New Alphabet venture Dandelion wants to heat your home with geothermal energy

Why it matters to you

We’ve heard plenty about using solar or wind energy in our homes, but less attention has been paid to geothermal energy. Until now.

Google has a new sibling in its Alphabet family, and its name is Dandelion. The latest venture to be spun out of Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory (where employees work on ambitious ventures like balloon-based Project Loon), Dandelion focuses on geothermal heating and cooling for homes, and became its own company on July 6.

According to its new website, Dandelion’s mission is to replace homeowners’ existing heating, cooling, and hot water equipment with a geothermal system that harvests energy from under their yards. The idea is to use a heat pump and subterranean pipes to transport heat from the earth to your home. In fact, these pipes will extend 300-500 feet beneath the Earth’s surface, where temperatures are almost always at about 50 degree Fahrenheit. Another pump at ground level moves water through these U-shaped pipes, and a heat pump exchanges warm for cold air (or vice versa) when needed.

But why would someone be motivated enough to install such a system of tubes beneath their home? According to Dandelion, it just makes financial sense.

“With zero down financing and low, predictable monthly payments, you can start saving on your heating and cooling bills from day one,” the company notes on its website. Furthermore, you’ll certainly be doing the planet a favor, as geothermal energy is certainly a renewable resource and is apparently more than three times as efficient than traditional heating and cooling systems. Finally, Dandelion notes that its new system is “quiet, clean, and includes a smart thermostat so you can keep your home comfortable year-round.”

Currently, Dandelion is only available in upstate New York, though its seems safe to assume that the company will soon be expanding its service areas. If you happen to live in a part of the country where Dandelion is already around, getting started requires all of three steps. First, customers are asked to undergo a free home assessment, which involves chatting with an expert to determine whether or not the solution will work for your particular situation. Then, a team member visits your home, designs the geothermal system, and schedules the actual installation. Finally, installation is handled by a local installer, and Dandelion says it typically takes two to three days. The system is currently slated to cost around $20,000.

The master decryption key for the Petya ransomware can’t help NotPetya victims

Why it matters to you

While this master decryption key is incapable of helping NotPetya victims, it can be used for those who were originally affected by Petya and removed their storage for future decryption.

The developer behind the original Petya ransomware has provided a tool to help minimize the damage inflicted on infected PCs. It is in the form of a master decryption key to release the files held hostage by the ransomware. However, after close examination, it is incapable of unlocking PCs seized by the recent NotPetya “destruction-ware” epidemic.

Originally, the Petya ransomware was not designed to lock down an entire PC for ransom, but just specific files. It must be downloaded by the user and remains on the victim’s PC to encrypt files and demand money for a decryption key. There are two other non-destructive variants of Petya as well including one called GoldenEye.

However, NotPetya surfaced weeks ago using the Petya ransomware as a weapon. It is capable of hopping from PC to PC across the network using an exploit called EternalBlue, which Microsoft actually patched prior to the outbreak. That means businesses affected by NotPetya had yet to upgrade their machines, leaving them open to attack.

Once on a PC, NotPetya goes after the master boot record, thus overwriting the program that begins the Windows boot sequence. In turn, the table that keeps track of all files stored on the PC’s hard drive or solid-state disk is encrypted, making Windows unable to locate any file.

Once NotPetya encrypts a machine, it throws up a notice demanding money for the decryption key. In the early days, there was an account for receiving Bitcoin money from victims but that was quickly shut down. NotPetya continued to spread like wildfire with no way of regaining control of the infected machines.

However, on July 5, Janus Cybercrime Solutions jumped on Twitter and provided a link to a password-protected file located on a cloud-storage service. After cracking the password protection, researchers discovered it to be a master decryption key for the three versions of the Petya malware. They also realized that it has absolutely no effect on the current NotPetya epidemic.

Despite the key’s inability to unlock NotPetya-seized PCs, the master decryption key seemingly arrives too late. Petya and its variants mostly reined in 2016 and since then, victims have either paid the ransom or reformatted their PCs and reinstalled the software (which you should do from time to time anyway).

Even more, the master decryption key is not an out-of-the-box tool for anyone to use. Instead, it must be inserted into a stand-alone decrypter application. If anything, this master decryption key will help speed up current methods of recovering files encrypted by the Petya ransomware. This should come in handy for victims who may have replaced their PC’s entire storage unit and still have the drive on hand for future decryption.

Ultimately, this is bad news for NotPetya victims. Right now, the destruction-ware is seemingly locked down to the enterprise and business sectors, but that does not mean it will not jump ship into the mainstream waters. Make sure your version of Windows is up to date and follow our steps right here to prevent infection.

The answer to more efficient solar panels? Invisibility cloaks, apparently

Why it matters to you

In time, invisibility-cloaked solar panels could save you serious money on your electric bill.

When you think about ways to save money on your household electricity bill, there can’t be too many more eye-catching concepts that a solar panel invisibility cloak. That’s exactly what researchers at Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have demonstrated with a new prototype solar panel that is approximately 9 percent more efficient than regular solar panels.

“Many types of solar cells have so-called ‘contact fingers’ on their front side: tiny metallic strips that help to conduct the electrons that the solar cell generates when illuminated,” researcher Martin Schumann told Digital Trends. “Without these contact fingers, their efficiency would be reduced, because the electrons cannot get to the external contact as easily.”

From an electrical point of view, these contact fingers are necessary for high-efficiency solar panels. However, they also reflect a part of the incoming light in the same way that any metal object would do. This effect is known as contact finger shadowing, and means that less current is generated by the panel because the contact fingers partially block the light reaching the cell.

“We wanted to find a way to keep the contact fingers, but make them invisible, so that the solar cell can have low series resistance and no contact finger shadowing at the same time,” Schumann continued. “We have achieved this by adding a polymer layer with a carefully designed surface to a solar cell with contact fingers. This layer works similar to a lens: it refracts the incoming light. Its surface is designed [so] as to distribute the incoming light evenly between the contact fingers, so all the incoming light reaches the solar cell and none of it is reflected off the contact fingers anymore.”

In this way, the team was able to increase the panel’s efficiency by up to 9 percent. The work is described in a paper published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.

Sadly, you’ll have to wait a bit longer before the technology is commercialized. “The purpose of our research was to demonstrate that our approach can increase the efficiency of a solar cell,” Schumann said. “All the experiments were done on a lab scale, [using] cm²-sized solar cells. We can think of several challenges that have to be addressed when going to larger solar cells or even modules with sizes up to square meters. This will have to be the subject of future research.”

Hey, when it comes to cool uses of invisibility technology, we can’t help but think that saving us money on our bills has to rank pretty darn highly. Even if we’ll always have a soft spot for the dream of invisibly creeping around Hogwarts, Harry Potter style!

Apple reportedly moves near Imagination Technologies’ headquarters in the U.K.

Why it matters to you

With the new office space, plans might actually be in motion for Apple to include its own graphics chip on future Apple devices.

After what has already been an ongoing dispute between Imagination Technologies and Apple, the two companies have actually become closer — in proximity, that is. Apple is reportedly renting out office space in the U.K city of St. Albans, only miles from Imagination headquarters, The Telegraph reports.

Apple will use the 22,500 square-foot space to develop its own graphics technology after speculations surfaced in April that the company was going to replace the PowerVR GPU designed by Imagination Technologies. This GPU was used in various Apple mobile devices including the Apple iPhone and the iPad.

After confirming the news in June that it was in dispute with Apple, Imagination Technologies announced it was officially up for sale and already in contact with potential buyers. Finding another buyer is the company’s next best chance for survival after losing 70 percent of its value when information of Apple sourcing GPU components elsewhere emerged.

Now that Apple has moved in so closely to the microchip company, there are supposedly fears that Apple will try and recruit Imagination Technologies’ own staff. Apple has already posted corporate graphics-related job openings on its site in the same region where St. Albans is located, Apple Insider noted.

However, Imagination Technologies is certain Apple will not have its plans carried out so easily. Imagination claimed Apple will not be able to create new graphics technology without infringing on intellectual property, patents, and information previously shared. This caused both companies to further argue the timeline of events with Imagination seeming surprised by Apple cutting ties.

In response, Apple, in a statement to Bloomberg, said that Imagination was already informed in 2015 that it would no longer be purchasing the company’s latest technology. While Imagination Technologies claim it was only informed in March, Apple said it discussed matters such as licensing agreements as early as February in an effort to give as much notice as possible.

While this does not seem like a clean break, Apple’s plans to create its own graphics processor will give the company far more control over all the elements that make up its devices. It will also be essential for keeping up with its grand future plans for augmented reality.

Learn all about digital marketing in 2017 for only $19

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OnePlus 5 review: A second opinion

OnePlus’s latest is the fastest phone out there right now. And despite some reservations around its highly finicky camera setup, it’s hard not to recommend for the price.

Contrary to its marketing mantra, picking up a OnePlus phone has always involved “settling” in some way or other. When the very highest of the high-end sell for almost twice the price of the company’s latest, something’s got to give.

What’s more important is the question of whether the OnePlus makes the right compromises: Whether corners are cut and savings are made in a way that makes sense, or whether vanity specs are pushed at the expense of the day-to-day user experience.

The OnePlus 5 is a mix of both good and bad compromises. It’s not a home run, and there’s still room for improvement on the software side, particularly when it comes to the (somewhat controversial) camera setup. Overall, though, this is still a fantastic phone, and one I’m going to be sticking with for a while.

Read on to find out why.

I don’t completely buy into the idea that the OnePlus 5 is a straight iPhone 7 Plus rip-off. Sure, it’s similar. And OnePlus does itself no favors when it publishes side-by-side images like this on its own Instagram account, but the reality of using and holding a OnePlus 5 is nothing like the feel of an iPhone.

If anything, the OnePlus 5 is better described as a slightly nicer OnePlus 3T. That’s not the most flowery description you’ll hear of a phone. But let’s face it, this isn’t the most interesting-looking phone out there. Countless other Chinese handsets — including the R11 from OnePlus’s sister company Oppo — have been pushing this “almost an iPhone but not quite” look over the past year.

What the OnePlus 5 lacks in pizzazz it makes up for in ergonomics and svelte proportions.

What the OnePlus 5 lacks in pizzazz it makes up for in ergonomics and svelte proportions. The overall footprint is slightly smaller than the 3T, and the chassis more curvy. Despite the presence of actual bezels sandwiching in the 5.5-inch display, it’s still pretty compact for a 5.5-incher.

That panel itself hasn’t changed from last year — same 1080p Optic AMOLED, and it still works pretty well in most conditions, though auto-brightness tends towards darker levels than I’d like indoors. Daylight visibility is fine, but not exceptional, and you have to imagine if a mid-cycle refresh is coming later in the year (OnePlus isn’t saying, for what it’s worth), the screen would be one obvious area to upgrade.

For now, though, it’s fine. It’s no GS8, but I’m not about to gouge my eyes out anytime soon.

The one major area of controversy around the display — the so-called jelly scrolling is something that hasn’t bothered me at all during my time with the phone. I don’t notice the effect unless I really, really go looking for it. And even when I do, it’s so subtle as to not be bothersome at all. For some people it’ll be a deal-breaker; I’m one of the few who can notice it occasionally, but have a hard time caring about it.

The same mixed praise applies to the loudspeaker — plenty loud, but also tinny as a can of digestives, and certainly no HTC BoomSound Hi-Fi. For what it’s worth, the Snapdragon 835’s integrated DAC ensures the OnePlus 5’s output sounds great when paired with a decent set of studio headphones, providing more than sufficient oomph. Bluetooth audio support was also flawless, and for what it’s worth the 5 also supports Bluetooth 5 for additional future-proofing.

8GB of RAM won’t help you out — but 128GB of storage might.

On the subject of future-proofing, how about those eight gigabytes of RAM? This is what I’ll call a pure vanity spec. In 2017, there’s no practical utility for this much memory — especially when there’s also a 6GB version which runs just as fast. OnePlus is doing it to show off, and that’s fine. But if you opt for the higher-specced, higher-priced OnePlus 5, do so because of the extra storage — 128GB in total — and not because you expect a DVD and a half’s worth of RAM to get you anywhere.

Qualcomm’s very latest Snapdragon 835 is running the show here, powering an incredibly fast software experience in OxygenOS 4.5. The OnePlus 5’s absolutely screaming performance is a team effort of hardware and software, of course, but it strikes me that it’s software tuning more than anything that makes this the fastest smartphone I’ve ever used. (And I’ve used every major smartphone for the past six years.) Everything from the flawless scrolling speed (jelly jokes aside), superior app load times and top-class gaming performance is industry-leading.

And OnePlus’s software continues to play host to dozens of useful little tweaks and customizations atop a clean, near-stock Android 7.1.1 interface. You’ll have to go digging in the settings to find them all, but there’s a mess of different gestures you can enable to launch the camera, take a screenshot or control your music. The alert slider makes a welcome return too, giving you an easy way to silence distractions while you sleep, or take in a movie.

OxygenOS 4.5 is the fastest smartphone software I’ve ever used.

I also want to single out OnePlus’s ambient display and tap-to-wake features for praise. These features combine the best parts of Android 7.0 and 8.0’s ambient notification features to provide glanceable info when you want it, but without the accidental triggers I’ve come to hate on the Google Pixel.

Speaking of Google’s phones, OnePlus’s launcher has inherited some Pixel traits, keeping around the (marginally useful) widget deck, but implementing a swipe-up app drawer, in addition to the hefty loadout of customization features that debuted on the OnePlus 3 and 3T.

Bottom line: If you value raw speed and appreciate the look and feel of stock Android, you’ll absolutely love OxygenOS on the OnePlus 5.

The OnePlus 5’s dual camera setup is also lightning-quick — fast to launch, with instant captures and zero shutter lag to boot. But image quality is kind of a mixed bag right now, and my working theory is that there’s still some work to be done on the software side.

The 5’s camera is identical to those of the Oppo R11, combining a 16-megapixel f/1.7 standard camera with a 20-megapixel telephoto camera with f/2.6 aperture. Neither has OIS, which in my view is the most problematic thing about this camera setup.

Even after a handful of software updates, the OnePlus 5’s camera feels a little half-baked.

For the most part, I’ve been pleased with the photos the OnePlus 5 has been able to capture. In particular, the telephoto lens is a fun way to re-frame outdoor shots without relying on digital zoom. (Though the portrait mode, I’ve discovered, is rather useless at detecting depth, with the fake bokeh effect often overlapping with the subject.) In darker conditions, the phone automatically switches to a digitally zoomed crop from the main sensor, with its brighter lens.

Low-light performance is decent, with ample color detail being retained and photos appearing less noisy than contemporaries like the Honor 9. But the OnePlus 5’s aggressive noise reduction can cause fine detail in night shots to be totally obliterated.

That’s par for the course in a smartphone camera at this price point.

However the most problematic thing about the OnePlus 5’s camera performance is how much subtle hand motion will affect daylight shots. Even in photos taken on bright sunny days, there’ll be noticeable loss of detail and even occasional ghosting in handheld photos, regardless of whether you’re using Auto HDR mode, or HQ mode, which is designed to improve fine detail capture.

This is exactly the reason why most high-end phone cameras now include optical stabilization, and it’s a real shame that this feature didn’t make the cut on the OnePlus 5. The more sensible decision, I feel, would have been to just put that camera budget into one really good shooter. Instead, we have two cameras that, right now, feel a bit half-assed.

Of course software should also be able to mitigate this issue, by taking faster exposures at higher ISO levels — which is one of the reasons why I think some extra software tuning needs to be done here. For what it’s worth, AC India Editor Harish Jonnalagadda tells me the OnePlus 5’s sister phone, the Oppo R11, often takes better photos than the 5. That’s significant considering the weaker internal hardware of the R11, and suggests OnePlus may be able to make up some ground with future software updates.

Rounding out the spec sheet is a 3,300mAh battery, which has served me well over the past couple of weeks, routinely getting me through a full day’s use with between four and five hours of screen-on time throughout heavier days of around 14 hours.

I’ve quickly fallen back in love with Dash Charge.

The OnePlus 5 isn’t really a multi-day phone, but with Dash Charge at its disposal it doesn’t need to be. The fast, fast, fast fast-charging tech makes a return, unchanged from the OnePlus 3 and 3T, refilling to around the halfway mark in around half an hour. (That’s markedly faster than just about everything right now, with the exception of Huawei’s SuperCharge.)

One minor side note on battery performance: On a couple of occasions I noticed the Android OS process would wakelock the phone overnight, leading to quicker battery drain than expected. I haven’t been able to track down the cause of the problem, but a reboot seemed to set things right.

Overall, then, I’m generally pleased with the OnePlus 5, though I’d question the focus on vanity specs like 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage over features increasingly seen as table stakes in the high-end world, like water resistance and a bright 2K display. (Hell, I’d trade that extra 2GB of RAM for OIS in the camera any day.)

You can’t do everything when you’re selling a phone for less than $500, though. And I feel that despite these price constraints, OnePlus has done a fantastic job, creating a phone that’s worthy of praise, your money and — for the foreseeable future — my SIM card.

OnePlus 5

• Complete OnePlus 5 review
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• Which OnePlus 5 model should you buy?
• Camera comparison: OnePlus 5 vs. Galaxy S8
• The latest OnePlus 5 news
• Join the discussion in the forums

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Wileyfox cuts the price of Swift 2 X and Spark X for Prime Day in the UK

The Swift 2 X and Spark X by Wilefox are currently on sale for Amazon Prime Day. In the UK, the company has discounted the two already affordable smartphones, slashing the asking prices down to £149.99 and £114.90, respectively.

Wileyfox Swift 2 X

The Swift 2 X is the company’s most recently released flagship offering, sporting Android Nougat and some fairly solid specifications for the asking price. Available in both Midnight and Gold options, this handset features a 1080p display with a 16MP main shooter, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, and a 3010mAh battery. There’s even a fingerprint reader for added security.

See at Amazon

Wilefox Spark X

The Spark X is a super-affordable smartphone from Wileyfox that hovers around the £100 mark. A 13MP main camera is joined by 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a 3000mAh battery. Priced even more aggressively today thanks to Amazon Prime this handset looks even more enticing for those who wish to pick up a decent device without spending too much at all.

See at Amazon

It’s worth noting that you’ll need to have an active Prime membership in order to take advantage of these deals.

Check out other deals for Prime Day!

Invite Alexa into your home for less with Prime Day in the UK

Amazon UK is replacing a few price tags today to help get Alexa into your home with discounts on the Echo and Echo Dot.

The Amazon Echo and Echo Dot are currently on sale for Prime Day UK. The online retail giant has slashed the prices of its connected hardware to £79 and £34, respectively. That’s a full 47 and 30 percent discount to introduce smart connectivity to the home.

The already affordable Amazon Echo Dot is now £34.99, but the highlight is the Amazon Echo, which sits at a super-reasonable £79.99. Both the white and black variants are included in this promotion, which will run until 11:45 p.m. GMT this evening.

See Echo at Amazon See Echo Dot at Amazon

As an added bonus, Amazon also discounted the Fire TV with Alexa voice remote by 25 percent, and will now set you back just £29.99.

See other enticing Amazon Prime Day deals!

Grab an Amazon Fire 7 tablet for just £29.99 today in the UK

You can save up to 40 percent on new Fire tablets with Amazon Prime Day!

The affordable Amazon Fire tablets are great options for those who wish to enjoy a portable experience without forking out on more expensive devices. To make these tablets even more appealing, Amazon has decided to drop the pricing for the Fire 7, Fire HD 8 and the Kids Editions for both devices as part of Prime Day. Check out the various Fire tablets on sale today:

• Amazon Fire 7 – £29.99 (40% off)
• Amazon Fire HD 8 – £49.99 (38% off)
• Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition – £69.99 (30% off)
• Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition – £89.99 (31% off)

And if you’re not a fan of Fire tablets, or happen to already own one, check out other deals that are currently running today with Prime Day!

Strap the Pokémon Go Plus to your wrist for just £34.99

Today is Amazon Prime Day and in the UK you can grab a Pokémon Go Plus today for just £34.99!

Pokémon Go took the world by storm when it released on Android and iOS, and if you’re still playing today (or are simply getting started) there’s a killer deal over at Amazon on the Pokémon Go Plus accessory for £34.99!

For those not familiar with Pokémon Go, the mobile game tasks players to catch ’em all in the real world by slinging Pokéballs at virtual Pokémon as they explore their surroundings. Pokémon Go Plus is an optional accessory for the game that connects to your phone over Bluetooth, alerting you to nearby game events and interact with the game without pulling out your phone.

Think of it as a more socially acceptable way of playing Pokémon Go. Catch not only the deal but new and intriguing Pokémon by picking up a Go Plus today!

See at Amazon

But if Pokemon isn’t your thing, fear not as there are plenty of other promotions currently underway over on Amazon. Check out the Prime Day page for more details!