Watch Elon Musk reveal ‘something special’ during Mars talk tonight

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he “Will be announcing something really special at today’s talk” and you can watch the live stream on YouTube. Musk is speaking at the 68th International Astronautical Congress 2017 in Adelaide, Australia, where he’s going to explain more about his plans to make humanity multi-planetary by colonizing Mars. He recently highlighted an old SpaceX simulation of how its rockets in an Instagram post, and has been posting glamour shots of spacesuits all over social media. The talk kicks off local time Friday at 2:30 PM, or 12:30 AM ET / 9:30 PM PT.

Will be announcing something really special at today’s talk https://t.co/plXTBJY6ia

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 28, 2017

Simulation of how the SpaceX Interplanetary Spaceship and Rocket design would work. Will be unveiling the new version on Friday afternoon at IAC Adelaide. Certain aspects of the new design and its applications will be unexpected.

A post shared by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Sep 25, 2017 at 2:41am PDT

Update: Musk just posted this image to Instagram, showing a “Moon Base Alpha” concept. Notably, it’s appearing a day after Russia and US space agencies announced plans to team up on an effort. Surely we’ll find out more about more about this plan in just a few hours.

Source: SpaceX

Anker crammed a projector into a soda can-sized smart speaker

While every CES brings a new set of smaller and smarter devices, the age of the mobile projector hasn’t quite arrived. But gadget company Anker’s Nebula Capsule, launched today on Indiegogo, makes a strong argument by bundling a speaker and Bluetooth connectability in to the visual package. Even if you aren’t binging TV or showing a film, you can still link it to your phone to play tunes. And if you’re swayed by popular opinion, give the Nebula a look: Its crowdfunding campaign went live today and it’s already raised over $140,000 as of publication.

The Nebula supposedly packs a lot in a tiny (soda can-size) package: Five speakers that project omnidirectional sound and a projector, with battery life claims of 2.5 hours displaying video or 40 hours playing music. It runs Android 7.0 out of the box, meaning you can load up all your Netflix or HBO apps and play from there. Or you can play content from another device wirelessly over Bluetooth or WiFi (connecting with AirPlay and Miracast) or via HDMI and USB ports.

With a native resolution of 854 x 480 pixels, the Nebula is no replacement for an HD or 4K screen, but its portability and brightness (press materials claim 100 ANSI lumens) make it a potentially great home theater choice. Plus, Anker is a known brand in gadgetry, most recently announcing its cheaper Echo-like Genie digital assistant last month. Best of all, the Nebula’s crowdfunding page claims they’ll start shipping Nebulas this December. The starting $200 deals have already sold out, but you can still get one for $250, a bit off the planned sticker price of $350, which gives you the speaker, a remote, cable and a wall charger.

Source: Indiegogo

Roli Blocks makes its connectable music-making module more responsive

British music company Roli introduced an affordable, innovative music-making gadget last year called Roli Blocks. It’s a set of modular synth controllers that can snap together and connect via Bluetooth to your iOS device. Roli is now updating the iOS app, Noise, and updating its surface controller, the Lightpad M.

Lightpad M, the new touch-sensitive controller block, has added tactile feedback via “microkeywaves,” a redesigned silicone surface layer for more responsiveness and a brighter surface illumination. The updated Noise 3.0 app is still free to download and has better clip launching and editing along with user interface improvements. It also has some new acoustic sounds to add to your projects. Dubbed Bass Quartet (bundled with the LIghtpad M) and Treble Quartet (bundled with the mini-key controller, Seaboard), the new soundsets bring things like cello, violin, clarinet and saxophone to the Noise app. They’re also available for $10 each separately.

Roli is also expanding to work with more than just the app, as well. You can now connect the Noise app to mobile GarageBand via audio unit, as well, with more than 400 polyphonic sounds to play and edit in Apple’s digital audio workstation app. Roli will also bundle Ableton Live Lite with Lightpad M soon, turning the block into a control surface to launch clips, control instruments and create tracks within Ableton’s digital audio workstation for desktop. You can still get the original Lightpad Block for $180, though the new Lightpad M is only $20 more at $200.

Source: Roli

7 ARKit apps to try on your iPhone or iPad using iOS 11

In June, Apple introduced ARKit, its own framework for augmented-reality apps. The technology allows you to place virtual objects anywhere using your iPhone or iPad, creating the illusion that they’re in your physical space. While we first got to see ARKit demonstrated during Apple’s keynote at WWDC, the new feature is now available with the recently-released iOS 11.

Whether it’s interior design, something related to fitness, or a way to brighten a photo, there’s an ARKit for almost every scenario imaginable. To help you get started, we’ve rounded up some of the best ARKit apps for you to try out yourself.

Ikea Place

Moving into a new home can be exciting, until the reality of having to choose the right furniture sets in. With Ikea Place, you can virtually “place” specific products and furniture into your space. It uses 3D, true-to-scale models that you can drag and drop wherever you’d like. After scanning the floor space around you, you can pick from Ikea’s catalog and choose which one fits best. Tapping the plus sign at the bottom of the screen will bring up a menu that lists various collections, or you can browse by category instead.

Once you’ve chosen your product, it will appear on the screen and you can move it around and put it where you want it. Another tap will drop it securely in place, while giving you the option to take a photo and share it on various social media platforms, such as Instagram or WhatsApp. Unfortunately, Ikea Store isn’t integrated, so you’ll have to order your furniture separately. Thankfully, this Ikea AR app doesn’t require you to build the furniture before virtually placing it in your home.

Holo

Originally launched as part of Google Tango’s suite of augmented-reality apps for the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, Holo is now available for iOS. The app allows you to add holograms of real people and animals, and gives you the option to take photos or videos. You can resize, rotate, or move them around — depending on where you’re standing — as well as interact with them. And for each character you download, there’s a variety of actions and mannerisms to choose from.

You’ll find the interface is extremely similar to Snapchat, with filters to choose from at the bottom and a host of sound effects. When you first download Holo, there’ll be a few filters already available. When you tap Get more, you’ll bring up a menu containing more than 300 celebrities, musicians, and pop culture icons, along with original animals and characters. Once you download the ones you want, they’ll be saved to your list of options and you’ll be able to access them each time you open the app’s camera mode.

The content is updated every week to reflect what’s currently popular, but it’s one of those apps that’s only fun to use when there’s a group of people around since you can only use the rear camera. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself pointing these strange, life-like characters at an empty room.

GIPHY World

If you can’t get enough of GIPHY, you can now add GIPHY World to your collection. The app adds regular GIFS and GIF stickers to any scene around you, and gives you the ability to take photos and record scenes. By toggling the Search mode, you can switch between the app’s library of stickers or GIFS, or incorporate both. The scrollable gallery provides a slew of options to choose from, but you can also use the Search tool to find more specific ones. Once you’ve selected your GIFs, you can resize, or move them around, by holding them down with your finger. When you’ve found the spot you want to place the GIF in, simply let go and it will stay put.

If you’re looking to add some extra creativity, you can add backgrounds — currently under demo — of either flowers or outer space. GIPHY World also includes themed sticker packs ranging from school supplies and bugs, to dinosaurs and animated text. Since you can share your masterpieces with friends and family, you can collaborate on artwork as well. By sending it back and forth with another individual, you’re able to take turns adding to and editing scenes, often resulting in a collaborative masterpiece.

Fitness AR ($3)

Fans of Strava can now turn their data into 3D maps. Fitness AR uses Strava’s API to pull in data and convert your path into a 3D map that showcases the terrain you’ve covered. Once you’ve connected to your Strava account, you can track your activities, your routes, and your friends’ activities. When you pull up your own path and tap to virtually place it on a flat surface, the 3D version will appear in front of you. The exact route you took on your run or bike ride is outlined by a thin blue line that you can then see from a bird’s-eye view. You’re also able to walk around it or zoom in for a complete look.

If you want to share your map with others, you can easily screenshot the image and send it over. If you want to discover other paths, there’s also the Featured tab that highlights additional activities, along with famous cycling routes.

Hair Color by ModiFace

There are tons of beauty apps designed to make testing out a new look easier, though most are never as accurate as we’d like. ModiFace, however, is attempting to change that. Is latest app, Hair Color, uses live video-based tracking to detect hair in each frame. This allows the app to adjust the coloration of your hair in a more realistic way via photo. It’s free to download, but for certain colors — marked with a star icon — you’ll have to opt for the premium version ($2).

You have the option to use the app’s default model or Live Mode, which changes your hair on the spot, to test out the different colors. You can also use an existing photo or take a photo using your iPhone’s camera app. Unlike other color-changing apps, which often look like they’ve coated your hair with a Microsoft Paint brush, ARKit makes a huge difference. The app is able to capture everything, from each small strand and fly away down to the texture, allowing the color to realistically sit within your hair, rather than on top of it. Beware: You might find yourself wanting to suddenly dye your hair pink, blue, or even rainbow.

Magic Sudoku

Magic Sudoku isn’t your typical point-and-shoot app. The AR offering isn’t here to fill physical space or enhance your current scene, but rather, to help you solve that difficult Sudoku puzzle you can’t seem to beat. There’s not much to it, either; all you have to do is line up an empty Sudoku puzzle in the provided grid and the app will scan it using your camera. Your puzzle will then appear on the screen, complete with all the numbers filled in. It works with both vertical surfaces — such as a computer monitor or your iPad — along with paper, and when you’re done, you can clear the puzzle by tapping on it. It’s also capable of solving multiple Sudoku puzzles by scanning one puzzle after another.

ShARk by Curiscope

ShARk gives you the ability to swim with the sharks — minus the panic and fear. When you open the app, it’ll ask you to find and tap on an orb for the shark to swim through. Once it virtually enters your space, you can tap on the screen as many times as you’d like to place bait and attract it towards you. If you don’t feed it, the shark will continue to swim around the space on its own and you can follow the arrows with your camera to find it.

To share your experience with friends and family, ShARk incorporates iOS 11’s screen recording feature so you can capture it swimming around the area. Once you’re done recording, you can choose to save the video to your camera roll. The app is free to download and automatically comes with the Leopard Shark, but you can also unlock the Great White Shark for $1.

If you’re looking for additional software for your Apple device, be sure to consult our roundup of the best iPhone apps.

Despite troubles on Earth, United States and Russia team up on lunar station

Why it matters to you

The Deep Space Gateway may someday help astronauts reach the moon and beyond.

The United States and Russia have a long and tumultuous history of competing in outer space. And although those extraterrestrial tensions quieted down to some extent at the end of the Cold War, the two nations have grown increasingly at odds here on Earth.

It might come as a surprise then to learn that NASA and its Russian equivalent, the space agency Roscomos, have actually joined forces on projects involving the International Space Station and, more recently, an exploration of Venus.

This week the bond between the two nations’ space programs grew stronger as the agencies announced another collaboration. It’s an ambitious, American-led initiative called Deep Space Gateway, a concept that would place a space station in an orbit close to the moon to aid in deep space exploration.

“While the deep space gateway is still in concept formulation, NASA is pleased to see growing international interest in moving into cislunar space as the next step for advancing human space exploration,” Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s acting administrator, said in a statement. “Statements such as this one signed with Roscosmos show the gateway concept as an enabler to the kind of exploration architecture that is affordable and sustainable.”

The United States and Russia aren’t alone in their lunar aspirations. China and Japan have both shared distinct plans to reach the Moon and build a base by 2020. The European Space Agency has a similar long-term goal for a permanent moon base.

Private entities are equally interested in the Moon. XPrize and Google teamed up to offer $30 million in prizes for the first privately funded teams to land a robot on the lunar surface, travel over 1,500 feet, and beam back high-definition images and video. Some 30 teams signed up. Moon Express, one of the companies competing for the XPrize, has voiced its plan to mine the moon for resources.

Although details about the project are scarce so far, the Deep Space Gateway will be designed to dock with NASA’s Orion spacecraft, while supporting a four-person crew. It would be used by astronauts as a pit stop on their way to further explore the lunar surface, Mars, and Venus. The agencies hope to construct the station’s modules in the 2020s.

The easiest way to take graphene into the third dimension? Use a laser on it

Why it matters to you

This new laser technique may help unlock graphene’s full potential in the real world.

As a single-atom layer of carbon, graphene is the thinnest material around. It’s also one of the most impressively versatile — with applications that range from cancer detection and health tracking to conducting electricity and creating smart sensors. However, for a lot of these practical applications to be, well, practical in the real world, it’s necessary that scientists find a way to turn graphene into a three-dimensional form.

That’s easier said than done, but researchers from Finland and Taiwan may have it cracked. What they have discovered and demonstrated is a way of “forging” graphene into three-dimensional objects by using a focused laser beam. As a proof of concept, they showcased how lasers could create a 3D pyramid out of graphene. To achieve this result, a laser is focused on a point on a 2D graphene lattice, which irradiates that part of the structure and causes it to bulge. The 3D pyramid the team created is just 60 nm in height (that’s small enough to fit onto a single strand of human hair), but still 200x taller than the graphene sheet.

“This changes the electronic and optical properties of graphene, opening a new way to tailor the properties with a very simple method,” Professor Mika Pettersson, who led the research team at the Nanoscience Center of the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, told Digital Trends. “This changes how graphene devices can be designed and fabricated. As an important aspect, the properties can be tailored locally, but still maintain the integrity of the carbon network. Ultimately, the vision is to fabricate functional devices with the laser writing method.”

Pettersson said that the next goal is to delve into the atomic-level structure of the 3D material, in order to better understand its electronic and optical properties, and how these differ from plain old 2D graphene. After that, the development of applications can follow. “We think that there is great potential for real-world applications,” Pettersson said. “Many of them are in the same fields as for normal graphene: flexible and transparent electronics, optoelectronics, and sensors, but this time with a possibility to design 3D device architectures.”

Should all go according to plan, hopefully we’ll see more groundbreaking examples of graphene being used outside of the confines of research labs. A paper describing this work was recently published in the journal Nano Letters.

The latest casualty at Uber is Xchange Leasing, its car rental program

Why it matters to you

The car leasing venture was losing about $9,000 per car, 18 times the amount originally believed.

It’s no secret that Uber has always had trouble hanging onto money, but now that it’s being kicked out of a major market, the transportation giant is doing everything it can to cut costs. The latest casualty at Uber is Xchange Leasing, its American auto-leasing business. And given that the venture was losing 18 times more money on each vehicle than previously believed, it seems like the wise choice in this situation.

As initially reported by the Wall Street Journal, Uber was thinking about shuttering the business for months now, though the company previously seemed to be hoping for a buyout rather than a closure. Unfortunately, that did not come to fruition, and now, 500 folks are said to be affected by the decision (around 3 percent of Uber’s overall team).

“We have decided to stop operating Xchange Leasing and move toward a less capital-intensive approach,” a spokesman confirmed to the Journal. Originally begun in 2015 under ex-CEO Travis Kalanick’s leadership, the leasing program was bolstered by an investment of around $600 million. Uber hoped that this initiative would make it easier for the company to recruit drivers who would otherwise be unable to provide their own vehicles.

Unfortunately, this didn’t work quite as planned, as the Journal reported many drivers returning the leased cars in “poor shape, damaging their resale value.” Ultimately, the company was forced to place drivers in increasingly expensive leased vehicles, which meant that the drivers had to work longer hours in order to pay back the lease, thereby creating more wear and tear, and perpetuating a vicious, net-loss cycle.

By July, Uber realized that Xchange was in the red by about $9,000 for every vehicle in the fleet (previous estimates suggested this figure was just $500). There were a total of about 40,000 cars in the fleet, which represents a whole lot of debt.

Now that the unit is closing, Uber will still honor existing leases, but it’s unclear what the company will do with the other vehicles it currently holds. Of course, this is all just one of the company’s many problems. Over the last year and a half, the company has lost at least $4.4 billion, and has suffered a series of PR setbacks as well. Of course, the addition of Dara Khosrowshahi to the team as Uber’s new leader could improve the company’s position, but to say that the executive has his work cut out for him seems like something of an understatement.

Amazon’s giving out free $10 credits for activating a Music Unlimited trial

Free money?! Sign me up.

Get a free $10 promo credit to be used on anything sold and shipped by Amazon when you sign up for a free 30-day trial of Music Unlimited after entering promo code MUSIC1. This offer is not available to current or former subscribers.

Over the summer, Amazon offered a similar deal which only allowed people to use the $10 credit towards their Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. This time, the promotional credit can only be used on any items sold and shipped directly from Amazon (not other third-party sellers on its site).

If you didn’t already see, Amazon just announced a slate of new Echo and Fire TV products which are currently available to pre-order at a discount! Your promotional credit can be applied to those too.

Once signed up, you can immediately change (or cancel) your subscription to not auto-renew which will keep your card from being charged until you’re sure you want to actually pay for the service.

Music Unlimited features streaming access to tens of millions of songs and thousands of playlists and stations. You can access Music Unlimited on your phone, tablet, computer, Alexa-compatible devices and more. After the trial ends, the service costs $7.99 monthly for Prime members and $9.99 for non-Prime members.

This offer is valid through October 6, while the credit must be used before October 31. Check out Thrifter.com for more awesome ideas on how to spend that $10 credit.

Sign up at Amazon

More from Thrifter

• How to add a DVR to your OTA antenna setup
• What does Amazon’s takeover of Whole Foods mean for you?

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

LG V30 will have a second year of warranty in the U.S.

The LG V30 and V30+ will be available soon from all major U.S. carriers.

After leaks and pre-announcements, the LG V30 was made official at this year’s IFA conference. However, availability and price were not announced at the event, leaving potential buyers curious as to when the phone would be available. We now know that it’ll be arriving on October 5.

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have already announced their availability for the V30, but in a press release LG said the V30 and V30+ will be available from all major carriers within the next two weeks. Still unknown at this time is any sort of unlocked offering. Availability, color, and price will vary from carrier to carrier. The only difference between the V30 and the V30+ is the former includes 64GB of internal storage, while the latter includes 128GB. It’s not clear which carriers will get the V30+, but it’s looking like either Verizon or Sprint, or both.

LG is also stepping up its warranty game with the release of the V30. Instead of the standard one year of warranty coverage, the V30 and V30+ will be eligible for LG’s Second Year Promise which equals out to a full two years of support. It began with the G6 earlier this summer, and is most likely an attempt to ease customer fears after previous LG devices faced bootloop defects. The one caveat is that customers will need to register for the additional year of warranty support, rather than automatically have the support with their purchase. From LG Electronics’ Chang Ma:

We are so confident in the V30’s quality, that in addition to the manufacturer’s first year limited warranty, we are now offering free second year coverage upon registration. Plus, enjoy a service experience that gets you a replacement phone quickly. That’s LG’s promise to you.

Time will tell if LG is able to support the devices for the full two years, but it’s a nice gesture. LG also said that it will bundle the updated version of Google’s Daydream VR headset with select V30s, which may be why the company is waiting until after Google’s October 4 event to release the phone.

Are you interested in picking up the LG V30? Let us know down below!

LG V30

• LG V30 review: The no-BS flagship
• Top LG V30 camera features
• Full LG V30 specs
• LG V30 vs. G6 vs. GS8
• The V30 is the first phone to support 600MHz spectrum
• Join our LG V30 forums

Play ‘Lawbreakers’ for free on PC this weekend

It hasn’t been two months since team shooter Lawbreakers launched in early August and the game is inviting players to try it for free on PC this weekend, starting today. That’s likely because the PC playerbase is dismal, peaking at 161 players total over the last 24 hours according to Steam’s charts. But if you play and like it, the game’s studio Boss Key Productions is knocking 25 percent off the cover price to keep you onboard.

Lawbreakers aimed to mix Team Fortress 2’s class-based team combat with Quake’s arcade shooting. The old-school FPS DNA comes from Boss Key co-founder Cliff ‘CliffyB’ Bleszinski’s experience working on Unreal as well as the first three Gears of War games. Unfortunately, the game hasn’t attracted a large playerbase on desktop (it’s much harder to tell player count on PS4). But Boss Key is soldiering forth and released a feature roadmap into 2018, announcing a new map today and another class to come before year’s end. Bleszinkski referenced League of Legends’ slow climb from a Warcraft III mod into the juggernaut it is today as reason not to be discouraged in a Eurogamer interview last month.

I told y’all we aren’t stopping. Thanks for the support. New. Stuff. Coming. Xo https://t.co/lE8BaSaN7m

— Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) September 2, 2017

This weekend will be a tough window for Lawbreakers to attract more players given that Call of Duty: WWII’s PC open beta starts on Friday. Plus, Bleszinksi’s former company Epic Games’ PUBG-aping free-to-play game Fortnite: Battle Royale just broke a million players on its first day.

Fortnite’s free-to-play battle royale mode sees 1M day-one players https://t.co/B2beDj3E71 pic.twitter.com/ZBN7bvFkOV

— Gamasutra (@gamasutra) September 28, 2017

Source: Lawbreakers (Steam page)