The original American Princess Grace’s royal superyacht for sale

Why it matters to you

Stalca a real superyacht with an impressive history, impeccably restored and updated, and relatively inexpensive.

Academy Award-winning American actress Grace Kelly married Prince Ranier of Monaco in 1956, in what was widely referred to as the “Wedding of the Century.” In 1971, yacht builder Visch Holland constructed a 24-meter (78-foot, 8-inch) yacht named Stalca for the couple, who entertained extensively onboard during the 70s.

There have been other owners since the Prince and Princess, as well as several upfits and renovations, the most recent finishing just this year. Now yacht brokerage Bluewater has listed the royal superyacht for sale. The Stalca’s asking price is 1.5 million euros, nearly $1.8 million, Boat International reports.

If you’re a fan of the sleeker, newer, and faster yacht designs from Italian and Dutch ship builders, the Stalca won’t light you up. If your tastes run more to classic yachts with lots of teak and brass, however, here’s an opportunity to own a classic vessel that has been thoroughly updated without changing its original aesthetic. Plus, the Stalca comes with an unmatched history that will fascinate your guests.

Stalca’s name represents the first two letters of the Prince and Princess’s three children: Stéphanie, Albert, and Caroline. Stalca has a full displacement steel hull with a 19-foot, 5-inch beam, an aluminum superstructure, and a teak deck.

Two 300-horsepower Caterpillar D336TA turbocharged and after-cooled V8 engines power Stalca at a maximum 12 knots. At her 9-knot cruising speed, Stalca consumes  60 liters, or 15.85-gallons of fuel per hour. Fuel capacity is 2000 gallons, which gives a maximum potential cruising range of 1,136 nautical miles.

Stalca accommodates eight guests. She has a full-beam master stateroom and a full-beam VIP stateroom, both en-suite and two additional twin stateroom with a shared bathroom. Crew quarters and capacity is not listed.

The yacht’s engines and generators were replaced in 2009. A 2016/2017 refitting including extensive hull work, new paint, and new wiring and plumbing. Boat International describes the latest renovation as an almost full rebuilt.

Stalca is ready for personal use but can also be used for charters, with all required licenses and commercially compliant features.

If you’d like to own the yacht built for a princess, at a relatively low price in compared to most ships of Stalca’s size, here’s your chance.

Here are the ten best mobile accessories of IFA 2017

Why it matters to you

The right gadgets and accessories can protect your phone, add functionality, and make life just a little easier.

We scoured the show floor at IFA in Berlin this year and uncovered a veritable bounty of handy, innovative, and stylish accessories worth knowing about. Most of them are new to the market, or are coming soon. All of them offer something a little different or interesting. These are our picks for the best mobile accessories of IFA 2017.

If this doesn’t quench your thirst for accessories, then be sure to check out our best iPhone accessories, best iPad Pro accessories, or maybe our best Galaxy Note 8 accessories.

Anker PowerCore

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

The new portable battery pack from Anker has a whopping 20,100 mAh of power to charge up all of your devices. If you’re thinking it looks similar to previous releases, it’s worth us pointing out a couple of new features. First is the round power button that also houses a ring of LEDs to show you remaining power — this time there are eight LEDs instead of the usual four, so you get a better idea of how much power is left. Anker also listened to feedback regarding the smooth surface of the last version making it too easy to drop, so the designers have textured the outside of this power bank to make it grip to the back of your phone and your hand.

Cosmo and Power Bank Fusion ($15+)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

We liked the clever silicone design of the Cosmo cable store. It’s a soft, silicone cable tidy that comes in a variety of colors and houses a 1 meter long USB to Micro USB, USB-C, or Lightning jack cable. Prices range from 15 euros to 25 euros. The Fusion Mini power bank is from the same manufacturer and has built in USB and Lightning cables that attach magnetically. It will set you back 40 euros (about $50). The company is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

Holdit Style Cables and Matching Power Bank

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

Cables are generally so dull that these fun, patterned cables really caught our eye. The Swedish company behind them is about to release a range of flat cables for Micro USB, Lightning, or USB-C ports. Because they’re flat, they resist the innate urge that every cable has to wrap themselves into a messy tangled ball. The fresh designs also match up with complementary power banks and cases for your phone, so you can sync your entire phone’s wardrobe. These should be available across Europe and Holdit is keen on moving into the U.S. next, so keep an eye on the Holdit website for more.

Holdit Leather Cables and Cases ($60)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

In contrast to the funky designs for the flat cables, Holdit also has a premium leather range. We’ve never seen leather cables before, but they look and feel great. You can can get a range of brown, blue, or black leather cables with solid aluminum ends. They should be durable, but leather also ages gracefully and can look even better when weathered. The matching leather cases are for the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy range. They don’t sell in the U.S. yet, but when they do, you can expect to pay around $60 for a cable.

Buy from Holdit

Mophie Powerstation XXL ($130)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

We generally like Mophie designs and this power bank immediately stood out. The exterior has a textured cloth material that’s easy to grip and comfortable to hold. The capacity measures 19,500 mAh and it supports USB-C and USB-A, so you could use it to charge laptops and tablets, as well as phones. It’s an exclusive in the Apple Store for the next three months, but after that you’ll be able to get one for $130.

Pipetto Origami Luxe iPad Case ($50)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

The clever design of Pipetto’s origami iPad case allows you to fold back the cover and prop your tablet in landscape or portrait orientation for hands-free movie viewing, reading, or FaceTime calls. There are three varieties of this case from the London-based designer. The original has a soft-touch plastic finish and comes in loads of different colors. There’s also a PU version designed to feel like lambskin, and our pick is the Luxe range, which matches up with the iPad body color and has a kind of metallic finish and a transparent shell section.

Buy from Pipetto

Q2 Power Dock and Charge

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

This clever mobile accessory plugs directly into the wall outlet and provides a wee platform for your phone to sit on and charge. The Lightning, Micro USB, or USB-C jack is built in. When you’re done charging you can unplug, fold it up, and stick it in your pocket. It can also serve as a stand for your desk, to prop your up in portrait orientation. It also contains a 2,000 mAh battery — just enough to keep you going until the end of the day. The big U.S.P. for Q2 Power is safety, so the new Dock and Charge is rigorously tested and passes all the international safety standards. A U.S. version is in the works and will cost around $50 to $60. Find out more at the Q2 Power website.

Invoxia Roadie Tracker ($99)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

This black, anodised aluminum GPS tracker uses low-power networks, so the battery can last up to 8 months between charges. You can attach it to whatever you want – a suitcase, handbag, or even a pet — with the leather strap. It doesn’t require a SIM card and it doesn’t use Bluetooth. It does use a combination of GPS and Wi-Fi networks, so you can track its location on your Android smartphone or iPhone via the app. It comes with a three-year subscription, and will cost about $10 a year after that.

Buy from Invoxia

Urban Armor Gear Exoskeleton ($50)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

Since there’s no standard size for Android tablets, it can sometimes prove difficult to score a protective case that fits well. UAG set out ro solve this problem with a clever exoskeleton design that expands to hold any tablet. The corners are heavily reinforced, so it meets military drop test standards. You just pull the center apart, slot your tablet in, and it closes to grip it snugly. There’s also a handy kickstand that folds out of the back to prop your tablet in landscape view. The version we checked out is for 9 to 10.5 inch tablets, but they’re considering a 7 to 9 inch version. It will be on sale soon via the UAG website and at Walmart.

Ventev Wireless Chargestand ($60)

Simon HIll/Digital Trends

It can prove difficult to find the sweet spot for wireless charging, but Ventev thinks it has the solution. The Wireless Chargestand has a Qi charging pad that can be slotted into different positions in the aluminum frame. That means it will work with cases, and you can  place your phone in landscape or portrait position. The frame itself can also be turned around, so you can adjust the angle. But that’s not all, because you can also remove the pad and take it away with you as a portable wireless charger, although the cable attaches to a fairly hefty brick that plugs into your outlet.

Buy from Ventev

Best 360-Degree Cameras

• Best Overall
• Best runner-up
• Best value

Best overall

Samsung Gear 360

See at Amazon

Not only is Samsung’s latest 360-degree camera smaller, thinner, and lighter than its predecessor, but it’s also cheaper and faster! The Samsung Gear 360 is one of the easiest 360-degree cameras to use, making it possible for you to either quickly snap a photo with friends while holding it or remotely access the camera from an app loaded up with advanced features for capturing the best image.

Not only can you grab 15-megapixel spheres with lots of detail, but the video mode will capture in 4K at 30FPS with no problem. The bottom mount makes it easy to stick the camera on just about anything, and the unique microphone array in the camera makes capturing sound from every direction very easy.

Bottom line: For ease of use, $200 price tag, and sheer volume of camera features the Gear 360 is the best consumer 360-degree camera you can buy.

One more thing: This camera also works well with the iPhone!

Why the Samsung Gear 360 is the best

What it really comes down to with this camera is convenience and price. The Gear 360 software is noticeably easier to use than just about all of the other camera apps out there. You have quick access to more features, editing images and video is easier, and there’s a lot that can be done with exposure and white balance settings to make sure you get the perfect shot. Transferring images in large batches to your phone is easy as well and noticeably faster than most cameras.

As for price, the Gear 360 launched at nearly one third the price of the original 360-degree camera Samsung released last year. That’s a considerable markdown when you consider how expensive a lot of these cameras are, and even though this camera doesn’t have the highest megapixel count, the photos you get are fantastic.

Samsung’s motivation for making this camera easy to get and easier to use is simple: more people making videos that can be enjoyed inside the Samsung Gear VR headset is great for that ecosystem. To that end, the Gear 360 is one of the best 360-degree camera experiences you can get today.

Best runner-up

Ricoh Theta S

See at Amazon

Ricoh has been making the best 360-degree cameras longer than most, and for this experience it all comes down to the stitching. The physical design of this camera puts the two sensors very close together, which makes it so the Ricoh software can stitch the two pieces together into the closest thing to a flawless sphere you can get from a consumer camera today. It’s a fantastic camera, though its height makes using it for video when mounted to a moving surface a little less convenient.

Bottom line: This camera will give you some amazing pictures and is a lot of fun to use, but the $300 price tag makes it a little pricey.

Best Value

Insta360 Air

See at Amazon

It may not have the highest resolution or the most convenient software, but Insta360 has two incredible features with the Air camera. First, it’s the only USB-C 360-degree camera. This means it plugs directly into your phone with no need to ever worry about battery life or image transfer speeds. You just plug the camera in, flip your phone upside-down, and start shooting.

Second, this camera is the least expensive 360-degree camera worth buying by a long shot. The small profile and quick-launch software makes it convenient, but the $125 price tag really makes getting into 360-degree photography a lot more manageable for a lot of people.

Bottom line: If you want to give 360-degree photography a try, this is where you start.

Conclusion

There are a lot of great reasons to start exploring 360-degree photography. If you’re looking for the best camera to really dive in and start having fun, get the Gear 360 from Samsung. If you’re interested in the best sphere you can capture and love playing with settings to get the perfect shot, the Ricoh Theta S is what you want. If you’re mostly looking to play and don’t want to spend a bunch of money, get the Insta360 Air.

Best overall

Samsung Gear 360

See at Amazon

Not only is Samsung’s latest 360-degree camera smaller, thinner, and lighter than it’s predecessor, but it’s also cheaper and faster! The Samsung Gear 360 is one of the easiest 360-degree cameras to use, making it possible for you to either quickly snap a photo with friends while holding it or remotely accessing the camera from an app loaded up with advanced features for capturing the best image.

Not only can you grab 15MP spheres with lots of detail, but the video mode will capture in 4K at 30FPS with no problem. The bottom mount makes it easy to stick the camera on just about anything, and the unique microphone array in the camera makes capturing sound from every direction very easy.

Bottom line: For ease of use, $200 price tag, and sheer volume of camera features the Gear 360 is the best consumer 360-degree camera you can buy.

One more thing: This camera also works well on the iPhone!

Updated September 2017: The Samsung Gear 360 is still the best 360-degree camera you can buy.

Yes, the LG V30’s camera really does have an f/1.6 aperture

Let’s all take a deep breath.

Could the LG V30 be its best-ever flagship phone? There’s a good shout for it, and part of that comes down to its cameras. LG is making a big deal about the primary shooter in particular: a 16MP sensor with improved optics and an industry-leading f/1.6 aperture. With all of that focus on the camera, somewhere along the way a rumor has started that LG is lying about the aperture, claiming that it is actually f/1.7 — a number offered by other smartphones.

This just isn’t true.

As is so often the case, the first handful of phones to hit the hands of the press — and be on display at trade shows like IFA 2017 — have non-final pre-production software, and sometimes even pre-production hardware. That software often has bugs, and that’s precisely what we’re looking at here: camera software that is unintentionally reporting the wrong aperture in the EXIF data of the pictures.

An LG spokesperson has confirmed to Android Central that the V30’s main camera is, indeed, shooting at f/1.6 despite the software bug on some evaluation phones that shows otherwise. One of the LG V30s Android Central is currently using — a European unit — is actually properly displaying f/1.6 on photos as well.

This is what happens with pre-production software, folks.

Given the imaging-focused marketing approach around the V30, which specifically touts the uniqueness of the f/1.6 aperture, I don’t quite understand why LG would ever lie about something so blatantly. And so, of course, it isn’t lying about it at all. Carry on, folks — the V30’s camera has the hardware LG says it does, and now we can move on to evaluating its actual photo performance.

LG V30

• LG V30 hands-on!
• 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

Here is your long weekend comments thread!

Celebrate your three-day weekend and chat about it right here.

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer and is the last day you can wear your white shoes or seersucker suit without people pointing at your fashion faux pas. But it’s also a three-day weekend to celebrate the Great American Worker so it’s pretty awesome.

Many of us will be out doing something fun for Labor Day, while others will be enjoying the time to do absolutely nothing. Both are great ideas. My wife was volunteered to work Monday, so I’ll be here pecking away at a keyboard. A holiday weekend can’t stop the Android world. And there’s a lot of new stuff to talk about.

Hawt.

I’m digging that tiny Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact. Snapdragon 835 in a tiny body with a headphone jack. And it will probably ship with Android Oreo. I think that will be my next, though I’ll import a Twilight Pink model because Sony is stupid and won’t put a fingerprint sensor on the U.S. model. Sony isn’t going to sell any of their new phones in any serious numbers, but I know a few people who are stoked about them. Here is some Sony love for them.

A lot of other people are looking at the Note 8 because it’s the very best that Samsung has to offer right now. And love them or hate them, Samsung makes some really good stuff. I’m interested in the display because I reckon Samsung has once again refined the way they make them and it will be amazing. Samsung always wows me when it comes to their display tech and I want to witness a 1440 x 2960 screen on a phone. Would be a cool one to put under the microscope.

The V30 looks like LG’s best phone ever. I want to type some words about it here, but they all would just mean the same thing: the V30 looks to be LG’s best phone ever. I’m one of the few people who really liked the V10 and its rubbery body, but LG has slowly moved the V series towards looking like a “real” phone. I think this one is going to make money for LG, especially for people who are bigly into shooting video with their phone. I’m also close to a T-Mobile 600MHz market (coming soon!) and want to see if I can find a way to do some testing.

Take the space below to chat about the great new stuff we’ve seen or talk about anything else. It’s nice to relax a bit and just chat. And to all you folks who keep America working — whether it’s with a pencil, a keyboard, a wrench or whatever — happy Labor Day!

Trump’s pick for NASA’s new leader sparks mixed reactions

After weeks of rumors, the White House has officially picked a new NASA leader… and he’s already proving to be controversial. President Trump has announced his intention to nominate Rep. Jim Bridenstine, an Oklahoma Republican and former executive director of Tulsa’s Air and Space Museum, as the new permanent administrator following the exit of Charles Bolden in January. Some in the space industry are fond of him, but there are also vocal objections to his background — there are concerns he’ll politicize an agency that’s supposed to be interested solely in the pursuit of science.

Bridenstine has been a vocal proponent of the privatization of space, to the point where he introduced a bill (the American Space Renaissance Act) that would have created “minimal” and “certain” regulations to foster private participation in US space initiatives. It never became law (a revised bill is expected later in 2017) but his focus was clear: he wanted to rely more on commercial partners than government programs. He has also been an advocate of a permanent robotic presence on the Moon to harvest its resources (which could further the White House’s goals) and help drive down the costs of space flight. Private space companies are reportedly fond of him, and he could accelerate the already-growing role of the corporate crowd in space exploration.

The expected nominee will have to go through a Senate confirmation process to be accepted, however, and that’s where he could face serious resistance. Both Republican senator Marco Rubio and Democrat senator Bill Nelson have jointly criticized the Bridenstine pick as needlessly injecting politics into NASA, which is supposed to be devoted to the pursuit of science. His “political baggage” could hold NASA back by throwing in accusations of partisan bias, Rubio tells Politico, and he might not command respect from an organization that values its scientific mission.

That question of respect stems in part from Bridenstine’s lack of directly relevant experience. While he’s clearly enthusiastic about space and did lead a museum devoted to it, most of his non-political experience is as a combat and counter-drug pilot. That raises concerns that he might not value or understand science as well an ex-astronaut like Bolden. While he might jumpstart private spaceflight, he might also downplay important scientific studies (especially climate science) in the process.

Via: SpaceNews, Phys.org

Source: NASA

Samsung’s ‘AI-powered’ washer is just trying to save you time

IFA 2017 isn’t all about smartphones, smartwatches and cute droids. The event is also a chance for companies to showcase their latest innovations for home appliances. Samsung did its part this year with the WW8800M washer, which sports technology called QuickDrive that promises to complete a full load of laundry in just 39 minutes –typically it’s about 70. The company says it’s able to do this without compromising washing performance, energy efficiency and fabric care, something that will matter deeply to people who are extra conscious of how they do their laundry. Oh and it says AI is involved.

Samsung is betting heavily on the “artificial intelligence” powers of its WW8800M to make laundry day less of a chore. The washing machine pairs with an app dubbed Q-rator, which offers modes including Laundry Planner, Laundry Recipe and HomeCard Wizard. The first two features let you do things like pick your desired cycle through the application and adjust the temperature and amount of spins. You can tell the virtual assistant what type of garments you plan to wash too, like if it’s a shirt or a sweater, and then it will suggest the best cycle for it based on the info you type in. HomeCare Wizard, meanwhile, monitors the WW8800M remotely and alerts you if it’s having any issues.

While Samsung’s main goal is to save you time washing your loads, these options could help you take better care of your clothes — all with just a couple of taps on an app. We don’t know if we’d agree with Samsung that the WW8800M is “AI-powered,” as the press release suggests, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t smarter than its previous WiFI models.

Unfortunately, Samsung didn’t reveal any pricing or availability details here in Berlin, so we’ll have to wait to judge it by its price.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Recommended Reading: Japan’s eSports struggle

The Crazy Laws
Keeping Japanese
Out of Video
Game Competitions
Yuji Nakamura and
Takako Taniguchi,
Bloomberg

Japan is a popular locale for video games, but laws are keeping eager players from participating in the eSports revolution. Bloomberg has the details on how regulations aimed at gambling and organized crime make paid gaming competitions impossible.

Google iOS App Update Brings ‘Smart Answers’ and ‘Trending Searches’

Google added a couple of new features to its flagship iOS app on Friday, one of which shows searches that are trending in a user’s geographical location before they begin typing into the search field.

Following yesterday’s update, whenever a user taps on a search box to start a search, a dropdown menu shows “Trending Searches” indicated by a blue jagged arrow icon next to them, contrasting them from gray icons that mark out the user’s search history. In our testing, trending searches didn’t show up in some locations, so it’s possible Google is still rolling out support on its servers.

Trending Searches appeared last year on Android, but the change prompted a number of user complaints that led Google to make the feature optional. Fortunately, iOS users can find the same opt-out toggle on the Settings screen by tapping their account profile in the upper left of the Search interface.

Apart from that, Google says the search box has gotten smarter, in that now users can often get the answer they’re looking for before they’ve even finished typing in the question, with possible answers appearing in the suggestions below. For example, typing in “how fast is a chee” immediately displays a cheetah’s land speed (110-120 km/h, for those interested).

The feature additions come on the back of Google’s recent introduction of a personalized news feed for the app, offering a stream of content based on user search history and topics they choose to follow. The feed replaced Google Now, the company’s predictive search feature that displays traffic updates, weather, and other information, all of which has been moved to a new tab called Updates.

The Google app is a free download for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Tag: Google
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Huawei’s powerhouse Kirin 970 chip has its own processor dedicated to AI

Why it matters to you

Mobile artificial intelligence is a power hungry beast, and processors like the Kirin 970 are designed to cope with the load, and provide super fast AI in next-generation devices.

Huawei has announced the Kirin 970 processor, a new generation of hyper-fast mobile chips with a key new feature: A Neural Processing Unit (NPU). It’s key because it drives the Kirin 970’s mobile artificial intelligence platform, which will enable cloud-based AI and on-device AI to run alongside each other, faster than ever before.

These two AI technologies can complement each other, Huawei said, improving the experience for smartphone owners by providing more speed, more personalized data, and a better understanding of the world around it. While AI is most often associated with virtual assistants like Siri and Google Assistant, Huawei hasn’t launched an assistant of its own yet, and is staying quiet about how we’ll eventually use it. Instead, it’s demonstrating the NPU’s super speedy image recognition.

The Kirin 970 can process 2,000 images per minute, considerably more than other chips with similar capabilities, and it’s all thanks to the NPU. We’ve seen a demonstration of its image recognition skills too, and we were impressed with how quickly it could identify simple objects from chairs to birds. It also reacted at the same speed when faced with an unexpected image given to it by us. When shown a thumb, it didn’t know what appendage it was seeing, but did know it was attached to a person.

What gives the Kirin 970 its power? It’s built using a 10nm process, like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, and has an astonishing 5.5 million transistors in a space measuring a single square centimeter. Moving on from the quad-core Kirin 960, which powers the Huawei Mate 9 and Huawei P10, the Kirin 970 has an eight core CPU and a 12-core GPU. Huawei said it has 25 times the power and 50 times the efficiency of a quad-core chip with a Cortex A73 CPU, as used in the Kirin 960.

Huawei has big plans for artificial intelligence, but hasn’t leapt straight in with a virtual assistant, so what will the Kirin 970 and the NPU actually do for us? It’s a mystery at the moment, but more may be revealed in October when the company is expected to announce the Mate 10. It’s likely to be the first device to use the chip, and may include special AI-driven features we’ve yet to hear about.