Prisma hopes to market its AI photo filtering tech

Prisma’s machine learning photography app may not be as hot as it was in 2016, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away. If the developer has its way, you’ll see its technology in many places before long. The company tells The Verge that it’s shifting its focus from just its in-house app to marketing numerous computer vision tools based on its AI technology, ranging from object recognition to face mapping and detecting the foreground in an image. In theory, you’d see Prisma’s clever processing find its way into your next phone or a favorite social photography app.

The Prisma app is staying put, to be clear — it has 5 million to 10 million monthly users, which is no mean feat for a small startup. It just won’t be the sole focus.

There’s no mention of initial customers, but Facebook likely isn’t in the running given that it already riffed on the photo filtering concept soon after Prisma became popular. Not that Prisma is averse to dealing with its erstwhile rival. Co-founder Alexey Moiseenkov visited Facebook in 2016, and other founder Aram Airapetyan said it “doesn’t matter” who Prisma works with, so long as it can pursue its technology. Don’t be surprised if its technology is interesting enough that a larger company eventually decides that it eventually needs to snap up all of Prisma, rather than paying for a toolkit.

Source: Prisma Labs

This nefarious Trojan may impersonate your favorite ridesharing app

Why it matters to you

Be careful the next time you hail a ride through an app — a Trojan could be trying to steal your information.

Be careful the next time you hail a ride from your favorite transportation app. You could be inadvertently hailing much more than you bargained for. As per a recent report from Kaspersky Lab, a mobile Trojan “has been caught recently stealing bank data by impersonating the interfaces of taxi-booking apps.” How might you know if your smartphone has been infected? One telltale sign, the research firm notes, is if your ridesharing app prompts you to enter your credit card number. Seeing as your favorite apps should already have this information on hand, if it asks you to re-enter the data, you may want to proceed with caution.

While the Faketoken Trojan, the malware in question, has been around for quite some time, it has gotten more sophisticated as time has passed. Kaspersky calls the latest iteration of the malware “Faketoken.q,” and notes that the Trojan generally infects smartphones through bulk SMS messages with a prompt to download images. Once its necessary modules have been installed, the Trojan begins monitoring everything that happens on your phone.

“When Faketoken detects the launch of an app whose interface it can simulate, the Trojan immediately overlays the app with its own screen,” Kaspersky writes. “To achieve that, it uses a standard Android feature that supports showing screen overlays on top of all other apps. A whole bunch of legitimate apps, such as messengers, window managers, and so on, use this feature.”

The fallacious window looks just like your original app’s interface, but instead of proceeding as normal, the Trojan asks you to enter credit card information. And from there, well … we know how the rest goes.

Apparently, a number of apps have been attacked in this way, including mobile banking apps, Android Pay, the Google Play store, flight and hotel booking apps, and of course, ridesharing apps.

As it stands, it appears that the Trojan is largely relegated to users in Russia, but it may not be long before the malware comes our way, too. To protect yourself from any nefarious activity, Kaspersky recommends that you go into Android settings and prevent the installation of apps from unknown sources. Go to Settings, then Security, and then uncheck Unknown sources.

You should also pay close mind to the permissions an app requests prior to installation, even if you download the app from an ostensibly safe source (like Google Play). Finally, you might consider installing antivirus on your phone.

Google is hoping to help news publishers with a few new tools

Why it matters to you

Google hasn’t always been the best of friends with news publishers, but the tech giant is trying to change that.

Google is looking make friends with the media. As per a new report from Bloomberg, the internet giant is developing a series of new tools with hopes of boosting subscriptions for news publishers. First, Google is revamping its “first click free” feature, which allows audiences to access articles from subscription publications by way of search. Separately, Google is looking into publishers’ tools relating to online payments, and honing in on potential subscribers. Of course, the ultimate goal is to ensure that both consumers and content producers stay online, and therefore, continue feeding into Google’s highly lucrative ads business.

According to Bloomberg, Google is first testing its new tools with the New York Times and the Financial Times. But don’t worry — other publishers will soon be allowed to join the party, too. “It’s clear from news publishers that they can’t live on advertising alone,” said Richard Gingras, Google’s vice president for news. “But it’s also clear that we’re seeing a shift in a market.”

Part of Google’s testing will involve allowing readers to see content that might otherwise be hidden behind a paywall by offering it, free of charge, through the company’s Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP platform. Google also wants to help companies like the Times identify folks they ought to target for subscriptions through these AMP pages, and determine just how much new audiences are willing to pay, and make it easier for them to subscribe.

“This is an area, clearly, where our knowledge about our users can be brought to bear,” Gingras told Bloomberg. “There is no singular subscription strategy that will work for each publisher.”

It’s unclear as of yet whether Google will be sharing revenue with publishers who are brought in to use these new tools, and Kinsey Wilsonan adviser to Mark Thompson, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times, told Bloomberg that the publisher has yet to discuss revenue terms with the tech giant.

But if Google finds a way to make this a lucrative deal for publishers, it could result in a feed of popular articles from a host of different publications.

Nokia 8 vs. iPhone 7: Can HMD’s Android flagship beat Apple’s aging iPhone?

The Nokia 8 looks like an Android powerhouse on paper. This is easily the best-looking Android phone with the most impressive spec sheet we’ve seen so far with the Nokia name attached, but how does it measure up against one of Apple’s finest? We decided to pit Nokia 8 vs. iPhone 7 to find out.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a Nokia flagship in the smartphone market. After an ill-fated romance with Microsoft, the Finnish brand briefly disappeared from the mobile market altogether, but now it’s back. Though the name is under license to another company, HMD Global, Nokia still has guidelines in place HMD has to follow.

The current Nokia renaissance really started with the revamped Nokia 3310 which sent a clear signal that people still have a lot of love for the brand. HMD Global then tested the Android waters with the budget Nokia 6, Nokia 5, and Nokia 3. But the Nokia 8 is its first go at a premium Android smartphone with an attractive design, top specs, and a price tag to match. Can it compete with the aging iPhone 7? Let’s find out.

Note: Before we dig in, it’s only fair to tell you upfront that HMD currently has no plans to release the Nokia 8 in the U.S.

Specs

Nokia 8

Apple iPhone 7

Size
5.96 x 2.9 x 0.31 inches (151.5 x 73.7 x 7.9 mm)
 5.44 × 2.64 × 0.28 inches (138.3 × 67.1 × 7.1 mm)
Weight
5.64 ounces (160 grams)
4.87 ounces (138 grams)
Screen
5.3-inch IPS LCD
4.7-inch Retina HD LED-backlit widescreen
Resolution
2,560 × 1,440 pixels
1,334 × 750 pixels
OS
Android 7.1.1 Nougat
iOS 10
Storage
64GB
32/128/256GB
MicroSD Card Slot
Yes
No
NFC support
Yes
Yes (Apple Pay Only)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
Apple A10 Fusion with 64-bit architecture, M10 motion coprocessor
RAM
4GB
2GB
Connectivity
4G LTE, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
4G LTE, GSM, CDMA, HSPA+, 802.11ac/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi
Camera
Dual 13MP rear with OIS, 13MP front
12MP rear with OIS, 7MP front
Video
4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30fps,
4K at 30fps, 1080p at 30 or 60fps, 720p at 240fps
Bluetooth
Yes, version 5
Yes, version 4.2
Fingerprint sensor
Yes
Yes
Other sensors
Barometer, gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass, ambient light sensor
Barometer, 3-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor
Water Resistant
Yes, IP54
Yes, IP67
Battery
3,090mAh
1,960mAh
Charger
USB Type-C
Lightning
Quick Charging
Yes
No
Wireless Charging
No
No
Marketplace
Google Play Store
Apple App Store
Color offerings
Tempered Blue, Polished Blue, Steel, Polished Copper
Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Black, Jet Black
Availability
Coming to Europe in September

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile

Price
Starting at 600 euros (around $700)
$650
DT Review
Coming soon
3.5 out of 5 stars

HMD Global certainly hasn’t cut any corners in the Nokia 8’s engine room, because it’s packing a Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB of RAM, which is exactly what you’ll find in Android’s current crop of top performers, from the HTC U11 to the Samsung Galaxy S8.

It’s a powerful pairing that’s fast, efficient, and capable of handling anything you’re likely to throw at it. Any concerns you might have about the software user interface slowing things down can be set aside, because the Nokia 8 is running a pure version of Android straight from Google.

The iPhone 7 sports Apple’s quad-core 64-bit A10 Fusion processor, which we know is a solid performer. There’s only 2GB of RAM in the iPhone 7, but because the platform works differently, that doesn’t necessarily mean performance is any worse. How much RAM you need in your smartphone is still a topic of some debate.

You can get the iPhone 7 in 32, 128, and 256GB configurations, while the Nokia 8 comes with 64GB of onboard storage, however, the Nokia 8 also supports MicroSD card expansion.

We need some hands-on time with the Nokia 8 to confirm, but based on what we’ve seen from other phones with the same components, there won’t be a big difference between the Nokia 8 and iPhone 7 on the performance front.

Winner: Tie

Design, display, and durability

The Nokia 8 has nice curved edges and an aluminum unibody design that really shines if you opt for the glossy blue or copper colors, but HMD Global clearly didn’t get the bezel-less design memo, because there are chunky bezels at the top and bottom of the display. There’s also a fingerprint sensor on the front flanked by capacitive touch buttons. The dual camera module on the back is a lozenge shape with a metallic border. The antenna bands on the top and bottom edges spoil the look a little, but they’re a necessary evil if you want a signal. All in all, it’s a nice-looking phone.

Rumors abound that Apple has taken bold steps with the design of the iPhone 8 to maximize screen real estate, and there’s little doubt that, in the current smartphone crowd, the iPhone 7 is beginning to look a bit dated. Build quality is excellent, but the curved aluminum finish, broken by the antenna bands is very familiar by now, and there are big bezels around the screen.

Moving on to the display, the Nokia 8 walks it. The iPhone 7 sports a 4.7-inch screen with a 1334 x 750-pixel resolution, giving it a 326 ppi (pixel-per-inch) rating. The Nokia 8 has a bigger, 5.3-inch display with a 2560 x 1440-pixel resolution which scores a 554 ppi. Both are IPS LCD, but the Nokia 8 screen can go slightly brighter. In simple terms, the Nokia 8 screen is bigger, sharper, and generally better.

The iPhone 7 claws a little back in the durability stakes with an IP67 rating, which means it can handle a dunk in water, while the Nokia 8 is just splash proof with an IP54 rating. It’s not enough, though, to change the winner of this category.

Winner: Nokia 8

Battery life and charging

The Nokia 8 has a big battery rated at 3,090mAh, while the iPhone 7 gets by with a 1,960mAh battery. We would expect the Nokia 8 to have longer battery life, but Apple is adept at squeezing great performance from its hardware and the iPhone 7 has a smaller, lower resolution display to power, so there might not be as much in it as you’d think. We’ll have to see how the Nokia 8 does in real life before we can make a definitive call here.

Sadly, neither of these phones supports wireless charging, but one area where the Nokia 8 has an advantage is charging speed. With support for Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 technology, via the USB Type-C port, we expect the Nokia 8 to charge up a lot faster than the iPhone 7.

Winner: Nokia 8

Camera

One of the headline features for the Nokia 8 is the camera, which has been specially designed to support live-streaming to apps like Facebook Live. It can also stream from the front and rear camera simultaneously. That might sound a bit gimmicky, but if we just look at the camera hardware here, it’s tough not to be impressed.

The Nokia 8 has two 13-megapixel cameras on the back, each with f/2.0 apertures. One shoots in color and has OIS (optical image stabilization), the other is monochrome. The selfie camera is also rated at 13-megapixels with the same f/2.0 aperture.

By contrast, the iPhone 7 has a single 12-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS, backed by a 7-megapixel front-facing camera. The smaller f/1.8 number actually denotes a wider aperture, so it should be a little better in low light conditions, but there’s only one camera on the back. As we noted in our iPhone 7 review, Apple fans who want the best camera really should go for the iPhone 7 Plus, because it has that second 12-megapixel camera which allows 2x optical zoom and that cool bokeh effect.

It looks better on paper, but we’re reticent to call this one without taking some shots on the Nokia 8, so we’re going to mark as a tie for now.

Winner: Tie

Software

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

This is a tough category to pick a winner in because it really boils down to personal preference. If you’ve bought into Apple’s ecosystem already, then the iPhone 7 will give you a seamless experience. If you’re used to Android, then the Nokia 8 will suit you better. Truthfully, both platforms are excellent and sport all the features you need in a smartphone. You get more customization options with Android, but iOS has an extra sheen of polish.

We’re delighted to find that the Nokia 8 runs stock Android and the latest Nougat 7.1.1 flavor. We have also heard that HMD is already working on bringing the upcoming Android O update to the phone. On the other hand, the iPhone 7 is sure to continue getting iOS updates on release day for the foreseeable future.

Winner: Tie

Price and availability

This is where the Nokia 8 falls flat on its face, at least for people living in North America. The price is fairly high at 600 euros (around $700), and there are no plans to release the Nokia 8 stateside. It will go on sale in Europe and a few other markets from September, but don’t expect to see it on sale in the U.S.

The iPhone 7 costs $650 for the 32GB, $750 for the 128GB, and $850 for the 256GB model. It can be bought through the Apple Store, either online or in a retail store. You can also pick it up at all the major carriers in the U.S. and spread your cost with a monthly contract.

Winner: iPhone 7

Overall winner: Nokia 8

The design and software are going to come down to personal preference, but in most other respects the Nokia 8 is a superior device, at least at first glance. It has a better display, more power, and an interesting set of cameras. We need hands-on time to really put it through its paces, but on paper it’s a better phone than the iPhone 7. It’s worth remembering that the iPhone 7 is almost a year old, so if you’re really hankering for an Apple device, you should wait and see what the iPhone 8 has to offer.

‘It’s Cool’ weather alarm app reminds us the summer heat isn’t that scary

App Attack is a weekly series where we search the App Store and Google Play Store for the best apps of the week. Check out App Attack every Sunday for the latest.

If you live in a state with all four seasons, you likely have a love-hate relationship with the heat. During brutal winters, it’s easy to long for the days when you won’t have to wear multiple layers. But then those scorching summer days hit — and so does the sweat — and you start to realize cold weather isn’t all that bad. This week, we have an app that will help you find the right balance between hot and cold.

It’s Cool — currently only available for iOS — is a weather alarm meant specifically to notify you when the weather is nice. In the App Store, the developer explained the idea was born from spending too many summer days and nights inside. With temperatures sky-rocketing, we don’t often realize how much time we spend sitting in air conditioned spaces to shelter us from the heat. Warm seasons are meant to be spent outside, and a weather alarm could be just the push we need to keep us from getting summer cabin fever.

This app is simple to use and doesn’t have much to its interface. Upon downloading it, you’re greeted by an animated bell with a plant inside and a sun hovering over it. Above the bell is the city or town you’re in and to the left of it you have the option of setting the temperature at either Fahrenheit or Celsius.

On the bottom is where you see the current temperature, a description of the current weather, and how many hours until it reaches your preferred temperature outside. The dial at the bottom lets you easily slide back and forth between the temperatures. Once you’ve stopped at your desired temperature, it will automatically set an alarm to notify you later. Underneath the set temperature, the app also lets you know how many hours it will take to reach it.

When I first tried out it out, the temperature in New York City was 85 degrees and partly cloudy. I set the dial to alert me at 84 degrees which said it would take two hours. But after two hours went by, the temperature went down and I didn’t get an alert. Then, I tried again by bringing it down to 77 degrees which said it would take four hours before alerting me. Even after four hours, I still had zero notifications on my phone.

After reading through the reviews on the App Store, I noticed that other users were posting the same complaint. It’s clear the developer — TinRocket — was well aware, because after a brief Twitter direct message exchange I was guided to a support article dedicated to the exact same problem.

In the beginning, you’re asked for permission to use location information, access to background data, and permission to send push notifications. If you want to use the app to its fullest extent, make sure tap allow for all of them. If you tap don’t allow by accident, you can always go to Settings and scroll down to the It’s Cool app. There, you’ll have to turn the location on to While Using in order to find the local weather. Then, toggle Background App Refresh on to allow the app to check the weather periodically. If you want to receive notifications between the hours of 11 PM and 7 PM, toggle off Do Not Disturb mode.

After fixing the settings, I started receiving notifications to my phone. When the outdoors reached 68 degrees, I saw a push notification that read exactly that. Some could argue you could easily step outside and check the weather, or even simply open a window. But since it did take a few hours, I forgot that I was even waiting for the temperature to drop since I was focused on other tasks. Even though we tell ourselves we’ll go outside once it gets cooler, it’s more likely we’ll be too buried in our phones to remember. That’s where the handy-dandy notification comes in.

While summer is coming to an end, temperatures in September still remain high — you technically have one more month to make up for staying indoors these past few months. Even if you don’t plan on using it to go outside, the app could help lower those AC bills.

BioWare confirms no ‘Mass Effect: Andromeda’ DLC for single-player campaign

Why it matters to you

In a departure from previous games in the series, the Andromeda storyline will come to an abrupt end.

In a post on its website, BioWare announced that there will be no Mass Effect: Andromeda DLC, and that support for the single-player campaign has come to an end: “There are no planned future patches for single-player or in-game story content.”

The game was put on “temporary hiatus” back in May 2017, with many team members relocated to EA Motive for the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront II. Several game websites had speculated that there would be no more DLC for the game following a mixed reception, underwhelming sales, and middling reviews.

The announcement leaves the future of the franchise in doubt. Plagued by numerous delays, staff changes, and technological difficulties, the ambitious game didn’t seem to realiz its full potential from the beginning, and has relied on the multiplayer loot-box system for much of its revenue.

The other three Mass Effect games had major single-player DLC packs that complemented the main narrative, and this cancellation leaves much of the unfinished Andromeda story in limbo. Whatever happened to Ryder’s family, and who was the Benefactor behind the Andromeda initiative? What about the Quarians? We may never know.

However, BioWare promises that they “will continue to tell stories in the Andromeda Galaxy through our upcoming comics and novels, including the fate of the quarian ark.” More details about multiplayer enhancements and “N7 Day” (November 7th) will be revealed in the coming weeks.

EA and BioWare never seemed happy with the game. In an interview with Engadget, EA Executive Vice President Patrick Soderlund was quite candid about their disappointment with Andromeda. “A game that we launched in the market that doesn’t function and is full of bugs, that’s not who we are and that’s not who we should be,” he said. “With Mass Effect [Andromeda], the game wasn’t maybe as finished as people wanted it to be.”

BioWare is hoping to right the ship with a new franchise set to debut in 2018. Anthem is an open-world sci-fi RPG set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland featuring giant monsters and Iron Man-esque suits of armor.

Still, the announcement about Andromeda marks an inglorious and unfortunate end to an epic franchise that redefined the art of single-player narrative games.

This iPhone 8 dummy may not be real, but it still gives a glimpse of the future

Why it matters to you

The iPhone 8 has had a lot of leaked information, this video gives you another take on what the phone might look like.

Every iPhone release brings rumors and possible leaks before the big unveil, but the iPhone 8 has elicited more speculation than ever. Plentiful leaked information has given avid fans of Apple products a possible glimpse at the new iPhone’s wireless charging, design, and color. Two videos have also appeared, showing what looks like iPhone 8 phones in a factory. Remember: All the assumptions made in this video are based on leaked photos and videos, so take this information with a grain of salt. Until the new iPhone 8 actually comes out, we can’t be sure what it will be able to do. These are the predictions of David Cogen, the Unlockr, based on an iPhone 8 concept model used by case manufacturers.

Front

The front of the phone is basically all screen with tiny bezels on all sides. Most glaringly, the phone is missing the home button or fingerprint reader. Along the top there are a variety of sensors. These sensors could possibly foretell the use of facial and iris recognition to unlock the phone, which would explain the currently missing fingerprint reader. If the sensors are for facial and iris recognition, the sensors on the top could include an infrared sensor. With the work that Apple has been doing with Augmented Reality, there could be additional depth and AR sensors as well.

One question that is probably on your mind is how you will return to the home screen with no home button. Well, there are several possible solutions. A squeezable frame could be in the works, but a new 3D touch input method is more likely. Maybe the power button will also act as a home button. We can’t know for sure, but Apple probably has something up its sleeve.

Back

As on older iPhones, you have dual cameras on the back, but now they are arranged in vertically instead of horizontally, like on the iPhone 7 Plus. The camera will probably do the same things as cameras on past iPhones, but the new alignment might be better for depth perception and AR – which could explain why Apple rearranged their camera design. The back appears to be glass, which goes towards supporting wireless charging as a possibility for this new phone.

Color

The three colors that have been showing up in the leaked photos are silver white, black, and blush gold. However, colors are the features that are the most unknown before the new iPhone is officially released. There might only be three colors, and they might have the same names, but the actual shade will probably be different from what has been leaked. Many times prototypes or dummy models don’t come in the exact correct shade that the final result will have.

Please keep in mind that these are just predictions based on leaked information and rumors that may not be true. We won’t know anything for sure until the iPhone 8 is released.

The best flight games for Gear VR

Fly through VR.

Games on Gear VR can take you to amazing places. If you’ve been looking for awesome flight games that let you pilot a vessel, then you’re in luck. From manning a Spitfire in the skies during World War II, to soaring through space firing missiles at enemy spaceships, there are a number of different flight games that can take you to the skies. Finding the ones worth their salt can be pesky though.

That’s why we did the work for you and found the best flight games for Gear VR!

Read more at VRHeads

Samsung’s Gear VR app provides help to the visually impaired

Samsung isn’t just using VR headsets as a means of boosting phone sales. The company’s C-Lab has launched Relumino, a Gear VR app that uses augmented reality to compensate for vision problems. It can magnify the picture or adjust the contrast of what you’re looking at if it’s just a question of clarity, but it can also remap your field of view (to deal with blind spots or tunnel vision), outline objects and filter colors.

The app is free in the Oculus Store, and don’t be dissuaded by the Korean-only product page — it supports English.

Yes, it would be awkward and impractical to walk around wearing a VR headset (and your phone) at all times, so the current app is more for special situations. And Samsung knows it — the Relumino team hopes to develop “glasses-like” hardware that achieves similar results without drawing attention to wearers or adding too much bulk. Even in its current state, though, this could be valuable for any visually impaired person who’d like to supplement their eyesight without springing for expensive specialized equipment.

Source: Samsung Newsroom, Relumino

Build your own dinosaur park in ‘Jurassic World Evolution’

Did you watch Jurassic World and think that the chaos could have been avoided with better park design? You’re going to get a chance to prove your theory. Elite: Dangerous developer Frontier has taken the wraps off of Jurassic World Evolution, which will have you running your own park on Isla Nublar. Think of it as a very violent Rollercoaster Tycoon — you’ll build attractions, engineer new dinosaurs and try to prevent your creations from chomping on guests.

The title will arrive on PC, PS4 and Xbox One in summer 2018, or soon after the June release of the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom movie (convenient, isn’t it?). As such, it’s not clear just what the game mechanics are like. With that said, Frontier has a strong pedigree — it’s probably going to produce something considerably better than Trespasser.

Source: Xbox (YouTube)