Many of Apple’s New Products Remain Available for Launch Day Delivery Several Hours Into Pre-Orders

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, Apple TV 4K, and Apple Watch Series 3 models became available for pre-order at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time today, and many of the new products remain available for launch day delivery over five hours later.

iPhone 8 is slated for September 22 delivery in every color and storage size on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, for example, while only a few T-Mobile and SIM-free configurations have slipped to up to 3-4 week shipping estimates.

iPhone 8 Plus supplies are slightly more constrained, but even the larger smartphone remains estimated for September 22 delivery in several colors and storage sizes on Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint.

Supplies may vary by model, but based on shipping estimates, demand may be skewing towards T-Mobile or SIM-free models in Space Gray or Gold. Silver and Sprint appear to be least popular color and carrier respectively at this point.

Quite a few models remain available for launch day delivery in other countries too, such as Australia, Canada, Spain, and Singapore.

Back in the United States, customers can still order an Apple TV 4K with 32GB storage with September 22 delivery. The 64GB model has slipped to a 2-3 week shipping estimate on Apple.com.

Apple Watch Series 3 is the most constrained new product of all. Shipping estimates for many case and band combinations with GPS + Cellular have slipped to up to 4-5 weeks in the United States and elsewhere. Quite a few Wi-Fi and GPS only versions, including some Nike+ models, remain available for launch day delivery.

iPhone X pre-orders begin Friday, October 27.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10, Apple Watch, watchOS 3, watchOS 4, iPhone 8
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy), Apple Watch (Don’t Buy)
Discuss this article in our forums

8 times that screen sci-fi successfully predicted the future

You only have to note the fact that we’re not all wearing glittery jumpsuits and driving flying cars everywhere to realize that the future painted by science fiction isn’t always in line with what the real world has to offer. (We’re guessing that’s down to the pesky “fiction” part.)

Nevertheless, it only takes a cursory look at some of the genre’s most notable movies and TV shows to see that sometimes sci-fi can get it very right indeed. Without further ado, then, here are our picks for eight predictions that turned out to be right on the money.

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Considering that it’s not remotely close to being hard, serious sci-fi, Back to the Future Part II sure did get a lot right. We’ll ignore the near-continuous efforts to make real-life self-lacing shoes and hoverboards for a second, because those are obviously inspired by the movie rather than predictions that happened to come true, but there’s still plenty to choose from.

The above scene depicts the McFly family using VR headsets that could easily be Oculus Rift or Microsoft Hololens to control their smart home. While it’s not exactly the same, the rehydrating oven also isn’t a million miles away from the various food-related 3D printing projects we keep hearing so much about. Who knew a sci-fi comedy would get 2017 so right? (We’re not entirely sure how happy to be about that!)

Total Recall (1990)

Given how star-studded Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Total Recall is, it’s amazing the extent to which Johnny Cab — the robot taxi driver who ferries Arnie around — steals the show.

Here in 2017, we may not yet have colonized Mars or figured out a way to successfully implant complex false memories into people’s brains (although people are working on both of these problems), but self driving cars are another thing.

Most notable is Uber, which has been field testing its fleet of autonomous robo-cabs since last year. Sadly they don’t quite have Johnny Cab’s personality. Or his driving skills, apparently.

Minority Report (2002)

In some ways, it’s no surprise that 2002’s excellent Minority Report got so much right. Unlike some of the more whimsical entries on this list, director Steven Spielberg purposely sought out real futurists and asked them to extrapolate what was happening in research labs at the time, and how this tech might look in the future.

Nonetheless, for a 15-year-old movie, it remains impressive just how accurate it is. The two big predicted innovations are gesture-based interfaces of the kind a number of researchers have tried to build, and personalized advertising which changes depending on who’s looking at it.

Just don’t get us started on predictive policing…

RoboCop (1987)

Another Verhoeven movie (can you tell we’re fans?) that makes our list is RoboCop. Sure, you can argue that the use of drones and other robotic gadgetry employed by today’s military and law enforcement qualifies this flick for the list, but as far as we’re aware, no one has yet built a half man, half machine (all cop) cyborg to patrol the streets.

The technology which therefore counts? Facial recognition, which RoboCop uses to identify thug Emil Antonowsky following an encounter at a gas station. What seemed crazy futuristic in 1987 seems somewhat less so in an age in which facial recognition tech can unlock our smartphones.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

For this entry, we’re leaving out the thorny question of whether AI is on its way to turning malevolent and killing us all, and instead focusing on the technologies which very much exist here in the present day.

The most obvious of these in 2001: A Space Odyssey is HAL 9000 the smart AI assistant, which is capable of communicating with people using conversational commands — and is the clear antecedent of tools like Siri, Alexa, Cortana, and others.

There are also appearances from a strikingly iPad-like device, and a scene in which the character of Dr. Heywood R. Floyd makes a Skype-style video call to his family. (Although neither Arthur C. Clarke nor Stanley Kubrick apparently predicted the smartphone, based on the fact that he has to step into a special videophone booth in order to do so.)

WarGames (1983)

If you’re old enough to have watched WarGames anywhere close to its 1983 release date, you’ll remember just how amazing it was to think that one day we might be playing online games over what turned out to be the internet.

While this movie doesn’t exactly have to the carefully-researched realism of 2001: A Space Odyssey or Minority Report, it did get one thing very, very right: the major role that hacking and cyberwarfare would play in the future. That’s obviously not such a great prediction to have gotten right.

Star Trek (1966-)

It doesn’t matter which Star Trek incarnation you pick, all have included some variation of the Universal Translator: a device that’s capable of translating between languages in real time. Particularly in a utopian world like Trek’s, the Universal Translator held the promise of a future world in which people of any species could communicate with one another.

Here in 2017, devices like the Google Home can translate between languages — and even do so with convincing pronunciation. Next up? Real-time translating earbuds, apparently. Kirk would be proud!

The Jetsons (1962-)

Let’s be honest: As great as some of the technologies on this list undoubtedly are, the tech we really wanted as kids was a robot to pick up our room for us. Futuristic cartoon family The Jetsons had one and, by gum, we wanted one too!

Jump forward to the present day, and you can get cleaning robots like the Roomba that will vacuum your apartment when you’re out, ones that’ll clean your gutters, and ones that will do the weeding in your garden. What a glorious time to be alive!

This cute robot puppy faints if your feet are really smelly

Why it matters to you

If you suspect your feet smell funky but aren’t too sure, Hana-chan can help.

If you think you have stinky feet but aren’t quite sure, there’s now a guaranteed way to find out without having to endure the awkwardness of shoving your toes in the face of a partner or close friend for confirmation.

Help comes in the form of Hana-chan, a new Japan-made robot puppy that happily gives your feet a good sniff and faints on the spot if they smell real bad. In a country where communication can often be less than direct, this surprisingly unambiguous response will leave you in little doubt that your socks need changing or your feet need washing. Or possibly both.

The furry foot-smelling robot is the work of Next Technology, a Japanese company that clearly considers issues of odor as a top priority. Indeed, if Hana-chan is going to succeed anywhere, it’ll be in Japan, a country where you’re expected to remove your shoes whenever you enter a home. If you take them off and your feet reek worse than an abandoned cheese shop, things could get a little awkward for everyone in the room. So why not get a robot dog to check your feet before you arrive?

In the video above, we see Hana-chan reacting to various odors on a cloth. Using built-in sensors to get a really good whiff, the robot dog is clearly delighted with the first sample, running on the spot with her tail pointing up. The accompanying text reads, “Lovely smell!”

The second sample, however, is anything but. A few seconds of this one appear to leave Hana-chan in a state of shock, causing her to faint in horror at the sheer unpleasantness of the odor. According to the Japan Times, if the smell is bad but not outright awful, Hana-chan will simply bark, warning the owner that the odor may be on the way to becoming something really rather unpleasant.

Hana-chan is set to go on sale in Japan early next year, but at 100,000 yen ($900), the foot-smelling mutt will cost an arm and a leg if you decide it’s for you.

Less cuddly but maybe just as effective is another body-odor detection product out of Japan that’s set to hit stores in the coming months: the Kikun Body. The device, which attaches to your body, sends alerts to your smartphone if you start to pong so badly that it may be causing distress to those around you.

The Morning After: Friday, September 15th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Did you get your iThing pre-order in? The Apple Store is open and selling most of the items just announced — but not the iPhone X. Of course, there’s at least one other good reason to wait, and we’ll find out more about it in a couple of weeks.

It’s promising better storage, speed, photos and more.
Google’s next Pixel smartphones arrive October 4th

As rumors suggest, Google’s turn at the smartphone churn is set for October 4th. A search-box-centered teaser video is promising a phone that works better and doesn’t slow down — we’re assuming it’ll lean heavily on the company’s new version of Android, then. We’ll be there to report all about it.

The grand finale.
Follow Cassini’s final moments before it plunges into Saturn

As you read this, the Cassini spacecraft may be sending back its final images from Saturn. After thirteen years of operation, its grand finale includes a plunge into the planet’s atmosphere, sending back data and pictures until it’s destroyed. NASA predicts it will lose contact with the spacecraft around 7:55 AM ET, so recap Cassini’s most exciting discoveries, then tune into a NASA TV live stream starting around 7 AM ET.

The demo iPhone X locked up because it tried authenticating faces before the show.
Apple says too many faces ruined its Face ID stage demo

When Apple OS chief Craig Federighi tried to demo Face ID on stage during Cupertino’s annual iPhone event, it didn’t quite work as he expected. “Your passcode is required to enable Face ID” popped up, eliciting a nervous chuckle from Craig and forcing him to switch to the spare demo phone. While people were quick to say that Face ID failed its first test, the hiccup apparently happened not because iPhone X’s star feature didn’t work, but because it worked too well. Sure it did.

Senator Al Franken has written Tim Cook a letter with his concerns.
Apple questioned about Face ID security by the US Senate

In related news, there’s a lot of us concerned about privacy and security of Apple’s Face ID feature. Edward Snowden, for instance, thinks it normalizes face scanning, sayings it’s “a tech certain to be abused.” Now, US Senator Al Franken is pressing the tech titan for answers, penning a letter addressed to Apple chief Tim Cook with a list of questions concerning the technology’s “eventual uses that may not be contemplated by” its customers.

Are you going my way?
Hyperloop One is closer to deciding its first planned route

One of the ways that Hyperloop One is working out which routes it wants to build is through its Global Challenge program. It is, essentially, an X-Factor style competition in which candidate cities and states can audition for the prize of getting to buy their own high-speed travel systems. Now, the company has announced which regions are in the running to be the first to get their own Hyperloop route. There are ten winners across five countries, and each proposal was judged by a panel of experts in infrastructure, transport and technology. Now, each one will be examined in extreme detail as Hyperloop One works out the best place to break ground on its first full-bodied line.

‘Fire Emblem Heroes’ and the power of in-app payments
What we’re playing: ‘Mario + Rabbids,’ ‘Overwatch’ and ‘Splatoon 2’

It’s a Nintendo-heavy edition of what we’re playing, with an Overwatch side. But while most of us are playing too much Switch, Aaron Souppouris battles with Nintendo’s iOS game, Fire Emblem Heroes. And spends money. Too much, arguably.

Facebook allowed advertisers to target anti-Semites

The social network’s ad algorithm definitely needs a lot more work.

As further proof that the Facebook ad network needs a lot of work, ProPublica has discovered that it allowed advertisers to target anti-Semites. When you buy ads on Facebook, the system prompts you to add targeted categories, which are real keywords or phrases people use on their profiles. Well, ProPublica has proven that the ad network recognizes anti-Semitic sentiments from users’ profiles as valid ad categories, including “Jew hater,” “How to burn Jews,” “Nazi party,” “Hitler did nothing wrong” and “German Schutzstaffel.” Since the network’s algorithm handles ad purchases from start to finish with no human input, ProPublica was able to get the anti-Semitic ads it purchased for its investigation approved within 15 minutes.

But wait, there’s more…

• AT&T’s buy-one-get-one-free deal on the iPhone 8 has a big caveat
• Blizzard claims dealing with player toxicity is slowing ‘Overwatch’ updates
• How Electroloom’s clothes-printing revolution died
• MoviePass is struggling to keep up with all its new members

Pre-order your Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus now

Journalists are torn about whether consumers should get the pricey iPhone 8 or 8 Plus or the pricier, but new and exciting iPhone X. You can now vote with their wallet, as the two new iPhone 8s (but not the iPhone X) have gone on pre-order at Apple’s Store, various carriers and retailers like Target and Best Buy in the US. Also on pre-order is the Apple TV 4K and Watch series 3, with all products set to ship on September 22nd. In the UK, pre-orders are also up on Apple’s site and with EE and other carriers.

Since money is an object, many of us will be weighing the 4.7-inch, 1,334 x 750 iPhone 8, which runs $699 with 64GB and $849 with 256GB (£699 and £849 in the UK). The 5.5-inch, 1080p iPhone 8 Plus model, meanwhile, is $799 with 64GB and $949 with 256GB (£799 and £949 respectively). The most noteworthy differences: The iPhone 8 lacks the dual-cameras and new Portrait Mode and Lighting features of the iPhone 8 Plus.

Both of those phones sport new all-glass designs should perform like champs with the new A11 Bionic processor and upgraded cameras. (Still too much? Apple has knocked $100 (£100) off both the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, making them as cheap as $549 or £549.)

Take note that both models support wireless and fast charging (30 minutes to a half charge), but for the latter, you’ll need to splurge at least another $74 for a charger and USB-C cable. If you’ve already got a 2016 or later MacBook Pro, you can use its charger, luckily.

The Apple Watch 3 starts at $329 (£329) with a 38mm sport band and no cellular support, and runs $399 or £399 if you opt for the LTE data feature. (If you do, don’t forget that US carriers will charge you an extra $10 per month to use the LTE option.) The larger 42mm model runs $359 and $429 with the same options (£359 and £429). Both watches are a lot more, of course, if you go for leather, Edition or Hermes models.

The Apple TV 4K, with support for UltraHD and HDR movies, is $179 with 32GB of built-in storage and $199 with 64GB (£179 and £199). If you’re worried about content for when it arrives on September 22nd, don’t be, at least in the US: Apple has already started releasing movies with 4K and Dolby Vision HDR.

As mentioned, iPhone X pre-orders won’t go live until October 27th, with shipping planned for November 3rd. That model, which features a 5.8-inch 2,436 x 1,125 OLED screen and Face ID instead of Touch ID, costs $999 for the 64GB model and $1,149 with 256GB. If you’re planning on getting it, beware that rumors point to a short supply of OLED panels, so you might want to be ready as soon as it goes on pre-order.

Whether you’re going with the tried and true, but much faster iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus, or the newfangled iPhone X, with its OLED screen, minimal bezels, weird new cutout and Face ID, let us know in the comments below.

Source: Apple

ITV’s new celebrity show uses social media to mug off the public

This year, I became a genuine Love Island fan. I’m no stranger to the show, but have previously watched as a voyeur, convincing myself that although I might not be as pretty as these people, I totally have more to offer (all the while alone on a Friday night, sipping the dregs of a McDonald’s milkshake I’ve just had delivered). There was something about the caricatures of last season I found genuinely entertaining, but the price of that is contributing to ratings that allow ITV to justify dropping even trashier commissions into the primetime schedule. This leads us to Celebrity Showmance, a new ITV show that revolves around two seemingly ill-matched celebrities perpetuating a fake relationship on social media for the sole purpose of winding up the public.

We’re using the term “celebrities” loosely here, of course, since we’re talking about Sunday league footballer Jamie O’Hara, David Hasselhoff’s daughter, and others of a similar calibre including “stars” of The Only Way is Essex and Geordie Shore. As Variety explains, these… showmances (kill me) have already taken place prior to the show, generating many a tabloid story — you know, the kind that manages to turn a couply selfie posted on Instagram into a 500-word “news” piece. Media interest has already exposed some of these phoney pairings, in fact.

The show will follow these participation-fee fiends from the butterflies-in-the-tummy stage through to bitter breakup. Each episode, they’ll complete totes lols challenges that crescendo into the perfect social media moment. Whichever couple gets the most Facebook likes, retweets and such “wins,” whatever that means in this context.

A post shared by Jamie Ohara (@jamie.ohara) on Jul 19, 2017 at 11:32am PDT

Celebrity culture has undeniably changed in the social media age, so much so that becoming popular online can actually make you a celebrity of sorts. Daily Mail articles about what coffee so and so bought are an everyday occurrence. But there’s less need for this kind of noise now, since a selfie with said coffee will hit Instagram long before a blog post.

The projectile streams of content encourage people to invest more emotional energy into their fandom. The internet is full of live feeds of aspirational lives with comment sections that are never read, as much as you might want to believe they’re direct lines to your idols — your likes also nothing but a metric “influencers” use to set their sponsored post rates. In some ways, ITV’s new show highlights the meaninglessness of it all.

Perhaps I’m taking this too seriously. After all, as Variety reports, “while the show is part of the “fake news” zeitgeist, it will be played for laughs and is not intended as serious social commentary.” But isn’t the fact this show even exists social commentary in and of itself?

Celebrity Showmance premieres on ITV2 next month.

Source: Variety

Apple Lists FLAC Audio Playback Support for 4K Apple TV, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X

Apple has quietly included support for playback of FLAC audio files on the 4K Apple TV, iPhone 8, and iPhone X, with compatibility also added retroactively to the iPhone 7 when iOS 11 gets its public release.

Support for the lossless compression codec now appears in the technical specifications on Apple’s website for all of the above devices. However, as it stands, Apple’s Music app does not currently support the format, so device owners who want to listen to the higher quality audio files will have to use the native Files app or a third-party app specifically made for FLAC playback, such as VLC or Plex.

Apple’s support for the FLAC codec doesn’t officially extend to the iPhone 6s or iPhone SE, which may be because an A10 processor is a minimum requirement for hardware decoding and Apple is not satisfied with the power consumption tradeoffs of FLAC software decoding.

That said, Apple’s latest iPad Pro range should also be capable of FLAC playback thanks to their high performance A10X Fusion chips, yet Apple hasn’t updated its iPad Pro tech specs to indicate they will also support the standard.

It’s possible that Apple is still testing FLAC support for its range of mobile devices, and may even have plans to offer the lossless compression standard as a download option in iTunes and playback in the Music app further down the line. However, it’s worth noting that mobile users would only get the full benefits of FLAC by listening using Lightning-connected wired headphones, since a Bluetooth audio connection doesn’t offer enough bandwidth to make the experience worthwhile.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iOS 11, iPhone X
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Don’t Buy)
Discuss this article in our forums

Google sources short video clips to go inside Google Maps

Beyond satellite imagery and Street View cars, Google has used Local Guides to add a personal touch to its Maps. Until recently the group of users updated information, uploaded still images and submitted reviews, but a recent email noted that they can also upload video clips (at least from an Android device). According to TechCrunch, the feature has been live for a couple of weeks, allowing Guides to record 10-second video clips from within the Google Maps app, or upload a 30-second video from their camera roll.

Add a photo or video from a place’s page

On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Maps app .

Search for a place or tap it on the map.

From the bottom, tap the place’s name or address to see more info.

Tap Add photos. You might have to scroll down to see this.

Choose what you want to do:

Choose a photo or video from your gallery: Tap Folder.

Take a new photo: Tap Camera tap the shutter.

Take a new video: Tap Camera tap and hold the shutter for up to 10 seconds to record a video. To remove a video’s sound, tap the sound bars on the bottom right.

Note: You can add media for points of interest, like businesses or parks, but not for addresses or coordinates.

Source: TechCrunch, Google Local Guides

Google Chrome Desktop Browser to Introduce Autoplay Blocking Features

Google will follow Apple’s lead by adding an autoplay blocking feature to its desktop web browser in an update set to arrive in January, the company announced on Thursday.

One of the most common irritations of web browsing is unexpected media playback, which can eat up data allowance, consumer more power, and cause unwanted noise.

When Safari 11 is released as part of macOS High Sierra, Mac users will be able to control media playback settings on a per-site basis, ending the frustration of auto-playing media while browsing.

Starting in Chrome 64, Google’s desktop browser will feature a customization option along the same lines. In a post on its Chromium blog, Google said that with the new settings, autoplay will only be allowed if the media on a website doesn’t play sound, or if the user has frequently chosen to play media on the site before.

This will allow autoplay to occur when users want media to play, and respect users’ wishes when they don’t. These changes will also unify desktop and mobile web behavior, making web media development more predictable across platforms and browsers.

Since not all users have the same preferences for autoplaying media, Google said it would add a new user option in Chrome 63 to completely disable audio for individual sites that will persist between browsing sessions.

Based on the available evidence, Chrome’s autoplay blocking options won’t actually be as granular as Safari’s, which will enable users to mute autoplaying media with sound, or block all autoplaying media completely, both for individual sites and globally.

According to Google’s roadmap, Chrome’s new autoplay policies will be rolled out by January 2018. macOS High Sierra – which includes Safari 11 – gets its public launch on September 25.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
Tag: Chrome
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Portland finds Uber used ‘Greyball’ to evade 16 authorities

Portland is done investigating Uber’s use of the infamous ‘Greyball’ tool in the city. The results? According to Reuters, authorities have discovered that the ride-hailing service used the software to prevent 16 of the city’s regulators from booking rides. It also ignored and canceled 29 ride requests by city transportation enforcers. Uber’s Greyball scheme first came to light when The New York Times revealed in March that it has a tool that can block known authorities from booking rides and even seeing if there are cars available in the area. The service used that tool to be able to operate in areas where it had no permission to do so, including Portland, Boston, Paris and Las Vegas.

Despite its findings, Portland has decided not to penalize Uber for what it did. City commissioner Dan Saltzman said they didn’t find any evidence that Uber is still greyballing authorities, which means that (in the city, at least) Uber has stayed true to its promise that it won’t use the tool anymore. It probably also helped that the ride-hailing firm complied with the city’s subpoena and provided all the details authorities asked for. An Uber spokesperson said the company is “pleased the investigation was closed,” though it’s just one of the many Greyball-related probes it’s had to deal with. The Department of Justice also opened a criminal investigation to look into its use of the tool shortly after its existence was revealed.

Source: Reuters