FaceApp changes your race with its latest selfie-editing filters

FaceApp uses neural networks for realistic-looking changes to your selfie photos. Originally, it had filters to add smiles, change your age, change gender or “beautify” your face. Unlike Snapchat’s overlays, FaceApp uses deep learning technologies to change the photo itself. Now, a new update adds race to the mix, with an update to enable users to make themselves look Asian, Black, Caucasian or Indian.

There has been some outrage over the new filters, with some Twitter users calling it “digital blackface.” This isn’t the first time photographic filters have come under fire, of course. Snapchat’s 420 Bob Marley filter came under fire for the same lack of racial sensitivity, while its “anime-inspired” lens felt downright racist. FaceApp itself has already faced criticism when it released a “hot” filter that basically just made people look more “white.”

The app developer doesn’t feel that the new filters are specifically racist, however. “The ethnicity change filters have been designed to be equal in all aspects,” Yaroslav Goncharov, the app’s CEO and creator, told Engadget in an email. “They don’t have any positive or negative connotations associated with them. They are even represented by the same icon. In addition to that, the list of those filters is shuffled for every photo, so each user sees them in a different order.”

Source: iTunes

Intel plans a test fleet of 100 self-driving cars

Intel isn’t wasting any time now that it officially owns Mobileye. The Mobileye team has unveiled plans to build a fleet of 100 or more self-driving vehicles to conduct tests in both its native Israel as well as the US and Europe. They’ll meld Mobileye’s sensor, mapping and driving technology with Intel’s computing platforms, data center tech and 5G wireless to make Level 4 autonomous cars (they can do all the driving themselves but may ask for intervention) that talk to the cloud. They won’t be tied to any one brand — sorry, BMW. As Intel explains, it’s as much about selling the concept as actual experimentation.

The fleet will show would-be customers how self-driving cars behave in real-world circumstances, including mapping and safety features, and will give Intel a better way to talk to regulators. Intel wants to prove that its self-driving tech can work around the world, and that it can tweak its formula to suit what companies want

It’ll take a while before you see the fruits of this effort. The first vehicles don’t deploy until later in 2017, and the magic 100 mark is coming “eventually.” And of course, any customers sold on the tech will take a while after that to make use of it. Still, it’s an important step toward a widely available platform for self-driving cars.

Source: Intel

Facebook kills its standalone Groups app

Facebook seems to be clearing out some of its app clutter. It just ended support for its high school-geared app Lifestage earlier this week and today it announced that its standalone Facebook Groups app will be discontinued as well.

Launched in 2014, Facebook Groups let users manage and interact with groups they were members of as well as more easily find new groups to join or create their own. All of these things could still be done in the main Facebook app or through the website, but separating groups from all of the other Facebook features streamlined things a bit and was particularly useful for people in a bunch of different groups.

In a statement, Facebook said, “The groups team has been working on additional tools to improve the overall groups experience and we’ve found that we can do more with and for the community by investing in the main Facebook app.” It says community-building is still a major focus of the site.

Starting September 1st, you’ll no longer be able to log into the Facebook Groups app, but all of your groups will still be accessible through the main app or the desktop site.

Source: Facebook

The Coen Brothers are bringing the Wild West to Netflix

Joel and Ethan Coen are bringing their considerable filmmaking chops to Netflix for an anthology series about the American West. The brothers will write and direct The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which will feature six different stories about life on the frontier and star Coen brothers veteran Tim Blake Nelson as the eponymous Buster. The project will come out for Netflix subscribers worldwide sometime in 2018.

Which is all the press release has to say about the show, but not all we can say about the Coens. Their affection for remote places and scrappy, flawed protagonists is evident across their oeuvre, from the comical O Brother, Where Art Thou? to the haunting No Country For Old Men. Heck, they even remade the classic Western movie True Grit a few years ago, a surprisingly straight-laced triumph from the filmmakers that brought you the farces Fargo and Burn After Reading. What shape Buster Scruggs takes is anyone’s guess, but the Coens will likely do it justice. Especially given their enthusiasm for the project.

“We are streaming motherfuckers!,” said Joel Coen and Ethan Coen in the press release.

Source: Netflix

RuPaul’s biographical series will stream on Hulu

2017 has been very good to RuPaul. The ninth season of Drag Race notched eight Emmy nods, including for Reality Competition Host which he won last year. RuPaul’s streak continued on Wednesday as Hulu announced that it has optioned Queen, a fictionalized half-hour dramedy chronicling his rise to fame, to be produced by JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot.

Power executive producer Gary Lennon is slated to write the series, which will be set in 1980s New York. While RuPaul is a San Diego native, he moved to Atlanta for theatrical training before moving to the East Coast to make a name for himself, as recounted in a recent episode of Up/Close with The Hollywood Reporter.

This production also marks the second time Bad Robot and Hulu have worked together. The companies have already collaborated on the television adaptation of Stephen King’s 11.22.63 and are slated to do the same with another King tale, Castle Rock, later this year.

Source: Deadline

Snapchat video of alleged sexual assault leads to quick arrest

A man in Ohio is being held on a $1 million bond today after being charged with an alleged rape that was recorded and uploaded onto Snapchat by his victim. There aren’t a lot of details about the situation as of now, but reports say that police were called to a residence for a welfare check early Tuesday morning. Everything seemed to be alright at the time. However, later in the morning, people as far away as Texas who had viewed the victim’s Snapchat video began notifying the police that a sexual assault may have occurred at the residence, and the video was forwarded to the authorities. Based on the video content, which a detective involved with the arrest said were very “clear,” the man, 77-year-old James D. Allen, was arrested.

This isn’t the first time an assault has been streamed on a social media platform. A sexual assault was streamed on Facebook Live in March and a separate incident was streamed on Periscope last year. A fatal shooting was also inadvertently livestreamed on Facebook in 2016.

The county prosecutor, James VanEerten, said that he wasn’t sure why the victim made the recording, but that it could have been to create a record — which worked, if so. “It’s obviously horrific, but at least it allowed us to put a stop to the situation and make a quick arrest in this case,” he said.

Source: The Blade, Port Clinton News-Herald

Coldplay’s Chicago concert will stream live in VR on August 17th

If you weren’t already convinced that live VR concerts are hitting the mainstream, you might be now. Samsung is partnering with Live Nation (which is no stranger to the concept) to offer a Coldplay concert in VR on August 17th at 9:30PM Eastern. If you have a Gear VR headset, you can watch Chris Martin and crew take to the stage in Chicago with an extra level of immersion. There will also be a replay available “for a limited time” afterward if it clashes with your schedule.

Yes, you can joke about Coldplay embracing VR in a bid to cling to pop culture relevancy, but this could still be important. VR may be catching on, but it’s not very mainstream between the higher prices for dedicated headsets and the lack of hugely popular apps. If companies like Live Nation can regularly promise that you’ll watch big-name bands as if you were on the stage, you might be more likely to dust off that freebie VR hardware and see what all the fuss is about.

Source: Samsung Newsroom

Square Enix and AMD are giving away indie games with new GPUs

AMD wants to ensure you always have something unique to play with new graphics card. The new AMD4U program is a partnership with publisher Square Enix exclusively featuring games from the publisher’s “Collective” initiative for indie developers. Folks who buy and register their GPU are eligible for up to three free games (PDF) including Tokyo Dark (above) and Black the Fall. The benefits here are twofold: you get free, unique games with your graphics card and smaller developers get their wares in front of a new audience.

Now, indie games don’t tend to put graphics cards to the test the way that typical pack-in games do, but they do offer experiences you aren’t going to have with the typical high-budget AAA fare. We’ll just have to wait and see how this experiment plays out.

Source: AMD

Nike Offering 30% Discount on Apple Watch Nike+ Models

Nike is discounting its selection of Apple Watch Nike+ watches by 30 percent, dropping prices by a significant amount.

For the 38mm Apple Watch Nike+, the discount drops the price from $369 to $258.97, while on the 42mm model, the discount drops the price from $399 to $279.97.

The discount applies to the 38mm Apple Watch in Silver/White and Black/Cool Grey. For 42mm models, the discount is available on the Silver/White and Black/Silver configurations. The 42mm White/Platinum and Black/Volt are not included in the sale.

It’s not clear how long the sale will last nor how long the discounted Nike+ Apple Watch models will remain in stock, so if you’re interested in purchasing one, you should do so sooner rather than later.

At 30 percent off, the discount is one of the best that we’ve seen on the Apple Watch Nike+ in recent months.

Nike’s current sale follows an exclusive 30 percent discount that was offered to Nike+ Run Club members over the weekend.

While Nike+ Apple Watch models are on sale, no Nike+ bands have been discounted.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
Tags: Nike+, Apple Watch Nike+ Edition
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Live by EarlySense will tell you how good (or bad) your sleep is (Review)

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A few years ago fitness trackers were all the rage. Not only were there companies like Fitbit focusing directly on health monitoring but the smart watch manufacturers jumped on the band wagon including step counters and heart rate monitors into their devices. There are still many people who swear by their trackers and love to use them to complete “goals” to help keep themselves motivated. Attempting to capitalize on what remains of the EarlySense (traditionally a patient monitoring company) brings us Live by EarlySense.

Live by EarlySense aims to bring health monitoring into the bedroom and complete the picture of what other health monitoring device cannot capture. A prime example is my wife, often times the rubber wristband that comes with the Fitbit often gives her a rash if she wears it all day. Wrist worn items also require charging every so often which is generally most convenient during sleep. Live by EarlySense solves these issues by always being available under your bed.

Setup

The box comes with three items in it: the instruction manual, the power chord, and the unit itself. The first step in the process would be to download the Live by EarlySense app to your mobile device. Like most things we review here, this is the control center/data hub for all the device features.

Once you launch the app we are asked for some permissions. It asks for Bluetooth (to connect to the sensor itself), Storage (to be able to store your data), and Location Services (they say this is to aid in connection of your device, hmmm?).

Disclaimer

Account Creation Requirements

After we get past the permissions prompt we are forced to create an account. There is no way around creating this account so if you want to use this device just give it whatever email address we all have that we don’t ever check and move through it.

Next up is connecting the device for the first time. Pretty simple, you are landed on the Vitals Tracking page. Tap on the Sensor Detected button towards the middle of the screen. Provided your sensor is plugged in it will find it with your BT connection and simply tap on it to connect.

Lastly, follow the instruction booklet about how to place your device under the mattress. Yes, you read that correctly, under your mattress.

Setup is all done. Now, let’s get some sleep. No WAIT!! I forgot about the rest of the review.

The Good

Honestly, this device is a pretty cool concept, especially for people that find themselves being restless at night or those getting at least 8 hours of sleep but still not feeling rested when they wake up.

In the app, there are neat little explanations about the difference between REM sleep and Deep Sleep and what part they play in your rest cycle (you kinda have to dig for these though). It also monitors your heart rate and respiration rate to let you know how you are sleeping (or let your doctor know since I have no idea what is good and what is bad). Every morning you are given a “score” by the app based on how well you slept. This is a pretty neat idea but I think its execution leaves a little to be desired.

For the health nuts out there that like to track everything in one place, Live by EarlySense does also make it possible to import all of the captured data into Google Fit so that you can track all of your health activities (yes including sleep) in a single app.

The Bad

While I really enjoy the concept of what they are trying to get at, and the data that is collected could be shared with medical professionals as cursory diagnostic information to people who are genuinely having trouble sleeping, I did run into a few issues with the device provided that made my experience less than enjoyable.

First is the worst. I had major issues with the Bluetooth connectivity. I tried it with two separate phones and the results were the same. Almost every single night, I had to unplug and replug the device so that my phone could see and connect to it. How is that user-friendly? Who wants to do that? Seriously, if a device is going to connect via Bluetooth just make it work, every time, without question.

My second issue is not so much with the device itself but with the arbitrary scoring system. As I mentioned above, the app gives you a score every morning based on how you slept the night before. Ok, I get it, people like to see how “good” they are at something. IF YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE A SCORE, PROVIDE A DAMN SCALE. Seriously, if there is going to be a score or any other type of grading system let the people know what the friggin number means. Is it 70 out of 100? Is a higher number better? What are the baselines to get that score? All of these are questions that I have about this scoring system that is used here.

Conclusion

Live by EarlySense brings something that I have not seen yet to the table. They brought something out of medical facilities and into the home for personal use; for this I applaud them. I do, however, take issue with the two major complaints I listed above. Resolve those issues and I think we might have something here.

You can pick up Live by EarlySense from its website or Amazon (it’s prime) for $169.