Microsoft website accidentally teases its iPad ‘Touch Cover’

Why it matters to you

Microsoft may soon offer iPad owners yet another option to consider when searching for a portable keyboard.

Microsoft builds some great keyboards for its Surface tablets, but what if you are not a Surface owner? There is the company’s Universal Foldable Keyboard that will work with fine with iOS and Android tablets, but beyond that, Microsoft saves its best accessories for its own devices.

However, that may be changing. A page on Microsoft’s site concerning lithium battery documentation lists a device titled “iPad Touch Cover” with the model number 1719. The listing was discovered by WinFuture and was published on April 17.

The document tells us nothing, outside of the fact that the device contains a lithium battery and complies with safe transportation laws. We don’t know what it looks like, what it does, which iPad it is for, or whether it will even ever see the light of day.

The name “Touch Cover” implies a lack of physical keys, though the inclusion of a battery indicates it may not actually be all that thin. The battery itself could be used simply to power the keyboard, if it connects wirelessly, or as an external power source for the iPad, which would imply a physical connection. Apple’s own Smart Keyboard connects to the iPad Pro via its proprietary Smart Connector.

Microsoft could go with the Smart Connector, as it is capable of passing along power — though that would prevent compatibility with the standard iPad. Back in the early days of the Surface, the company sold a Touch Cover for its own devices, complete with a trackpad and a fully pressure-sensitive multi-touch surface for the keys.

Given the document’s age, it is equally possible the Touch Cover is still in development, or has been canned, and really shouldn’t have made it to the list in the first place. The site contains entries for a wide range of products, some of which date back a couple of years. However, this is the first time this particular product has been noticed.

Only time will tell if Microsoft’s iPad accessory sees the light of day. Fortunately, there are lots of excellent options out there for every item in the iPad range, and you can check them all out for yourself with the help of our handy guide.

Microsoft website accidentally teases its iPad ‘Touch Cover’

Why it matters to you

Microsoft may soon offer iPad owners yet another option to consider when searching for a portable keyboard.

Microsoft builds some great keyboards for its Surface tablets, but what if you are not a Surface owner? There is the company’s Universal Foldable Keyboard that will work with fine with iOS and Android tablets, but beyond that, Microsoft saves its best accessories for its own devices.

However, that may be changing. A page on Microsoft’s site concerning lithium battery documentation lists a device titled “iPad Touch Cover” with the model number 1719. The listing was discovered by WinFuture and was published on April 17.

The document tells us nothing, outside of the fact that the device contains a lithium battery and complies with safe transportation laws. We don’t know what it looks like, what it does, which iPad it is for, or whether it will even ever see the light of day.

The name “Touch Cover” implies a lack of physical keys, though the inclusion of a battery indicates it may not actually be all that thin. The battery itself could be used simply to power the keyboard, if it connects wirelessly, or as an external power source for the iPad, which would imply a physical connection. Apple’s own Smart Keyboard connects to the iPad Pro via its proprietary Smart Connector.

Microsoft could go with the Smart Connector, as it is capable of passing along power — though that would prevent compatibility with the standard iPad. Back in the early days of the Surface, the company sold a Touch Cover for its own devices, complete with a trackpad and a fully pressure-sensitive multi-touch surface for the keys.

Given the document’s age, it is equally possible the Touch Cover is still in development, or has been canned, and really shouldn’t have made it to the list in the first place. The site contains entries for a wide range of products, some of which date back a couple of years. However, this is the first time this particular product has been noticed.

Only time will tell if Microsoft’s iPad accessory sees the light of day. Fortunately, there are lots of excellent options out there for every item in the iPad range, and you can check them all out for yourself with the help of our handy guide.

Stanford’s surprise discovery may lead to new breakthrough metamaterials

Why it matters to you

Materials science breakthrough opens up possibility of developing new materials with fine-tuned quantum properties.

If comics have taught us anything, it is that the best advances are ones that happen by accident. That sums up a serendipitous discovery by scientists from the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University. While using SLAC’s X-ray synchrotron to observe the synthesis of tiny nanocrystals, researchers were able to get a unique insight on the way these engineered “artificial atoms” can rapidly form superlattice nanostructures under the right conditions.

The discovery opens up the possibility of developing new materials with unique, specially tuned properties for use in magnetic storage, improved solar cells, optoelectronics, catalysis, and more. Because of the size of the artificial atoms, they are governed by quantum mechanics, which presents a new range of possibilities when it comes to their size, shape, and composition. Best of all, contrary to what was originally thought, such materials can be created in mere seconds.

“We are working to develop synthesis methods that would allow us to make small particles with precise control over their size and composition, at a scale of a billionth of a meter,” Matteo Cargnello, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Stanford, told Digital Trends. “In order to do that, we developed a method to watch these tiny nanocrystals grow in a solution, using synchrotron light to ‘see’ live what happens while we make these crystals. We surprisingly found that at high temperatures, when particles start moving around much faster than at normal temperatures, these nanocrystals start to form and then attract each other into ordered structures in a matter of seconds. The positioning of the nanocrystals in these ordered assemblies can allow us to tune their properties and study interactions between the building blocks that can be relevant for applications of these tiny materials in several fields of materials science and chemical engineering.”

Dawn Harmer/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

The researchers’ discovery is described in a paper published in the journal Nature. Right now, the researchers are trying to gain a greater understanding of how these superlattices grow to make them more uniform and control their properties.

“There are still questions that require more work and investigations,” Cargnello said. “For example, we are not sure yet how the nanocrystals continue to grow in the solution even after they form the ordered assemblies. We [also] still want to dig deeper into the mechanism of superlattice formation, because this can help us transfer this knowledge to more complex material systems, with multiple components, and to increase the functionality of these materials.”

Make no mistake, though, this could be an enormously significant step in our quest to form new, cutting-edge metamaterials. Did we mention how much we are totally digging the current materials science revolution?

Popular photo-editing app VSCO expands from still photography to video

Why it matters to you

VSCO X members on iOS will be the first to try out the company’s new video-editing features, which bring VSCO’s popular film looks to moving images for the first time.

VSCO, the popular photo-editing and sharing app for iOS and Android, continues to get better. After adding RAW image editing in late 2016 and bringing its filters to the desktop earlier this year, it is finally adding support for video. Users can now apply the same film looks they love in still photography to moving images, with no length or file size limitations. Video editing is currently limited to iOS, but the feature should work its way into the Android version in the near future, the company said in a blog post. A VSCO X membership is also required.

The feature is described as an “early version,” although it is unclear what, if anything, remains to be finalized about it. VSCO X members on iOS can access the feature by updating to the latest version of the app, navigating to their Studio, and tapping on the Video Editing announcement banner. From there, videos stored on a user’s camera roll will appear, and users have access to the full collection of VSCO X presets. The standard editing tools can also be used for fine-tuned adjustments. Once edited, videos will be saved back to the camera roll — not to a user’s Studio.

VSCO can handle just about anything the iPhone can throw at it, including 4K video at 30 frames per second (fps) and 1080p at 60 fps. The video presets use the same SENS image processing technology that VSCO spent years developing for still photography, so the results should be very familiar and of an equally high standard. The company claims its technology offers a “level of sophistication not previously possible on mobile” for video editing.

It is unclear at this time if video editing will remain an exclusive to VSCO X members. In a statement, CEO Joel Flory called it a “first step into what we see as limitless possibilities for video-editing tools on VSCO.” VSCO X membership costs $20 annually and includes access to more than 100 presets, including the advanced Film X presets patterned on classic film stocks like Kodak Portra and Fujifilm Neopan. It is also designed to help users work more closely with the VSCO community as other members provide educational content and offer invitations to community events.

Your Facebook News Feed will soon rank websites based on load time

Why it matters to you

Soon, your Facebook News Feed might look a bit different. The latest update will rank faster loading websites higher on your feed to provide you with more relevant stories.

In order to make the browsing experience more enjoyable on your News Feed, Facebook announced it is rolling out an update within the upcoming months. The mobile app will show users more stories that load quickly, pushing ones that may take longer further down in your feed — giving you relevant content that you will spend time reading.

This update will help Facebook zone in on a variety of different factors when someone clicks on any link in the News Feed through a mobile device. This includes the estimated load time of and general speed of the website, along with your current network connection. If signals show the website will load quickly, that link will appear higher in your feed and bury those that are slower.

The company explained it has been taking many factors into account for years to make sure Facebook users see relevant stories quickly. Your News Feed, especially, considers the type of device you are using and the speed of the mobile network or Wi-Fi connection. If you are on a slower internet connection that is not loading videos, your feed will show fewer videos and more links or status updates instead.

To load stories faster for those on a slow network, Facebook prefetches stories — meaning the mobile content is downloaded before clicking on the link. Stories are prefetched based on how likely you will click on the link in the mobile News Feed. If the prediction score measures up to the specific requirements, the initial HTML file is downloaded when the link appears on your screen. The content is then cached locally on your device for a short period of time.

Ultimately, Facebook appears to be heavily focused on enhancing the user experience. Last week, the company launched Messenger Platform 2.1 with new features that make it easier for consumers to speak with brands directly — creating a more personal experience. Prior to that, a global Messenger ads beta was released to help people discover brands more easily.

By updating the News Feed algorithm, the company hopes to find a solution for users who are frustrated with clicking a link that leads to a slow-loading page. Facebook will roll out the update gradually over the next few months but anticipates it will not cause significant changes to distribution for Pages. Websites that are slow on the other hand, could see a decrease in referral traffic.

Fitbit CEO says its first smartwatch will be ready for the holidays

Looks like Fitbit’s new smartwatch will arrive before the holiday season, according to the company’s CEO. In its second quarter earnings report, he noted that the wearable is “is on track for delivery ahead of the holiday season and will drive a strong second half of the year.” Fitbit desperately needs a win and the device could give its revenue a big boost.

The Q2 2017 report was dismal compared to the same period last year, bringing in $353 million in revenue versus $546 million in Q2 2016. It follows a similarly disappointing Q1, and the company is projecting a loss for the rest of the year. The smartwatch could brighten this bleak forecast, though recent reports suggest that issues plaguing development pushed its launch from spring to fall.

Source: Fitbit

DJI’s Spark drone starts recording when you raise your arm

When we reviewed DJI’s Spark drone, one of our gripes was the limited set of gesture controls. You can’t do everything you want without reaching for your phone. DJI is already taking steps to close those gaps, though. It’s delivering a firmware update that adds a gesture for starting and stopping video recording. All you have to do is stand within 6.5 feet of the drone’s front and raise your arm at a roughly 45-degree angle like you were waving hello. This does require that you be within the frame when recording starts, but that’s fine if you planned to star in your own production — it beats staring down at a screen.

There are also more app-based controls available once shooting is underway, including for stills. The subject-tracking QuickShot mode gives you more direction over where the Spark flies, while you can shoot 180-degree panoramas and higher-quality (12-megapixel) ActiveTrack or Gesture Mode photos. There’s better responsiveness when using the remote controller, as well. While DJI hasn’t tackled every concern we have with the Spark, it’s now a little easier to justify if you like hands-off videography.

Source: DJI

Verizon’s latest rewards program shares gobs of your data

Verizon has just fired up a new rewards program, but you might want to hold off if you’re concerned about your privacy. Brandon Robbins and other customers have noticed that enlisting in Up requires enrolling in a Verizon Selects personalized advertising program that tracks an extensive range of voluntary and automatic data: it’ll supply your app use, browsing habits, device location and personal demographics, among other details. Moreover, it shares that data with a wide circle of companies. Your info go to the newly formed AOL/Yahoo hybrid Oath (Engadget’s parent brand) as well as Verizon’s “vendors and partners.”

These requirements aren’t strictly new — a previous Smart Rewards program also asked you to sign up for Selects and hand over your personal data. It indicates that Verizon hasn’t scaled back its data collection, though, and this wouldn’t be much comfort if you found out what you were sharing only after it was too late.

We’ve asked Verizon for its take on the concerns and will let you know what it says. Whatever the response, though, this doesn’t help Verizon’s reputation for pervasive ad tracking. While it’s important to stress that this is opt-in rather than opt-out, it’s not going to make you happy if you’d rather not hand over that much sensitive material just to get some perks.

Via: The Verge

Source: Brandon Robbins (Twitter)

RED’s $1,200 holographic phone features snap-on camera accessories

Digital camera maker RED is still releasing new products at different price points, like its $15,000 4K Raven bundle the company plans to release in a partnership with Apple. But the company’s looking to enter the mobile market, revealing last month that its first device will be its holographic Hydrogen One smartphone with a planned sticker price of $1,200. While the earlier news was light on details and only had a render of the upcoming phone, a YouTuber just uploaded a hands-on experience with a prototype, giving us our first look at what it will actually look like.

Marques Brownlee of MKBHD channel got handed three prototypes, starting with the fit-and-finish casing that shows off how the Hydrogen One will appear. At first glance, it’s a lot like the render, with a stylish black metal setup, ridges on the sides for finger grips and a dedicated shutter button. The walkthrough showed off off a 5.5-inch display (slightly smaller than the anticipated 5.7 inches) with dual speakers beneath it; On the back, a camera bump sat on top with a stippled grid of contact pins at the bottom, which will hold snap-on additions a la Moto Mods.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to see the phone’s vaunted holographic display: RED wasn’t ready to show it off, so all we have is Brownlee’s expression to go off of when he tinkered with it in the second prototype. (If you’re not looking forward to 3D, it can always be turned off, he said.) Lastly, the third model included a much heftier-looking lens and sensor bolted on the back. RED believes this prosumer setup will be the future of mobile footage, and with gear like that, it’s hard not to believe them.

But the Hydrogen One still has to prove that it can function as a smartphone, too — which we might find out when the first fully-functional prototypes roll out in 30-45 days.

Source: MKBHD (YouTube)

Review: iDevices’ Switches and Outlets Bring HomeKit to Your Existing Lights and Home Appliances

iDevices was one of the first companies to announce plans for producing HomeKit-compatible products, focusing primarily on switches and outlets but also branching out a bit with a thermostat. Earlier this year, iDevices was acquired by major electrical equipment manufacturer Hubbell, but the iDevices brand and product lineup lives on.

I’ve been using a number of iDevices products, including the recently launched Wall Switch and Wall Outlet, as well as the Switch and Outdoor Switch that launched some time ago, and I’ve gotten a pretty good idea of how well these accessories fit into my home and integrate with other HomeKit devices through HomeKit. All of the devices are also compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but for my purposes I focused on HomeKit.

Wall Switch and Wall Outlet

iDevices’ Wall Switch and Wall Outlet are the latest additions to the company’s HomeKit family, and they’re the most complicated to install since they require in-wall installation. It’s a little bit of a hassle and some users such as renters may not be able take advantage of them, but installation is a pretty straightforward project and they provide a much cleaner and more integrated look to your HomeKit system.

As with any other time you’re performing electrical work, you should turn off power at the circuit breaker and make sure electricity isn’t flowing to the circuits where you’re working. iDevices includes step-by-step instructions to walk you through the entire installation process and also includes some helpful videos on its YouTube channel.

The Wall Switch can be installed in single pole, 3-way, and 4-way configurations, although you’ll need to make sure all switches in 3-way and 4-way configurations are replaced with iDevices Wall Switches so they can coordinate their management of the circuit. Regardless of configuration, a neutral wire is also required at the switch location in order to power the Wall Switch, so if you don’t have one, you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth getting new wiring installed to the switch or forgoing using a smart switch at that location.

With those considerations out of the way, installation is straightforward and only requires you to disconnect the wires from your existing switch and connect them to the Wall Switch or Wall Outlet using the wire nuts iDevices includes in the box (or existing ones that may already be used for your previous switch or outlet). A voltage detector is helpful for installing the Wall Switch to differentiate between line and load wires and make sure you’re hooking them up to the proper wires on the switch. Three-way switch installation is a little bit more complicated, but the instructions and videos will walk you through it.

Once the Wall Switch and Wall Outlet are wired up and screwed back in, faceplates (not included) installed, and the circuit breaker turned back on, you’re ready to set them up to use with the iDevices ecosystem and HomeKit.

The iDevices Connected app serves as the home for iDevices products, letting you configure the products to connect to Wi-Fi and integrate with HomeKit. The process is simple and takes just a few minutes, during which you’ll not only get the devices up and running but properly named, placed into HomeKit rooms, any desired custom names and image thumbnails set, and schedules set.

Summary of HomeKit products in living room
The app also makes it easy to group devices together into scenes, set up triggers such as geofencing your home for coming or going, and more.

Example of a “Bedtime” scene to turn off lights and lock door
Once you’re all set, you can use either the iDevices Connected app or Apple’s Home app (or Control Center widget or Siri) to monitor and control the switch and outlet.

Both the Wall Switch and Wall Outlet include small LED lights on them that will blink in different colors to indicate device status during setup and troubleshooting, and during normal operation they can optionally be used as night light functions to help you locate them on the wall in the dark. The color of the night lights can be fully customized within the iDevices Connected app.

Detail screen with energy usage and schedules (left) and night light color settings (right)
The Wall Switch looks largely like a standard rocker switch except for the LED in the center of it, but the operation is a little bit different. While a standard switch will click into the on or off position and stay there, the iDevices Wall Switch clicks into the desired position but the returns to the central resting position once released. That’s a function of it being a smart switch, as when you’re controlling the switch through your phone it’s not going to physically move the rocker. I’m not a huge fan of the feel of the switch, which wiggles a bit when registering a press, but I can live with it.

As for the Wall Outlet, I installed this in a location where I replaced a standard outlet that used a timer to control a floor lamp. The Wall Outlet lets me forego the additional timer, yielding a cleaner look and the ability to control timing for the lamp via the the iDevices app or Apple’s Home app. Each of the two outlets operates independently, so I can program the one my lamp is plugged into to turn on and off at specific times of the day while the other outlet can remain on at all times or operate on a different schedule.

While the ability to monitor and control my floor lamp from my phone and integrate it into other HomeKit scenes is fantastic, one downside is that it is much more difficult to control manually if you don’t have a phone handy. My old timer had large buttons on it I could use to manually override the timing cycle if I needed the light turned on earlier in the evening on a particularly cloudy day, for example. To accomplish the same thing on the Wall Outlet, you have to press a very tiny button on the face of the outlet to manually toggle the power on or off. Particularly when you have things plugged into both outlets, it’s tricky to get in there and press the button.

HomeKit switches and outlets are certainly handy, particularly for those people who are looking to incorporate them into broader home setups to group devices together for easy control via app or voice. But the main problem is still cost — it’s not cheap to build Wi-Fi connectivity, security, licensing, and more into a light switch. So while a standard light switch only costs a few dollars, the cost of these smart switches and outlets starts to add up quickly, especially if you want to install them widely throughout your home. iDevices’ Wall Switch and Wall Outlet are priced at $99.95 each, so make sure you do the math for your own home if you’re thinking about anything more than installing these in a high-priority location or two.

Switch and Outdoor Switch

For those who can’t or don’t want to take on the task of wiring up new switches and outlets or who are looking for cheaper ways to control their electrical devices via HomeKit, iDevices also offers some plug-in options to give you HomeKit control over specific outlets. The first option is the simply named Switch, which plugs into an electrical outlet and houses the technology for connecting to your network via Wi-Fi and controlling devices plugged into its own outlet. The iDevices Switch is on the large side, but it does its job well, integrating easily with the iDevices app and HomeKit to control lamps and other devices.

The Switch includes a couple of nice features such as a large button on the side for manually turning the switch’s outlet on and off. Compared the Wall Outlet, the Switch is much easier to control manually, as the button is very easy to access on the side of the box.

The Switch also includes a handy LED strip along the face of it, which not only serves as a status light during setup and troubleshooting but also as a night light. The color of the night light can be fully customized through the iDevices Connected app, or turned off entirely.

The Outdoor Switch is a similar option, but as the name implies it’s intended to be used outdoors. It’s a surprisingly bulky product that needs to be mounted on a screw or set on the ground rather than supported entirely by the outlet it’s plugged into. As a result, the design includes a short cord to connect the main body of the Outdoor Switch to an outlet. Due to the short length of the cord, the Outdoor Switch will need to be mounted close to the outlet it’s plugged into, but the thickness of the cord also makes it a bit difficult to manipulate into the desired position.

The Outdoor Switch is designed to be mounted vertically, and it houses a pair of outlets on the bottom of its body, placed to protect them as much as possible from the elements. The two outlets do not operate independently, so any items you plug into them will be controlled together. A large button on the side of the Outdoor Switch’s body makes it easy to manually control power to the outlets. As with the Switch, the Outdoor Switch also includes an LED strip for status information and night light functionality.

I’ve generally used my Outdoor Switch for items such as Christmas lights, letting me schedule my display to come on and go off every night during the holidays. My electrical setup isn’t ideal, as the outlet on my porch is fairly close to the ground and thus I don’t have room to hang the Outdoor Switch nearby and instead I have to leave it sitting on my porch. That positioning doesn’t protect the outlets as much as a vertical hanging orientation, but the location on my porch helps limit general exposure to the elements.

Overall, both the Switch and the Outdoor Switch have worked reliably in my testing, although it’s disappointing they couldn’t be made slimmer. Some of that is due to the amount of electronics inside and some of it is simply due to the space requirements for including an outlet or two to plug items into the switches, while the Outdoor Switch adds requirements for weather resistance.

As noted at the top of this section, these plug-in switches offer a significantly cheaper way to bring HomeKit control to items around your home compared to the in-wall installations. The standard Switch costs $29.95, which is still a decent chunk of change if you’re looking to install them widely throughout your home, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than the in-wall alternatives. The Outdoor Switch is pricier at $79.95, but it does come with the rugged rain-resistant design needed for outdoor settings.

Wrap-up

It’s still early in the smart home market, but with HomeKit maturing and more manufacturers entering the field, we’re starting to see a broader array of options in the various product categories. iDevices has the advantage of being one of the first to market with HomeKit switches and outlets, and it’s allowed them to refine and expand their product lineup to suit a variety of needs.

iDevices’ products are well-built, with good documentation and a solid app to set up and control them, so that makes them a worthy addition to most smart home setups. The Wall Switch and Wall Outlet are fairly unobtrusive in replacing the utilitarian switches and outlets we’re accustomed to, making it easy to miss at a glance that these are smart home products, which is the entire point.

My major hangup continues to be price, however. At $100 a pop, very few people are going to want to install these throughout their homes at a total cost easily running into the thousands of dollars. That means most users will need to be selective in installing these in just a few locations, which can still be useful but falls short of creating a fully smart electrical system.

The Switch offers a middle ground, giving you the benefit of smart outlets at 30 percent of the price of the in-wall versions, but at the cost of aesthetics and without the ability to control hardwired lights and appliances as you can with the Wall Switch. As a result, even with the lower cost I would still tend to be rather selective in my usage of these around my home.

All of these iDevices products, as well as a few others, are available through the company’s online store as well as generally at slight discounts through the company’s Amazon storefront.

Note: iDevices provided the Wall Switch, Wall Outlet, Switch, and Outdoor Switch to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Tags: HomeKit, review, iDevices
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