OnePlus would prefer you use the OnePlus 5 with your eyes closed

Don’t look too hard.

I feel for OnePlus these days, despite the opaqueness with which it is approaching the latest not-scandal involving the OnePlus 5. Almost immediately after launching in late June, some people began noticing a “jelly” effect on the phone’s Optic AMOLED display while quickly scrolling through the phone’s various screens, such as on a web page or a Twitter feed.

OnePlus acknowledged the visual curiosity, but said in a quote to Android Central and other outlets that all was functioning normally:

The OnePlus 5 uses the same level of high-quality components as all OnePlus devices, including the AMOLED display. We’ve received feedback from a small number of users saying that at times they notice a subtle visual effect when scrolling. This is natural and there’s no variance in screens between devices.

XDA-Developers, for its part, began perpetuating a theory that due to a lack of space near the top of the phone’s housing, thanks to its newly-installed dual camera system, the AMOLED display was actually inverted, which causes this “jelly” effect. OnePlus denies that this is a problem, and has instructed its customer service representatives to reinforce that claim at every opportunity.

This is one typical response:

This is natural and there’s no variance in screens between devices. 3/3

— OnePlus Support (@OnePlus_Support) July 2, 2017

But more recently, one OnePlus CSR gave a bit of a different angle to the story.

The screen so called jelly effect is caused by the user’ eyes persistence of vision (visual staying phenomenon or duration of vision).

— OnePlus Support (@OnePlus_Support) July 6, 2017

Indeed, what the person is implying is that it is not the screen, but our perception of the screen — nay, our physiological makeup entirely! — that is to blame here. In other words, you better get used to “seeing” the OnePlus 5 with your eyes closed. 😂

(Or, more likely, it is a poor translation and we shouldn’t take it, or this post, seriously. Just use your OnePlus 5 and love it, k?)

Happy Friday, y’all!

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Google News & Weather app gets a Material redesign and some spitshine

Good news for Google News (& Weather)!

This week’s app update has given Google News & Weather an update that lets it better match the Google News website and better match other Google apps like Google Now and Google Home, brightening things up and cleaning the busy sections drawer a little. It’s not a huge overhaul, but it is a welcoming to see Google updating apps for consistency.

The new update does add a little more blank space to the layout, and it adds a tabbed nav bar at the bottom of the screen for easily switching between Headlines, Local, and For You. This bar matches recent updates to YouTube, though things here are significantly less crowded. The hamburger menu for Google News & Weather has also thinned out dramatically, consolidating from every news section you may or may not use to a much shorter section list. Shortening this list up also puts the dark theme toggle in easy reach. (Yay dark theme!)

The app update is rolling out to everyone at Google’s usual leisurely pace, so don’t be surprised if it’s not waiting in Google Play this morning, but it’ll come to everyone in due time.

Best Accessories For HTC U11

You have the phone, now gear it up with some accessories.

You may have some accessories from a prior phone that work with your HTC U11, but chances are you’ll need at least a couple to address this phone in particular. When you’re looking for everything to gear up your U11, start with this list and get the essentials before heading anywhere else.

Aukey dual USB port Quick Charge 3.0 car charger

You get a Quick Charge wall socket in your U11’s box, but if you don’t yet have a car charger with the newer fast charging tech you’ll want to snag one for topping up on the go. Aukey sells a sweet little car charger that can actually charge two phones at once using Quick Charge 3.0, giving you extra possibilities.

The USB ports are obviously backward compatible to previous Quick Charge versions, or will charge up non-Quick Charge phones at standard USB rates. A solid deal for $20, especially considering how long you’ll be able to keep it in your car and use it with future phones.

See at Amazon

Anker PowerCore Speed Quick Charge 3 10,000mAh battery

Just like the car charger, if you’re getting a new portable battery to use with your U11 you’ll want to get one that can charge it as fast as possible. Quick Charge 3.0 comes in batteries, too, and Anker makes an awesome battery to use with your U11 or any other phone. The PowerCore Speed battery has 10,000mAh in capacity — which is enough for over two full charges of the U11 — but stays super compact because it only offers one USB output.

There are bigger batteries and ones with many more USB ports or extra features, but if you need something that’s compact, easy to carry around and will charge your U11 quickly, this is a great choice at just $35.

See at Amazon

LG Tone Ultra HBS-820 Wireless headphones

Without a headphone jack on the U11, there’s a good chance that you’d prefer using Bluetooth most of the time rather than carrying around the USB-C to 3.5 mm headphone dongle. You can find Bluetooth headphones of just about every style, size and price, so we’ve picked a pair that are very middle-of-the-road and won’t set you back too much — the LG Tone Ultra HBS-820.

You may not be the “neckbud” type, but they do have a nice balance of comfort, size, sound and battery life that save you from having big over-ear headphones or always-dead little earbuds. LG’s been one of the leaders in this category for a while, and when it comes to an all-around set of neckbuds these are great. Give the LG Tone Ultra a look — at under $75 they’re a good value if you like the form factor.

See at Amazon

Spigen Liquid Crystal HTC U11 Case

The U11 comes with a case in the box, but it’s extremely basic and gets roughed up very quickly. If you want a case that you can actually use regularly for protecting your phone, you should pick something else up. This Spigen Liquid Crystal case is thin and clear just like the case that comes in the box, but shouldn’t get scratched up in the same way and will actually protect the sides of the phones as well. Even though it covers the sides this case won’t hinder your ability to use the Edge Sense squeeze feature on the U11.

Going with a clear case lets you show off that awesome glass back of your U11 while also keeping it protected — whether you use the case every day or just when you expect it to get bumped around. And it’ll only set you back $11.

See at Amazon

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Keep all your gear charged no matter what with these RavPower deals

Amazon’s Gold Box deals of the day includes a selection of RavPower gear on sale. The items on sale include a 6-port quick charge hub, a portable battery pack, and a 5-pack of micro USB cables.

The 6-port Quick Charge hub is down to $22.99 with this deal. That’s a drop of about $12 from its normal $35 price. This hub has 60W of power and comes with lifetime warranty. The top port is a QuickCharge 3.0 port that can charge at a much faster rate. The whole thing sits nicely on your desktop and can keep your phone, tablet and computer charged up at once.

RavPower’s battery pack is down to $39.99 from its normal price of $55. This thing has a lot of juice with 26800mAh. It also has three ports so you can charge multiple devices at the same time. It only takes 13 hours to get completely ready to go and can charge your phone for nine days.

This 5-pack of micro USB cables is on sale for $10.39. It normally sells around $13. The pack comes in several assorted sizes: one 1 ft, two 3 ft, one 6 ft, and one 10 ft. That’s a cable for pretty much every situation. Put one or two in your car, keep one by your bed, and stick the extra long one in that hard-to-reach power strip behind your desk. Never go into a room without the ability to charge your stuff.

See at Amazon

Prime Day 2017 is coming! Follow along with our live blog to discover the best deals first!

US military will finally start encrypting soldiers’ emails

You’d think the military’s email service mail.mil would be more secure than Gmail and other free alternatives, but that’s apparently not the case. A Motherboard investigation in 2015 revealed that while it does have systems in place to protect classified messages, it doesn’t even use STARTTLS — a 15-year-old encryption technology that prevents emails from being intercepted in transit. That exposes unclassified emails to surveillance and leaves them vulnerable as they make their way to recipients. Now, after getting a lot of flak over the lack of security, Pentagon says it will finally start encrypting soldiers’ emails… but not until July 2018.

See, Gizmodo discovered that the military’s email service doesn’t use STARTTLS, because it would prevent the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) from screening each message for malware, phishing attempts and exploits. A letter from DISA, which oversees the military’s emails, says its detection methods developed using national level intelligence “would be rendered ineffective if STARTTLS were enabled.” To be able to implement the technology and make it a default feature, it would have to migrate to a “new email gateway infrastructure,” and migration won’t be done until July next year.

DISA has revealed its plans to migrate the military’s email service in a letter addressed to Senator Ron Wyden, who questioned the agency for not using a “basic, widely used, easily enabled cybersecurity technology.” Wyden said in a statement that the move is definitely a step in the right direction, but he’s also pretty unhappy that it’ll take DISA a year to migrate. “Protecting the communications of American servicemen and women should be a priority,” he said, “so I hope the agency accelerates its timeline.”

Source: Gizmodo, Motherboard

Touch-friendly controls are coming to Chrome OS

Google’s lightweight Chrome OS was never intended for touch, but that didn’t stop the likes of Samsung and Acer creating touch-enabled Chromebooks. It probably helped that the OS was set to receive access to millions of Android apps. All that was left was to put those touch displays to good use. And, the updated launcher for Chrome Canary (the experimental iteration) is a sign of things to come.

As you can see in the video, the new touch-friendly launcher sits at the bottom of the screen with just the Google search bar and suggested apps visible. From there, you can swipe up to reveal all your apps. Additionally, you can tap to use the voice search function, which will open your request in a new Chrome window.

Canary comes with the latest, untested features — meaning it can also be pretty buggy — and runs alongside the regular Chrome. If you’re one of those people that’s interested in the code behind new builds, you can find that here.

Source: François Beaufort (Google Plus)

Soon you’ll be able to gift ‘Forza’ to Xbox friends

What could be better than firing up your Xbox One and discovering a new game? Unless you went on a bender and forgot, that scenario was never likely because you can’t be gifted games on that console (or the PS4, for that matter). Microsoft appears ready to change that, however, judging by a tweet from VP Mike Ybarra. In response to the query, “How far off are we from getting the ability to gift a new purchase for a friend?” He tweeted “Not far!”

Not far!

— Mike Ybarra (@XboxQwik) July 6, 2017

To be frank, this seems like a no-brainer for console-makers, giving them an easy way to boost sales. As Steam discovered with its Gift program, however, it’s not that simple, because sometimes there are massive game price differences between regions. If Microsoft didn’t account for that, you could dodge taxes or high pricing just by having a friend send you the game.

Nevertheless, the feature is in high demand, judging by the number of votes on a request in the Xbox forums. Ybarra didn’t say exactly when it would come, but normally features follow fairly quickly when a Microsoft executive tweets something. If you can’t wait, don’t forget that you can already buy Xbox Gift Cards in your local currency and do the gifting that way. That’s not quite as nice as finding someone that perfect game, but it’ll have to do for now.

Source: Mike Ybarra (Twitter)

Tesla is building world’s largest backup battery in Australia

After blackouts left 1.7 million residents without electricity, Elon Musk famously guaranteed that Tesla could supply 100 megawatts of battery storage in 100 days. The company has announced it will do just that, supplying a Powerpack battery storage system that can run over 30,000 homes. The 100-megawatt project “will be the highest power battery system in the world by a factor of three,” tweeted CEO Elon Musk. It will back up the 315 megawatt Hornsdale Wind Farm, charging during low energy usage and providing electricity for peak hours.

Though the company seemed destined to get the job, the South Australian government picked it after a “competitive bidding process,” Tesla said. It added that the size of the system will be enough to cover the 30,000 or so homes in the region that were affected by blackouts.

Tesla’s Powerpack battery storage system (AOL/Roberto Baldwin)

Those power outages set off a political conflagration that culminated in a very testy press conference with South Australia’s Premier and the Federal Environment Minister. Shortly afterwards, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull unveiled a $1.5 billion plan to expand the power grid to run an additional 500,000 homes, including backup battery storage.

That was when Tesla Energy head Lyndon Rive stepped in and made his “100 megawatts in 100 days” pledge, and (his cousin) Musk upping the ante by promising the system would be free if they didn’t achieve the goal.

Musk confirmed that he’d keep the promise, telling Australia’s ABC News that “if South Australia is willing to take a big risk, then so are we.” The 100 day pledge reportedly begins once the grid interconnection agreement is inked, and Musk estimates that it will cost him “probably $50 million or more” if the installation isn’t completed in time.

This will be the highest power battery system in the world by a factor of 3. Australia rocks!! https://t.co/c1DD7xtC90

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 7, 2017

Via: Elon Musk (Twitter)

Source: Tesla

TV shopping giants QVC and HSN merge to take on Amazon

QVC is combining with its rival Home Shopping Network (HSN) in a deal worth $2.1 billion. The move is the latest indication that TV shopping channels are feeling the strain from online giants, such as Amazon.

QVC, which already owned a 38 percent stake in HSN, claims the merger will boost revenues for both companies. In the face of falling ratings and declining sales, the two brands will now focus on “evolving” to fit today’s retail and digital environment.

The reasoning behind this shift is a no-brainer: online shopping has overtaken traditional retail. And Amazon’s unstoppable rise, in particular, has left retailers scrambling to keep up. Some (like American Apparel and J. Crew) have either gone bankrupt or suffered devastating losses. While others (like Walmart and Target) are trying to ape Amazon’s delivery perks.

Although Amazon’s recent innovations (the Echo and Prime included) have generally been hits, it’s one misstep came when it tried to emulate the likes of QVC. Last year, the online retailer launched a live show called Style Code Live in an attempt to bridge its on-demand video service with its shopping site. Amazon was hoping to entice a younger crowd to make impulse buys like their parents did during QVC’s glory days. Like TV shopping channels, Style Code Live even incorporated celebrity guests in a bid to attract more viewers. However, the show turned out to be a rare misfire and Amazon abruptly canceled it in May of this year.

Via: The New York Times

Source: Liberty Interactive Corp.

Google launches a company to make geothermal heating affordable

A secret project that started in the labs of X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory previously known as “Google X,” is now a standalone company called “Dandelion.” According to its website, Dandelion aims to make geothermal heating and cooling systems more accessible and affordable, since they’re pretty expensive compared to their alternatives. In a statement about the company’s launch, Dandelion chief Kathy Hannun said that they started the project, because they “knew if installing a geothermal heat pump was a simpler and more affordable process… homeowners would have access to a better product that’s also better for the climate.”

A geothermal system includes a heat pump placed inside your house and pipes called “ground or earth loops” buried underground. National Geographic has a detailed write-up of how the technology works, but simply put, when it’s hot inside your house, the pump absorbs the heat and dumps it into the earth. In the winter, it absorbs heat from the ground and pipes it into your home instead. That’s made possible by the fact that the temperature underground remains relatively constant all throughout the year.

Unlike Waymo, another X spinoff that’s operating under Alphabet, Dandelion will run independently outside the tech titan’s umbrella of companies. It’s now accepting inquiries from interested homeowners, starting with those located in upstate New York — just type in your ZIP code on its website to find out if your area is already covered.

Via: Business Insider

Source: Dandelion (1), (2)