One of these Android Oreo statues is not like the other

Google ordered two Android Oreo statues from two different companies this year.

There aren’t many Android faithful who have been able to make the trip to Mountain View to see the impressive gathering of statues Google has commissioned to commemorate each launch of its OS, but those who have been are in for a treat. These larger than life statues are an amazing journey through the history of Android, and are a ton of fun to grab a photo while standing next to your favorite.

The new Android Oreo statue will make a nice addition to the collection, but this year some statue selfies will be different from others. That’s because there are actually two different Android statues this year, and they are not as similar as you might think.

Get more Android Oreo in your life with our full 8.0 review!

Google’s New York unveiling of Android Oreo revealed a statue that slid open and animated. The eyes were glowing, the head seemed to glide into place, and it was on a single pedestal to make the character look like it is flying. It’s a fantastic statue, but the angular design and electronics seemed like a wild departure from the previous creations on display. This prompted a call to the mastermind behind all of the previous Android statues, who filled me in on the details.

Giovanni Calabrese has been building custom sculptures and props under the name Themendous for 23 years now, and his work on the Google Campus all have a similar look to them. The material he uses has survived years in every kind of weather, but they are all stationary and rigid statues on the Google Lawn. While Giovanni is responsible for the Android Oreo statue you see at Mountain View today, Themendous is not responsible for both statues.

Unveiling of the Android O statue. It’s Oreo! pic.twitter.com/xlwq2c1jop

— Tako Hisada 🐙 (@takoloco) August 21, 2017

So, how can you tell the difference? Well, aside from one being in New York and the other Mountain View, the Themedous Oreo has a more natural-looking round shape and is surrounded by giant Oreo cookies. The other statue is boxy and a little brighter, complete with lights in the eyes and a smaller stand to chill on.

Will you try to grab selfies with both statues? Sound off in the comments!

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

Google says Oreo will roll out to some partner devices by the end of the year

Google has been working with its partners to get the Oreo update out by the end of the year.

While Google’s first party devices get new Android releases immediately, the same can’t be said for partner devices. Since these devices comprise the vast majority of Android devices, we run into situations like Nougat only being available on 13% of all Android devices a year after release.

But there may be cause for hope: tucked in the Android Oreo announcement post was this quote:

We’ve also been working closely with our partners, and by the end of this year, hardware makers including Essential, General Mobile, HMD Global Home of Nokia Phones, Huawei, HTC, Kyocera, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp and Sony are scheduled to launch or upgrade devices to Android 8.0 Oreo.

Google has made vague promises like this before, but the fact that the company is naming specific partners is new. Google caveats that by stating the partners may be launching new devices with Oreo, not necessarily upgrading existing devices. We may see the LG V30 and Sony Xperia XZ1 launch with Oreo, but the rest of the devices are expected to be upgrades. Samsung is also expected to announce the Note 8 this week, but that will likely launch with Nougat. Time will tell if the partner companies make good on their word.

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

VitalSines’ iHeart health devices now compatible with Android

The iHeart health-monitoring devices now have an Android companion app.

VitalSines’ iHeart health monitoring devices now have an Android companion application, after the company released an iOS application near the end of last year. Rather than calculating exercise data that Android Wear would collect, the iHeart devices focus on calculating the internal age of a user’s body.

The sensor itself clamps around a user’s index finger and displays an approximate internal age, an average heart rate, blood oxygen level and other statistics. The data can be used to predict whether a user will suffer from heart diseases and dementia, so the user is able to adjust their daily patterns and stave off those diseases. The iHeart was released after a successful Indiegogo campaign for iOS users, and now Android users can get in on the action.

The iHeart monitor is available on the company’s website for $195.

Are you interested in the VitalSines iHeart? Let us know down below!

See at iHeart

The Nest Cam indoor security camera works great with smart homes and is down to $144

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, and this deal on the Nest Cam is a doozy!

Get this Nest Cam indoor security camera for just $144 at Lowe’s with the ridiculous coupon code 470000000074228. Lowe’s has discounted the Nest Cam down to $169 this week, which puts it just a little higher than other retailers like Amazon. The coupon code drops it down to its lowest price anywhere since last year’s Black Friday sales. Be sure to select “Parcel Shipping” for free 1-3 day shipping.

In the world of indoor security cameras, Nest Cam is one of the best if you’re into the whole Smart Home thing. It has 1080p HD video quality with 8x digital zoom, two-way audio, 24/7 live streaming capability, low-light capabilities, all kinds of customized alert settings, and easy setup. Add all that to the Works with Nest program, which ensures Nest devices are still compatible with more services than other devices, and you won’t find a better security camera to connect to your Smart Home hub.

On Amazon, the Nest Cam has almost 6,000 user reviews and it has a 4.2-star rating.

See at Lowe’s

More from Thrifter:

• How to get the most out of your Amazon Prime membership
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For more great deals be sure to check out our friends at Thrifter now!

Comcast’s new sports guide makes it easier to find games and scores

Comcast has made some useful tweaks to its sports guide for X1 on set-top boxes and the Xfinity Stream App just in time for the NFL preseason. On X1, the top of the sports guide now has landing pages for every major league and sport including soccer, tennis and even cricket. And live scores of ongoing games will appear just below. Comcast has also made it simple to jump into any game that’s currently on, preview upcoming games and get stats and analyses via the Sports App. Like X1, the Xfinity Stream App is also now sorted by league with ongoing games and upcoming game schedules easier to get to.

To get to the new sports guide, X1 users just need to speak a sport or league into the X1 voice remote or tap the “guide” button twice. Comcast says that it will be adding the capability to let customers customize which sports, teams or athletes are featured on their guide menu, though it’s unclear when that option will become available.

Other recent changes from Comcast include new parental controls for its XFi internet system and a YouTube app on its X1 platform. The new sports guide is available now.

Source: Comcast

Researchers use encryption to keep patients’ DNA private

There are a lot of valid security concerns when it comes to genetic testing and keeping your genome under wraps. But researchers at Stanford University have figured out a way to keep the vast majority of your genomic data hidden while looking for disease-associated mutations. The work was recently published in Science.

When trying to figure out which genetic mutations cause disease and which are associated with healthy individuals, researchers have in the past had to compare whole genomes of thousands of people. But with this work, scientists have shown that a whole genome isn’t necessary and there are ways of keeping all of the irrelevant genetic data private. “There is a general conception that we can only find meaningful differences by surveying the entire genome,” said Gill Bejerano, an author of the study, in a statement. “But these meaningful differences make up only a very tiny proportion of our DNA. There are now amazing tools in computer science and cryptography that allow researchers to pinpoint only these differences while keeping the remainder of the genome completely private.”

What the research team did was create a way for patients to encrypt their genome and report whether their genome analysis showed the presence of particular gene variants. That information was then uploaded to the cloud and researchers were able to reveal only the gene variants that were pertinent to their study. Around 97 percent of the participants’ genomes were kept hidden and were only ever viewed in full by the participants themselves. “These are techniques that the cryptography community has been developing for some time,” said Dan Boneh, another author of the study. “Now we are applying them to biology.”

Ultimately, this means that patients’ genetic data can remain private while also being used for study. “We now have the tools in hand to make certain that genomic discrimination doesn’t happen,” said Bejerano. “There are ways to simultaneously share and protect this information.”

Via: Gizmodo

Source: Science, Stanford

Every NFL team is involved in EA’s ‘Madden’ eSports tournament

You’ve seen conventional sports teams dip their toes in the eSports waters before, but probably not like this. EA is launching the Madden NFL Club Championship today, and it’ll have official involvement from all 32 NFL teams — the first time an American sports league has fully committed itself to an eSports tournament. You’ll qualify online in Madden 18 between now and October 16th, but the best players will square off in tournaments in the stadiums for each team. The final 32 players will compete at NFL experiences in Orlando and Minneapolis. And if you win? You’ll get both a cash prize and two tickets to (what else?) Super Bowl LII.

This isn’t the only official Madden competition on deck in 2017: the Madden NFL Classic kicks off October 20th, and the Madden NFL Challenge begins December 15th. There’s a total of $1.15 million on the line across all three. However, it’s reasonable to say that the Club Championship is the main event. This tourney shows just how far eSports has come — competitive gaming is now big enough that a major league like the NFL is willing to offer full support.

Source: EA Press Room, EA Sports

Oreo is officially the next name for Android

Google loves to make a big splash when it reveals the name for the latest version of Android. But the company is going all out this year, using the solar eclipse as an opportunity to reveal that Android O will henceforth be referred to as Oreo. It makes at least a little sense to tie this reveal in to the eclipse — those iconic photos of the solar event are a bit evocative of Oreos, after all.

As we’ve already covered, Android O doesn’t have a ton of flashy features, although Google is highlighting some of the consumer-facing tweaks today. Those include picture-in-picture multitasking, notification “dots” on your most-used apps, improved battery management, support for Android instant apps and a host of redesigned emoji.

That’s not the only news Google dropped today. Perhaps more crucially to smartphone buyers, Android Oreo is complete. Google announced that as of today, the latest version of Android is available for access through the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Additionally, builds for the Pixel, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P are in carrier testing and should start rolling out soon; the semi-forgotten Pixel C tablet and Nexus Player set-top box will also receive these updates before long. Lastly, if you don’t feel like waiting, any device enrolled in the Android beta program will receive this update. In fact, that’s probably the fastest way to try this finalized software.

This isn’t the first time Google has used a brand to announce a new version of Android. Back in 2013, Android 4.4 was dubbed KitKat thanks to a partnership with Hershey. That included some giveaways of Nexus 7 tablets and Google Play store credit; whether or not Oreo cookie buyers will have a chance to get their hands on some goodies from Google remains to be seen.

Usually, the finalization of a new version of Android coincides with new phone hardware, but in recent years Google has altered that schedule a bit. New Nexus (and now Pixel) phones have arrived in the fall for years now, and it seems that Google is sticking to that plan this year as well. Given all the leaks we’re seeing that point to new Pixels on the horizon, we should have a complete view of Google’s Android hardware and software for the next year before very long.

Source: Google

Cyberpunk shooter ‘Ruiner’ hits PC and consoles September 26th

When we played Ruiner during the Xbox showcase at GDC back in February, we compared it to a 3D, highly polished version of Hotline Miami. The cyberpunk-themed, top-down action game sets you up to kill the boss while taking out enemies who swarm in from doorways and narrow hallways. Ruiner is now ready to launch on September 26th on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The team has also released a teaser trailer to whet your appetite and show off the rapid-fire gameplay and dystopian setting.

The developer describes Ruiner as “a brutal action shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyber metropolis Rengkok.” You’ll play as a wired-up psychopath, apparently, who’s trying to save his kidnapped brother with the help of a mysterious hacker friend, while trying to take down the corporations that rule the world.

It’s all about quick reflexes, a sweet video-helmet, and a full complement of weapons. You’ll notice the various implements of death in the above trailer: the Storm V plasma rifle, the one-handed Katana, the Fury pulse railgun, the Electra high-voltage cannon, a Sonic-XR ultrasonic gun, and the Shock EMP grenade. That’s just a start of course, with a laser cannon, automatic shooter, splitter gun, deployable force field, rotary machine gun, lightning bolt generator, submachine gun, and basic pipe rounding out the arsenal at your disposal.

Source: Devolver Digital

Facebook makes Safety Check a permanent feature

Facebook is acting on its promise to make Safety Check a permanent feature. The social network is rolling out a dedicated Safety Check hub that helps you find any ongoing crisis without first being prompted to declare yourself as safe. It’s not exactly a prominent feature (you’ll have to dig into Facebook’s large list of secondary features to find it), but it’ll help you find emergency information and potentially help others in need.

The feature will take a few weeks to reach everyone.

You could call it a commentary on the state of the world that Facebook sees enough reason to make Safety Check a fixture of its site — it means that natural disasters, terrorism and conflict are frequent enough that the on-demand approach might not be enough. At the same time, it’s good to know that you can seek (or offer) help whenever you want, not just in special circumstances.

Via: The Verge

Source: Facebook