Elon Musk shows off SpaceX’s custom spacesuit
Ladies and gentleman, meet the SpaceX spacesuit. Elon Musk just came through with the first pic of the astronaut gear via his Instagram. And, even though it’s not a full look at the suit, it offers plenty to pick apart. Like, why is the American flag on the arm the wrong way round? (Although, that could be due to the image being flipped.) Speculation aside, let’s start with what we know so far. Musk claims this is not a mockup, meaning it’s a real-life, working spacesuit. That’s cool, because (by the looks of things) it’s all about mobility.
First picture of SpaceX spacesuit. More in days to follow. Worth noting that this actually works (not a mockup). Already tested to double vacuum pressure. Was incredibly hard to balance esthetics and function. Easy to do either separately.
A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Aug 23, 2017 at 12:59am PDT
The SpaceX spacesuit’s already been tested to double vacuum pressure, according to Musk. And, we’re assuming it passed those trials, along with the ocean landing mobility and safety runs. By far its most striking feature is its slim, fitted design. Most contemporary, and even next-gen spacesuits, look bulky and utilitarian. The SpaceX spacesuit, on the other hand, looks a lot lighter. Which makes sense, seeing as it was crafted by a Hollywood costume designer, renowned for making Batman and Wolverine’s figure-hugging outfits.
The helmet also seems to offer plenty of visibility, although less so than NASA’s future Z-2 suit. Musk claims it was “hard to balance” aesthetic with functionality. For the most part, the design seems to keep things simple. There are minimal grey lines and patches that sit nicely alongside its traditional white coloring. Its closest comparisons in the world of cinema are probably the suits worn in Interstellar, and (appropriately) The Martian.
Musk is keen to milk this unveiling for all it’s worth, so expect more shots over the coming days. The suit may eventually be worn by astronauts on NASA’s commercial crew program.
Source: Elon Musk (Instagram)
Amazon’s new education tool helps students become better writers
Amazon’s been ramping up its efforts in the education space since 2013, when it acquired TenMarks. The ed-tech startup helps teachers and parents create easy-to-digest curriculums for young students, which up until today were all about math. But now, Amazon is introducing TenMarks Writing, a cloud-based program designed to help 4th-6th grade kids become better writers. For students, there are features like Writing Coach, which guides them through the entire process of putting together a story, from the pre-write phase to editing in real-time with their teacher.
Meanwhile, educators can use the Teacher View to leave comments or suggestions on essays or another type of story a student may be writing. Amazon says the key is to make curriculums fun and engaging, which is why kids are able to pick exactly how they’d like to write an idea using Bursts. With Text Message, for example, they can have pretend like two fictional characters are having a conversation. Again, this is about making students feel comfortable before they even begin the writing process.
Schools can get TenMarks Writing starting today for $4 per student every year. As mentioned earlier, the program is intended for kids between 4th and 6th grade, though Amazon says the program will also have tools for 7th and 8th graders “soon.”
TenMarks Writing Coach
‘Fallout,’ ‘Doom’ and ‘Skyrim’ will launch in VR this year
The biggest beef for VR gamers is the lack of, well, VR games. That’s about to change soon thanks to Bethesda, which revealed that all three of the VR titles it announced previously will be coming to the Playstation VR and HTC Vive by the end of the year. And those titles should have you salivating: Doom VFR arrives on December 1st to the PSVR and HTC Vive, Fallout 4 VR hits the Vive on December 12th, and Skyrim VR will land on the PSVR on November 17th.
Bethesda also released some more info and a teaser (below) for Doom VFR, noting that it’s been fully revamped for virtual reality (yes, the “F” stands for what you think it does). “It’s every bit as fast. It’s just a different type of movement,” CTO Robert Duffy says. Game Director Marty Stratton adds that “it’s going to be different than a lot of the stuff they play in VR.”
The games will be standalone for VR, and not available as an upgrade from the existing versions. Fallout 4 VR will run $60, but there’s no word on whether it’ll have the same expansion packs as the non-VR one. Doom VFR, by comparison, will be relatively cheap at $30, but for that you’ll get less content than the regular game. Skyrim Playstation VR buyers will get everything available on the current Skyrim for $60.
We may learn a bit more about the games this Thursday, when Bethesda’s Quakecom 2017 gets underway in Texas. You can count on none of them coming to the Oculus Rift, though. That’s because of a legal battle between Bethesda owner Zenimax and Oculus parent Facebook, and unfortunately, it’s Oculus Rift owners who are getting the shaft here.
Source: Bethesda
Musical.ly’s iPhone App Gets Redesign, Profile Videos, and Similar Video Suggestions
Social video app Musical.ly has been updated to version 6.0.1 today, bringing a few notable additions like a refresh to the overall design of the app, a new section that suggests videos users might like to watch, and updates to profile pages (via Variety).
Musical.ly, which launched in 2014, rose in popularity thanks to its focus on user-created lip-sync videos. The app allows anyone who downloads it to pick from a library of songs — now sourced through Apple Music — then record, edit, and share a short video to the app, and to other social media sites.
That core concept remains, and users can now upload a profile video that lasts about six seconds to represent themselves when others visit their profile on Musical.ly. The app has also added Twitter as a site where users can share their clips, coming in addition to YouTube and Instagram.
Musical.ly is also host to a large collection of videos that its 215 million users can browse and watch, spanning genres like comedy, beauty, fashion, sports, vlogs, food, and animals. Original short-form videos have also been created through partnerships with NBCUniversal, Hearst, and Viacom.
This expansion of its video platform side has led to the new video curating feature, called “similar musical.lys” in the app’s new update. The changes are an effort to expand the app’s user base beyond its teenage-focused demographic, according to Musical.ly president Alex Hofmann, with the video recommendations aimed at new users who might download the app to watch videos, but not have had much use for Musical.ly’s other social and video creation features.
The No. 1 goal of the new app design is to make “a wide range of content more accessible,” Hofmann said. The new “similar musical.lys” section recommends videos that are similar to videos you’ve watched using an algorithm that incorporates several factors, including a computer-vision system that tries to determine what a video is about.
“We want to make this about personalization,” Hofmann said. “If someone comes in and they’re a 40-year-old guy who watched basketball videos, they will get value in the same way as someone who comes in at a younger age.”
Earlier this year, Apple partnered with Musical.ly to provide Apple Music content as song snippet options within Musical.ly, and in exchange the company agreed to promote Apple Music within its app. The deal allowed Apple Music subscribers to listen to full songs directly within Musical.ly, and also expanded the number of countries where Musical.ly is available from 30 to 120.
Musical.ly is available to download from the iOS App Store for free [Direct Link], as well as on the Google Play Store.
Tag: Musical.ly
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Huawei’s betting big on AI, will show off its achievements on September 2
Why it matters to you
Artificial intelligence is about more than just a voice assistant on your phone, and Huawei’s promising its own AI will do a lot more.
Huawei has big plans for artificial intelligence, something it has made very clear several times over the past year, and on September 2 it’s going to reveal the first product built around its AI technology. In a series of teasers posted to its social media channels, it notes the date and tells us to, “expect the unexpected.”
Does this mean Huawei’s own voice assistant is here, ready to challenge Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung’s Bixby? Possibly, but Huawei has also hinted any assistant duties will be just a small part of what its AI is capable of. In a tweet from the end of July, Huawei asked what AI meant to us, and in an image said it should be, “more than just a voice assistant.”
Is the future intelligent?
Join us #LIVE from @IFA_Berlin 2nd September at 2pm (CEST) and find out… #HuaweiMobileAI pic.twitter.com/pbEzEH4EZw— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) August 21, 2017
The September 2 date coincides with Huawei’s keynote presentation at the IFA technology trade show in Berlin, which has the title, “On device intelligence: Mobile AI is on the way.” While discussion of how AI will change the way we use smartphones will be a major part of the talk, Huawei CEO Richard Yu will also focus on, “Why Huawei’s latest innovation will make its smart devices truly intelligent companions.”
Huawei isn’t expected to launch any hardware at IFA, as it has scheduled a separate launch event for October, where the Mate 10 is likely to make its debut. The IFA show and keynote may be the launchpad for a virtual assistant destined for use on the Mate 10, enabled by the still unofficial Kirin 970 processor, which is rumored to be specially engineered for making AI faster than ever.
Richard Yu has already spoken about an, “Intelligent revolution,” among smart products, which he predicts will happen over the coming five to 10 years. Huawei COO Wan Biao envisages a future where man and machine become, “integrated together for proactive thinking.” It’s clear Huawei has grand plans for artificial intelligence.
Huawei’s plans may be big, but it lags behind the competition in AI assistants on its smartphones. It has incorporated Amazon’s Alexa on the Mate 9, but the experience is less cohesive than on the HTC U11, while Apple’s Siri has been available for several years already. Samsung has proven how difficult it is to get AI right with the slow launch of its Bixby assistant. We’ll know what Huawei plans next month, and presumably see it in action the month after that.
How to use notification channels on Android Oreo
Fine tune what notifications interrupt your day with notification channels on Android Oreo.
Android Oreo delivers plenty of awesome new features for you to play with, and one of the best for those who like to finely tune every aspect of the experience is the addition of notification channels. This nifty setup makes it much easier to properly adjust what notifications interrupt your day so that you only get pinged when it’s actually necessary.
Here’s how it works!
- How to change notification Importance
- How to change notification info on your lock screen
- How to let notifications override Do Not Disturb
- How to turn off notifications for a specific app
How to change notification importance
A notification’s importance is what denotes the type of notification it will send. If you want to make sure you get every notification from an app as soon as it is available, you’d want to mark it urgent. With other apps it might not matter as much and could be set to never notify you ever. Lookin’ at you, Facebook’s “On This Day” notification.
Open the Settings on your phone.
Tap Apps & notifications.
Tap App info
Tap to open the app whose Notifications settings you want to adjust.
Tap App notifications.
Tap General notifications.
Tap Importance.
Tap to choose your new Notification Settings.
How to change notification info on your lock screen
You can change how much information from a notification pops up on your lock screen. This means you can choose between very little info displayed for privacy or most of the information displayed for convenience.
Open the Settings on your phone.
Tap Apps & notifications.
Tap App info
Tap to open the app whose Notifications settings you want to adjust.
Tap App notifications.
Tap General notifications.
Tap On the lock screen.
Tap to choose the information displayed on your lock screen.
How to let Notifications override Do Not Disturb
If you want to be sure that specific apps always notify you, you can tell the app to override Do Not Disturb mode.
Open the Settings on your phone.
Tap Apps & notifications.
Tap App info
Tap to open the app whose Notifications settings you want to adjust.
Tap App notifications.
Tap General notifications.
Tap the toggle next to Override Do Not Disturb.
How to turn off notifications
In some cases you may want to turn notifications for a specific app off completely, and with Android Oreo that’s easier than ever.
Open the Settings on your phone.
Tap Apps & notifications.
Tap App info
Tap to open the app whose Notifications settings you want to turn off.
Tap App notifications.
Tap the first toggle to turn Notifications on or off.
Questions?
Do you still have questions about notification channels on Android O? Will you be tweaking any notification channels? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below!
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
The Morning After: Wednesday, August 23rd 2017
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.
Wednesday has arrived. It brings the last gasp of eclipse talk (for a few years, anyway), as well as our first close look at the SNES Classic Edition. Oh, and don’t forget, check Engadget for all of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 news starting at 11 AM ET.
Take that, Amazon Prime.Walmart has a new partner to help take on Amazon: Google
The latest attempt by Walmart to get a leg up in online sales is a partnership with Google on two fronts. A new tie-in links Walmart accounts to the Google Assistant AI, allowing easy ordering by voice using either your phone or a Google Home. Also, in late September, Walmart will join the Google Express lineup, allowing for online shopping and fast delivery in supported areas. Meanwhile, Google Express has free delivery for orders above each store’s minimum.
Flash briefing.Life with AI: one week with Alexa
This entry in our ongoing AI series focuses on Amazon’s Echo-powered setup. Chris Velazco says he’s “come to regard Alexa as a sort of cloud-powered child,” who has “become so enmeshed in the fabric of my household that I don’t consciously remember all the times I talk to her.” Is that a good thing? Maybe.
No, we can’t help you buy one.SNES Classic Edition preview
Pre-orders have already opened and closed for Nintendo’s next miniaturized throwback system, but we’re just getting our first real impressions. Sean Buckley spent about a half hour with the SNES Classic Edition, testing out everything from its game-saving rewind feature to the all-new Starfox 2 game it contains. Bringing new features while leaving the controller largely unchanged seems to have required some compromises, but we’re sure most of you will get over them to enjoy some classic 16-bit gaming.
New plan needed.Crashplan drops its backup service for home users
Code42 is phasing out its Crashplan for Home service as it switches its focus to business users. Whether users have local or cloud-based backups, it’s pushing them towards a small-business subscription, or a cloud backup service for home users offered by Carbonite. Unfortunately, it won’t refund any subscription fees already paid but says it will continue to honor them — although users can’t extend or renew them now. If you’re still looking for a backup service beyond the one built into your OS, a few suggestions have included Backblaze and SyncBack Free.
Enjoy the challenge.‘Cuphead’ is as wondrous as it is difficult
According to Devindra Hardawar, Cuphead is “reminiscent of 2D, 8-bit-era platformers that were so tough they wanted to make you throw your controllers against the wall.” And yet, he still can’t wait to keep playing the full game.
As long as you didn’t go blind.I didn’t see the eclipse in totality, but it was still pretty great
Whether or not the eclipse hype paid off, it seemed like a good experience for most. Even if your view ended up obscured by ill-timed cloud cover, data shows it pulled people away from their screens, even if it was only for a few minutes.
But wait, there’s more…
- Verizon’s always-on throttling is an affront to customers and net neutrality
- What’s on TV: ‘Game of Thrones’ season finale, ‘Uncharted’ and ‘Madden 18’
- SNES-inspired 3DS XL hits Europe in October
- (Maybe) home and factory robots can be hacked to harm humans
- How RFID tags became a fashion trend
- Seinfeld’s first Netflix stand-up special premieres September 19th
The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.
MIT makes it easy for beginners to design robots
It’s not easy building robots if you don’t have the education and the training. A team of researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), however, have developed a tool that allows even beginners to design machines. CSAIL’s Interactive Robogami system makes it possible to conjure up a robot design in minutes and to put it together in an hour or two. You begin the process by mixing and matching parts from a catalogue on a computer, including the robot’s body and its means of locomotion.
Since the researchers want even those with zero prior experience to be able to use the system, the program can simulate your design’s movements on screen to see if it works. If there’s something wrong with it, say it’s too top-heavy or the wheels you chose won’t work out, the program can make suggestions.
Once you’re done creating the blueprint, the next step is 3D-printing your robot’s parts as flat, foldable components — there’s a reason why the system is called Interactive Robogami. Inspired by the art of paper folding or origami, you’ll have to fold the components and connect their joints to make a whole machine. This print-and-fold method apparently reduces the amount of materials needed by 70 percent and the printing time by 73 percent.
It still took 3 to 7 hours to print all the components needed for each robot during the team’s tests, but the whole process still didn’t take a lot of time overall. Their subjects, all of whom only went through 20 minutes of training, were able to design robotic cars within 10 to 15 minutes and assemble their creations within half an hour to an hour-and-a-half.
Team co-leader Cynthia Sung said the system is “lowering the barrier to have everyone design and create their own robots.” They believe that Interactive Robogami could give people the power to create robots on demand based on the task they need help with and could enable large-scale production of customized machines.
Source: MIT CSAIL
EE is also suing Ofcom to mould 5G spectrum auction as it sees fit
It seems a couple of UK carriers would rather tie the impending 5G spectrum auction up in litigation than let any of their competitors get their own way. Following in the footsteps of Three, EE is launching its own legal challenge against Ofcom in an attempt to get the regulator to release more spectrum earmarked for 5G services this time around, rather than holding separate auctions for different slices of the airwaves further down the road.
The way the auction is currently structured, BT/EE will be banned from bidding on 4G spectrum in the 2.3GHz band, on account of the provider controlling a dominant portion of 4G frequencies already. Ofcom has also introduced a 37 percent cap on “all the mobile spectrum expected to be useable by 2020,” which applies to all networks. This means that EE and Vodafone will be limited in how much spectrum they can acquire in the 3.4GHz band that’ll be used for future 5G services.
Three doesn’t think these limitations go far enough, believing a 30 percent cap would be fairer. And in order to stop the auction from going ahead under the proposed structure, Three began legal proceedings earlier this month.
EE’s issue with the auction is slightly different. Instead of releasing spectrum solely in the 3.4GHz band, EE’s legal challenge argues Ofcom should add 3.6GHz and 700MHz bands into the mix. EE CEO Marc Allera writes that one bigger auction “will allow far more effective planning for all operators and result in a stronger 5G platform for the UK.”
“With the early bands for 5G all in one auction, there would be enough spectrum for four operators to get a sizable chunk that will enable delivery of high quality 5G networks, and we wouldn’t need to argue over unnecessary and inappropriate competition measures.”
The ‘let’s get it over with in one hit’ approach makes sense, in that all operators will know what 5G spectrum they’re working with long before they’re expected to actually deploy next-gen networks. But let’s also not forget that a 37 percent cap doesn’t look so limiting when there’s a shedload more spectrum on offer in the first place. BT/EE may also be in a better financial position than other carriers too, allowing it to take full advantage of a broader auction.
This isn’t a wholly altruistic move on EE’s part, that’s for sure. “We cannot allow a competitor to opportunistically seek to further constrain our ability to invest in spectrum,” Allera says, which is a delicate way of throwing shade at Three for its exhausting campaign to shape the auction as it sees fit.
Three’s legal action has already stalled the auction, and EE believes its challenge shouldn’t delay things any further since Ofcom should be able to deal with both auction-related issues in tandem. We are years behind schedule already, mind, after the auction was put on the back-burner while O2 and Three pursued an ultimately doomed merger.
O2 chief Mark Evans seems just as weary as us about the whole thing. Speaking to the Financial Times, he said “Legal action will inevitably cause delay to the auction and gives no thought to the impact and harm this will have to UK customers, companies and economic growth. This country desperately needs more mobile airwaves.”
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that all carriers now seem happy (enough) for the 4G, 2.3GHz auction to go ahead as soon as possible. Of all the operators, Vodafone has been the least vocal throughout this extended period of industry bickering. Like an affectless parent, it’s letting the kids have it out until they’re too tired to continue — all the while daydreaming (possibly) about building its own fibre broadband network.
Source: EE (CEO Marc Allera on LinkedIn)
Alexa’s mood-matching music suggestions come to the UK
For Amazon Echo owners in the UK, the arrival of Music Unlimited provided the likes of Apple and Spotify with some music needed competition. The company immediately made it the default music service on the smart speaker, allowing users to instantly queue music using their voice once they’d signed up. Understandably, Amazon is keen to differentiate its service from its more popular rivals, so it’s banking on Alexa “activities,” which have today arrived in the UK.
Activities are basically Amazon-built voice controls that make it easier to find music for a specific event or setting. Users have apparently requested ways to find a perfect meditation playlist, or music that matches the theme of a party or a workout and the company is only too keen to oblige. Examples include “Alexa, play jazz for dinner,” “Alexa, play pop for cooking,” or our favourite “Alexa, play baby making jazz music.”
Amazon says Alexa supports “over 500 activity utterances,” the most popular of which are related to sleep or relaxation, partying, meditation and working out. The company will continue to add more over time, giving its Music Unlimited platform a slight edge over the competition (at least on the Echo and other smart Alexa devices).
AIVAnet 