What’s New in Maps in iOS 11: Indoor Mapping, Lane Guidance and Speed Limits

The Maps app in iOS 11 is outfitted with several new features that significantly improve the app’s functionality. Indoor maps let you find restaurants, bathrooms, and other locations in airports and malls, while other new features like speed limits and lane guidance improve turn-by-turn directions.

Fun fact: In iOS 11, Apple has also updated the Maps icon. The new version is meant to show off a corner of Apple Park, Apple’s new campus with its now-famous enormous ring-shaped main building.

Indoor Mapping

For the first time, Apple is introducing detailed indoor maps in iOS 11, finally making use of all those mapping companies that it’s purchased over the course of the last few years.

iOS 11 includes indoor maps of select malls and airports around the world, displaying full layouts of each location with icons for restaurants, elevators, bathrooms, shops, and other notable indoor landmarks. In airports, you’ll see a clear view of the different terminals and gates so you can find your way to your flight.

Right now, indoor mapping is limited to a handful of malls and airports, but Apple says support will be dramatically expanded over time.

Lane Guidance

If you’ve ever missed a turn because the Maps app didn’t let you know what lane to be in, you’re going to be happy with the changes made in iOS 11. With a new lane guidance feature, Maps will always let you know what lane you should be in so you’ll never miss a sudden turn or an exit.

Lane guidance displays the number of lanes on the road and highlights the lane you’re supposed to be in. It is currently available in the United States and China.

Speed Limits

Speed limits, initially launching in the United States and United Kingdom, is a small but highly useful change, and it’s one of those features that makes you wonder why it wasn’t in the Maps app all along. Speed limits displays the speed limit of the road you’re on right on your iPhone’s display when you’re using turn-by-turn directions.

Light Guidance

For routes that you travel often, there’s an option to enable “Light Guidance.” Light Guidance, previously available to CarPlay users, cuts down on the directions you receive, since you likely know the route, and instead displays an overview of the trip and alternative routes.

Augmented Reality Flyover

When using the Flyover feature in iOS 11, you can explore cities by tilting and moving your device, mimicking the feel of actually being in the citing you’re looking at. You can rotate the iPhone or iPad 360 degrees in the new Flyover mode for a much more immersive experience, and it will even move forward as you walk forward in real life.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
Tag: Apple Maps
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World’s tallest solar tower will cap off the world’s largest solar park in Dubai

Why it matters to you

The giant solar park will contribute to Dubai’s clean energy goal of having renewable energy make up 75 percent of its total power output by 2050.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, a giant single site solar park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is set to become even bigger courtesy of a new 700-megawatt solar extension. A contract to build the extension was awarded over the weekend. The additional construction will give the park the ability to generate 5,000 megawatts by 2030 after construction is completed. Following the construction, the solar park will cover around 83 square miles, and be capable of reducing carbon emissions by 6.5 million tons per year. At the center of the facility will stand an enormous 260-meter (853-foot) solar tower, the tallest in the world.

The bid for developing the project’s fourth phase was awarded to a consortium consisting of Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and China’s Shanghai Electric. “Our focus on renewable energy generation has led to a drop in prices worldwide, and has lowered the price of solar power bids in Europe and the Middle East,” said Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, managing director and CEO of Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), in a statement. “This was evident today when we received the lowest CSP project cost in the world.”

The solar park first became operational in 2013, with a meager 13-megawatt solar first phase. Earlier this year, the second 200-megawatt phase became operational, while a third 800-megawatt phase will start operations by 2020, when the newly announced fourth phase will begin construction. The facility generates its solar power using a number of lenses and reflectors which concentrate the sun’s rays to heat fluid, which produce steam and drive a turbine: An approach which is more flexible than regular photovoltaic solar plants.

While there are some other impressive solar projects around the world (look no further than the 40-megawatt world’s largest floating solar power plant which just went online in China), the Dubai effort stands alone. When the 700-megawatt phase is completed, Dubai will cement its status as being home to the world’s largest single-site solar park. It will also greatly contribute to the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to increase the share of clean energy in Dubai’s total power output to 7 percent by 2020, 25 percent by 2030, and 75 percent by 2050.

The best iPhone car mounts to keep your smartphone in sight and stable

Car mounts are perfect for when you’re on the road and need to see your phone’s GPS, control your music, or keep up with the messages and calls coming your way. There are a ton of car mounts and docks out there for the iPhone that may suit your needs, but not all of them are as effective or reliable as you’d expect. That’s why we’ve singled out the best iPhone car mounts currently on the market. Whether you’re looking to use your dashboard, windshield, air vent, cigarette lighter, or CD player, we’ve got you covered.

iOttie Easy One Touch 3

• Car placement: Dashboard or Windshield
• Adjustable: Yes
• Warranty: 1-year warranty
• Price: $25

The iOttie Easy One Touch 3 is, as the name suggests, the third version of the company’s Easy One Touch car mount. This particular mount is capable of sticking to either your car’s dashboard or windshield, and features an arm that can extend up to 5 inches, as well as an adjustable base that can be moved up, down, left, and right, in order to make it as simple as possible for people to see and interact with their iPhone while driving. You can have the phone close to you if you need it, or keep it out of sight when you’re using Apple CarPlay. The dock in which the phone sits supports devices of all sizes, so your iPhone 6S Plus will rest perfectly and, more importantly, remain stable throughout your drive.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

WizGear Universal Air Vent Magnetic Car Mount

• Car placement: Air Vent
• Adjustable: Yes
• Warranty: Limited/30 days for Returns
• Price: $7

WizGear’s car mount is the one to opt for if you want to save space. It will also save you some time when it comes to placing your iPhone on the mount, because there’s no fiddling with arms and you won’t have to remove your iPhone’s protective case. This mount doesn’t stick to the dash, or come with a holder for the phone, but instead clips onto your air vent. It holds your iPhone in place magnetically, without harming or interfering with any aspect of the phone. You can affix your iPhone to the mount by placing the included metal plate in your case — between the back of your phone and the case — or by placing the round magnet on the back of your phone. You can then hold it in front of the mount and feel the magnetism pull it securely in. Once attached, both the phone and mount can be rotated or tilted to whatever angle you prefer.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

IPOW Silicone Pad Dash Mat

• Car placement: Dashboard
• Adjustable: Yes
• Warranty: 1-year warranty
• Price: $14

IPOW’s car mount offering may be the most simplistic one on our list. Like WizGear’s magnetic mount, it doesn’t stick to the dashboard or windshield, or even clip onto the air vent. It just sits on the dashboard, and relies on a silicone rubber mat to keep it in place. As far as adjustments go, it comes with two pairs of rubber holders that stick directly into the rubber base, allowing it to accommodate both 9 and 14-millimeter-thick phones. Both can be moved left or right for wider devices, too, so it should be able to accompany most iPhones equipped with cases in either horizontal or vertical positions — even the newest iPhone 7.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Jamron Universal CD Player Mount

• Car placement: CD Player
• Adjustable: Yes
• Warranty: Lifetime warranty
• Price: $11

If you’re no longer using your car’s CD player, why not use it to hold up your iPhone’s car mount? That’s exactly how Jamron’s universal mount attaches itself in your car. If you’re thinking that sounds like something that would damage the inside of the CD player, don’t worry, this mount is specifically made to use the CD player’s slot, and utilizes different rubber pads to get a better fit. The mount can hold smartphones of all sizes, including the iPhone 6S Plus, and when the time comes to remove the phone, you can do so with the touch of a button. Once it’s properly installed, you can take advantage of 360-degree rotation and, more importantly, you can still play CDs. If you’re done with CDs for good, check out our list of the best MP3 players on the market.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Google may jump back into the high-end Chromebook business with ‘Pixelbook’

Why it matters to you

If you were searching for a high-end Chromebook, wait another month to see what Google produces during its press event in early October.

Although we have not seen anything official from Google, rumor of an upcoming Chromebook dubbed as “Pixelbook” surfaced on Tuesday, September 19. Sold exclusively through the Google Store, the device will reportedly make an official appearance on October 4 during a special event sporting special 360-degree hinges to create a tablet-style form factor. Alongside the convertible will be the new Google Pixelbook Pen optimized for the unannounced convertible.

While we know absolutely nothing about the Pixelbook’s internal components, we suspect it will be based on Intel’s recently released eighth-generation Core i5 or Core i7 “U” processors. Here’s a brief rundown of the processor options Google may be using next month, but there is a good chance the Pixel book will rely on the i7-8650U model. Have a peek:

i5-8250U
i5-8350U
i7-8550U
i7-8650U
Cores:
4
4
4
4
Threads:
8
8
8
8
Base speed:
1.60GHz
1.70GHz
1.80GHz
1.90GHz
Max turbo speed:
3.40GHz
3.60GHz
4.00GHz
4.20GHz
Cache:
6MB
6MB
8MB
8MB
Graphics:
UHD Graphics 620
UHD Graphics 620
UHD Graphics 620
UHD Graphics 620
GPU base speed:
300MHz
300MHz
300MHz
300MHz
GPU max speed:
1.10GHz
1.10GHz
1.15GHz
1.15GHz

Based on the information provided in the rumor, there won’t be any configuration options outside the internal storage capacity. Customers will have three options:

• 128GB at $1,200
• 256GB at $1,400
• 512GB at $1,750

The Google Pixelbook will follow the company’s Chromebook Pixel laptop, which was discontinued in March. You can still purchase models through Amazon and other online resellers, such as this model listed on Amazon packing a 12.85-inch screen with a 2,560 x 1,700 resolution, an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.8GHz, 4GB of system memory, 64GB of storage, and 4G LTE connectivity. They were considered to be high-end Chromebooks, surpassing the price tags seen with third-party solutions provided by Samsung, Acer, and more.

What will make the Pixelbook different than the Chromebook Pixel outside the obvious hardware upgrades will be its 360-degree hinges and support for a specific stylus. We don’t know any details about the Pixelbook Pen although rumors suggest a $100 price tag, tilt support, and pressure sensitivity. Product renders show the parent screen to be extremely thin and connected to the base with two white, thick hinges.

Unfortunately, the two product renders are all we have to go on visually. They depict a keyboard spanning the entire width of the Chromebook, huge key caps, and a palm rest that may/may not have a glassy smooth surface. The bottom half of the render is too white for reading the available ports although one side appears to sport a Type-C port and a headphone jack.

The Google Pixelbook is just one of the rumored products scheduled to strut their stuff during a special event on October 4. Other devices supposedly slated for the show include new Pixel-branded smartphones, Google Home Mini, and maybe one or two additional gadgets. Once revealed, Google is expected to list the Pixelbook here and the optional Pixelbook Pen accessory here.

Be prepared for your next at-home electronics repair with this $25 iFixit toolkit

Got any ongoing do-it-yourself projects? Need some precision repair work done? This deal is definitely for you, then!

We know. You’re clumsy and break things, and fixing them gets expensive, right? Doing it yourself is a great option, but only if you have the right tools around. Right now you can pick up the 64-piece iFixit driver kit for $24.99. This is the best price you’ll find on the kit right now, which is around $20 lower than it normally sells for.

• Complete solution for precision repair, 64 bits selected using data from thousands of repair guides.
• Ergonomic Aluminum Handle provides plenty of torque, & is magnetized with a ball bearing swivel top.
• Case features magnetic closure for durability and a screw sorting tray integrated into the lid.
• All the bits to repair cell phones, game consoles, wearables, laptops, desktops, tablets, and more!
• Covered by iFixit’s Lifetime Warranty

Whether you have a broken device right now that you want to take a crack (get it?!) at fixing, or want to upgrade your existing tech with a new hard drive or graphics card, you won’t want to miss out on this deal.

See at Amazon

More from Thrifter:

• Which Warehouse Shopping Club is Best for You?
• Priority Pass Select Memberships can save you big at airports

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

Google Pixel 2 will start at $649, offer ‘Kinda Blue’ third color option

How many more leaks will we see? This about wraps it up.

The Google hardware leaks are coming hard and fast, and the latest of the group reveals fresh information about the forthcoming Pixel 2 — the smaller sibling to the Pixel 2 XL. According to Droid-Life, the Google Pixel 2 will launch at the same starting price as last year’s Pixel, $649, which will put it well below the purported $849 price of the Pixel 2 XL.

For that money you’ll get the same base 64GB of storage, and the same step up of $100 will bump that to 128GB. According to the report, the Pixel 2 will also offer a third color, “Kinda Blue” (shown above), alongside simpler black and white options. Interestingly the white Pixel 2 is shown to have a white-backed glass portion at the top of the phone, while the latest Pixel 2 XL leaks show a black portion on the white phone. The Kinda Blue color is obviously … less blue than the “Really Blue” Pixel of last year, and shows Google likes to have a chuckle while it names its device colors.

Hardware and design between the two models could be more similar than we first expected.

The rest of the hardware looks like a simple smaller version of the Pixel 2 XL, at least from the back, with the smaller glass portion at the top holding a single camera lens once again. If you’re really paying attention to details you’ll see the flash is situated to the left of the camera rather than the right as on the Pixel 2 XL. At the $649 price we’d expect the Pixel 2 to have a metal body, and these leaks make it look like it should be similar to the original Pixel — which aside from being rather basic shouldn’t be a bad thing in terms of quality or feel.

We’ll see all of this unveiled officially, with some explanation of the specifics, at a Google event on October 4 in San Francisco.

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

Google Store
Verizon

Kohl’s will now pack and ship Amazon returns for you

A couple of weeks ago, Amazon and Kohl’s announced a new partnership, which added spaces in Kohl’s stores dedicated to selling hardware like the Echo and Dot smart speakers, called the Amazon Smart Home Experience. Now Kohl’s is planning for 82 of its stores in Los Angeles and Chicago to offer free return service for Amazon customers. The Kohl’s stores will pack and ship “eligible” Amazon return items for anything you buy from the online retailer, for free, starting this October.

To take advantage of this new offering, you just need to head to one of the participating Kohl’s stores. There are even dedicated parking spots for the service near the entrance, oddly enough. “We are thrilled to launch this unprecedented and innovative concept, allowing customers to bring in their unpackaged Amazon returns to Kohl’s and we will pack them, ship them, and return them to Amazon for free,” said Kohl’s Richard Schepp. “This is a great example of how Kohl’s and Amazon are leveraging each other’s strengths –- the power of Kohl’s store portfolio and omnichannel capabilities combined with the power of Amazon’s reach and loyal customer base.”

Via: AFTV News

Source: Kohl’s

Now all ‘Overwatch’ players can visit Junkertown

At Gamescom last month, Blizzard teased fans of its hero shooter Overwatch with a new map: Junkertown. The escort map across the post-nuclear Australian wasteland was opened up to PC test realm players a week later, but now it’s live on all platforms for all players.

In Overwatch lore, Junkertown is the violent frontier settlement that Junkrat and Roadhog call home. On top of the new map, the game’s patch includes two small tweaks to Mercy and D.Va that the team announced last month to balance the straightforward characters. The winged healer is getting an entirely new ultimate, Valkyrie, that gives her unlimited flight and ammo, while her resurrect has been downgraded to a regular ability that only revives one hero at a time. D.Va’s Defense Matrix drains twice as fast, but she has a new skill, Micro Missiles, for nominal area-of-effect damage. Read the full patch notes here.

Finally, if you haven’t picked the game up yet, try out Overwatch for free from September 22nd to 25th.

HEROES WANTED.

Play Overwatch FREE Sept 22–25 on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One!

💻🎮 https://t.co/Pq264DygsZ pic.twitter.com/VIvddmWpjH

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) September 14, 2017

Source: Overwatch (Twitter)

Pee on a postcard to determine if you have a UTI

Among the many startups on display at the TechCrunch Disrupt hall in San Francisco this week are companies focused on health and biotech. The products ranged from smart exercise bikes to breast pumps that look like they’re from a science-fiction film. One of them, however, stood out from the rest with a large sign that simply read “Take the piss,” with the last word in big bold letters. The company is called Testcard, and it claims to tell you if you have a urinary tract infection just by peeing on a postcard. It’s just one of many medtech startups vying for legitimacy in an increasingly crowded field.

The postcard comes with four different pull-out tabs, and each tab is equipped with a QR code as well as three tiny square pads, each with a different color. You then either pee on the tab — or, as Testcard would recommend, dip the tab in a cup you’ve already peed into — and the three tiny squares may or may not change in color. After that, you then use the companion Testcard app to scan the QR code and then align the colored squares with the in-app camera. Within about 20 seconds, the app will let you know if you have a urinary tract infection or not. Testcard is also working on different postcards to test pregnancy (it’ll even tell you how far along you are) and sexually transmitted infections as well.

Dr. Andrew Botham, Testcard’s co-founder, explains how it works: “The app uses the camera as a colorimeter,” he says. “It converts the color to a signal, and then compares to an internal calibration curve for the test substance.” A pregnancy test, on the other hand, would measure density rather than color. It compares the test response to a control, which then approximates how pregnant the person is. According to Botham, the tests here are very similar to the kinds you would take in an office — a doctor testing for UTI would also be comparing your results to a color chart, for example — except the postcards are more accessible, especially to those who live far away from clinics and hospitals.

“Point-of-care testing has never been able to show improved patient outcomes,” says Botham. “I feel this is because it is being done in doctors’ surgeries and clinics, and at this point, patients are already being managed.” The key, he says, is to make testing like this more convenient, so that those concerned can take the tests in the privacy of their own home.

Testcard sounds like a really interesting idea, but as with any medtech startup these days, it’s probably wise to approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism. As we’ve seen with Theranos, for example, sometimes these claims amount to nothing more than snake oil. Accusations of pseudoscience have even permeated the field of genetics testing — sure, services like 23andMe and Helix can offer an interesting insight into your genetic past, but the results aren’t always conclusive. Plus, while FDA clearance has been awarded to certain disease-assessment DNA tests, the ones that focus on giving diet and fitness advice aren’t given the same level of scrutiny.

For Testcard’s part, Botham tells me it’s still in a pre-regulatory phase. It’ll launch next year through clinical trial testing in certain laboratories in the UK as it seeks regulatory approval. This way, he says, the company can still make revenue while undergoing testing — the app itself is free, but each postcard will cost around $3 (the pricing is not yet final). Plus, the clinical trials will be a great way to figure out what’s working and what’s not.

When asked about how Testcard can differentiate itself from Theranos and learn from its mistakes, Botham says that its product is already proven. “The revelation is not in the technology, it’s in the accessibility,” he says. “We are pushing laboratory grade testing into the home.”

HP’s rugged Chromebook x360 convertible is available to all

If you saw HP’s Chromebook x360 and yearned for the day when you didn’t have to be a student to try it, you now have your chance. HP has made the 11-inch convertible Chrome OS machine available to everyone, with a starting price of $300 in the US for a system with a 1.1GHz Celeron, 4GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. You can spring for 32GB of storage if you depend heavily on Android apps or don’t quite store as much in the cloud as Google might like.

As with the educational model, the party trick here is the combination of a rugged frame with a ‘360-degree’ touchscreen well-suited to running Android apps. This is a laptop that can survive a tumble to the ground at one moment and serve as a YouTube viewer in the next. It’s not necessarily the best hybrid Chromebook you can get (you’d want to consider ASUS’ more powerful Chromebook Flip, for example), but the price could be right.

Source: HP