Crazy-efficient temperature sensor uses less than 1-billionth of a watt

Why it matters to you

Temperature sensor could pave the way for various wearable devices with almost zero power usage.

Chances are that you do not talk about picowatts too much in your day-to-day life. No, it is not the name of a yellow Pokémon, but a measure of power that is equal to a trillionth of a watt. Given that a standard incandescent bulb uses in the region of 60 watts, you get a sense of just how tiny a picowatt actually is. Well, electrical engineers at the University of California, San Diego have managed to pull off the miraculous feat of developing a temperature sensor that runs on just 113 picowatts of power. To provide a bit more context, that is 628 times lower power than the previous state-of-the-art technology and 10 billion times smaller than a single watt.

“What we’ve built is a digital thermometer that operates with nearly zero power consumption,” Patrick Mercier, an electrical engineering professor at UC San Diego and the study’s senior author, told Digital Trends. “Normally, digital thermometers are used to monitor ambient air temperature, the temperature of the human body, or the temperature of seawater, industrial equipment, or a large number of other applications — requiring significant power to operate. This means such devices must employ larger than desired batteries, or be connected to wall power, which is inconvenient and increases the overall size of the device.”

So why build a near-zero power temperature sensor then? One word: Wearables. With a sensor that not only requires virtually no power to operate, but is also just a square millimeter in size, the number of possible uses opens up significantly. Its lack of power demands means that it could run for a very long time off a small battery — or even potentially operate using nothing more than scavenged energy found in the environment.

As to what is next for the project, Mercier said the team would like to further improve the accuracy of the sensor, while also expanding its temperature range to include more harsh environments. “Additionally, we are working to incorporate this sensor into various wearable and implantable systems to monitor the core temperature of the human body for fitness and medical applications,” he said.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Google bulks up security for G Suite apps to better protect user data

Why it matters to you

G Suite’s new security feature makes it easier for account administrators to prevent phishing attacks on user data before they happen.

Google is beefing up security for its enterprise G Suite apps with Selective OAuth whitelisting a new feature it announced on Thursday. Starting this week, the Mountain View, California-based search giant will let G Suite administrators specify the third-party apps that are allowed access to a given organization’s data.

“We are constantly evolving and always looking for ways to help our users protect their data,” a Google spokesperson said. “This is just another example of the innovations we are bringing to the table to ensure our customers’ data is secure and protected and can combat new threats as they arise.”

The intent is to cut down on security breaches — specifically phishing attacks like those that affected Google Docs users in May — that occur when apps like calendar managers, email clients, and to-do list organizers gain access to apps permissions. When OAuth whitelisting is enabled, G Suite collates all software that’s been approved or denied, and the data it has (or doesn’t have) permission to access. Administrators can see the number of accounts using an app, prevent per-user installs of an app, or impose blanket rules on Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Contacts.

“OAuth apps whitelisting helps keep your data safe by letting admins specifically select which third-party apps are allowed to access users’ G Suite data,” Google said in a blog post. “[It helps] guard … core G Suite apps data by preventing unauthorized app installs, thus limiting the problems caused by [malicious apps].”

The new per-app controls come on the heels of Google’s other G Suite security enhancements. In May, the company rolled out updated guidelines aimed at tamping down on misleading and spoofed G Suite apps, and began manually reviewing web apps that request user data. And in December 2015, Google launched Data Loss Prevention tools for Gmail and Drive, which automatically scan outgoing emails and shared files for sensitive data and ensure that users can’t send emails that include full Social Security or driver’s license numbers, and other sensitive data.

Google says those and other G Suite preemptive measures, which include machine learning, Safe Browsing warnings about dangerous links, email attachment scanning, and dynamic sign-in challenges, have helped limit the number of users impacted by wide-scale phishing fraud to less than 0.1 percent.

“Protecting your organization’s most sensitive data and assets is a constant challenge,” Google said. “Our teams will continue our constant efforts to support a powerful, useful developer ecosystem that keeps users and their data safe.”

Google bulks up security for G Suite apps to better protect user data

Why it matters to you

G Suite’s new security feature makes it easier for account administrators to prevent phishing attacks on user data before they happen.

Google is beefing up security for its enterprise G Suite apps with Selective OAuth whitelisting a new feature it announced on Thursday. Starting this week, the Mountain View, California-based search giant will let G Suite administrators specify the third-party apps that are allowed access to a given organization’s data.

“We are constantly evolving and always looking for ways to help our users protect their data,” a Google spokesperson said. “This is just another example of the innovations we are bringing to the table to ensure our customers’ data is secure and protected and can combat new threats as they arise.”

The intent is to cut down on security breaches — specifically phishing attacks like those that affected Google Docs users in May — that occur when apps like calendar managers, email clients, and to-do list organizers gain access to apps permissions. When OAuth whitelisting is enabled, G Suite collates all software that’s been approved or denied, and the data it has (or doesn’t have) permission to access. Administrators can see the number of accounts using an app, prevent per-user installs of an app, or impose blanket rules on Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and Contacts.

“OAuth apps whitelisting helps keep your data safe by letting admins specifically select which third-party apps are allowed to access users’ G Suite data,” Google said in a blog post. “[It helps] guard … core G Suite apps data by preventing unauthorized app installs, thus limiting the problems caused by [malicious apps].”

The new per-app controls come on the heels of Google’s other G Suite security enhancements. In May, the company rolled out updated guidelines aimed at tamping down on misleading and spoofed G Suite apps, and began manually reviewing web apps that request user data. And in December 2015, Google launched Data Loss Prevention tools for Gmail and Drive, which automatically scan outgoing emails and shared files for sensitive data and ensure that users can’t send emails that include full Social Security or driver’s license numbers, and other sensitive data.

Google says those and other G Suite preemptive measures, which include machine learning, Safe Browsing warnings about dangerous links, email attachment scanning, and dynamic sign-in challenges, have helped limit the number of users impacted by wide-scale phishing fraud to less than 0.1 percent.

“Protecting your organization’s most sensitive data and assets is a constant challenge,” Google said. “Our teams will continue our constant efforts to support a powerful, useful developer ecosystem that keeps users and their data safe.”

Third Thumb is the 3D-printed prosthesis you didn’t know you needed until now

Why it matters to you

This Third Thumb prosthetic may look weird, but it could actually be pretty handy. No pun intended.

Want to look like a cyborg from some dystopian sci-fi movie about survivors in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland? Then you will probably want to check out this awesome 3D-printing prosthetics project from Dani Clode, a graduate student at London’s Royal College of Art (RCA). Clode developed a functional prosthetic third thumb that is capable of carrying out an impressive range of motions designed to extend the wearer’s abilities.

“The Third Thumb is a 3D-printed thumb extension for your hand, controlled by your feet,” Clode told Digital Trends. “The Third Thumb investigates the relationship between the body and prosthetic technology in new ways. It is part tool, part experience, and part self-expression; a model by which we better understand human response to artificial extensions.”

The thumb’s 3D parts are connected using a Bowden cable system, similar to a bike brake, that is made of Teflon tubing and wire. “3D printing is the perfect medium for this project, as it enables quick prototyping, customized designs for various hand sizes, and one-off production,” Clode said.

The prosthesis’ motors are controlled via two pressure sensors retrofitted into the wearer’s shoes and receives its instructions via Bluetooth. Clode said she chose foot control for the project because she was inspired by the already strong connection between our hands and feet in various well-established products — such as driving a car, using a sewing machine, or playing the piano. The pressure sensors are designed to give plenty of control over the thumb, with one sensor controlling the flexion and extension, and the other controlling the thumb’s adduction and abduction. The results combine to create the kind of dynamic movement we would expect from, well, a regular thumb.

“The Third Thumb still needs more motor development before it could be commercialized,” Clode said. “The battery and motors are always the challenge with small wearables. I think it is a really unique product though, and it would be really interesting to develop it to that stage. The goal for the Third Thumb is to create a catalyst for society to consider human extension, framed in an approachable, accessible design. Success would be a widespread social engagement with The Third Thumb — from a jewelry designer to a falcon handler to a tattoo artist to a toddler. The more people who experience it, the better.”

Between this and some of the other awesome augmented human projects we have seen as of late, it seems the cyborg world really is no longer limited to science fiction.

3D-chip technology seeks to pack artificial intelligence into smaller spaces

Why it matters to you

Your future AI overlords require increasingly faster and smaller computers, and that is exactly what new 3D-chip technology hopes to provide.

When it comes to the brains of the PC — the central processing unit, or CPU — today’s technology is in some ways significantly advanced over yesterday’s. CPUs are much faster than they used to be, but the traditional metric for measuring performance improvements, Moore’s Law, has been challenged lately.

Moore’s Law specifically states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit will double every two years, meaning that processing performance will continue to steadily increase. As we have reached the limits of current processor manufacturing technology, however, Moore’s Law is threatened — right when advancements in artificial technology require even faster and smaller CPUs. That is precisely why new 3D-chip technology being developed by Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers is particularly important.

Complicating matters is that AI is no longer centralized in massively powerful data centers. Increasingly, AI is being pushed out to edge devices that need to stand on their own. Self-driving cars and personalized medicine are two example of applications that require extremely powerful decentralized CPU capabilities.

The researchers are developing technology that could solve the current performance squeeze by packing more computer components into single chips. Most computers today are made up of many chips that are connected together on motherboards using electrical circuits. Even at electronic speeds, the distance between chips limits the speed at which these chips — CPUs and memory, for example — can communicate and process information.

The new 3D-chip technology will help solve that problem by creating single chips that contain both CPUs and memory and thus reduce or eliminate the lag created with current designs. In order to create these chips, the researchers are adapting carbon nanotubes made of graphene to stack integrated circuits one over another. That is impossible with silicon-based circuits due to the high temperatures required in their production — using carbon nanotube circuits enables the creation of chips at much lower temperatures.

As MIT assistant professor of Engineering and Computer Science Max Shulaker puts it, “Circuits today are 2D, since building conventional silicon transistors involves extremely high temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius. If you then build a second layer of silicon circuits on top, that high temperature will damage the bottom layer of circuits.” Carbon nanotube circuits can be built at temperatures below 200 degrees Celsius, allowing circuits to be stacked without damaging lower levels.

It’s not just CPUs and memory that can be stacked together to make a single 3D chip. Other technologies such as sensors can also be built in, making for even more powerful single-chip solutions. While the details are quite complex, the results could be revolutionary. Not only would Moore’s Law gain new life, but future AI could be built into increasingly smaller devices as well.

Samsung Notebook 9 Review

Research Center:
Samsung Notebook 9 NP900X3N-K04

The Samsung Notebook 9 is an unassuming little laptop. At first glance, it looks like every other silvery-gray laptop on the market. Yet between its ultra-light build and surprisingly robust internals, our Samsung Notebook 9 review unit has all the markings of a business traveler or student laptop.

Weighing in at just 1.8 pounds it features an Intel Core i7-7500U processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD — for $1,200. That’s not a bad price, but it’s high enough that the Notebook 9 faces some stiff competition from some of the best laptops on the market today. Let’s see how it stacks up.

A bit too ultralight

An ultra-portable laptop should be the kind of thing you can just toss in a bag and forget about, and Samsung’s Notebook 9 takes that sentiment to the extreme. It’s so light it feels fake — like an empty plastic shell.

That would be a pleasant surprise if not for some unpleasant consequences of the ultra-light build. The chassis has a troubling amount of flex, while the body feels flimsy, and a bit hollow at first blush. Apply even slight pressure to the lid, or bottom of the notebook, and the body bows inward quite a bit.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The chassis is made of aluminum and magnesium, which accounts for its super-light feel. It should be durable in the long run, but it doesn’t feel like it will be. The body scuffs easily and seems like it belongs on a much cheaper laptop. That’s a problem. A durable laptop that feels fragile doesn’t provide much comfort, and most people have come to expect solid feel from any PC sold for more than $1,000.

This notebook’s price tag is problematic for many reasons, and build quality is chief among them. When you pick it up and interact with it in any way, the just Notebook 9 doesn’t feel like it’s worth $1,200.

It’s telling that the Notebook 9 shares much of its design language with the Samsung Chromebook Pro, a $450 laptop that somehow feels more substantial and premium than the Notebook 9 at around a third of the price. We can understand the desire to have a uniform design language among many products, but Samsung’s taking it that to the extreme.

Needs more USB Type-C

The Samsung Notebook 9 sports an acceptable number of ports for a laptop of its size. It has two USB 3.0 ports, one USB Type-C port, an AC jack, a headphone jack, an HDMI port, and a microSD card slot. That’s a more versatile set of ports than you’d get on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro, with its two USB Type-C ports. It’s not bad, but it’s still a little less than you’d get with a notebook like the Dell XPS 13

During our tests, ports were never in short supply. There are just enough for most people, but the elimination of the AC jack would have been a pleasant surprise. The Samsung Notebook 9 can already charge via USB Type-C, so the AC jack seems pointless when the chassis could have fit another USB Type-C port.

Soft touch

Keyboard size is always going to be a bit of an issue for a small laptop, but the Samsung Notebook 9 does an admirable job of giving you enough space to type without feeling cramped. There’s enough room to stretch out your hands, and the keys offer a pleasant 1.5mm of key travel. Each key stroke is smooth, with a soft bottoming action.

Conversely, the MacBook Pro 13 has a shorter key travel but stronger “click” sensation, while the Dell XPS 13 and 15 both find a nice middle-ground between tactile feedback and key travel, combining the best of both worlds.

The Samsung Notebook 9 makes up for its soft keyboard with a quick and responsive trackpad.

Touchpads are easier to judge and less subjective than keyboards. They’re either good, or bad, without much middle ground. Thankfully, the Samsung Notebook 9 makes up for its soft keyboard with a quick and responsive trackpad. It’s a little small, as we found ourselves hitting the edges when scrolling through documents or spreadsheets, but it gets the job done. Windows Precision Trackpad support means you’ll find the usual multi-touch gestures work just as well as they do on any other Windows laptop.

There are two left and right click areas on the bottom edge of the trackpad, in the place of physical buttons. Each one is responsive, but clicking the trackpad anywhere but the southern-most edge requires a fair amount of pressure.

The Samsung Notebook 9 also includes another welcome feature — a fingerprint sensor. Embedded right beside the right-hand Shift key, it offers another level of security for this little ultra-portable laptop. Using Windows Hello to save and manage your biometrics is easy, painless, and quick to set up. The sensor itself works well, but sometimes you’ll have to tap it couple extra times to get it to work.

1080p isn’t dead, yet

While 4K laptops are becoming more and more common, the Samsung Notebook 9 proves that the 1080p standard still has some life in it. At 13.3-inches, the Notebook 9 is too small to make use of a 4K or 1440p panel. At this size, 1080p looks crisp.

Our review unit’s display was bright and colorful, even with a middling contrast ratio of 550:1. Looking at how it stacks up to its nearest competitors, it’s clear this display isn’t the best of the bunch, but it scores well in a few important metrics.

Looking at contrast ratio alone, it’s the lowest performer of the bunch. The Surface Pro and MacBook Pro 13 lead the pack, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. Both product lines are known for their impeccable display quality. The XPS 13 leads the Samsung Notebook 9 by a fair margin, but let’s dig into gamut and color accuracy before we pass judgment.

When it comes to the finicky AdobeRGB scale, the Notebook 9 is neck-and-neck with all but the MacBook Pro 13 and its factory-calibrated display. Hitting 73 percent of the AdobeRGB scale is average for laptop displays. For most people, that means it’s capable of reproducing wide variety of colors, but not quite as many as a professional-grade display can.

Moving on to color accuracy, the Notebook 9 pulls ahead of all but the MacBook Pro 13, and just obliterates the Dell XPS 13. That’s pretty impressive. What does that mean? The figures in the graph here illustrate just how accurately each device’s display renders colors.

Samsung Notebook 9 NP900X3N-K04 Compared To

Toshiba Portege Z30-C1310

Asus ZenBook UX305

Acer Aspire R13

Toshiba Kirabook (2014)

Asus Zenbook UX301LA

Origin EON13-S

Samsung ATIV Book 7

Dell XPS 13

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX32VD

Acer Aspire S5

Sony Vaio S Premium 13.3-inch

Lenovo IdeaPad U310

HP Folio 13

Asus Zenbook UX31

Sharp M4000

A score of 1.0 is pretty much perfect, and anything lower means the average color error is imperceptible to the human eye. The Notebook 9’s score of 1.74 isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for most applications other than high-sensitivity photo editing. Photos, movies, and games look great with vivid yet realistic colors that seem to leap off the screen.

Flat and hollow

Your phone probably has better sound than this laptop. The downward-firing speakers in the Samsung Notebook 9 are stereotypically bad. They’re too quiet when they’re quiet, they’re too loud when they’re loud, and sound lacks any real definition or texture.

These speakers aren’t good enough for anything beyond the occasional YouTube video. They crush the life out of everything — music, TV shows, movies. Plan to connect headphones or external speakers when using this laptop.

Hidden talents

The Samsung Notebook 9 is small, but it performs. Hiding inside that unassuming exterior is an Intel Core i7-7500U. That’s not the fastest CPU on the market, but it’s becoming more and more common on ultra-light notebooks, and for good reason. It’s a workhorse.

Looking at raw performance in Geekbench, the Samsung Notebook 9 and Dell XPS 13 are within inches of each other, and they should be — they’re running the same processor. On single and multi-core performance, both laptops perform well, but not quite as well as the Microsoft Surface Pro with its i7-7660U.

All three outperform the 2016 MacBook Pro 13, but it’s worth noting Apple has recently updated the MacBook Pro lineup with 7th-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs, like those in the other competitors here.

Moving on to a real-world test, our Handbrake benchmark provides a good example of how these processors stack up to one another by re-encoding the same 4K video file. The Samsung Notebook 9 took about 20 minutes to complete the encode, while the Dell XPS 13 came in a little under with 19 minutes, and the MacBook Pro 13 took about 24 minutes to complete the encode.

However, the new Microsoft Surface Pro — with its slightly quicker Intel Core i7-7660U — managed to complete the benchmark in just 13 minutes. That’s a sizable difference, and impressive considering the Surface Pro is a tablet.

SATA, in 2017?

You know that part in every rom-com when the two leads end up hating each other for a while? Welcome to that part of this review. The hard drive performance results aren’t pretty.

With its SATA3 256GB SSD, the Notebook 9 barely manages half the sequential read speeds of its nearest competitors, and third of their write speeds. This is a bit confusing, because Samsung manufactures some of the quickest solid-state drives on the market today, but opted not to include one in the Notebook 9. We had the same problem with Samsung’s Galaxy Book.

The MacBook Pro 13 comes flying out of the gate with its 1,826 megabytes per second read speed and 1,289MB/s write speed. The Surface Pro and Dell XPS 13 are a bit slower, but still quick. The Surface managed a read speed of 1,104MB/s, and a write speed of 936MB/s, to the XPS 13’s 1,193MB/s read speed, and 608MB/s write speed.

In practice, it means moving files around is going to take a bit longer on the Samsung Notebook 9 than it would any of these competitors. It’s a good example of why the Notebook 9’s price point is problematic.

Even with an Intel Core i7-7500U processor, the added cost puts it in competition with premium-grade laptops like the MacBook Pro 13 and XPS 13, which feature quicker hardware in other important areas — like hard drive performance.

No fun and games

This isn’t a gaming machine. Okay, well, some games work — Hearthstone runs all right. So does Civilization VI, with the settings turned all the way down. It’s unfortunate, but it’s no surprise. The Samsung Notebook 9 features on-board Intel HD 620 graphics, which provide enough horsepower for low-intensity gaming, but little else.

Looking at the 3DMark tests, you can see all these mobile computers are on the same footing. The Surface Pro has a bit of a leg up on the Notebook 9 and the XPS 13 on account of its slightly more powerful GPU — Intel’s Iris Plus Graphics 640.

On a real-world gaming test using the low-impact Civilization VI, the Notebook 9 hit a barely playable 12 FPS on medium settings. To be fair, the Surface Pro didn’t perform well either, managing 16 FPS on the same settings.

Keep that cord handy

The star of Samsung’s show is its lightweight chassis, which makes the Notebook 9 among the easiest laptops to carry around all day. It’s small enough to fit in almost any bag, and light enough that you might forget it’s there. At 1.8 pounds, it’s a full pound lighter than a Dell XPS 13, and instead closer to the Microsoft Surface Pro – without a Type Cover attached.

However, the weight comes at a cost. Maintaining such a trim figure means one important component got cut down to size — the battery. The Samsung Notebook 9 features a 30 watt-hour battery, which is small, even for a laptop of this size.

Looking at the test results, it’s clear that the Samsung Notebook 9 isn’t an all-day performer, but there’s a silver lining. Sort of. It has fast charging! Okay, a bigger battery would’ve been better, but at least the Notebook 9 will go from zero to 100 in roughly 30 minutes.

Still, looking at the battery power you get from the XPS 13 with its 60 watt-hour battery, and the MacBook Pro 13 with Touch Bar and its 49 watt-hour battery, the Samsung Notebook 9 falls behind considerably. At best, we got about five and a half hours out of a single charge, while the Surface Pro and MacBook Pro 13 each managed to last a bit over 10 hours. That’s a pretty sizable performance gap, one you’d definitely notice during an average workday.

Software

The Samsung Notebook 9 comes bundled with a few Samsung-branded utilities that don’t add much to your overall experience, but at least they’re unobtrusive.  They’re there if you want them, but they don’t nag you or auto-run in the background. The Notebook 9 does have one piece of bloatware that does though – the dreaded McAfee trial. Just disable that guy, rip it out by the root, salt the earth, and you’re good to go. Or just uninstall it from the Windows uninstall utility.

Warranty

The Samsung Notebook 9 is covered by a one-year standard warranty covering parts and labor for any manufacturer defects. Given how light and insubstantial it feels, you’ll want to make sure you keep your warranty info handy.

Our Take

The Samsung Notebook 9 is a good laptop. It’s powerful enough to keep up with intense multi-tasking, and light enough that carrying it around is an absolute joy — once you get past the initial shock of how light it is. That said, it’s far from perfect, so let’s break it down.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, and that’s the biggest problem the Samsung Notebook 9 faces. At $1,200 its in competition with some of the best laptops and tablets on the market today. That includes the MacBook Pro 13, Dell XPS 13 and, most recently, the Surface Pro.

If durability and longevity are your primary concerns, then the MacBook Pro 13 or Dell XPS 13 might be better choices — both feature robust build-quality and better-than-average battery life. For pure portability, the Surface Pro makes a good case for itself as a solid 2-in-1 with some unique features – like the Surface Pen.

How long will it last?

Samsung says the Notebook 9’s chassis is built from aluminum and magnesium, which means it should be more durable than it seems but our time with it didn’t inspire confidence. Yet we worry about how the laptop’s thin chassis panels will hold up over time. Even if they prove resilient, the fact they feel so weak is a problem.

However, its internals are powerful enough to stand up to the next couple rounds of operating system updates and should have no trouble keeping up with standard productivity apps for the next few years.

Battery life will be the real issue. It’s already a problem, and as the battery ages, endurance will take a hit. That may result in a laptop that struggles to last beyond four or five hours.

Should you buy it?

Probably not. If you need a laptop, not a tablet, and weight is a primary concern, then the Samsung Notebook 9 beats out any of its competitors by a huge margin. However, if you can stand a little extra weight in return for improved battery life, hard disk speed, and build quality, then you should take another look at the Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro 13, or the new Surface Pro. We think most people will prefer better performance and battery life over less weight.

Qualcomm files patent infringement complaints against Apple, aims to ban U.S. iPhone imports

Qualcomm says the iPhone uses six inventions that Apple isn’t paying for.

Qualcomm owns a lot of IP (intellectual property). Much of it is for things we don’t think about when we are using a phone powered by one of its processors, like network data transfer and battery management. Today, it has filed a complaint with the ITC (international trade commission) against Apple, which it says uses six patented technologies without offering the correct compensation to Qualcomm.

It makes it clear that these are not industry standard patents (which have different rules about how they are used and paid for) but still “play integral roles enabling both high-speed performance and extended battery life.” The patents in question are:

• US Patent 8698558 (issued 2014) which extends battery life by offering intelligent antenna power management
• US Patent 8838949 (issued 2014) which helps a phone connect to the network at first boot
• US Patent 8633936 (issued 2014) which allows for graphic0intensive applications to use less battery power
• US Patent 9535490 (issued 2017) which monitors and manages network traffic to and from applications
• US Patent 9608675 (issued 2017) which aggregates multiple streams into a single “data super-highway”
• US Patent 8487658 (issued 2013) which uses more efficient power interfacing for both high and low voltage circuits

Using a move from Apple’s own playbook, Qualcomm is petitioning the ITC to stop imports and sales of Apple products that use these patents.

“Qualcomm’s inventions are at the heart of every iPhone and extend well beyond modem technologies or cellular standards,” said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm. “The patents we are asserting represent six important technologies, out of a portfolio of thousands, and each is vital to iPhone functions. Apple continues to use Qualcomm’s technology while refusing to pay for it. These lawsuits seek to stop Apple’s infringement of six of our patented technologies.”

Apple and Qualcomm are already embroiled in a legal battle over standard-essential patents, and this just adds fuel to the existing fire. All we can say is that if the patents were fairly granted and any company is using them, it should pay for them. We’re not about to guess how the ITC will rule when it comes to banning iPhone sales, but we know it has not been afraid to do the same to other companies. We also know it’s simply a great bargaining chip to try and receive those backed royalties from Apple, which would naturally go to considerable lengths to keep an import ban from being imposed.

While not directly Android related, this news is important to follow as both companies involved have enough influence to shape the mobile landscape for us all.

Muse makes bizarre music video with AI and found footage

Artificial intelligence is all over the place these days, predicting our thoughts, protecting our crops, playing video games and even generating adorably weird pickup lines. British band Muse is getting in on the act now with a new AI-generated music video that pulls internet video footage of celebrities, politicians and artists to match the lyrics to the hit song, “Dig Down.” The result feels like even more political than the original video, which explores the consequences of technology within a media-fueled cyberpunk dystopia.

The video will update daily with newly scraped video that contains the words to the song; the AI tool then strings it all together and times the lyrics with the background music to create an oddly satisfying rendition of Muse’s tune. Each lyric is spoken by a different person, and is highlighted with subtitles to help the whole thing hang together. Today’s video includes clips from people like Donald Trump, Caitlyn Jenner and Ellen Degeneres, interspersed with a grid of cable news channels between spoken lyrics.

The project was put together by tech development agency Branger_Briz as a way to bring AI to the forefront of the artistic endeavor. “We think it’s important to have public discourse about the promise and perils of these emerging and incredibly influential technologies and it’s great to work with Muse to instigate those conversations,” said the agency in a statement.

Source: Muse

Qualcomm wants to ban iPhone imports with new Apple complaint

Qualcomm’s latest move in its rapidly escalating legal battle against Apple is bold. It filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), saying that the import and sales of some models of iPhones is “unlawful” and is requesting that the commission “bar importation of those iPhones and other products.” According to Qualcomm, those devices “infringe one or more claims of six Qualcomm patents covering key technologies that enable important features and functions,” and constitute “unlawful and unfair use of Qualcomm’s technology.”

On top of that, Qualcomm is seeking a Cease and Desist Order to bar further sales of “infringing Apple products that have already been imported and to halt the marketing, advertising, demonstration, warehousing of inventory for distribution and use of those imported products in the United States.”

In other words, Qualcomm wants to make it impossible for Apple to sell any iPhones that it believes have used its technology without permission. It’s also seeking “damages and injunctive relief” via a complaint filed in the District Court for the Southern District of California.

According to Qualcomm, the six patents in question “enable high performance in a smartphone while extending battery life.” The company even made an infographic to show you how iPhones use these patented technologies.

It’s not yet clear which generations of the iPhone will be affected, or how the US ITC and the respective courts will rule. Just as Qualcomm countersued Apple earlier this year, it’s certain the iPhone maker will respond soon.

Via: CNBC

Source: Qualcomm

The Wirecutter’s best deals: Save $1,200 on a 55-inch LG OLED TV

This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. When readers choose to buy The Wirecutter’s independently chosen editorial picks, they may earn affiliate commissions that support their work. Read their continuously updated list of deals here.

You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.

LG C7 55-Inch OLED TV

Street price: $3500; MSRP: $3500; Deal price: $2300

While the update to our best TV guide is still in the works, this deal on our new upgrade pick is too good to pass up. This is the first and biggest sale we’ve seen on our upcoming upgrade pick, dropping it by $200 from the normal street price. Since this is the first sale, it’s hard to say how long this deal will last, but it is the best price we’ve seen so far. Stock is pretty low (15 at the time of posting) but as a high price tag item, it probably won’t sell out very quickly. Still, if you’re looking for a new TV and want the best picture quality, this is the time and price to pick it up.

The LG C7 55-Inch OLED TV is our upcoming upgrade pick in the update to our guide on the best TV. Chris Heinonen writes, “If you want the absolute best TV available regardless of price, the LG C7 OLED TV is your best bet. For people after the best image you can get, an OLED stands apart from everything else. The OLED image pops far more than an LCD and looks much better when viewed from the side.”

Apple iPad (5th Gen) 32GB

Street price: $330; MSRP: $330; Deal price: $300

Another drop on the 5th gen iPad lowers the price back to $300 for the 32GB model. This $30 off sale is also available for the 128GB size ($400 with discount). Silver, Gold, and Space Gray colors are all eligible for the discount in both storage capacities. We’ll continue to track the most recent generation of iPads for future sales, but right now this is as low as we’ve seen these models go. Shipping is free.

The 5th gen iPad is our new top pick in our Best Tablet guide. Dan Frakes and Nick Guy write, “The 2017 standard iPad—the 9.7-inch non-Pro model, officially called the “iPad (5th generation)”—is a familiar device. Its body is almost exactly the same as that of the 2014 iPad Air,2 and except for improved processors, its internals mostly match those of the iPad Air 2, the model it replaces (and our previous top pick). Yet the 2017 iPad remains the best tablet on the market for most people because of that familiarity: It shares its predecessor’s unique combination of performance, features, hardware quality, app selection, and accessory ecosystem, and improves on its value.”

Mackie CR Series CR3 Speakers

Street price: $100; MSRP: $100; Deal price: $70

While the update for the best computer speakers guide is still in the works, this is a new low price on our upcoming desktop speaker pick. This is $10 below the previous lowest price we’ve seen, and $30 below the normal street price. This is only the second time we’ve seen these speakers on sale, so it’s a great price and time to pick up these speakers. Shipping is free.

The Mackie CR Series CR3 is our upcoming pick in our guide to the best computer speakers. Brent Butterworth writes, “Our new recommended computer speaker, the Mackie CR Series CR3 speakers feature aux inputs, a headphone jack, a volume knob, plus they come with speaker wire and isolation pads. The built-in 50 watt amps give them plenty of power. They’re a clear standout for a sub-$100 speaker pair.”

Samsung Gear 360 Camera

Street price: $175; MSRP: $250; Deal price: $140

The 2016 Gear 360 continues to trend lower and lower in price. It now sits at $140, another new low price. This is no doubt due to the release of the 2017 model, which, while new, doesn’t necessarily guarantee an improvement since it takes a slightly different approach to 360 shooting. As of last month, we were still awaiting testing on that model. As a result, with the newest gen model sitting at around $50 more even on sale, this is still a great bargain on a 360 degree cam we really like for Samsung owners.

The Samsung Gear 360 is our Samsung owners pick in our guide to the best 360 degree camera. Jeff Carlson writes, “The Samsung Gear 360 would have been our top pick if not for its limited compatibility—it works with only a handful of recent Samsung phones. The Gear 360 offers better image resolution than the Ricoh Theta S in a compact two-lens design that lets you change settings and shooting modes directly without a connected smartphone. A removable battery and memory mean you can swap in spares as needed, and the included tripod/handgrip is useful and well-designed. In May, Samsung released a redesigned Gear 360 with support for iOS devices. We’ll test the new model soon.”

Because great deals don’t just happen on Thursdays, sign up for our daily deals email and we’ll send you the best deals we find every weekday. Also, deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.