iPhone should introduce some radical design changes, not least because it’s 10 years, but because Apple has been seen as lacking a bit in the innovation department lately. Features expected for new phone include a bezel-less display, vertical rear camera array, a metal and glass build, and an embedded Touch ID sensor.

Because of the expectation and hype surrounding the next iPhone launch, graphic designers have taken to the drawing board to come up with designs based on rumours, as well as features they’d love to see.

Of course, not all of them will right, some are obscure while others could be seen as a little ordinary. But they do give us a rough idea of what to expect when Tim Cook holds the iPhone 8 aloft on stage in September.

Some of the renders and photos in this piece imply the Touch ID sensor will be embedded in the display, following several reports it would be mounted on the back. However a recent report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the iPhone 8 may ditch Touch ID entirely in favour of facial recognition. We’re sticking with the idea of an embedded fingerprint scanner for now, though.

Jermaine Spit

We got our first look of what the iPhone 8 could look like way back in 2015, even before the iPhone 6S was released. This first render was dreamt up by Jermaine Spit and gave the iPhone 8 two screens, one on either side.

One screen would be a 2K display for watching movies, TV shows and the like, while the other would be a low-power 480p display for everyday tasks and to maintain strong battery life. Spit’s iPhone 8 follows a similar design language to the iPhone 4 and 5, with a metal band around the middle with glass front and back panels creating a sandwich.

It’s highly unlikely the iPhone 8 will come with two screens, we have heard rumours to suggest it will feature an all glass design.

Twitter

This iPhone 8 concept plays on the rumour of a bezel-less display, but that’s about it. It looks like someone has just stretched the screen to the edges.

It looks good though, and loses the home button, something else Apple is expected to do in favour of an embedded Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

iPhone8Look.com

iPhone8Look.com has come up with this concept image of what it thinks the next iPhone could look like. We have to say though, we severely doubt Apple’s next smartphone will look anything like it. 

It looks far too thin, too square and the camera locations look way off too. Still, it’s nice to have a go, eh?

Veniamin Geskin

Veniamin Geskin’s idea of what the iPhone 8 will look like is an interesting. It plays on the rumour of an edge-to-edge curved display, similar to that of the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and shows what could potentially be an incredibly good looking smartphone.

It’s not clear from the image if the home button has remained, but it does look as though Geskin has kept the dual-lens camera of the iPhone 7 Plus.

Techconfigurations

Techconfigurations has come up with a rather farfetched concept for the iPhone 8. It takes the rumour of a curved edge display and make both sides of the phone curved to create a sort of squashed cylinder effect.

The dual-lens camera from the iPhone 7 Plus remains, but in this particular render it has been moved to top centre of the rear panel as opposed to being in the top corner. It’s unlikely Apple will move the camera, since it has been in the top left corner (as you look at it) since the very first version.

ConceptsiPhone

ConceptsiPhone has uploaded a short video to YouTube to show off its idea of what the iPhone 8 could look like. It’s possibly the most realistic one yet and conforms with many of the rumours we’ve already heard.

There’s no physical home button, with the fingerprint scanner instead embedded into the display. The bottom of the iPhone 8 also hosts a touch panel, similar to the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro. It can change its functions depending on what app is being used. 

It also has an edgeless display, along with incredibly slim bezels top and bottom. The video also depicts a dual-lens camera and connector pins, similar to those on the iPad Pro. 

ConceptsiPhone

ConceptsiPhone has uploaded a second video to YouTube showing a newly designed iPhone 8, that builds upon the version in the previous video. The new variant, designed by Thadeu Brandão, keeps the home button in place, but gives it some new dynamic features. The screen will take up the entire front of the device, stretching all the way over the home button and to the bottom of the phone. The home button then becomes part of what looks like a Touch Bar, similar to the design on the previous ConceptsiPhone video. 

The use of the home button changes depending on what application you’re using. It could be to take a picture in Camera, be assigned various editing functions in Photos or offer quick access to relevant apps, for example Instagram and Whats App to share pictures when in Photos. It looks utterly gorgeous and if the iPhone 8 looks anything like it, consider us sold.

Incriptor

Another iPhone 8 concept has appeared on the ConceptsiPhone YouTube account, from designer Incriptor. The concept design shows the iPhone 8 with a glass screen that covers the entire front of the device, and sees the removal of the home button. But this design does introduce a new feature that we’ve not heard of before, a second screen on the rear.

The second screen is used to show notifications such as WhatsApp messages, Instagram notifications and heart rate readings. The rear of the phone appears to be all-glass, so integrating a second screen could be possible. Just how useful a secondary display on the rear of the iPhone would be remains to be seen.

iDrop News

Twitter user @VenyaGeskin1 has pinned a tweet to his timeline showing this rendered model of the iPhone X. It shows the new, vertical camera array on the rear that has been recently rumoured, and an elongated power button on the right hand side. There is also no obvious Touch ID sensor on the rear (something that has been recently suggested would make an appearance), which implies Apple will integrate the fingerprint scanner into the screen on the front. 

Both renders show the iPhone X with a full-screen display, with minimal bezels all the way around. It shows apps arranged in the same way as iOS users will be all too familiar with, although now includes information such as current song playing, with controls, along the bottom. We wonder if this area of the screen will be customisable to show different control centre information.

VenyaGeskin1

Geskin has also posted pictures of what is claimed to be a CNC-machine dummy model of the iPhone 8/X. Like the renders above, it shows a vertical camera array and longer power buttons, and it also shows no Touch ID sensor on the rear. However, it also doesn’t show an Apple logo, something we know should feature on the new phone, so we can’t be sure how close to the final design this dummy model is.

The model also shows an incredibly shiny metal frame, similar to the rear of the old iPod Classic. Whether this will be the only colour finish for the frame remains to be seen. We’d expect Apple to offer the new iPhone in black and white front and rear colours at least. 

iDrop News

iDrop News has posted a new set of renders of the alleged iPhone 8, this time focusing on a possible function area at the bottom of the screen. Because the iPhone 8 is expected to feature a bezel-less display, a feature such as a function area could be possible. The renders show it being used for many different purposes, depending on what app is being used.

For example on the home screen, controls for music could be seen all the time, to save swiping up to access the control centre. But when you’re in the photos app, the function area would change to editing controls. It’s also been suggested that Apple could implement the Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the function area, but this is still up for debate. 

Schematic drawings have shown the sensor being on the rear, while others have reported it will stay on the front, so for now, we’re none the wiser.

OnLeaks x GearIndia

Twitter tipster @OnLeaks has teamed up with GearIndia once again to produce a video showing a render of the iPhone 8, based on leaked CAD drawings. The video shows what could perhaps be described as our closest look at Apple’s commemorative smartphone yet.

It shows the edge-to-edge display we’ve come to expect, a vertical rear camera module, and implies the Touch ID sensor will be embedded into the screen, as it’s nowhere to be seen on the rear. 

BGR

News site BGR obtained what it said were actual design mock ups of the iPhone 8, and so were the best look yet of its final design. All the features we’ve come to expect are present, such as a vertical camera array and bezel-less front screen. Because the phone in the pictures is just a dummy model, it doesn’t make it clear where the Touch ID sensor will go. The lack of button on the back would suggest it will be in the screen, but from this model in particular, it’s hard to tell. 

EverythingApplePro

YouTube user EverythingApplePro got his hands on what he says is the official dummy model that Apple sends to case manufacturers, so that they can get the dimensions and cutout areas spot on. While it doesn’t look much different to other renders and leaked photos we’ve been before, it’s good to see the phone in the flesh and on camera. This dummy model still implies the Touch ID sensor will be embedded in the screen.

Master Lock Select Access Smart is a digital safe for your keys

Master Lock, an American security company with nearly 100 years of experience, has released the Select Access Smart digital safe to keep items such as keys protected from thieves and to give access to trusted people.

The Select Access Smart is a relatively compact box, measuring 13cm high and 8cm wide, and is constructed from zinc. Master Lock knows it will be used outside most of the time, so has tucked electrical components away behind a bumper to make sure they’re weatherproof.

Master Lock’s new safe is controlled via the Vault eLocks smartphone app, available for iOS and Android. As long as you have your phone on you, and Bluetooth is turned on, you can press the button on the front of the safe to open it. You don’t need to get your phone out your pocket and hold it near the box.

The owner or admin of the safe can give permission for any of their contacts to be able to open it via Bluetooth, and can set whether access is permanent, or just on a temporary basis. Access can even be set by day and time, so you could give limited access to a builder for example, just for when you know they’re going to be at your house when you’re out.

However, if the app isn’t installed, access can still be granted by entering a numerical code on the backlit keypad on the front of the safe. Not only can the app be used to grant access to other users, but it can also warn of any suspicious activity, such as someone trying to break in.

The built-in battery claims to last for two years, but when it does eventually run out, and someone still needs access before replacing the CR123 cylinder battery, a jump function can give a small boost of battery so the keys can be accessed.

The Master Lock Select Access Smart is available now for £109.

Alfa Romeo Giulia (2017) review: An Alfa that doesn’t do clichés

There is a saying that, to be a true car fan, you must have owned an Alfa Romeo. But a Mito, and a Giulietta (the extent of Alfa’s range until now) hardly represent petrol-head nirvana. For Alfa fans, the Giulia has been a long time coming.

Its predecessor, the 159, went out of production in 2011. That car looked like a true Alfa, particularly from head-on. But a contemporary BMW 3-Series drove rings around it and was just better for everyday life. Most people bought a car from Germany instead.

The Giulia is different. After a dozen false dawns, one look down this car’s spec sheet is all you need to see that there might be reasons to choose this Alfa over the competition. Its rear wheel drive and technical setup suggests that it has been designed precisely to steal back those customers from BMW, who love driving and want something with a soul.

Given affection for Alfa, if the Giulia looks right and drives well, then it will find favour. That’s code for saying it’ll be forgiven other flaws. So has Alfa finally done it? Do the Alfisti have the modern car of their dreams?

Alfa Romeo Giulia (2017) review: A super chassis

For many years, if you wanted the car that’s fun to drive in this sector, you bought a BMW 3-Series. But in its current guise, the 3-Series’s star is slightly dulled. It needs optional adaptive dampers to shine, and can sometimes feel a little inert. Audi’s A4 prioritises comfort over dynamics. The Mercedes C-class is a curious mixed bag which sits somewhere between the two. Jaguar’s XE currently leads the class for dynamics.

Pocket-lint

Which is good news for Alfa. Because having clearly studied the 3-Series recipe, Alfa’s engineers have produced a gem of a chassis. Our car was fitted with the Q2 differential as part of a performance pack, which nets adaptive dampers. You pay extra for these and we have no way of assessing how a Giulia without them might perform. But with them? The Giulia tops the class to drive.

It is a lot of fun to hurl around a twisty road. It is dominated by its rear axle, feeling very rear-wheel drive, but without snapping into oversteer every second corner. Traction is impressive, too.

The responsive 2.0-litre petrol engine and huge, Ferrari-like steering wheel paddles make the 8-speed automatic gearbox a joy to interact with. It feels keen. Alive with spirit. Italian.

Pocket-lint

The Giulia’s ride is standout for its cosseting quality and those special dampers keeping body control well in check. The structure feels very stiff; it doesn’t flex around on a challenging road. And while the steering is spookily light at first, with a few miles of familiarity you realise it’s perfectly good – its quickness takes some getting used to, but it is what makes the Alfa feel so alert and keen to change direction.

So what’s the catch? Well, there isn’t one. We never expected to write this, but for the drive from Ribblehead up through Hawes and then down into Nidderdale (you should try it), we’d take a Giulia over an XE, 3-Series, A4 or C-Class. Bravo Alfa.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Super (200hp) review: Losing its distinction?

Having fixed the drive – the aspect of the experience that’s in recent years always been Alfa’s weak link – you’d expect the rest of this review to be full of lazy clichés about beautiful body work, suspect quality and dubious dealers. Hold your horses, though, because the rest of the Giulia picture isn’t quite as straight forward or perfect.

Pocket-lint

It starts with the design. There is a tendency to hear the words “Alfa Romeo” and immediately think “beauty”. But while you wouldn’t call the Giulia ugly, get beyond the deep Alfa shield grille that crowns this car’s face and the Giulia isn’t actually that great a piece of car design. Cover the badge up, and it lacks distinction. Park a BMW 3-Series next to it, and you’ll be under no illusion which car Alfa’s designers were trying to steal customers away from. Dimensionally and in proportions, the Giulia is an almost exact 3-Series match.

The face of the car is slightly bizarre, with the lamps plonked in space, long and creating a bird-like face, pinching the surfaces surrounding them and with no real link to Alfas past – nor presenting a naked expression of high-technology likes an Audi does. The surfaces are soft, they lack tension or the sense of motion you’d expect in an Alfa, too. You may believe that beauty sits in the eye of the beholder, but we think that it’s a shame Alfa has lost its distinct, strong saloon look that both 156 and 159 embodied. No car designer we’ve spoken to rates this design.

Alfa Romeo Giulia (2017) review: Interior success

But step inside the Giulia and things improve, markedly. The interior has much greater distinction than the exterior. The neat integration of the display screen into the dashboard, the high quality (optional) tan leather of our test car and the driver’s seat going really low all create a positive impression. The driving position is fine, too. What did we say about it not all being Alfa clichés, eh?

Pocket-lint

It’s not perfect though. Details are a weak point: the gear-lever appears to be a cheap knock-off of BMW’s design; the indicator stalks appear taken from a Fiat Tipo; and the infotainment system is a crib of BMW-meets-Mercedes (this isn’t a bad thing, however).

Then you thumb the steering-wheel mounted starter button and curl your fingers around the leather wheel, feel the glorious aluminium paddles that wouldn’t look out of place in a Ferrari and you think, yes, this car does actually feel special.

Alfa Romeo Giulia (2017) review: Doing enough?

But this isn’t all about emotion. Many of us still want an Alfa, right up to the point where we’re walking into the BMW or Audi dealership to sign up to one of their cars, because we know it makes more sense and think they’re just a less risky, more reliable choice.

Pocket-lint

But the little things that used to make people take against Italian cars are mostly gone in the Giulia. The driving position is absolutely fine. The steering wheel adjusts up and down, and in and out. The centre tunnel doesn’t intrude into your leg space or badly offset the pedals. The boot is about the same size as a Jaguar XE’s. There’s space in the back for adults, plus car seats fit in. And in our week with it nothing went wrong or fell off (we had to mention it, because there will be plenty of readers wondering).

But it serves as a point to say that the Giulia has quite clearly been given a significant amount of developmental love, and while there are one or two iffy details and finishes, that’s true of its competitors too. And there is little here that we can see the sensibly minded taking against, or becoming significant reasons to avoid buying a Giulia.

A word on options here. Alfa is learning from the Germans, to such an extent that – like most test cars we get from BMW, Audi and Merc – this Giulia had over £10K worth of options thrown at it. Aside from the aforementioned Performance Pack for the drive (£1,950), the Lusso pack (a chunky £2,750) feels like the most significant, because of how much it contributes to the nice interior feel. It brings the full leather seats and wheel, dashboard and door caps, a choice of walnut or (as our car) silverwood dash inlays, heated seats, and a 7-inch digital cluster display.

Pocket-lint

Options on our car that we could probably live without include the driver assistance pack (£950; rear camera, auto highbeam, blind spot detection), yellow brake callipers, run-flat tyres, and Harmon Kardon audio. But the Climate Pack (£250) gets you extra vents, air-con glovebox and usefully nets you two extra USB ports. And the 18-inch wheels should be standard, but you’ll need to find £750 for these. Be careful in the options list, as the Giulia isn’t cheap. At least you can get Alfa Red for free, although our car’s Montecarlo Blue paint scheme (£650) does suit the car.

Alfa Romeo Giulia (2017) review: The right tech approach

But Alfa has really cleaned up its act and nowhere is this better exemplified than in the Giulia’s approach to in-car tech implementation.

Up until now, Alfa’s interfaces have been slot-in jobs supplied by TomTom and typically just flat-out painful to use. Now, the Alfa and its suppliers have developed a system which works in much the same way as BMW iDrive. The 8.8-inch U-connect display also has a few of the elements of Mercedes-Benz Comand thrown in too, and is controlled by a rotary knob next to the gear-shifter. It’s fair to say that if you’re used to either BMW, Merc or Audi MMI systems that you’ll feel right at home in the Giulia.

Pocket-lint

The system could use a little more colour, but the menu layout, the clarity of phrasing and labelling and the steps you go through to connect a phone or programme the sat-nav are similar to others at this level. Once you’re familiar with the rotary controller’s nudge left-right and up-down, scroll around, and press down methods, it’s very easy to use.

Media connectivity for Spotify and Apple music both worked fine and the Giulia didn’t lead us down farm tracks or send us off on strange routes. What’s more, it was quick to respond and never froze during our week with it.

We applaud Alfa for moving away from the touch-screen route, as this system’s far safer to use on the move.

Alfa Romeo Giulia (2017) review: A true Alfa at heart?

The one element we’ve deliberately avoided up to this point is the engine. Our Giulia came equipped with a newly developed, 2.0 turbo-petrol engine, producing 200hp. It sits in the range alongside two 2.2-litre diesels (one making 150hp, the other 180hp) and a just-launching 280hp petrol Veloce model. There’s the scorching 510hp QV, too, which is a different beast altogether.

Pocket-lint

An Alfa’s engine is its heart, responsible for much of the emotion of the drive. And unfortunately this petrol engine isn’t one of the company’s greats, in terms of stirring your emotions or creating sounds to thrill you.

Where it has winning quality is in its responsiveness. For a turbo-charged engine it is very lag-free and keen to respond to throttle inputs. And while it’s a pale character compared to a Busso or even a T-spark of old, compared to other contemporary four-cylinder turbos, it is not without a voice – emitting a subtle rasp as you climb through 3,000rpm.

It’s quick, too. It feels very good for its 200hp, and a 0-60mph time of 6.6 seconds is really respectable.

What it’s not (indeed the Giulia isn’t in general) is particularly refined. It’s on a par with a 3-Series, but a significant way behind the new Audi A4. And our most significant disappointment with this engine centres on how strangled it feels in the upper rev range, notable because Alfas are supposed to be cars you enjoy revving. But there’s not much enjoyment to a rev-limit that cuts in softly, as you reach 6,000rpm.

Pocket-lint

We achieved fuel economy in the low 20mpg range, perhaps accounted for by the fact we were bound to the city and thrashes out into the country during our week with it. On a motorway run, expect better returns, as the 8-speed auto gearbox means the Giulia cruises at low revs.

Verdict

There are numerous ways we can judge the Giulia. Its development team had a thankless task, because everyone who cares passionately about the brand, has a view on what a new Alfa should be.

From our perspective, it is a true Alfa because it is a car to be frustrated by, and thrilled by, too. But this time, the frustrations are small enough to live with. If you’re a company car buyer, you can also discount our petrol engine whinges because you’ll probably be buying a diesel anyway.

And if there is a true surprise, it is this. Here is a modern Alfa that you can genuinely buy with your head, on merit. Many won’t even consider it based on the company’s past reputation, which is a shame because Alfa now has a car capable of standing toe-to-toe with highly evolved German premium brand competition. Whisper it, but the Giulia even outpoints them in some areas, including critically, the way it drives down a winding road. We wish it looked more distinct, but for the most part, we’re pleased to say, welcome back to the game, Alfa Romeo.

China’s ‘elevated’ bus was a scam after all

Remember that Chinese public transit experiment running an elevated bus over 300 meters of track along a major roadway? Unfortunately, the test site started gathering dust as “financial problems” and other suspicious setbacks reportedly set in months after the oddball vehicle’s unveiling. But now it’s official: Chinese authorities believe the whole thing was a scam and have started investigating (and arresting) accordingly.

Yesterday, Beijing police announced they’d opened an investigation for alleged illegal fundraising into the folks behind the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), as it was called. They’re holding over 30 people connected to the capital-raising platform Huaying Kailai, which raised funds from individual investors for the bus. The police are attempting to recover funds from the firm; According to the Southern Metropolis Daily paper, 72 investors have filed suit against the company, which raised 9.1 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) by October 2016, two months after the bus’ publicized test debut in the port city of Qinghuangdao.

Suspicions had already been raised even by last year’s end. The design firm Autek was still owed millions for its work on the bus, while the test track laid dormant months after its August 31st permit deadline, after which TEB was supposed to pack it up to clear the roadway. Last week, the port city’s government decided it had had enough and ordered the tracks demolished and the test bus moved to a nearby parking garage. It seems the dream of an odd elevated bus-tram gliding over commuter traffic is likely at a final, actual end.

Via: The Verge

Source: Quartz

Tech Hunters: How the Walkman changed the way we listen to music

Today, billions of people have access to portable music, mostly thanks to smartphones. The world’s music catalog is at our fingertips thanks to Spotify, Apple and Amazon’s online store, but it’s not always been that easy. It wasn’t until 1979 that music lovers could finally get their hands on a true portable player: the Sony Walkman.

Even though Sony wasn’t the first to introduce magnetic cassette technology, the Walkman was the device that made it popular. The introduction of the Sony Walkman TPS-L2 allowed consumers to carry their pre-recorded tapes — which were normally bound to car stereos or home music centres — and place them inside a stylish 14 ounce, bluish-silver player with big buttons that could be strapped to their belt.

Initially, Sony believed it could sell 5,000 units a month, but it smashed all expectations by shifting more than 50,000 in the first two. Fast forward to 2010 and the Japanese electronics giant had sold 200 million of the things, with cassettes easily surpassing vinyl record sales on the way.

Although the Walkman brand is still alive today, thanks to an updated range of digital music players, it was at its most popular in the 80s and 90s (so much so that the word “Walkman” entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986). It’s a design classic that revolutionised the world of music, at least until Steve Jobs reinterpreted it for the modern age. Julia Hardy hits the audio highway to find out what a good Walkman can cost now.

Tech Hunters is a 10-part video series that uncovers the devices we were once obsessed with, looking at how they disrupted the tech industry, and what they’re worth today. From the pocket pet obsession with the original Tamagotchi, to mix-tapes and Sony Walkman, Tech Hunters explores the audio, visual, interactive and transport innovations that have shaped today’s culture.

Upcoming Moto Mod could add a 360-degree camera to your phone

Motorola’s Moto Z Mods have quite a bit of promise to turn your phone into pretty much anything, including a gamepad, a walkie-talkie, and even a mobile Alexa station. The company has been pushing these pretty hard lately, holding hackathons that produced some pretty innovative add-ons and promising at least 12 of these new peripherals each year. At a small event in Ghana, West Africa, Motorola showed off a few new Mods, including a 360-degree camera, two Marshall-branded audio Mods and a DirecTV Mod, which seems to come with a Chromecast-like HDMI stick to plug into your HDTV. The presentation also included a DSLR Mod, along with a rotatable, GoPro-style action cam Mod.

Motorola Mods attach with magnets to phones in the Moto Z family, like the slim Z2 Play. You simply attach any Mod to the phone to get the specialized features. Current Mods include battery packs, JBL SoundBoost speakers, micro-projectors and cameras. As for the new peripherals, Motorola declined to comment. We can only assume that the Mods shown off at the Ghana event are still at the conceptual stage since the only physical Mod in the spokesperson’s hand was the 360-degree camera Mod. Still, that 360-degree camera and attachable DSLR module look pretty great; maybe they will make their way to retail here in the US soon.

Via: 9to5Google

Source: TechDroider

What’s on TV: ‘Castlevania,’ ‘Snowfall,’ ‘Candy Crush’

It’s a holiday week, but if you’re up from people setting off fireworks early, you can check out six new comedy specials on Netflix Tuesday morning as part of The Standups, with Deon Cole, Beth Stelling, Nate Bargatze, Dan Soder, Nikki Glaser, and Fortune Feimster. Then, later this week the service drops season one of its animated Castlevania series, as well as the most recent season of CW’s iZombie. FX is premiering Snowfall, its crack cocaine era drama from John Singleton, while Hulu drops season one of Pure. The most unusual debut, however, is probably the new Candy Crush game show on CBS. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• The Boss Baby (VOD)
• iZombie (S3), Netflix (7/5)
• Song to Song (4K)
• Drone
• The Zookeeper’s Wife
• Pompeii
• The Comedian
• An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
• The Boy and the Beast
• Windows
• Lego Worlds: Classic Space Pack DLC (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
• SpeedRunners (PS4)
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare – Absolution DLC (PS4)
• ACA NeoGeo Metal Slug 2 (Switch)
• Toby: The Secret Mine (PS4)
• Shephy (Switch)
• Save the Ninja Clan (PS4)
• That’s You (PS4)

Tuesday

• The Standups (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Casual, Hulu, 3AM
• The Words that Built America, HBO, 7PM
• Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular, NBC, 8PM

Wednesday

• Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
• Little Big Shots, NBC, 8PM
• Kingdom, DirecTV Audience, 8PM
• Hood Adjacent with James Davis, Comedy Central, 9PM
• The Carmichael Show, NBC, 9PM
• Snowfall (series premiere), FX, 10PM
• The Auto Firm with Alex Vega (series premiere), Velocity, 10PM
• Blood Drive, Syfy, 10PM
• To Tell the Truth, ABC, 10PM
• Lip Sync Battle, Spike TV, 9:30 & 10PM
• The Ultimate Fighter, FS1, 10PM
• Catfish, MTV, 10PM
• Younger, TV Land, 10PM
• Cleverman, Sundance, 10PM
• Broadchurch, BBC America, 10PM

Thursday

• Boy Band, ABC, 8PM
• Hollywood Game Night, NBC, 8PM
• Battle of the Network Stars, ABC, 9PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 9PM
• The Wall, NBC, 9PM
• The Tunnel, PBS, 9PM
• The Ultimate Fighter: Finale weigh-in, Fox Sports 1, 10PM
• Zoo, CBS, 10PM
• The Mist, Spike TV, 10PM
• The Night Shift, NBC, 10PM
• The Gong Show, ABC, 10PM
• Queen of the South, USA, 10PM
• Party Legends, Viceland, 10:30PM
• Comedy Knockout, TruTV, 11PM

Friday

• Castlevania (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Degrassi: Next Class (S4), Netflix, 3AM
• Pure (S1), Hulu, 3AM
• Cirque Du Soleil: Luna Petunia (S2), Netflix, 3AM
• Killjoys, Syfy, 8PM
• Masters of Illusion, CW, 8PM
• The Ultimate Fighter (season finale), Fox sports 1,9PM
• Erik Griffin: The Ugly Truth, Showtime 9PM
• Dark Matter, Syfy, 9PM
• Wynonna Earp, Syfy, 10PM
• Playing House, USA, 11 & 11:30PM

Saturday

• Doubt, CBS, 8 & 9PM
• Turn, AMC, 9PM
• In an Instant, ABC, 9PM
• Orphan Black, BBC America, 10PM
• Tour de Pharmacy, HBO, 10PM

Sunday

• F1 Austrian GP, CNBC, 7:30AM
• SW17 – Sharktacular 2017, Discover, 8PM
• Big Brother, CBS, 8PM
• Celebrity Family Feud, ABC, 8PM
• Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN, 8PM
• Candy Crush (series premiere), CBS, 9PM
• The Defiant Ones (series premiere), HBO, 9PM
• Power, Starz, 9PM
• Claws, TNT, 9PM
• Grantchester, PBS, 9PM
• American Grit, Fox, 9PM
• Fear the Walking Dead (summer finale), AMC, 9PM
• The Nineties (series premiere), CNN, 9PM
• One Night Only: Alec Baldwin, Spike TV, 9PM
• Unsung: Wyclef (season premiere), TV One, 9PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
• Prime Suspect (season finale), PBS, 10PM
• Kevin Hart Presents, Comedy Central, 11PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM
• Talking Dead: Fear Edition (summer finale), AMC, 11PM
• Legends of Chamberlain Heights, Comedy Central, 11:30PM

(All times listed are ET)

SpaceX’s capsule ‘re-flight’ is a space travel milestone

SpaceX just took one step closer to making reusable private spacecraft seem entirely ordinary. The company has confirmed that its previously used Dragon capsule splashed down on the morning of July 3rd, making it the first commercial spacecraft to re-fly to and from the International Space Station. There wasn’t a lot of drama involved (the biggest challenge was getting the vessel into orbit), but that’s arguably the point — it’s supposed to be a non-event.

The achievement is promising for the space industry at large. When companies like SpaceX can reuse both rockets and capsules, that promises to dramatically lower the cost of each mission. They can fly more often, or accomplish missions without straining tight government budgets.

And that’s a good thing for NASA, since it virtually depends on SpaceX for ISS supply missions like this. The Dragon is the only resupply spacecraft that can return a healthy amount of cargo to terra firma, and NASA probably doesn’t want to pay through the nose just to recover experiments in a timely fashion. This latest flight is bringing back studies on how microgravity affects the heart and stem cells, as well as research into a drug that can overcome bone loss for astronauts. Lower-cost flights could enable more of these experiments, or at least help justify their existence.

Good splashdown of Dragon confirmed—completing first re-flight of a commercial spacecraft to and from the @Space_Station.

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 3, 2017

Source: SpaceX (Twitter)

Tencent tackles mobile game addiction with time limits for kids

In the face of public pressure, Chinese internet giant Tencent is limiting play time for younger users of its hit mobile game Honor of Kings (dubbed Strike of Kings in the west). Starting Tuesday, anyone under 12 will be restricted to one hour of play per day, and those between 12 to 18 will be allowed two hours game time.

The controls are being put in place to appease teachers and parents, who are concerned about how addictive the game has become. Kings has become a smash hit since launching in 2015, and is now China’s most popular game, with 163 million monthly users, as of May. Of that figure, Reuters claims that around a quarter — 40.1 million — are under 19.

Gaming and internet addictions have long been hot topics in Asia. In 2014, HBO documentary Love Child tackled the subject by examining the case of a South Korean couple whose addiction to an MMORPG resulted in the death of their infant daughter. Additionally, both China and Japan have set up respective detox boot camps to treat web addiction among teens.

Earlier this year, Tencent implemented real-name registration for Kings’ users to prevent kids circumventing its rules. The company also set up an anti-addiction system that would ban players who spent too much time in the game.

Tencent is the leading mobile games developer in China, where the industry is expected to rake in $14.6 billion in revenue this year. The Chinese conglomerate made approximately RMB 10.7 billion ($1.55 billion) from mobile games in the fourth quarter of 2016, thanks in part to its purchase of Supercell, maker of Clash of Clans.

Source: EyeShenzhen

Windows 10’s ‘Timeline’ feature won’t arrive this fall

Microsoft’s anticipated Timeline Windows feature won’t be included in the Fall Creators Update. Timeline, revealed at Microsoft’s Build developer conference in May, was expected to be a part of the update, but Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore said today that wouldn’t be the case.

Like Apple’s Handoff, Timeline lets users pick up work where they left off from different devices. Start a project on your laptop and you can finish it on your phone without any file-transferring hassle. But unlike Handoff, which is limited to Apple devices, Timeline will let users switch between Windows 10, iOS and Android devices.

In a tweet, Belfiore said that Timeline definitely wouldn’t be in the Fall Creators Update, but that Microsoft was planning for the feature to be included in insider builds shortly afterwards. He went on to add that it wasn’t delayed, it just wasn’t ready in time and that timing had never been specified at Build.

Correct. Timeline won’t be in the Fall Creators Update. We’re planning for it to be in early insider builds shortly after FCU is out.

— Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) July 3, 2017

The Fall Creators Update is expected to begin rolling out in September. The Windows 10 feature update is expected next March.

Via: The Verge

Source: Joe Belfiore (Twitter)