Don’t like sharing your number with your Uber driver? In-app messaging can help

Why it matters to you

If exchanging numbers with your Uber driver makes you uncomfortable, this new in-app messaging feature will help assuage your concerns.

Your Uber driver may be your ride home, but that does not mean he or she is your best friend. So naturally, you should not be clogging up your texts with random messages from your driver’s unknown number. Happily, Uber agrees, and has now introduced in-app messaging. That means that you can now connect with your driver from within the Uber app itself, putting an end to those potentially awkward (and oddly personal) SMS exchanges.

“Every great ride starts with the pickup, so we’re always thinking about ways to make the pickup experience as frictionless as possible for riders and drivers alike,” Uber noted in an announcement. “That includes helping riders and drivers connect should they need to get in touch with one another to solve for things like road closures, or to just provide information on their exact location.”

Getting connected is as easy as going to your Uber feed and tapping the “contact” section, and then tapping “chat.” The messages you send to your driver will be read aloud to him or her (so don’t worry — there will be no texting while driving as a result of your communication). Drivers can acknowledge that your message has been read with a single tap, which will send you a thumbs up emoji. Plus, both riders and drivers will have read receipts, so you will know that you are on the same page.

The addition of the in-app chat feature will eliminate the need for drivers and passengers to share their phone numbers with one another, which could help to address some privacy concerns. And perhaps more saliently, not all of Uber’s cities can actually make use of these shared numbers. “In many of our markets, SMS isn’t actually available for us, we don’t have the technology in place,” Uber Product Manager Jeremy Lermitte told TechCrunch. “That’s especially true in some of our key markets like Brazil and India. And then in other emerging markets where we do offer SMS, we don’t have the technology in place to anonymize the personal contact info, so the rider and driver are actually sharing their personal contact information in some of those markets.”

In-app messaging, however, could solve many of those issues. The feature is rolling out globally to drivers and riders alike over the coming week, and you will need the latest version of the app to take advantage of it.

Corsair Neutron NX500 SSD burns with speed, but doesn’t scorch your PC

Why it matters to you

Corsair’s new solid state disk fits into an open PCI Express slot in your PC, providing read speeds up to a blazing fast 3,000MB per second!

Looking to beef up your desktop with super-fast storage? Corsair has a new solid state disk that takes advantage of your PC’s speedy PCI Express lanes by plugging directly into an add-in card slot. It’s called the Neutron NX500 NVMe PCIe SSD AIC, and it’s available in two capacities now, to be followed by a third capacity at the end of the month.

Traditionally, mechanical hard drives and cartridge-like solid state disks connect to the Serial ATA (SATA) bus (freeway) on a motherboard via ports and cables. The third revision of the specification powering this bus caps read and write speeds at 600MB per second, which is fine for general applications like browsing the internet, checking email, writing documents, and performing other mainstream tasks.

Meanwhile, the PCI Express bus is extremely fast. It’s built for handling add-in cards shoved into slots that are essentially an extension of the motherboard. Short for Peripheral Component Interconnect, this bus relies on “lanes” for sending and receiving data from multiple card-focused slots. Because SATA was created with slow hard drives and optical drives in mind, it bottlenecks the full capabilities of the newer, super-fast NAND Flash technology that drives today’s solid state drives.

Thus, moving SSD storage to PCI Express makes sense. As of late, stick-shaped SSDs have become a popular form factor, connecting to special “M.2” card-style slots on a motherboard. These slots can be based on the PCI Express or SATA 3 bus, depending on the manufacturer. These slots also rely on the NVM Express or the SATA Express storage access interface, the latter of which uses a PCI Express bus to provide transfer speeds of up to 1,969MB per second.

But what if you don’t have an M.2 slot on your motherboard supporting PCI Express? That’s where Corsair’s Neutron NX500 add-in card comes into play. Just shove it into an open slot, and you immediately have a crazy-fast SSD without disrupting the other storage devices installed in the PC. It’s based on the NVM Express interface, which was originally designed for the high-speed needs of the enterprise market. Corsair’s SSD requires a slot that supports the PCI Express 3.0 specification, and at least four lanes.

Here are some of the details:

Sequential Read Speed:
Up to 3,000MB per second
Sequential Write Speed:
Up to 2,400MB per second
4K Random Read:
Up to 300K IOPS
4K Random Write:
Up to 270K IOPS
Interface:
NVM Express via PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot
Operating Temperature:
Zero degrees to -70 degrees Celsius
Storage Temperature:
-40 degrees to -85 degrees Celsius
Lifespan:
2,000,000 hours
Dimensions:
4/76 x 6.49 (L) x 0.82 (H) inches
Storage Capacities:
400GB ($320)
800GB
1,600GB (1.6TB)
Storage technology:
MLC NAND

Outside the speed factor, the Neutron NX500 add-in SSD comes packed with a high-surface-area heatsink to keep the card cool and fanless, enhanced error correction, dedicated DDR3 cache, and a five-year warranty. It’s compatible with Corsair’s free SSD Toolbox software, too.

The 400GB ($320) and 800GB ($660) models are available now. The 1.6TB version won’t be made available until the end of August.

Samsung Galaxy S8 camera tips that will make you a better photographer

The Galaxy S8 might not boast the iPhone’s fancy dual-sensor setup, but its 12MP camera is nothing to shake a stick at. It ranks third on camera benchmarking site DxOMark’s list of top-ranking smartphone cameras, the second-highest score ever achieved by an Android phone. In our testing, the Galaxy S8, manage to capture clear, color-accurate shots pretty consistently.

That said, taking exceptional photos with the Galaxy S8 isn’t as easy as whipping it out of your pocket and hitting the shutter button. It’s worth learning a thing or two about close-ups, wide shots, high dynamic range (HDR), and filters. Once you master the basics, you’ll be well on your way to producing DSLR-quality snaps with the Galaxy S8’s camera.

Here are a few Samsung Galaxy S8 camera tips and tricks that’ll help you make the most of the the phone’s camera.

How to quickly zoom in and out, or take a burst shot

Zooming in with a smartphone camera can be a two-handed pain in the rear, but the Galaxy S8’s app makes it easy. When you want to enlarge a portion of the frame, tap and drag the shutter button to the right — it’ll turn into a horizontal slider that shows the current zoom level.

Quickly capturing a burst shot with the Galaxy S8 is even easier. Just tap and hold the shutter button, and that’s it — you’ll find the photos in your gallery.

Learn how to use the Galaxy S8’s camera modes

The Galaxy S8’s camera app is a little overwhelming, at first glance, but Samsung has made an effort to trim the fat. A swipe left pulls up a wealth of different modes, including Auto, Pro, Panorama, Selective motion, Hyperlapse, Food, and virtual shot.

Here’s what each of them does:

Auto: Auto, the Galaxy S8’s default shooting mode, handles everything for you. It’s a point-and-shoot affair.

Pro: If you know your way around a camera and want to make the most of the Galaxy S8’s snapper, Pro mode will suit you fine. It puts settings like the ISO, aperture, IRIS setting, autofocus, white balance, and exposure at your fingertips. One of the most useful is manual focus mode, which draws green lines in the viewfinder over the object that’s in focus.

Panorama: The Galaxy S8’s panorama mode stitches multiple shots together into a single, ultra-wide photo.

Selective focus: Selective focus, a feature introduced on the Galaxy S5, snaps multiple photos consecutively with varying focus. The end result is a photo with an adjustable focus level; you can swap focus between objects in the foreground or background.

Slow motion: The Galaxy S8’s slow motion mode captures videos at a higher-than-normal frame rate (240 fps compared to 30 fps or 60 fps), which has the effect of making things seem “slower” when played back at normal speeds. You’ll have to settle for a lower resolution than normal-speed video — Slow Motion mode maxes out at 720p — but the effect is worth the sacrifice.

Hyperlapse: Hyperlapse lets you create time lapse videos, or clips that compress hours of footage into a few sped-up, super-fast minutes. Samsung says it’s smart enough to adjust to what you’re recording automatically.

Food: Food mode is optimized for pictures of delicious grub, as you might expect. Activate it, and you’ll get enhanced color, contrast, and blur effects that make everything fancy. A handy tip: Moving the circle in the viewfinder adjusts the level of background blur.

Virtual shot: Virtual shot isn’t the most useful mode in the Galaxy S8’s arsenal, but the effect’s neat. Basically, you move the camera in a circular motion around an object as your phone snaps pics. Then the Galaxy S8 stitches photos together in an animated file.

How to apply filters, effects, and overlays

There’s more to the Galaxy S8’s camera app than shooting modes. Swiping to the right of the Galaxy S8’s camera menu brings up the filters, effects, and overlays section. It’s a lot to unpack.

Filters are akin to color palettes: They tweak the lighting, brightness, and contrast of your photo to match a certain style. There’s an Auto filter that corrects for lighting conditions, plus colors like “Cream,” “Deep,” “Forest,” “Classic,” “Cosy,” “Memory,” “and “Maple.”

Tap the bear-shaped icon to access the effects menu, which consists of Instagram-style filters and stickers that lay atop your photos (think stylized titles like “Best friend,” “Cool,” “Enjoy,” and “Happy Anniversary”).

Overlays, which occupy the same menu, are like Snapchat Lenses. They’re digital masks, bunny ears, sunglasses, tiaras, and party hats that sit atop people’s faces. It’s like augmented reality, but without the need for a third-party app – they’re built right into the Galaxy S8’s camera app.

If you’re not happy with the default selection of filters, effects, and overlays, you can download additional stamps, face masks, and more from Samsung’s Galaxy Apps store. Note that not all are free, though — you’ll have to shell out cash for some of them.

How to use your voice, palm, or face to capture a photo

If snapping pictures with the shutter button is starting to feel old hat, good news: The Galaxy S8 lets you trigger a photo with voice commands, palm gestures, or even your face.

To enable voice controls, head over to the camera app’s settings menu and tap the Voice control. There isn’t much in the way of customization, here, but you can trigger a photo by shouting words like “smile” and “cheese.” Saying “record video” switches the camera to video mode.

Alternatively, you can use a finger. When the front-facing camera’s active, placing your finger over the heart rate sensor on the back of the Galaxy S8 (opposite the side of the camera module) snaps a shot. It’s not always consistent, but it’s easier than trying to tap the shutter button one-handed.

Holding out your palm works, too. With the camera in selfie mode, hold out your palm when you’re framing the shot. The Galaxy S8 will automatically set a short countdown timer to take a photo.

How to take the perfect selfie

If you’re not entirely pleased with the way your selfie turned out, the Galaxy S8’s camera app can help you tweak it.

Swipe down anywhere in the frame to switch between the Galaxy S8’s front camera and rear camera. Then swipe to the left to get several different shooting modes: Selfie, the default; wide selfie, a wider-angle mode that makes it easier to fit a multiple people in the frame; and selective focus, which blurs out your photo’s background.

There’s more than angle adjustment, here. Tap the brush-shaped icon when the Galaxy S8’s in selfie mode and you’ll get options to tweak your skin tone, face and eye shape, and backlighting. Once you settle on the right combination of settings, snapping a selfie’s as easy as hitting the shutter button.

How to add shortcuts to the home screen

Tired of having to switch to a different mode every time you launch the Galaxy S8’s camera app? Good news: The Galaxy S8’s shortcuts feature lets you pin frequently used modes to the home screen.

Once you’ve selected the mode you want, tap the three-dot menu in the upper right-hand corner and hit Add shortcut to home screen. Select your favorite modes, and that’s it — you’ll see them on your home screen, where you can rearrange them just like app shortcuts.

How to use the floating camera button

Having trouble reaching the Galaxy S8’s shutter button while you’re trying to capture the perfect shot? Not to worry — just like Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy A5, the Galaxy S8 lets you move the shutter button to a more convenient screen location.

First, though, you’ll have to enable it in the settings menu. Head to the Galaxy S8 camera app’s Settings and tap the Floating Camera button. Then, it’s as easy as pressing and drag on the shutter button with a free finger to a spot that’s easier to tap.

How to fine-tune the camera app’s settings

There’s a lot more to the Galaxy S8’s camera app beneath its colorful icons and animated graphics. Dive into the settings menu, and you’ll see options to tweak the video resolution, preview pictures before you save them, and more.

Here’s everything you can do:

Video and picture size: From the camera app’s settings menu you can change picture size and video size. In terms of the former, you have the choice of 12MP all the way down to 1:1. When it comes to the latter, the Galaxy S8 can shoot up to Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160 pixels).

Tracking AF and shape correction: Not every picture’s perfect, which is where tracking AF and shape correction come in. Tracking AF focuses on and tracks a subject you selected on the preview screen. Shape correction, meanwhile, reduces distortion at the corners of the S8’s screen at the cost of resolution.

Save pictures as previewed: By default, the Galaxy S8’s selfie camera flips saved images to show you how you really look. Flipping the toggle shows the true photos, instead.

Timer: You can trigger the Galaxy S8 to take a photo after a few seconds.

Motion photo: Motion photo is the Galaxy S8’s version of the iPhone 7’s Live Photos. Toggle the setting, and you’ll get a short video clip of what happens before each picture was taken.

Quick launch: Enable quick launch to open the camera by quickly pressing the power button.

How to edit your photos to your heart’s content

The Galaxy S8 packs more than a powerful camera app. Once you’ve snapped a few shots, switch over to Samsung’s photo-editing tools by launching the Gallery and tapping the Edit button.

Here’s what you can do:

Transform: Transform lets you rotate, flip, mirror, and crop a photo.

Tone: Tone packs brightness, exposure, contrast, saturation, hue, and white balance adjustment tools.

Advanced: Advanced lets you run wild with a photo’s tone curve, color, and backlight. It’s a little tricky to get the hang of, but affords you the most freedom.

Effects: Effects puts all of the Galaxy S8 camera app’s effects in one place, which is useful if you forget to apply an effect before you snap a photo.

Decoration: Decoration lets you overlay things on a photo — you can add images, stickers, labels, and covers, or doodles with your finger.

Acer Predator XB272 gaming monitor review

Research Center:
Acer Predator XB272 Gaming Monitor

Welcome to the future, where high-end gaming monitors are so quick that we can’t actually show you how quick they are. Seriously. During our Acer Predator XB272 review, we were constantly struggling to find ways to put its impossibly fast 240Hz refresh rate into words.

Chances are, the monitor you’re reading this on caps out at 60Hz, which means it refreshes 60 times per second. That’s more than enough for everyday use and most gaming. But the further you climb up the refresh-rate ladder — up to 75Hz, 144Hz, 200Hz, and now with the Predator XB272, 240Hz — the smoother gameplay looks.

High refresh rate gaming poses its own set of challenges, though. To get the most out of a 240Hz monitor like the XB272, which retails for $680 on its own, you need a monster gaming rig.

Predator-lite

Acer’s characteristic Predator styling — red accents, sharp angles — is notably absent on the Predator XB272. If not for the chrome “Predator” branding on the bottom edge of the display, the XB272 would be almost indistinguishable from more mundane monitors.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

The stand is largely plastic, and while it does a good job of keeping the monitor steady, it’s not very attractive. It’s just a black column with some black plastic feet. That could be a blessing in disguise, though, if you’re looking for a display that will fit in with your home décor.

Looking at similar displays like the BenQ EX3200R, it’s clear that gaming monitors can occasionally benefit from elegant design. The EX3200R, with its wide, sweeping display, sits atop a chrome metallic stand. It’s modern and stylish, like a faucet in a fancy hotel — one of those swoopy ones.

It’s modern and stylish, like a faucet in a fancy hotel — one of those swoopy ones.

Then BenQ looks good, but maybe it’s not for everyone. Design decisions are always a risk, so it’s hard to blame Acer for hedging its bets here, and going with something bland and functional.

While the Acer Predator XB272 isn’t the fairest in the land, it’s certainly sturdy. Every inch of the display feels solid, there’s no creaking or settling when you give it a good squeeze, and once you adjust its positioning, it tends to stay put. The stand provides excellent isolation, too, so the display doesn’t wobble much when the desk it sits on is bumped.

The monitor is VESA compatible, and with its super-slim bezels, it wouldn’t be a bad choice for a wall-mount. The bezels also make this monitor great for multi-monitor setups.

Portacular

Never in the history of this earth has anyone looked at a device and thought “this has too many ports.” The Acer Predator XB272 embodies this philosophy, in some ways at least, by including four USB Type-A 3.0 ports and one USB Type-B port. That last one is a weird inclusion, but a welcome one.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Moving on to the essentials, the DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4 ports are conveniently located just behind the frontal lip of the display. They can be reached from the front just tilting the display back, which is a nice touch.

An extra DisplayPort or HDMI port would have been welcome, but gaming displays have been pretty stingy with those recently, so it’s par for the course. The Acer Predator Z35 also features a single HDMI and DisplayPort.

Buttons within buttons

Monitors usually come in two varieties, those with buttons and those with jog buttons — a little joystick that is also a button. We seldom have a choice in the matter, it’s a binary imposed upon us by monitor manufacturers. But following in the footsteps of Prometheus, who bore fire to mankind, the Acer Predator XB272 offers us the gift of choice.

Welcome to the future, where high-end gaming monitors are so quick, we can’t show you how quick they are.

It’s a monitor with both a jog button and regular buttons.

Okay, that might not be the most exciting thing about this monitor, but it’s helpful because the Predator XB272 is very customizable. Hitting the jog button brings up the main menu, from which you can navigate to several sub-menus to adjust brightness, contrast, color settings, and the built-in “Aim Point” reticle — a crosshair the Predator XB272 can superimpose on your display to make in-game aiming easier.

The “regular” buttons bring up an additional quick menu where you can adjust brightness, tweak the contrast, and cycle between presets for gaming, movies, or graphics work.

Silk-fast and lightning-smooth

In some ways, high refresh rate gaming is on its own parallel path alongside other graphical innovations like 4K gaming. Currently, it’s just not feasible — even for high-end gaming PCs — to offer 4K gaming at 240Hz. That’s why we’ll often see gaming monitors support either 4K or a super-high refresh rate, but we rarely see both together.

That’s also why we see so many high-refresh-rate monitors max out at 1080p. Consistently running games at 240 frames per second is tough, but scaling back the resolution to 1080p makes things much easier. The image won’t be as sharp, but you’ll get to max out your detail settings — depending on the strength of your hardware.

The Acer Predator XB272 is one such monitor, with the resolution dialed down to 1080p and the refresh rate dialed all the way up to 240Hz. If your hardware can handle it, hitting 240 FPS and turning on G-Sync makes every game a visual symphony. On this display, a game like Overwatch becomes hyper-real. Fluid animations, fast-paced gameplay, and killer visuals all cascade across the screen, imbued with an unparalleled sense of movement and momentum.

That rapid-fire refresh rate comes courtesy of the Acer Predator XB272’s twisted nematic or TN display panel. These kinds of displays are typically very quick, but often suffer from poor viewing angles, and the XB272 is no exception. Moving too far left or right will cause the display to appear discolored, but thankfully the stand is very easily adjustable, so this drawback is easily mitigated.

Let’s see how it stacks up to competitors in a few other areas.

While it’s tempting to compare the Acer Predator XB272 to its larger cousin, the 35-inch ultra-wide Acer Predator Z35, it faces strong competition from the BenQ EX3200R.

With a contrast ratio of 2,060:1 the BenQ EX3200R takes the lead, and the Acer Predator Z35 comes in second with a contrast ratio of 1,190:1. Both are superb scores, which illustrates that both monitors are capable of rendering highlights and shadows right beside one another without losing much quality, if any. Images, videos, and games all possess a sense of depth you just don’t see at lower contrast ratios.

The Acer Predator XB272, with its contrast ratio of 740:1, does well for itself, but when compared side-by-side to the BenQ EX3200R, there’s a staggering difference between them. The BenQ is lavish by comparison. Even flat images possess a sense of life and detail you just don’t see on the Predator XB272.

The XB272 looks fine. Images aren’t washed out, and videos don’t display any visible banding due to low contrast — but for almost $700, it’s not a bad thing to expect more than fine.

If your hardware can handle it, hitting 240 FPS makes every game a visual symphony.

Moving on to color gamut, the XB272 hits 75 percent of the AdobeRGB color space, while the Predator Z35 managed to render 79 percent. It’s not a big difference, and none of these monitors are achievers when it comes to color gamut. Even the Z35, with its slightly-higher-than-average-score, would be a poor choice for color-sensitive work in Photoshop.

Color accuracy is a slightly different story. The Acer Predator XB272 and BenQ EX3200R lead the pack in this category, with average color error scores — 1.74 and 1.29, respectively — close enough that neither monitor features any noticeable distortion.

With color error, a lower score is better, and anything below one is hard for the human eye to notice. So these scores are very good, and in league with the low-end of monitors that claim professional-grade performance.

The Acer Predator Z35 and Dell S2417DG were within inches of each other with scores of 2.45 and 2.4, respectively. Those scores are low enough that nothing on either display ever looks severely discolored, but high enough that you might want to refrain from using either one for photo or video editing — especially if you’re doing any color-correction.

No calibration necessary

Calibrating a display doesn’t always unlock hidden potential, but it can sometimes mitigate a monitor’s undesirable traits. The Acer Predator XB272 is just as capable right out of the box as it is after calibrating with a professional-grade colorimeter, which is a mixed blessing.

Acer Predator XB272 Gaming Monitor Compared To

BenQ EX3200R Gaming Monitor

Dell S2418H

LG 27MD5KA‑B Ultrafine 5K

Samsung CF791

Dell U3417W

Samsung CFG70

LG 38UC99

Dell s2417DG

Dell S2716DG

Acer S277HK

Acer XB280HK

Acer B286HK

AOC G2770PQU

AOC mySmart A2472PW4T

Dell P2314T

On the one hand, it means you won’t have to fiddle with the XB272 to get it to perform well. It’ll do that from day one. But on the other hand, it means there’s not much you can do about the XB272’s painfully average color gamut, or contrast ratio.

The color accuracy did improve a small amount, but the XB272 already does well in that regard, so moving from a score of 1.74 to 1.58 isn’t really worth the time it takes to calibrate the display.

Warranty information

The Acer Predator XB272 comes with a three-year limited warranty, covering parts and labor in the event of any manufacturer defects. That’s pretty long for a gaming monitor, as we commonly see one and two-year warranties on monitors in this price range.

Our Take

The Acer Predator XB272 is a good gaming monitor. It’s held back because it offers only 1080p resolution at $680, but the ultra-high refresh rate puts it well ahead of its nearest competitors when it comes to raw speed. That presents its own problem, though. Do you really need 240Hz to get that liquid-smooth gaming experience? Can your PC even handle it?

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, there is a better alternative: The BenQ EX3200R. It’s a 31.5-inch curved, ultra-wide monitor with killer picture quality and a lightning-fast 144Hz refresh rate. It’s not as quick as the Acer Predator XB272, but put them side by side, and you might not notice the difference. The BenQ is also a 1080p display, but its more reasonable $400 price tag helps excuse that potential downside.

Generally, you’ll experience diminishing returns the further you push past 60Hz. At 75Hz motion takes on that glassy-smooth quality, while at 144Hz games become otherworldly. The Acer Predator XB272 looks great at 240Hz, but the difference between 144Hz and 240Hz is minimal … and almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

A 1440p display with a 120Hz or 144Hz panel is another possible alternative. Acer and Asus offer panels with this combination of resolution and features, such as the Asus ROG Swift PG279Q, and most sell for around the same price. They offer a good compromise between image sharpness and refresh rate. You can always scan our list of the best computer monitors for additional choices.

How long will it last?

The Acer Predator XB272 benefits from a long three-year limited warranty, and it is a well-built little monitor, so it’ll probably last long enough to wear out that warranty. Also, at 240Hz it’s going to be able to keep up with your gaming rig for the foreseeable future, or last long enough for your hardware to catch up to that refresh rate.

Should you buy it?

If you can’t possibly settle a refresh rate less than 240Hz, yes, you should buy the Acer Predator XB272. It offers slightly above average picture quality, even if it is a bit pricey. If you can get by with 144Hz though, you would be better off going with the BenQ EX3200R, or another 144Hz competitor.

Nanotube-based random number generator is small enough to fit in a smartwatch

Why it matters to you

A truly random number generator could help cryptology experts keep our wearables safe from nasty hackers.

Random number generators aren’t just some niche toy of interest only to mathematicians. They’re also crucial to keeping our computer systems safe from hackers and those who would seek to do us harm. It’s a problem researchers have been trying to crack for years, and with the growing number of hacks that are taking place on a regular basis, it’s more of a concern than ever.

That’s where research from Northwestern University comes into the picture. Using thermal noise generated via carbon nanotubes, they’ve developed something of a holy grail for those working in cryptography: a truly random number generator (TRNG) — one that’s compact enough to be used in wearable devices.

“We have developed one of the most important building blocks for cryptography using a nontraditional semiconductor material, namely solution-processed semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes,” Mark Hersam, an expert in nanomaterials at Northwestern University, told Digital Trends. “This TRNG carries the advantages of its constituent solution-processed material, such as being able to be printed at a low cost on flexible plastic substrates, which makes it ideal for emerging flexible electronic applications such as wearables and sensors for the Internet of Things.”

There are two main approaches to creating random numbers: hardware and software, but neither one has proven to be particularly well-suited to something as small as a wearable device. Software-based approaches are typically what is known as “pseudorandom,” which leaves them open to hacking because the numbers are not truly random. Hardware approaches can be truly random, but they are also typically large and bulky — and therefore not ideal for something like an activity tracker or smart sensors.

Northwestern takes a different approach to hardware. Their solution involves a semiconducting carbon nanotube-containing ink that’s used to print a static random-access memory cell. The random numbers are bits generated through thermal noise in a way that is both compact and random.

“The solution-processed random number generator described in our report is readily scalable and reproducible, enabling us and other groups to build upon our work to create a wide array of integrated security applications,” Hersam said.

The randomness of the numbers has already been validated using industry standard protocols, including the NIST statistical testing suite and the TestU01 software library. While there’s still more work to be done to demonstrate this technology in action, it’s definitely an exciting advance for anyone who cares about keeping their devices secure.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Nano Letters.

Nanotube-based random number generator is small enough to fit in a smartwatch

Why it matters to you

A truly random number generator could help cryptology experts keep our wearables safe from nasty hackers.

Random number generators aren’t just some niche toy of interest only to mathematicians. They’re also crucial to keeping our computer systems safe from hackers and those who would seek to do us harm. It’s a problem researchers have been trying to crack for years, and with the growing number of hacks that are taking place on a regular basis, it’s more of a concern than ever.

That’s where research from Northwestern University comes into the picture. Using thermal noise generated via carbon nanotubes, they’ve developed something of a holy grail for those working in cryptography: a truly random number generator (TRNG) — one that’s compact enough to be used in wearable devices.

“We have developed one of the most important building blocks for cryptography using a nontraditional semiconductor material, namely solution-processed semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes,” Mark Hersam, an expert in nanomaterials at Northwestern University, told Digital Trends. “This TRNG carries the advantages of its constituent solution-processed material, such as being able to be printed at a low cost on flexible plastic substrates, which makes it ideal for emerging flexible electronic applications such as wearables and sensors for the Internet of Things.”

There are two main approaches to creating random numbers: hardware and software, but neither one has proven to be particularly well-suited to something as small as a wearable device. Software-based approaches are typically what is known as “pseudorandom,” which leaves them open to hacking because the numbers are not truly random. Hardware approaches can be truly random, but they are also typically large and bulky — and therefore not ideal for something like an activity tracker or smart sensors.

Northwestern takes a different approach to hardware. Their solution involves a semiconducting carbon nanotube-containing ink that’s used to print a static random-access memory cell. The random numbers are bits generated through thermal noise in a way that is both compact and random.

“The solution-processed random number generator described in our report is readily scalable and reproducible, enabling us and other groups to build upon our work to create a wide array of integrated security applications,” Hersam said.

The randomness of the numbers has already been validated using industry standard protocols, including the NIST statistical testing suite and the TestU01 software library. While there’s still more work to be done to demonstrate this technology in action, it’s definitely an exciting advance for anyone who cares about keeping their devices secure.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Nano Letters.

Deal: Get the Moto Z Play and its amazing battery for $324.99, the lowest price ever!

It’s a love affair that won’t end. Get the Moto Z Play for just $324.99 right now!

It may be almost a year old, but the Moto Z Play still feels as fresh as ever — especially now that it’s getting updated to Android 7.1.1. And even though there’s a sequel out, the OG is still king thanks to its 3510mAh battery that lasts all day and then some. There’s also plenty of power, including a Snapdragon 625 chip, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage (plus microSD expansion) and a 16MP rear camera.

Even at its full price of $449.99, we recommend this battery beast over everything else in its price range. At its newly-discounted $349.99 price, we definitely recommend it over everything else.

At $324.99, this deal just screams!

Yep, you can grab the unlocked Moto Z Play, which is compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile and other GSM-based MVNOs like Mint SIM, for $324.99! Use the offer code ZPSMART at checkout to receive the additional $25 discount off the existing $100, and you’ll get this phone for its lowest-ever price unlocked.

The discount is really good, and it’s also really short — this code expires by the end of August 11, so get going on it!

Remember to use the offer code ZPSMART at checkout. Hurry, this deal expires in 24 hours!

Need more reason to get excited? Read this blurb from Daniel’s review:

I love this phone. I think it does everything right, and sacrifices little on the way. Moto Mods are terrific additions to the Moto Z ecosystem, but I cannot say emphasize this enough: they are not necessary to enjoy this phone.

Of course, it’s battery life that brings you in the door here. I haven’t ever felt this confident about leaving my phone unplugged overnight, and if you’re a heavy user, or just wants a bit of breathing room, the Moto Z Play is the phone for you.

Convinced? Grab the Moto Z Play for its lowest price ever, and tell ’em Thrifter sent you!

See at B&H

Grab a wall charger with USB-C and -A ports for as low as $10

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with a great deal on Aukey wall chargers.

Aukey has a few different discounts on desktop wall chargers, it really just depends on how many ports you need.

The $22 Aukey AMP charger has 3 ports where 1 is for USB-C. With code R5HJPDNH you can knock that price down to $10.12. That’s the lowest price it’s ever been to.

The $25 Aukey AMP has 5 ports with 1 dedicated to USB-C. Use code N79URQMX to bring it down to its lowest price ever, $12.99.

The $30 Aukey AMP has 6 ports with 2 ports for USB-C devices. Code HJGKTTO7 brings it down to $16.19

These are great devices if you have a lot of tech that charges via USB, especially phones and tablets. You can set one of these up in a central location and let everyone in your home get in on that sweet, sweet, charging action.

The 3-port and 6-port chargers have Quick Charge 3.0 technology on the USB-C ports, which means they charge 45% faster than ports without it. All the ports are compatible with any USB powered device, even older ones. Each charger comes with built-in safeguards to prevent overheating and overcharging.

Aukey includes a two-year warranty for each device.

See at Amazon

More from Thrifter:

• Tips for becoming an expert eBay seller
• How to save money and pack healthy lunches for work

For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Four things that make Gunheart ridiculously cool…and one that doesn’t

Why should I play Gunheart?

Gunheart is currently in Early Access on Steam and Oculus, but it’s getting a ton of attention, both positive and negative. Players are calling it a mix of Destiny and Borderlands, and for good reason. It’s the creation of Drifter Entertainment, which is composed of former members of Epic Games, Oculus, and Microsoft. Not sure whether you should drop $35 on an Early Access VR title? Here are four reasons you should, and one reason you might not want to.

Read more at VRHeads!

You can now use Samsung’s browser on nearly every Android phone, but should you?

Browser includes features such as extensions and night mode.

Samsung’s Internet application may seem superfluous when a smartphone or tablet already has Google Chrome, but it has a few tricks up its sleeve. The most well-known feature is extension support, so users can download a separate content blocker to filter out malicious advertisements. There are also some handy features including a night mode that darkens a web page’s interface, and battery life is reportedly better than Chrome, though that assertion is certainly subjective. Before today, the browser was only available for Samsung devices and the Google Pixel, but that has changed.

Samsung’s Internet browser comes with Adblock and other great features.

Samsung has announced that any user using a device with Android 5.0 Lollipop and newer (75% of all Android devices) can download the beta version of Samsung Internet and get access to those extra features. While it is advertised as a beta, the application worked just fine for me. It downloaded and installed to my OnePlus 3T without issue, and I haven’t encountered any crashes or errors when browsing. One of the Adblock plugins did say it was not compatible with my 3T, but I’ll wager that’s an issue with that specific plugin. I was able to download a different Adblock plugin and the browser loaded pages just fine whether I had the content blocker enabled or not.

To streamline setup, Chrome desktop users can download the Samsung Internet plugin to synchronize their bookmarks and passwords. This does mean creating a Samsung ID to sync the data, but that’s not too big of an issue. Once signed into the account on both mobile and inside the Chrome browser, importing bookmarks is as easy as clicking the “Import” button inside the extension’s settings. The default home screen and search engine for Samsung Internet are Google, as most Android users would expect.

Do you plan on using the Samsung Browser over Chrome? Let us know down below!

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

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