NVIDIA’s Shield 2 prototype shows up in a Canadian pawn shop

Back in 2013, NVIDIA released the Shield, a handheld gaming unit that looked like a heftier Xbox controller paired with a fold-up screen. Powered by the company’s then-current Tegra 4 chips, it ran on Android as a small powerhouse. The company renamed it the Shield Portable but never followed up with another officially-released handheld, instead moving on to a pair of tablet gaming machines. But a supposed prototype for the next version of the NVIDIA Shield Portable somehow wound up in a Canadian pawnshop.

Redditor FwrigginRwootbeer posted their find to the NVIDIA subreddit about a suspiciously different version of the Shield Portable. Android Police independently confirmed that the unit in question was a test kit for game developers to tinker with and was never intended to reach the public. As the site points out, FwrigginRwootbeer’s photos of the model match pics in documents filed to the FCC last year which described a second Shield Portable device that has yet to get publicly released — if it ever will.

The Redditor included photos of the device’s specs, which also align with those included in the documents. The dev unit has an ARM Cortex-A57 CPU at 1.91 GHz (which matches Tegra’s X1 chip), 3GB of RAM and a 5.9-inch, 1440 x 810 pixel resolution screen. It’s very unlikely that we’ll ever see a finished version of a second Shield Portable released to consumers, though NVIDIA is keeping the brand name alive with its Shield TV line.

Via: Liliputing

Source: NVIDIA (Reddit)

‘Game of Thrones’ season seven gets a behind-the-scenes series

It’s been a long 24 hours since Game of Thrones finished its seventh season with last night’s finale, but the long wait until the final episodes will be worse. To nurse your longing for Westeros’ dysfunctional band of enemies and frenemies, HBO is airing a whole new behind-the-scenes series. The Game Revealed will give the premium network’s viewers a seven-episode look at the season that just ended, but HBO has uploaded the first on Facebook and YouTube for all to watch.

If you’ve watched the behind-the-scenes content HBO airs after each episode, you might see some of the same footage. But while those were five-minute quick looks, The Game Revealed will venture far longer, with the first one (embedded above) spending over 13 minutes exploring season seven’s premiere episode. While there’s still probably a lot of footage reserved for Blu-Ray bonus features, they’re still content morsels fans can chew on while they wait for the final season, which still doesn’t have a release date. The behind-the-scenes miniseries will be available on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand and partner affiliates.

Via: Deadline

Source: ‘The Game Revealed: Episode One’ (YouTube)

Mobile Pwn2Own Contest Offering Up to $100,000 Reward for iOS Vulnerabilities

Japanese cybersecurity company Trend Micro today announced its sixth annual Mobile Pwn2Own competition will be held at this year’s PacSec security conference in Tokyo on Wednesday, November 1 and Thursday, November 2.

The competition is part of Trend Micro’s Zero Day Initiative, a program for rewarding security researchers for responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities to companies like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Huawei.

This year, targeted devices include the iPhone 7, Samsung’s Galaxy S8, Google’s Pixel, and Huawei’s Mate 9 Pro, each of which will be running the latest version of iOS or Android respectively with up-to-date security fixes.

Trend Micro is making more than $500,000 available to be won, with the cash prizes available varying by type of exploit. Mobile Safari exploits, for example, are worth up to $40,000, while an SMS-based vulnerability could net $60,000.

In addition to the standard categories and prizes, there are add-on bonuses of between $20,000 and $50,000 for executing code with kernel privileges and having a smartphone operating system’s payload persist after a reboot.

Apple representatives have attended Pwn2Own competitions in the past, with all vulnerabilities made aware to them. Apple will have 90 days to produce patches for any iOS-related bugs before they are disclosed.

Earlier this year, at the 10th anniversary Pwn2Own competition, security researchers uncovered macOS Sierra vulnerabilities, including a Safari exploit which allowed them to scroll a message on a MacBook Pro’s Touch Bar.

Tag: Pwn2Own
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Witti BEDDI Glow Smart Alarm Clock review

Like it or not, the school year is breathing down your neck. Before you know it you’ll be waking up nice and early and rushing around the house. With fall looming on the horizon the temperatures will begin to get cooler and it will be tougher to crawl out from under the blankets. Fast forward a few months and it will be pitch black and darn near impossible to start the day.

If you’ve ever found yourself waking up with an almost panic-like sensation from an alarm, you know how jarring things can get. Nothing is worse than be jolted out of a nice, deep sleep with a ringing bell or alarm clock.

This year, do yourself a favor and pick up an alarm clock that slowly wakes you from your slumber. There’s so much to be said about a gradual awakening that pulls you out of sleep over, say, a half hour.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been using the BEDDI Glow, the latest smart alarm clock from WITTI (Witti). As it turns out, this is one of those types of clocks which can help you rise more relaxed and ready to face the day. And, not only that, it’s got a whole bunch of other tricks it can do, too.

Paired to your smartphone via Bluetooth, the Beddi Glow lets users customize the alarm clock experience. Want to go to bed listening to Spotify or white noises? Like to wake up with a weather forecast and quick glance of local traffic? Interested in a glowing lamp that pulses to your music? This clock does all of that, and more.

A lot of us like to charge our phone up at night; really, most of us have become accustomed to using the phone as the alarm clock. The Beddi Glow has a pair of USB charging ports on the back so you can plug the handset in and charge while sleeping. Use the other one for your wearable, tablet, or other gadget.

Once connected to the clock there is a host of options available to users. Accessible through a centralized dashboard, it’s here where you set alarms, adjust the lamp, snooze, pull up radio stations, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Because it has Bluetooth connectivity, the Beddi can be used to play audio through a built-in speaker. Mind you, it’s not overly powerful or rich in sound, but it’s better than what you’ll find in most alarm clocks. For someone who wants to watch YouTube in bed, or listen to the radio, it’s more than adequate.

As my son (13 years old) is heading into high school, he has been waking up early for cross-country training a few days a week, we appreciate that he can set variable alarms. It isn’t every day that he has to wake up for a 7 AM run; other days he can sleep in. He’s loved using the custom alarms and wake times.

I’ve been using a Philips Wake-up Light alarm clock that slowly brightens the room, simulating a sunrise. I now often find myself waking up prior to the alarm clock going off. My son tells me that he’s already getting into a habit of waking up just ahead of the chimes with the Beddi Glow.

Setup and control is very intuitive, taking but a few moments in all. In fact, the longest part of the process was having it scan for (FM antenna included) radio stations. Most nights I find that he’s putting on some combination of white noise (Wind, Fan, Rain, Ocean, and Forest), Google Play Music, glowing lights, or reading under a white light.

Speaking of the glowing light, there’s a seemingly endless set of colors to choose from. Additionally, you can customize whether it pulses to music, fades in and out, or cycles through a rainbow. The color is rich and vibrant and deserves to be seen.

We also appreciate the “Smart” button that comes with the alarm clock. You can go into the app and program how it reacts when pressed a different number of times. This is convenient if you’d like to locate your phone (when in range), turn on a specific radio station, and more.

Priced around $80, you can purchase the Beddi Glow directly from Witti’s website. Look around, though, and you may find it a little cheaper. Amazon has listed it for $69.99 at the time of publication.

We have no reservations about recommending this to someone who is looking for a true alarm clock replacement. Because of its multiple charging ports, FM radio, speaker, light, app interface, and full customization, it’s a great all-in-one solution.

4D quantum encryption packs messages onto photons for sending through the air

Why it matters to you

4D quantum encryption will help keep our communications secure by densely packing them onto photons to send through the air.

In an age of large scale hacks, security experts think that 4D quantum encryption may be the best way to keep communications safe from prying eyes — by literally beaming it through the air as a stream of photons. To make this even more secure, they’ve devised something called 4D or “high-dimensional” quantum encryption, in which twice the data of “regular” 2D quantum encryption can be squeezed onto each photon. Rather than each photon just representing a 1 or 0, as is the case with 2D quantum encryption, in 4D encryption each photon encodes two bits of information, which provides the four possibilities of 01, 10, 00, or 11.

So far, so good, right? The problem is that — until now — this technique hadn’t been demonstrated in the real world. As neat a solution as it is in the lab, the problem in applying it to the real world is air turbulence, which can distort the optical signal. That may not be the case any more, however, because an international team of researchers has demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to use this form of communication in even the crowded noisy environment of a modern city.

For their test, the researchers transported their laboratory optical kit to two different rooftops at the University of Ottawa, covered in wooden boxes to help protect them. They then demonstrated the efficacy of their 4D quantum encryption across two buildings 0.3 kilometers apart. The transmissions carried an error rate of 11 percent, which is below the level required to maintain a secure connection. Compared to 2D encryption, they were able to transmit 1.6 times more information per photon — making it both more secure and more efficient.

Next up, the researchers want to implement their approach on a three link network, with each link being 5.6 kilometers apart, using more than four dimensions. They will also continue to develop their special optics technology that is able to smartly compensate for any turbulence. Eventually, the goal is connect the network to an existing network in Ottawa.

Right now, the research is still at proof of concept stage, but it’s definitely exciting if you’ve got any kind of interest whatsoever in keeping your communication secure.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Optics.

Fitbit sprints into the world of workout audio with new Fitbit Flyer headphones

Why it matters to you

Fitbit’s first wireless headphones will bring the company’s acclaimed wearable tech to the world of audio.

Leading global wearable brand Fitbit is stepping into the world of audio, announcing the launch of the Fitbit Flyer, the company’s first wireless headphones. The new in-ear device coincides with the announcement of the Fitbit Ionic smartwatch, which allows on-wrist storage of music, with the two new devices combining to allow you to listen to your favorite music during strenuous workouts without a smartphone in tow.

The new headphones feature a sweatproof design and customizable fit, via a series of interchangeable tips and sport fins. They also offer two sound profiles for a personalized listening experience — one with boosted bass called Power Boost, and a flatter profile called Signature. Beyond music playback, the Flyer will offer audio coaching via the Fitbit Coach app, helping listeners increase endurance, speed, and stamina without looking at a screen.

“As we launch our first smartwatch with on-device music, providing quality wireless headphones to better help users reach their goals is a natural extension of our product offerings,” Fitbit co-founder and CEO James Park said in a press release about the new headphones.

“Coupled with research that shows 64 percent of fitness tracker owners are interested in purchasing wireless headphones, it makes sense for us to bring our unparalleled health and fitness expertise to this space to deliver what our consumers are looking for most: Great fit they can count on all day and for any workout, along with high-quality sound to keep them motivated.”

Fans of the wearable brand will likely jump at the opportunity to integrate their entire workout experience under one brand, especially given the built-in compatibility between the new Ionic smartwatch and the new wireless in-ear headphones.

The Flyer feature six hours of playback time, with a 15-minute quick-charge feature that provides an hour of juice in a jiffy. They also offer multidevice connectivity, which means you can connect the new headphones to your watch and phone at the same time. In addition, a two microphone setup helps phone calls come through with increased clarity.

The Fitbit Flyer is currently available for pre-order on Fitbit’s website, and will hit retail stores for the first time this October. They will retail for $130.

Sharp and SideChef team up to make your kitchen smarter than ever

Why it matters to you

Have trouble cooking? Let SideChef and Sharp do all the heavy lifting for you with their new smart appliances.

Your Sharp kitchen is about to get smart. Thanks to a new partnership between smart recipe startup SideChef and appliance maker Sharp, your kitchen tools and gadgets will be blessed with some newfound intelligence. SideChef is developing a new app as well as custom recipe content for Sharp’s internet-enabled cooking appliances. Beginning in 2018, you will be able to buy connected appliances from Sharp, beginning with the SuperSteam+ Convection Oven, all of which are powered by SideChef’s smart technology.

Promising a “recipe-driven culinary experience,” the new Sharp app hopes to make cooking foolproof. Simply choose your dish from the app, then let your kitchen appliance do the rest (with your supervision, of course). Already, SideChef has a collection of more than 5,000 interactive smart recipes that automatically set timers, play instructional videos, and make suggestions based on ingredients, time or day, season, location, and more.

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“Sharp was looking for ways to combine convenience with perfect cooking results from our next generation of smart connected home appliances,” Jim Sanduski, president of Sharp Home Electronics Company of America, said in a statement. “SideChef already offers an award winning mobile culinary platform so partnering with them to integrate cooking operation and control was an easy decision.”

So what will an integrated SideChef/Sharp appliance actually look like? The SuperSteam+ certainly serves as a great case study, promising to be three ovens in one. This built-in wall unit creates steam at 485 degrees Fahrenheit, which takes care of the “Super Steam” component. If you are not looking for anything quite so hot, you can also use the oven as a 212-degree Fahrenheit steam oven, or as a powerful convection oven. Once the internet-enabled version launches in the fall of 2018, you will be able to have your oven cook your favorite recipes on your behalf. Just set it and forget it, and come back to a fully cooked meal. The oven will deal with timing, heat, and all the other details.

“At SideChef, we are dedicated to providing the most advanced connected cooking experience available,” Kevin Yu, CEO and Founder of SideChef, said in a statement. “We are proud to partner with a great, global brand like Sharp to pioneer the future of cooking together.”

Enjoy the Treblab RF100 Magnetic Bluetooth headphones for just $39.99!

Wireless headphones are here to stay. One by one, phone manufacturers are removing the trusted 3.5mm headphone jack from their latest flagship devices as wires are replaced by a Bluetooth connection. Many people are resistant to this because, for the longest while, Bluetooth headphones were very expensive. But there are new styles to choose from and deals to be had!

That’s why you need to take advantage of this great offer by from Android Central Digital Offers. You can get these sleek looking wireless earphones from Treblab for just $39.99. These are perfect for your daily commute or for wearing around the office, delivering up to 9 hours of your favorite music on a single charge (It takes two hours to charge them fully). They include awesome features including a carrying case, six sets of ear-tips, and a magnetic function for keeping the ear buds together when they’re not in use. There’s also noise canceling technology so you can tune out the outside world as needed.

The 1Voice Sonic Bluetooth Headphones typically sold for around $100, but you’ll save 76% thanks to this deal from Android Central! But don’t delay — this deal won’t last long!

See at Android Central Digital Offers

5 reasons you should switch away from Verizon

Verizon is a great carrier, but there are some problems.

Having phone service that’s cheap and good is important to us.

Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since you were forced to have an expensive Sprint plan to get good digital nationwide phone service. In fact, the choices now are almost mind-boggling in both sheer number and all the different options each company has to offer. That means it’s a buyer’s market and now is a great time to think about the service you have versus the service you want.

For many, the “service we have” means Verizon. The reasons why aren’t a mystery: it has a great nationwide network and it wasn’t so long ago that you needed to use Verizon if you wanted cell phone service once you left home. Verizon is everywhere! Like we always say, paying for service that doesn’t work really sucks. The times have changed and switching away from Big Red is something worth considering, and we’re here to help with a few reasons why you might want to try another company.

Coverage

Verizon is still the undisputed king of coverage in the U.S. But what matters is the coverage you’ll get in the places you go.

As we mentioned above, there was a time that Verizon was the only choice for people who didn’t live in places like New York or Los Angeles. That was then, this is now: almost every person in the U.S. can have service as good or better with another company, including T-Mobile or Sprint, which have traditionally been criticized for poor rural coverage.

Verizon’s service hasn’t gotten worse. In fact, it gets better every year, too. But now over 90% of the people in the U.S. have coverage with T-Mobile, for example. If you live in a rural area Verizon is unbeatable for the most part. But if you live in even a small city, you should check out what others have to offer — it’s pretty great!

Verizon’s unlimited plans: Everything you need to know!

Price

When the coverage is equal, the next thing to consider is the price. And Verizon can be expensive compared to other providers.

We’re firm believers in paying extra for something that’s better. Verizon might be better for you, and if so it’s totally worth it. But if you are covered by another company who has just what you need at a lower price, there is no reason not to switch. Check your coverage, ask your friends, check the maps, etc. And when you check the prices you’ll like what you see.

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Video throttling

This is a new development and one that has a lot of people up in arms. As of August 2017, you can no longer stream Full HD video on the Verizon network, no matter how much you are willing to pay to do it. Verizon has changed its unlimited plans and the basic version tops out at 480p on your phone, while the more expensive option is capped at 720p.

Verizon has a good reason for the change — streaming video puts a lot of strain on any mobile network. And when you start talking HD video, the amount of data it uses can get pretty crazy. Now imagine a bunch of people in the same place doing it at the same time. Yikes.

But none of this changes the fact that other companies allow it, and charge you less overall each month. If this matters to you, the answer is simple: try another company.

Phone choice

This isn’t as big of a deal as it used to be. You’ll always be able to use the latest Samsung Galaxy or iPhone on Verizon and it will work great. But if you’re more of a mobile enthusiast, you will eventually find a phone you really want that isn’t built for Verizon.

Recently, we’ve seen two great phones that aren’t fully Verizon compatible: the HTC U11 and the OnePlus 5. And there are others, and there will be even more others. If you have an unlocked phone that is Verizon compatible, the company doesn’t mind you using it at all. Drop your SIM card in it and go! But if you find yourself eyeing unlocked phones and love to try new things, you will eventually come across one that just won’t work on Verizon.

Better prepaid plans

If you don’t want or need to pay for an unlimited data plan, grabbing a prepaid SIM card and using the phone you already have is a great idea. You can shop around and find a plan that offers just what you need without paying for any extras you don’t.

Verizon offers contract-free plans on top of its true prepaid service, but you’re still limited to what it offers. You’ll always be able to find a better prepaid deal where none of the extras or the cost of them is bundled in. There are dozens of great prepaid MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Providers) companies and at least one of them will have exactly what you’re looking for.

Verizon offers great phone service, there is no doubt. But if you’re ready for a change and were looking for a few reasons why that change might be good, here are a few.

Alternative carriers (MVNOS)

• What is an alternative mobile carrier?
• What are the advantages of going with an alternative carrier?
• How to make sure your phone works on a prepaid alternative carrier
• 8 Important Considerations When Switching To An MVNO
• These are the cheapest data plans you can buy in the U.S.
• Mint SIM vs. Cricket Wireless: Which is better for you?

This $6 folding wall charger is small enough to fit in your pocket

Stop using wall chargers that only support one device and grab this deal from our pals at Thrifter!

Right now you can pick up Aukey’s folding wall charger for just $5.99 with coupon code HUY9CY9Q, a savings of $4. It features two USB ports for keeping your favorite devices charged up, and has a 2.4A output, so it will charge them on the quicker side. The prongs fold down to keep the profile small.

Whether you spend a lot of time on the go, or just like to have something packed in case of an emergency, you won’t want to pass up this small charger.

See at Amazon

More from Thrifter:

• Upgrade your makeup bag this summer on a budget
• How to save money while driving

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