Afghan girls robotics team will compete in the US after all

An all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan that was denied a visa to participate in the First Global Challenge robotics competition will be allowed to enter the US after all. The White House confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reversed the visa denials for the six teen girls, reportedly after President Trump personally intervened.

The initial rejection and denial of an appeal was particularly heartbreaking for the team. They twice made a 500 mile trip from their Herat homes to the US embassy in Kabul to ace their interviews and secure the visas, despite danger and extreme heat. “We just wanted to show the power and skills of Afghan girls to Americans,” 14-year-old Fatema Ghaderyan told the Associated Press.

Afghan is not included in Trump’s travel ban, but it’s tremendously difficult, bordering on impossible, for its citizens to obtain a visa. Just 32 were handed out in April of 2017, compared to 1,492 for neighbor Pakistan, according to Forbes. Nevertheless, teams from Syria, Sudan and Iran — countries on the banned list — were allowed to attend.

I truly believe our greatest power is the power to convene nations, to bring people together in the pursuit of a common goal and prove that our similarities greatly outweigh our differences.

President Trump reportedly pressed National Security Council officials for a solution, and they eventually agreed to allow the team in on “parole.” That’s a permit (not a visa) granted in exceptional circumstance where there’s a “public benefit,” allowing them stay in the country for ten days.

The White House’s travel ban is back in effect after the US Supreme court partially lifted a block on the order. While the Afghan robotics team is now a feel-good story, it’s still throwing thousands of peoples’ lives in disarray, including many in the tech community. All told, 160 companies, including Google, Apple, Netflix and Spotify have denounced the order.

Because of the initial visa denial, the team expected to participate via Skype, as its ball-sorting robotics experiment had already been sent ahead and cleared customs. Now, all 163 teams from 157 countries will be able to participate in the competition in person.

Non-profit First Global created the contest as a way to spark interest in science and tech for high schoolers across the globe. “I truly believe our greatest power is the power to convene nations, to bring people together in the pursuit of a common goal and prove that our similarities greatly outweigh our differences,” said president Joe Sestak in a statement.

Via: BBC

Source: CNBC/AP

Google connects Home’s voice commands to your uploaded music

A new tweak for Google Home makes it easier to access music you’ve uploaded, even if you’re not a Google Play Music subscriber. While Google Play Music customers could already listen to uploaded or purchased music by either selecting it on another device and using the Cast feature or putting it in a playlist, a new update rolling out means you can ask for your tracks directly by voice. It’s not active on my account yet even after a device reboot (although I do see the speaker as an available Bluetooth device), but a post in the Home support forum and updated notes on the support page explain how it all works.

A few points to note:

The “Play <genre/mood/activity>” basic voice command isn’t supported for uploaded/purchased music.

If Google Play Music isn’t your default music player, you need to say “Ok Google, play X <on Google Play Music>” to hear subscription/free radio/uploaded/purchased music. Only personal playlists will be prioritized above your default music player.

This feature is currently rolling out to all regions where Google Home is supported.

Source: Google Home Support Forum, Google Home Music FAQ

Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an ’80s computer

In the age of the hipster, dust-covered and irrelevant mediums like the vinyl and cassette tape have slowly been given a new lease of life. Now, thanks to Radiohead, it looks like popular British computer the ZX Spectrum might be the next 80s relic to come back into fashion. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the band’s genre-bending opus– OK Computer –Radiohead has released a £100 commemorative special edition of the album, entitled OKNOTOK.

As well as containing a beautiful looking art book, a collection of Thom Yorke’s notes and the expected limited edition vinyl of the album, the package also comes with a classic C90 cassette. While the vast majority of the 90-minute tape houses a collection of rare demos from the band, the last two minutes treat listeners to a bizarre high-pitched frequency. Quickly identified by Redditors as the grating greeting of the ZX Spectrum, one passionate YouTuber has cleverly EQ’d those digital squawks and squeaks to perfectly match the aging computer’s audio language.

Running those EQ’d files through a ZX Spectrum emulator, the software pops up with the names of all the band members, dating the software back to the 19th December 1996. After the introduction, all that hard work is finally rewarded with some scrolling text and a seemingly random arrangement of bloops and bleeps. It’s a bizarre but very cool little Easter egg, and thanks to YouTuber OooSLAJEREKooO you can save yourself some time and check out a video of the whole thing below.

This isn’t the first time that Radiohead have experimented with unusual mediums. For the release of 2013s King of Limbs, the genre-bending band brought out a companion iOS app called Polyfauna, with singer Thom Yorke even releasing a solo album directly onto BitTorrent. Radiohead isn’t alone in toying with retro ways to release its art, with artist Batch Totem recently cramming his entire album onto a floppy disk.

If the strange arrangement on Radiohead’s Spectrum tape wasn’t enough musical mystery for you, there’s also a suitably silly hidden message concealed in the program’s black-on-black squares. “Congratulations….you’ve found the secret message syd lives hmmmm. We should get out more.” Is what the message reads. Are they referring to the late Pink Floyd guitarist Syd Barret? Who knows.

Given what we’ve just seen though, getting out more sounds like some pretty solid advice guys.

Source: Ars Technica

AT&T’s ‘next-gen’ TV platform rollout will start on DirecTV Now

Later this year, AT&T’s launching an ambitious plan to revamp and unify its disparate video services. In a move that chief marketing officer David Christopher called “going from a hardware-centric model to a software-centric model.” Similar to Comcast’s X1 platform launch a few years ago, the plan is to have a single base for how its video services — whether internet-served like DirecTV Now, satellite-provided DirecTV, U-verse IPTV or NFL Sunday Ticket — look and feel across every device. Where AT&T pushes things further is that it already offers a national internet TV platform, and that’s where customers will see the new technology first when beta tests start later this year.

AT&T executive VP & CTO Enrique Rodriguez spoke to Engadget about the rollout, saying that “if you look at the work we’ve done on DirecTV Now, it’s been very successful on Apple TV and so you can think of this as a continuation of that transition.” Invited DirecTV Now customers and DirecTV companion app users will be the first ones with access to the new technology, as shown above running on iOS, when the beta testing starts ahead of a rollout across more services and hardware over the “coming years.”

The next-generation platform will bring everything we’ve seen from modernized TV setups over the last few years, with recommendations and profiles, backed by all the content AT&T/DirecTV provides subscribers. When the beta starts, there will be a cloud DVR feature and other new features already up and running. Features on deck for later this year include live TV pausing and parental controls, while other key elements like profiles, download-and-go and 4K Ultra HD with HDR are scheduled to launch in 2018.

It won’t come all at once, but AT&T is turning its various video services, both “monolithic” as Christopher called them, and streaming into something built for the modern era. So far, the rollout of DirecTV Now has weathered some glitches and criticism that it hasn’t offered much new. But now that it’s had some time to roll out and expand its content offerings, the time is right for an upgrade.

A frustrating aspect of the TV business since the dawn of high definition has been the slow pace of upgrades — digital TV, DVR, video-on-demand, internet streaming and cloud recordings have taken so many years to roll out — but maybe this transition can pull everything together. Of course, since AT&T owns so many pathways to customers including wireless, it has more incentive to push new technology, as reports suggested it expects to have a primarily streaming video service within the next few years.

Source: AT&T

Researchers encode a movie onto living bacteria

Forget USB drives and the cloud — what if you could carry every bit of data you’ve ever used on your skin? That’s the long-term goal of researchers at Harvard Medical School, who have stored a video in the DNA of bacteria. It’s the first time a video has been recorded into living cells, as opposed to synthetic material.

The team inserted a short animated image of ‘The Horse in Motion’ (one of the earliest moving images ever created) into E. coli, using gene-editing system CRISPR. The movie was split into five frames, and each frame chopped into single-colored pixels. They then created DNA codes corresponding to each color and strung them together. Each bacterium carried snippets of the video stored in their DNA, and when taken together, the scientists were able to retrieve and reconstruct the pieces to play the video.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen data stored in this fashion. Back in 2003 a small message was encoded into DNA, and more recently we’ve seen a full operating system written into DNA strands. One team is even trying to store poetry in DNA. But this is the first time it’s been attempted with living bacteria, rather than synthetic material, which presents a unique set of challenges. Live cells are constantly moving and changing, and are liable to interpret the addition of data to their DNA as an invading virus, and subsequently destroy it. That’s why, shaky and blurred as it is, this movie breaks new ground.

The world is generating huge amounts of digital data, and scientists see DNA as an effective way of not only dealing with the volumes produced, but as a secure method of preservation. In the face of nuclear explosions, radiation exposure or extreme temperature fluctuation some bacteria can continue to exist — data centers will not.

It’ll be some time before you can use this technology to upload data into your body, but in the meantime it has valuable research applications. The scientists behind the study hope the breakthrough will eventually lead to the creation of “living sensors” that can record what is happening inside a cell or in its environment.

Via: Stat News

Source: Nature (PDF)

Apple Has Finished Moving and Precisely Reassembling a Historic Barn At Its New Headquarters

Matthew Roberts has uploaded his latest 4K drone tour of Apple Park, the company’s new headquarters in Cupertino, California.

A limited number of Apple employees began moving into the new headquarters in April, but the video shows that construction is still well underway. Among the highlights are a closer look at the main circular building, Steve Jobs Theater, the visitor center across the street, and the overall landscaping.

Roberts also flew his drone over the historic Glendenning Barn, which Apple has now completely reassembled after tearing it down and pledging to move it to a new location due to construction of Apple Park.

Glendenning Barn, a historic site in Cupertino, has been situated on Apple Park’s property since the early twentieth century. After taking over the site of HP’s previous campus, Apple reportedly dismantled the redwood barn piece by piece, including every plank, nail, and crossbeam, and made careful notes on its construction.

The drone video reveals that Apple has successfully recreated the barn, although a few of the redwood planks appear to be brightly colored, indicating they might not be original. Apple reportedly stockpiled redwood salvaged from an old grove in case any damaged planks needed to be replaced.

When finished, Apple Park will be surrounded by some 6,000 trees, with a large pond, walking trails, benches, and a fitness center for employees.

Tag: Apple Park
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Logitech’s logic leads to its cash acquisition of Astro Gaming

Why it matters to you

Console gamers should have a wider selection of premium Astro-branded headsets based on Logitech’s deep pockets and love for gamers.

Logitech said on Wednesday, July 12 that it plans to acquire console headset maker Astro Gaming for $85 million in cash. The move will help push the Logitech brand beyond PC gaming and into the console arena currently saturated with headsets sold by SteelSeries, Turtle Beach, HyperX, and more.

“Astro is the leading player for premium console headsets and is the preferred headset for console esports athletes,” said Ujesh Desai, vice president and general manager of Logitech G. “It’s a perfect complement to Logitech G’s focus on PC gaming and we couldn’t be more excited; we love the team, the brand, and the products. Together, we want to make game play even more fun for gamers everywhere.”

Astro Gaming currently provides a huge selection of headsets for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC ranging in price from $60 to $300. The company also sells “MixAmps” such as the M80, which provides Xbox One owners with gamepad-based audio controls complete with voice adjustments and three preset EQ modes. Astro Gaming even sells game-related accessories including cables and adapters.

Astro Gaming is a spinoff company of San Francisco-based Astro Studios. Founded in 1994, Astro Studios began creating accessories for Compaq’s IPAQ Pocket PCs, Alienware PCs, and eventually branched out to the Xbox 360 console and more. But the company wanted to expand its design philosophy by creating “gamer-centric tech-life products,” thus Astro Gaming was created in 2006. Skullcandy scooped up Astro Gaming in 2011, which in turn merged with Mill Road Capital in the summer of 2016.

“Astro Gaming is a separate company from Astro Studios, fueled by private funding and an obsessed management team comprised of lifestyle, design, gaming, and technology product and brand veterans,” the company states.

Logitech told Digital Trends that the Astro brand will remain separate rather than fall behind the company’s PC gaming-specific Logitech G name. The acquisition will also not impact the spin-off company’s hardware plans, nor will it disrupt Astro Gaming’s day-to-day operations. The team will continue to work from their current offices, most of which are in San Francisco.

The Logitech G brand mainly deals with peripherals in the PC gaming market, such as the Logitech Pro G mechanical keyboard, the Logitech G403 Prodigy gaming mouse, and the recent Logitech G433 7.1 gaming headset. Meanwhile, the Astro brand will continue to focus on console gaming accessories. The vanilla Logitech brand will cover everything else outside the two gaming markets.

The latest product released by Astro Gaming is the A10 headset for PC, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. It consists of a durable aluminum headband covered by damage-resistant rubber, over-the-ear cushions based on memory foam, an omni-directional microphone with flip-to-mute functionality, and a detachable cable system. It’s built for “extended comfort” for long gaming marathons.

Grab the 32GB Moto G5 Plus for $199, 64GB model for $249

For one day only, get the Moto G5 Plus with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage for $249.

The Moto G5 Plus is one of the best budget phones currently in the market, and you can pick one up for just $199 on Newegg. That’s a $30 discount on the model with 2GB of RAM and 32GB storage. Amazon is also getting on the action, offering the variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage for $249, which comes out to a savings of $50 from the phone’s $299 retail price.

As a refresher, the Moto G5 Plus features a 5.2-inch Full HD panel, and is powered by the Snapdragon 625. Other specs include a microSD slot, 12MP rear camera with f/1.7 lens and dual pixel autofocus, 5MP front shooter, Bluetooth 4.2, and a 3000mAh battery. The phone is unlocked and compatible with all four major carriers, and runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

The sale is valid for one day only, so if you’re in the market for a budget phone with decent specs and an uncluttered software experience, head to Amazon from the link below to get your hands on the Moto G5 Plus.

See at Amazon

ASUS’ Tango and Daydream-ready ZenFone AR debuts in India

World’s first smartphone with 8GB of RAM lands in India.

When ASUS unveiled the ZenFone AR earlier this year, it became the first phone to feature 8GB of RAM. It’s also the first device that can handle both Tango and Daydream — Google’s AR and VR platforms. The ZenFone AR is now available for sale in India for ₹49,999 ($775), with the device exclusively sold on Flipkart.

The ZenFone AR has a 23MP primary camera that’s augmented by a motion tracking camera and a depth sensing camera to deliver a smooth augmented reality experience. The motion tracking camera assists in tracking a user’s position in three-dimensional space, and the depth sensing camera measures the distance between objects through an IR emitter.

Meanwhile, the 5.7-inch QHD Super AMOLED display is ideal for Daydream, allowing users to explore VR-ready content via YouTube VR, Netflix, or dedicated apps. Specs include a Snapdragon 821 chipset, the aforementioned 8GB of RAM, 128GB storage, microSD slot, 8MP front camera, Wi-Fi ac 2×2 MIMO, USB-C, Bluetooth 4.2, and a 3300mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0.

On the software front, the ZenFone AR is running Android 7.0 Nougat. The phone certainly looks interesting, but with mobile AR and VR platforms still in their infancy, it’s hard to see the device gaining momentum with a mainstream audience.

As part of the launch day offers, Flipkart is rolling out a ₹2,500 discount on the Daydream View for customers purchasing both the ZenFone AR and Google’s VR headset. You’ll also be eligible to get up to 100GB of additional 4G data if you’re a Jio customer.

Interested in picking up the ZenFone AR? Head to the link to know more.

See at Flipkart

Why the Huawei Mate 9 is severely underrated

The Huawei Mate 9 slipped between the cracks of high-end U.S. releases in late 2016, but I’m here to tell you that, in 2017, you should give it a look.

I’ve used a lot of phones in the past year, and one device continues to age better than most: the Huawei Mate 9.

For me, the phone kind of came out of nowhere: it was my first interaction with Huawei’s flagship lineup, after having suffered through the middling performance and aging software aesthetic of the Honor 5X, and the Mate 9 came out swinging. You can read more about the phone in our review, but the thing that I can’t say seven months later about every phone I review is that everything holds up.

Pretty much everything is great except the low-light camera performance.

From the screaming performance of the phone’s Kirin 960 chip to the seemingly-everlasting battery life, the Mate 9 impresses as much today as it did in December. Perhaps even more so, actually, given the relatively frequent software updates that cleared up some performance issues and software inconsistencies.

Truly, the one thing that irked me, and continues to do so to some extent, about the Mate 9 is the camera. Not that it’s bad, because it’s not, but it is easily outperformed in low light by newer devices. Even the separate-but-equal P10 and P10 Plus seem to be a better job in darker situations. But that hasn’t stopped Huawei from issuing a bunch of updates to improve how the camera reacts to particular situations, and while I can’t say the results are night-and-day improved, they’re certainly better.

But I’m not the only one who loves the Mate 9 all these months later. In our forum, people continue to praise the phone for its great value-to-performance ratio:

DamianP
05-22-2017 08:00 AM

“

I got the Mate 9 back in Feb and used it as a daily driver for a while and switched to a pixel XL, and LG G6. Ultimately I came back to the Mate 9 for a few specific reasons that are important to me.

1. Radio – it’s incredibly strong. It’s typically 4-10 db better than my G6 in the same location. I haven’t found a phone that I have used that’s better. I have been carrying both the G6 and…

Reply

All of this poster’s points are true: the phone does have a great, bright screen despite its relatively low pixel density — something that I don’t notice at all during day-to-day use. The battery is astoundingly good, and that Huawei fit a 4000mAh cell inside this slim and almost single hand-friendly chassis is amazing. And the black-and-white secondary sensor is one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had with a camera phone in years.

Gayle Lynn
07-05-2017 01:47 PM

“

5 hrs sot and 70% left. How many phones can do that?

5.8″ screen real estate. Would love to see more but hey.

There were 4 updates. Bought it Jan 5th from Amazon. So yes it does.
Would like to see 7.11 and EMUI 5.1 but at least seems to get essential security update.

Wickedly fast fps.

Paying is more reliable fast and easy without even installed Android Pay, even than iPhone 6S…

Reply

The phone also posts battery numbers that are really hard to account for by any other device except, perhaps, the original Moto Z Play.

And though the form factor does seem a bit wide when placed next to the Samsung Galaxy S8+, the perfect placement of the rear fingerprint sensor and high-quality aluminum chassis more than makes up for it in my opinion. Huawei also arguably got on board the slim bezel train before LG debuted the G6 four months later, since despite retaining a 16:9 screen aspect ratio there are barely any bezels on the sides of the LCD panel, and the ones above the screen are impressively tiny.

You may want to wait for the Mate 10, but if you need a great unlocked phone right now, you should consider the Mate 9.

With the Mate 10 approaching in October or November, normally recommending this phone would be a cautionary tale, but with its frequent discounts to under $500 on Amazon, its primary sales channel in the U.S., I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the phone right now. Huawei has already committed to an Android 8.0 update, though it’s pretty slow on the trigger in general, and the Kirin 960 chip inside the phone is actually faster in many respects than the much-newer Snapdragon 835, for what it’s worth. I wouldn’t pay its MSRP of $599, but even its current-as-of-writing price of just under $550 is a pretty great deal.

See at Amazon