A Google search is all you need to schedule a haircut

Reserve with Google is going wide. What started as a test run last December, opened to the rest of the country in March and now, in addition to workout classes, you can book a spa day and a haircut too. “This feature is made possible through partnerships with the top scheduling providers you might already use, including Genbook, SalonRunner, Rosy, Yocale and WellnessLiving,” Google writes.

The search juggernaut teases that more types of reservations are en route. Hitting the Reserve with Google website will even use your location to suggest places you might not have heard of prior. So if you’re looking for a new salon and a new ‘do, give it a click and maybe you’ll discover somewhere new.

Source: Google

Racist Airbnb host ordered to take Asian American studies class

An Airbnb host who cancelled a reservation based on a guest’s race has been ordered to pay $5,000 and take a college-level course in Asian American studies. Earlier this year, Dyne Suh booked a cabin in Big Bear, California and as she and three others were on their way to it, the host cancelled the booking. In a text, Tami Barker, the host, said, “I wouldn’t rent it to u if u were the last person on earth. One word says it all. Asian.” After Suh said she was going to notify Airbnb of Barker’s actions, Barker said, “It’s why we have Trump,” and, “I will not allow this country to be told what to do by foreigners.”

Last year, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced that Airbnb would be tackling its racism problem and shortly thereafter, the company introduced new rules for hosts including a non-discrimination policy. In California, Airbnb hosts are also subject to probes and penalties by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). It’s under those regulations that Barker was fined and ordered to take an Asian American studies course and it’s the first ruling to do so. Airbnb also banned Barker from its platform.

After the ugly incident, Suh said in a video, “It stings that after living in the US for over 23 years this is what happens. No matter if I follow the law … no matter how well I treat others, it doesn’t matter. If you’re Asian, you’re less than human and people can treat you like trash.” After the DFEH-mediated agreement was reached between Suh and Barker, DFEH director Kevin Kish told the Guardian, “We were thinking pretty creatively with this agreement. The law tends to be backwards-looking, focusing on compensating people for harm. We’re interested in remedies that repair harm and transform relationships.”

Source: The Guardian

iFixit rips out the Galaxy Note Fan Edition’s new battery

Now that Samsung has officially relaunched its troubled Galaxy Note 7 as a “Fan Edition,” the folks at iFixit couldn’t help but dive back in. As you’d guess, Samsung has chosen to deal with the Note 7’s unfortunate tendency to explode by going to the root of the problem — the battery. By swapping in a 12.32 Wh unit instead of the original 13.48Wh unit, it should have enough room to avoid either of the issues observed previously. The only problems now are that these are only available in South Korea, and the Galaxy Note 8 is right around the corner.

Source: iFixit

WhatsApp lets you share any file you want

In its latest update, Whatsapp has upgraded a few of its capabilities. For starters, while its initial roll out of document attachments last year was limited to PDFs, users can now share any file type. Shared files are limited to 100MB according to WhatsApp’s website, but there are reports that iPhone users can send slightly larger files.

Additionally, you’ll be able to see all of your pictures and videos in the in-app camera by swiping up and if you’re sending lots of photos at once, they’ll now be grouped into a gallery that only displays five images with the last thumbnail displaying how many additional photos have been sent. WhatsApp will also stop compressing photos, allowing your original quality to remain intact. And to easily bold, italicize or strikethrough your text, you’ll just have to tap and hold the text to select it.

These changes are the latest tweaks to the app. Last year, WhatsApp launched video calling and earlier this year, two-step verification was rolled out to all of its users. Those were followed by Snapchat-style status updates, Siri integration and photo filters.

The new update is rolling out for Android and iOS now.

Source: WhatsApp

Apple CEO Tim Cook and iTunes Chief Eddy Cue Attend Sun Valley Media Retreat

Apple CEO Tim Cook and iTunes Chief Eddy Cue this week attended the Allen & Co. Sun Valley media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, as they have done for the last several years.

Many well known tech and media moguls attend the Sun Valley event, which is essentially a retreat and is invitation only, but meetings and discussions at the conference are kept under wraps so it’s unlikely we’ll hear details on anything that goes on. In years past, Cook and Cue have kept a low profile during the week long event.

Described as a “summer camp for billionaires,” the conference includes activities like rafting, cycling, and golf, and because it brings so many major media executives together in one place, it’s been credited as the catalyst for major deals like the AOL and Time Warner merger, Walt Disney’s acquisition of ABC, Google’s purchase of YouTube, and Jeff Bezos’ acquisition of The Washington Post.

Apple has been taking a more direct approach to media in recent months with its ever-growing interest in original content, so it’s no surprise to see Cook and Cue at the event once again.

Other notable 2017 attendees include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Jared and Ivanka Trump, DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, Twitter COO Anthony Noto, 21st Century Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch, CBS Chairman Les Moonves, and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Image via Rob Latour, Shutterstock

Tags: Tim Cook, Eddy Cue
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Platform Game ‘illi’ Available for Free as Apple’s App of the Week

Platform game illi has been named Apple’s App of the Week, and as a result, it is available as a free download for the next seven days. illi, which has four stars in the App Store, has only been free once before since it was released in April of 2016.

The game is described as a “one button platform puzzler” that asks players to take control of illi, a fuzzy white horned creature, to travel through a strange world. Illi is able to bend the fabric of the world and defy gravity while traveling through portals to gather up light crystals.

There are more than 60 levels available in illi, and each new world features unique mechanics, traps, and obstacles that players need to overcome. There are also 170 quests to complete, and no in-app purchases.

illi will be available for free from the App Store for the next seven days, at which point a new app will be chosen as App of the Week. [Direct Link]

Tag: App of the Week
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AT&T’s DirecTV Now to Gain Cloud DVR and Revamped User Interface

AT&T today announced plans to unveil a next-generation video platform this fall, which will be introduced first to DirecTV Now customers later this summer.

As part of a beta test for the platform, DirecTV Now subscribers will gain access to a cloud DVR feature, which will allow them to record and access their shows from anywhere. A wide selection of live channels will be able to be recorded, with 4K and HD video quality.

“We all want easy and quick access to our content, regardless of where, when or on what device we watch it,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Entertainment Group. “By developing for a single video platform, we’ll deliver new features and platform innovations in a faster, more efficient way. And it will be simple and consistent wherever you watch–TV, phone or tablet.”

AT&T also plans to introduce a whole new interface for the video platform, which will provide a “consistent look and feel” across all of the company’s consumer video services. DirecTV testers will be able to provide AT&T with feedback on the new design.

Eventually, the next-generation video platform is expected to support features like live TV pausing and parental controls, expected later this year, and user profiles, offline watching (download and go), and 4K HDR are planned for 2018.

According to AT&T, beta testing for the video platform will begin in the summer, and select DirecTV Now customers will receive invites to test the features.

Tags: AT&T, DirecTV Now
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AMD’s powerful 16-core Threadripper CPU will cost $999

AMD didn’t have many details to share about its 16-core Ryzen Threadripper CPU when it was announced back in May, but now it’s ready to spill the beans. The chip, officially known as the Threadripper 1950X, will sell for $999, the company announced today. It’ll feature a base speed of 3.4GHz with a boost clock of 4GHz. But that’s not all: AMD also revealed a $799 12-core Threadripper 1920X CPU, for extreme PC users looking to save a couple hundred bucks. Both chips, along with new motherboards, should be available in August.

While the 16-core Threadripper seemed like the fastest chip on the block when it was first announced, Intel quickly one-upped AMD at Computex with its 18-core i9 Extreme Edition. As usual, though, AMD holds the price advantage. That Intel CPU will run you $1,999, while its 16-core version is a slightly less crazy $1,799. Intel’s chips sport base speeds of 3.3Ghz, with boost clocks up to 4.3GHz. If you’re looking to get the most multi-threaded computing bang for your buck, AMD still looks like your best option.

Switching from extreme high-end to low-end computing, AMD also offered up a few details about its upcoming Ryzen 3 chips. Both models will be quad-core/quad-threaded processors based on their Zen architecture. The Ryzen 3 1300X will sport speeds between 3.5Ghz and 3.7Ghz, while the Ryzen 3 1200 will clock between 3.1Ghz and 3.4Ghz. The company isn’t talking about pricing details yet, but you can expect the new chips to be cheaper than the mid-range Ryzen 5 and high-end Ryzen 7 CPUs.

Source: AMD

Airbnb gives business travelers the option to book with Concur

Business travel can seriously suck, with soulless, inexpensive hotel rooms the norm for many of us. Airbnb offers a unique alternative, with personal homes and rental units that business travelers can stay in while on a work trip. To make it even easier to book business trips through the company, Airbnb is expanding its partnership with Concur, a business travel portal that Airbnb first partnered with in 2014.

The number of business trips on Airbnb tripled in 2016, and nearly 15 percent of Airbnb bookings are for work, according to the press release. Airbnb already uses Concur to help companies manage their travel and track expenses through TripLink. Now, for the first time ever, Airbnb listings will show up in searches and bookings right in Concur itself, making it easy for employees to book an Airbnb when traveling on business. This will help everyone compare costs and amenities of hotels directly with Airbnb properties.

It’s not just business that Airbnb focuses on, of course. It keeps disrupting the hotel industry with continual updates and partnerships to make sure people choose its room-sharing service. It purchased background checking technology to fight of scams, built security tools to keep accounts safe, added new check-in guides and even made it easier to find places to stay near remote national parks. Airbnb’s success is probably why hotels keep lobbying to pass legislation to limit the service.

Source: Airbnb

Chemists create Star Wars-style 3D ‘holograms’ in a flask of liquid

Why it matters to you

Projected 3D images of this type could be useful in everything from gaming to surgery.

Remember the iconic scene from Star Wars, in which R2-D2 projects a hologram of Princess Leia saying, “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope?” That’s kind of what researchers at Southern Methodist University, Dallas have demonstrated with new 3D projection technology that allows for the creation of three-dimensional light structures, viewable from 360 degrees. Just don’t you dare call them holograms!

“A typical hologram will be formed on a plate so when a viewer looks at the front of the plate, a 3D object can be seen,” Alexander Lippert, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, told Digital Trends. “If the viewer looks at the back of the plate, they don’t see the back of the object; they just see the back of the plate. A hologram has a limited viewing angle and doesn’t actually fill a 3D volume of space. A volumetric 3D display — like the one we have developed — truly structures the light in three dimensions. If you walk around the display, you can see the object from different viewing angles. Every voxel is a point of light at a defined point in 3D space.”

SMU

At the heart of the team’s volumetric 3D display is a single molecule device called a photoswitch. In the dark, this photoswitch is colorless and nonfluorescent. However, when it is hit with a beam of UV light, the photoswitch turns on. Because of the specific chemistry involved, light emission will only occur at the intersection of a UV light beam and a green light beam. Using digital light processing projectors, the team is able to pattern the light through a flask containing a photoswitch solution, and use it to generate 3D images and animations at the point at which the different wavelengths of light intersect.

“We think there are many real-world applications for this type of display, beyond obvious entertainment applications like 3D TV and 3D gaming,” Lippert said. “This type of display would be well-suited to display medical imaging data from MRI or PET scans. Currently, radiologists have to look at 2D slices of an MRI and try their best to find any anomalies. Integrating this information into a 3D image that can be viewed from multiple angles would make this task much easier. This type of 3D medical image could also help surgeons to plan out a surgery.” Other potential applications might involve imaging for communication and defense — such as tactical 3D battlefield modeling.

“We would very much like to see this display commercialized for industrial and consumer applications, and are currently looking for the right investment and management team to make this a reality,” he concluded. In other words, calling all venture capitalists.