Foxconn to build LCD panels in Wisconsin starting in 2020

Why it matters to you

Foxconn’s plant could bring 3,000 to 13,000 electronics manufacturing jobs to Wisconsin.

For the most part, electronics manufacturing is done outside of the U.S. One of President Trump’s campaign promises was to bring manufacturing to America, and while firms like Taiwanese giant Foxconn have talked about building more factories in the U.S., action has been limited. Now, however, it’s been announced that a $10 billion Foxconn plant is coming to the state of Wisconsin.

CNN reports that Foxconn made the announcement at the White House in Washington D.C., with CEO Terry Gou, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Vice President Mike Pence, and House Speaker Paul Ryan on hand and President Trump joining the group later. According to Walker, the plant will produce LCD panels and create 13,000 manufacturing jobs in the state when it comes on line in 2020.

In its own statement, Foxconn estimate that the factory will employ 3,000 with the “potential” to eventually create up to 13,000 positions.

This isn’t the first time that the company has announced plans to build a manufacturing facility in the U.S. The company announced a $30 million plant in Pennsylvania 2013 that hasn’t yet materialized, and shortly after President Trump took office, it also hinted at a $7 billion plant that could employ as many as 50,000 workers.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Wisconsin project will be funded in part through $3 billion in state tax incentives, which will need to be approved by the legislature. The incentive plan includes $1.5 billion in income tax credits for job creation, up to $150 million in sales tax exemptions for construction materials purchases, and $1.35 billion in capital investment income tax credits. The full incentive payout will depend on Foxconn investing the stated $10 billion, and creating 13,000 jobs with an average salary of almost $54,000.

Governor Walker anticipates the plant’s impact on Wisconsin to be significant, saying about the huge 1.6 million square mile facility, “We’ve named it Wiscon Valley. It could be very much like Silicon Valley.” House Speaker Ryan, who represents Wisconsin, was also excited about the announcement, saying, “One thing we know about this president is how committed he is to reviving American manufacturing and bringing jobs home. This right here shows actual results.”

Ultimately, Wisconsin beat out a number of other states for the plant, including Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, due in part to nearby Lake Michigan, which will be able to furnish water needed to keep the plant clean. The facility will help make up for the recent loss of a General Motors factory, and it will buttress the state’s 472,000 manufacturing jobs.

‘Close Encounters’ returns to theaters with a 4K remaster September 1st

Jaws wasn’t the last classic movie of legendary director Steven Spielberg’s to be remastered; Close Encounters of the Third Kind will get some modern love too. And best of all the 4K digital remaster is coming to theaters, too. Come September 1st you can experience one of Spielberg’s first movies about aliens the way it was intended: in a dark room full of both people and the smell of overpriced popcorn.

A little over two weeks later on September 19th, The Hollywood Reporter writes that you’ll be able to bring a portion of that experience home on both HD Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray. The first time the 1977 movie graced HD home video was back in 2007 for its 30th anniversary.

At the time, it was the best version available, but it still had some warts. There’s a lot of really aggressive noise in the transfer, for instance. As you can see in the trailer above, that looks like it’s been all but eliminated. With how good the recent Jaws remaster looks and sounds, I’ve got my fingers crossed the same will happen here. Oh, and a totally revamped Jurassic Park wouldn’t be bad either — especially when the picture and sound quality of Spielberg’s shark movie trounce that of his first Blu-ray dino adventure.

Other details are scant, but we should have more information ahead of September.

Source: Sony Picture Entertainment (YouTube)

Arrested Bitcoin exchange leader might be linked to Mt. Gox theft

Greek authorities arrested a leading member of the BTC-e Bitcoin exchange on suspicion of money laundering, though the ultimate charges haven’t been disclosed. That’s because the person in question — a Russian citizen named Alexander Vinnik — was detained at the request of US authorities, which suspect he laundered as much as $4 billion through the platform.

But Vinnik wasn’t potentially laundering just any cryptocurrency: Shortly after his arrest, Bitcoin security firm Wizsec released a report that claimed him as the prime suspect in the great Mt. Gox theft of 2014. You know, when that now-decrepit exchange platform lost almost half a billion dollars in customers’ Bitcoins? The report’s timeline claimed that a hacker broke into Mt. Gox’s files in 2011 and started skimming cryptocurrency from compromised keys — then started sending the Bitcoins to Vinnik. Those coins from Mt. Gox and other platforms were moved from his wallets to BTC-e, where they were laundered or sold off.

Meanwhile, Mt. Gox’s CEO Mark Karpeles, who was arrested in July 2015 as chief suspect in the theft, began his trial two weeks ago by pleading his innocence. It’s unclear at this point whether Vinnik’s arrest will end up factoring in to Karpeles’ trial.

And yet, the leading cryptocurrency continues to soldier on — and climb in value. It took barely a month after hitting the symbolic $2000-per-Bitcoin milestone back in May to reach $3000 for the first time on June 11th, according to CoinDesk. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission just approved LedgerX’s request to become the first federally-regulated digital options exchange based in the America.

Source: The Verge

Half of the matter around us comes from distant galaxies

For a long time, the prevailing theory of sources of matter was that it was mostly local; the atoms that make up our planet and our bodies were from pretty close by. But now, researchers at Northwestern University have cast doubt on this hypothesis. Their research indicates that up to half of the matter in the Milky Way comes from far-flung galaxies.

Their study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, used a supercomputer to simulate how galaxies are formed. They took a look at different sources of matter that would contribute to galaxy growth. Specifically, the team looked at the stars in our galaxy and determined where the matter that created them originated.

Their findings indicated that while the birth of stars fueled the growth of early galaxies, it was intergalactic transfer that was responsible for later increases in mass, primarily through galactic wind. “What this new mode implies is that up to one-half of the atoms around us — including in the solar system, on Earth and in each one of us — comes not from our own galaxy but from other galaxies, up to one million light-years away,” says Claude-André Faucher-Giguère, one of the authors of the article.

Galactic winds are fast-moving charged particles that are fueled by active galactic nuclei (more commonly known as supermassive black holes) and supernovae. They travel through intergalactic space at speeds of several hundred kilometers per second. Over billions of years, galactic wind has moved gas from far-flung galaxies to more local ones.

It’s always interesting to learn more about where we came from and how our universe formed, and thanks to this study, we now know the important role that galactic wind played in our origins. This study can also tell us more about the Big Bang itself. It’s a big step forward for theories about galaxy formation; the team hopes to further refine it by using the Hubble Space Telescope to test their simulated findings.

Source: Northwestern University, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

HTC’s first standalone Vive headset is only available in China

At long last, HTC has released a PC-free version of the Vive… only you probably won’t get to use it. The company has introduced a Vive Standalone headset that’s intended strictly for the Chinese market. China’s mobile space is red hot, HTC says, so it makes sense that to take advantage of this “momentum” with accessible VR hardware. It’s not clear just how well the self-contained Vive will compare to its PC-bound counterpart in some respects (such as display resolution and comfort), but HTC is clearly focused on portability and cost over raw power.

The Vive Standalone has a Snapdragon 835 under the hood, so you won’t get the same kind of visual fidelity that you would with the standard Vive and a powerful gaming rig. However, that also means you’re getting a relatively slick design that doesn’t need wires or a battery backpack just to operate for a reasonable amount of time. And of course, smartphone-level chips are considerably more affordable than high-end PC components.

You won’t need to hit up a Chinese exporter just to see what the fuss is about, as it is. Remember, HTC said it was making a standalone Daydream VR headset that it would release later this year — there’s not much point to importing this Vive Standalone when something like it is around the corner. That’s particularly true when the Daydream model will likely have a wider app selection, since the Chinese headset relies on HTC’s own Viveport store instead of Google’s shop. It’s just easy to be envious knowing that your Chinese friends might experience device-independent VR before you do.

Source: VivePort

AMD’s huge Radeon driver update might have GeForce fans green with envy

Why it matters to you

AMD’s new Radeon software suite enhances performance and adds new features, giving fans the improvements they’ve begged for.

On Wednesday, July 26, AMD released its latest Radeon driver update — Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.7.2. However, this isn’t your typical driver update, but rather a huge, feature-packed release not seen at this scale since the launch of AMD’s Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition brand at the end of 2016. There are a lot of additions and improvements with this release, but AMD decided to keep the extremely long name unchanged nonetheless.

With this version of AMD’s new Radeon software, the company focuses on three key areas: features, performance, and stability. For the features aspect, AMD said it streamlined the Radeon Settings interface by moving everything into a single panel. Now there are less clicks to make, plus AMD says the software also includes switchable graphics, and better control over pixel format and color depth.

Radeon ReLive

A major feature in the latest Radeon driver update is an upgrade to Radeon ReLive. As we’ve seen over the last six months, the company managed to hack away at the lengthy list of issues surrounding its game-streaming software since its launch, and reduce the issues down to just several. In the process, AMD increased the maximum recording bitrate to 100Mbps, up from 50Mbps, for a clearer broadcast. There’s also now a transparency option for the camera, so your mug doesn’t completely block all the action underneath.

If that wasn’t enough, AMD enhanced Radeon ReLive for better memory optimization while recording. For instance, AMD reports up to 33 percent less frames per second overhead in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. With v17.7.1 of the driver, the game had an average overhead of 6.3 frames per second. With the new Radeon driver update, the average overhead is only 4.2 frames per second. That essentially means AMD reduced amount of additional frames needed to render overlays while keeping the output at a steady framerate.

As for other Radeon ReLive enhancements, AMD refined the notification system, such as by adding an “Instant Replay Saving” card, a network connectivity issue card, and more. It now has advanced audio controls, too, such as customized microphone and volume levels, a microphone push-to-talk feature used by a mouse or keyboard, and an audio volume boost.

Radeon WattMan

Moving on from Radeon ReLive, the new Radeon drive update includes an updated Radeon WattMan utility. Here users can now underclock (slow down) the memory installed on Radeon graphics cards so they can safely overclock the system’s processor without affecting the PC’s stability and overall power usage. Radeon WattMan provides settings for controlling the GPU’s power states, too, for maximum performance or maximum power savings.

Radeon Chill

Radeon Chill, a power-saving feature that can dynamically regulate a game’s framerate based on in-game movement, now supports game profiles. The feature is now supported by more than 30 PC games to date, providing up to 31 percent less average GPU power in watts when playing World of Warcraft, and up to 13 percent lower average GPU temperatures in the same game. Other supporting titles include Prey, Quake Champions, Battlefield 1, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Resident Evil 7, and more.

However, the big news with Radeon Chill is that it now supports multi-GPU configurations, providing up to 29 percent lower average GPU power usage in watts in Overwatch. This feature also now supports external graphics cards relying on Radeon XConnect, and supports Radeon graphics in notebooks (integrated and discrete). According to AMD, this feature provides up to 30 percent longer laptop battery life while playing League of Legends at 1080p.

Backing Radeon Chill is a feature called Frame Rate Target Control. Serving as a means of power optimization, this feature promises a power savings of up to 26 percent when playing Battlefield 1 with DirectX 12 enabled. With the feature turned on, the game can still manage 60 frames per second while the GPU consumes only 150 watts of power. With the feature off, the GPU consumes 203 watts.

Enhanced Sync

This new feature isn’t meant to replace AMD’s FreeSync technology, but to provide a better viewing experience for those without a supporting display. It resides between VSync and FreeSync, providing deceased stutter and an occasional tearing at 60 frames per second on a 144Hz monitor. It also provides a low latency for minimal screen tearing at framerates of 150FPS or more.

For example, with VSync on, the response time can be around 128.8 milliseconds when the frame rate is higher than a panel’s refresh rate, causing minimal screen tearing. With Enhanced Sync, that response time speeds up to 84.7 milliseconds while still maintaining minimal screen tearing. If you turn VSync off, then the response time jumps up to 72.7 milliseconds, but you’ll see loads of annoying screen tearing. Adding to that, Enhanced Screen provides an even, low-stutter visual field when frame rates fall below the monitor’s refresh rate. With VSync enabled, the stuttering can be rough.

And on to the Backend

Finally, AMD did a lot of work on the backend, too. The company has increased the performance of its Radeon driver update since the launch of Crimson ReLive Edition, and increased the performance of games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Metro Last Light Redux running on Linux. AMD also figured out a way to speed up the load times of older PC games like StarCraft 2, and reduce the driver frame wait-times between the CPU’s command to draw a frame, and the GPU’s final rendered frame.

According to AMD, moving the mouse in Prey and seeing the resulting action on-screen takes a mere 100 milliseconds, down from 111 milliseconds in v17.7.1 of AMD’s Radeon driver software. Mass Effect: Andromeda is now at 114 milliseconds (down from 131 milliseconds), and Tom Clancy’s The Division is now at 112 milliseconds, down from 162 milliseconds. For Honor is now at 130 milliseconds, down from 146 milliseconds.

Another notable feature in AMD’s new Radeon driver update is a tool for developers called Radeon GPU Profiler. This tool enables low level, built-in hardware thread tracing, which previously was only served up to AMD’s console developers. This is good news for PC gamers because developers can now trace their code to specific hardware events to better squash bugs and optimize performance. Developers get a clear visualization of what’s going on through wave-based graphs.

New TSA security measure means your gadgets need their own private X-ray

Why it matters to you

You will notice some extra security measures the next time you travel, with more of your gadgets requiring their own X-ray scans.

Security in U.S. airports continues to get a great deal of attention, and electronic devices have been at the forefront of some recent security measures. Just a few months ago, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) required a number of airlines to prohibit carrying notebooks and other gadgets into the cabin, has since been rescinded. Now, the TSA has announced new security measures for many electronics.

The news comes via a TSA press release that outlines new policies and procedures regarding how electronics will be screened during the pre-flight check-in process. According to the new measures, all electronics larger than a cell phone must be placed in bins for X-ray scanning in the standard security lanes — similar to how laptops have been scanned for some time.

The measures were already being tested at 10 airports and the success of those initial pilots means that the TSA plans to expand the new measures to every U.S. airport. In addition, the TSA is working with airports and airlines to improve security measures at almost 280 airports in more than 100 countries.

If you traveled through any of the following airports recently, then you are already familiar with the new policy:

• Boise Airport (BOI)
• Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB)
• Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
• McCarran International Airport (LAS)
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

According to TSA Acting Administrator Huban A. Gowadia, “Whether you’re flying to, from, or within the United States, TSA is committed to raising the baseline for aviation security by strengthening the overall security of our commercial aviation network to keep flying as a safe option for everyone.”

The specific process outlined by the new policies mean that travelers will be required to remove electronics larger than cell phones from carry-on luggage and to place them in bins on the X-ray belt. To ensure a clear image, nothing can be placed on top of or underneath electronic devices. In addition, travelers may be subjected to additional bag checks.

Some of the devices that will be subject to the new measures include laptops, tablets, e-readers, and handheld game consoles. Otherwise, the usual restrictions on what can be brought through the checkpoints remain unchanged. Importantly, members of the TSA pre-check program are exempt from the new policies, and anyone looking to make their trip through airport security a little easier can always pick the right laptop bag to make accessing electronics a little easier.

New TSA security measure means your gadgets need their own private X-ray

Why it matters to you

You will notice some extra security measures the next time you travel, with more of your gadgets requiring their own X-ray scans.

Security in U.S. airports continues to get a great deal of attention, and electronic devices have been at the forefront of some recent security measures. Just a few months ago, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) required a number of airlines to prohibit carrying notebooks and other gadgets into the cabin, has since been rescinded. Now, the TSA has announced new security measures for many electronics.

The news comes via a TSA press release that outlines new policies and procedures regarding how electronics will be screened during the pre-flight check-in process. According to the new measures, all electronics larger than a cell phone must be placed in bins for X-ray scanning in the standard security lanes — similar to how laptops have been scanned for some time.

The measures were already being tested at 10 airports and the success of those initial pilots means that the TSA plans to expand the new measures to every U.S. airport. In addition, the TSA is working with airports and airlines to improve security measures at almost 280 airports in more than 100 countries.

If you traveled through any of the following airports recently, then you are already familiar with the new policy:

• Boise Airport (BOI)
• Colorado Springs Airport (COS)
• Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW)
• Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)
• Logan International Airport (BOS)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB)
• Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU)
• McCarran International Airport (LAS)
• Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)

According to TSA Acting Administrator Huban A. Gowadia, “Whether you’re flying to, from, or within the United States, TSA is committed to raising the baseline for aviation security by strengthening the overall security of our commercial aviation network to keep flying as a safe option for everyone.”

The specific process outlined by the new policies mean that travelers will be required to remove electronics larger than cell phones from carry-on luggage and to place them in bins on the X-ray belt. To ensure a clear image, nothing can be placed on top of or underneath electronic devices. In addition, travelers may be subjected to additional bag checks.

Some of the devices that will be subject to the new measures include laptops, tablets, e-readers, and handheld game consoles. Otherwise, the usual restrictions on what can be brought through the checkpoints remain unchanged. Importantly, members of the TSA pre-check program are exempt from the new policies, and anyone looking to make their trip through airport security a little easier can always pick the right laptop bag to make accessing electronics a little easier.

Now you can create fancy GIFs app-free with Giphy’s online GIF Maker

Why it matters to you

You don’t need to download a big app to create a GIF anymore with a new web-based platform for the quick GIFs.

Creating moving pictures no longer requires a dedicated app. Giphy, the online GIF database and search engine, recently launched GIF Maker, a graphics tool that only requires an internet connection and a browser, no app downloads necessary.

Giphy already has a number of dedicated apps for both Android and iOS devices, including an app by the same name to search and download GIFs, Giphy Stickers to make and find animated stickers and Giphy Cam to record your own GIFs with augmented reality features. The new GIF Maker, however, brings several similar tools without requiring an app download, since the program operates directly from a mobile web browser.

To create a GIF on the new web platform, users can upload an image from the device. One uploaded, the tool allows users to add animated text, or, with a drawing tool, sketch an object that will then dance on screen. A sticker option allows users to add animated clip art as well as special effects, like a bit of sparkle or some explosions.

Giphy’s GIF Maker will also create animations from videos that are 20 seconds or less, automatically looping the motion. Users then have access to the same tools available for still photos with text, drawing, and stickers.

The web-based platform even allows users to open the smartphone camera and record a new photo or video to turn into a GIF.

Users can upload the GIF to Gify, or directly download their creation to the device for sharing.

With Giphy Cam taking up 178 MB of space on a smartphone, the new web-based platform serves as an option for creating that occasional GIF without sacrificing the space.

Along with the apps and now online GIF Maker, Giphy serves as a searchable GIF database, which means there is probably an animation for whatever you want to say. And if nothing quite right already exists, now there is a way to add that GIF to the library without downloading an app.

GIFs recently turned 30, though the file type was not always the animated images as we know them today. Based on the growing number of ways to use GIFs inside social media and different apps, the living pictures are continuing to grow in popularity.

Apple supplier Foxconn announces plan for Wisconsin display factory

Foxconn, supplier to companies like Apple, BlackBerry, Nintendo and Microsoft, formally announced its plans to open a factory in Wisconsin, which is part of a $10 billion investment in production in America. The Taiwanese company’s upcoming facility in the American Midwest is expected to employ at least 3,000 people and potentially increase to 13,000 total jobs, a win for Trump’s agenda to return manufacturing jobs to the US.

“If I didn’t get elected, he wouldn’t be spending $10 billion” on American facilities, Trump said about Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. The full, untrimmed video is below — skip to 49:15 when the press conference starts.

Earlier this week, sources told The Wall Street Journal that Foxconn was “nearing a decision” to open plants in Wisconsin for producing large-screen TVs. Last month, the company announced after its annual shareholders meeting that it was considering investing $10 billion in facilities in seven US states — including Wisconsin. (The others included Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Texas.)

This comes hot on the heels of Trump telling The Wall Street Journal that Apple CEO Tim Cook promised him the tech company itself would open up three production facilities in the US. It’s possible that Trump got Foxconn and Apple mixed up, though the President explicitly name-dropped Cook.

Apple did not return our request for comment on Trump’s comments yesterday.

Source: The White House