Skype’s chat-focused desktop redesign is available to everyone
If you’ve wanted to check out Skype’s huge desktop redesign without living on the bleeding edge, now’s your chance. Microsoft has released the finished version of its big overhaul for Linux, Mac and Windows users. As in the preview, the new communication software gets both a fresh new look and a stronger focus on messaging — it doesn’t feel quite so much like a calling app with chat grafted on top. There’s a media gallery to find links and photos from your conversations, and you’ll find modern messaging staples like reactions, mentions (to get attention in a group chat) and a notifications panel to catch up on what’s new. This even marks the return of old-school status updates.
If you’re part of the Skype Insider program, you’ll also get support for add-ins. You can pull in animated GIFs from Giphy, for example, or send money to cover last night’s dinner.
There are a slew of other, sometimes subtler upgrades, including customizable themes, a more flexible chat list (such as pinning favorites) and easier drag-and-drop file sharing up to 300MB. Really, this update is about dragging Skype’s desktop client into the modern era — it’s an acknowledgment that Microsoft has to compete with the likes of Facebook Messenger, iMessage and Hangouts, wherever you happen to use them.
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Skype Blog
‘Hong Kong Massacre’ is ‘Max Payne’ meets ‘Hotline Miami’
When Remedy Games released the original Max Payne in 2001 it changed video games in a real way. And the same can be said for Dennaton Games and Hotline Miami 11 years later. Well, it’s been an awful long time coming, but the developers at Vreski are almost ready to unleash The Hong Kong Massacre on PlayStation 4 owners.
It combines the latter’s top-down take on arcade games with the former’s bullet time and hard-boiled Hong Kong cinema tone and style, for something that looks simultaneously fresh and familiar. Few details are known aside from it coming out next year, but the game has been in development since at least 2014. You can check out the trailer for yourself right below.
Follow all the latest news from Sony’s PlayStation event here!
New-look Boris bikes start hitting London’s street
With all the newfangled, dockless cycle-hire schemes popping up in London, TfL couldn’t have chosen a better time to give Boris bikes — officially called Santander Cycles — a makeover. The transport authority announced that redesigned Boris bikes have begun hitting the capital’s streets today, with thousands more to follow this first batch over the next few years. The new model has smaller wheels for faster acceleration, improved brakes, a tweaked frame and fork design for better handling, a comfier gel seat and harder-wearing tyres. Blaze — the company that created the laser projection light now present on all existing Boris bikes — has also been involved in the design.
Blaze has improved its front-facing Laserlight to increase the degree of visibility, and has also supplied a brighter brake light for these 2017 models. The new-look bikes are said to be easier to maintain, and also include Bluetooth and the “capacity for GPS technology” for the first time. This isn’t so you can pair your smartwatch with the thing and record your ride, though. Instead, the company that runs the Santander Cycles network, Serco, can use the tech to “record the performance of the bikes.” What that means exactly isn’t particularly clear.
Despite the new design and other upgrades, Santander Cycles are still bound to docking stations, unlike the new wave of schemes hitting the capital that users access and pay for through mobile apps. That said, TfL is still thinking about where new pick-up and drop-off points can go to make Boris bikes a more convenient transport option for Londoners. Today, the authority announced that seven new docking stations for up to 200 bikes will be installed in and around Brixton over the course of this winter.
Via: Wired
Source: Mayor of London
First iPhone X Unboxing Images and Videos Shared Online
Although the iPhone X has yet to launch anywhere in the world, Benjamin Geskin over the weekend began tweeting images and videos of the smartphone being unboxed for the first time, as well as a few pictures of the device preparing for shipment. Images of the iPhone X’s retail packaging appeared on Apple’s website following its announcement in September, but we haven’t yet been able to catch a glimpse of the inside of the box.
Getting ready to ship! #iPhoneX pic.twitter.com/to1V0j6IFB
— Benjamin Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) October 28, 2017
In the first few Tweets, Geskin shared images of the iPhone X stacked and ready to ship, and you can catch more glimpses of the side of the packaging in a separate video. Unlike the iPhone 8’s rear-focus cover art, the iPhone X packaging depicts the smartphone’s large OLED display.
Geskin then Tweeted a link to Instagram user abraham950, who posted a brief unboxing video of the iPhone X. The video shows that the first thing you see when you open the box is Apple’s “Designed by Apple in California” information packet, and below that sits the iPhone X itself.
A post shared by Abraham Rodriguez (@abraham950) on Oct 28, 2017 at 12:54pm PDT
In another Tweet, images were shared from an Instagram post that has now been deleted, showcasing a Silver iPhone X from Europe in the process of being unboxed.
Silver #iPhoneX Unboxing Photos
(https://t.co/L9fVoNztv1) pic.twitter.com/wCmsIbp2Yb
— Benjamin Geskin (@VenyaGeskin1) October 28, 2017
One mobile retailer in Dubai has also received the iPhone X, with a user posting an Instagram video of the package as well as a quick shot of the setup screen and back of the device. In a video shared by the Instagram account @theapplehub, a user in Milan, Italy provided a glimpse at the setup process (which is impossible to complete right now because the device can’t be activated yet), and zoomed in on the vertical dual-lens camera of the iPhone X.
As we near launch day on Friday, November 3, even more in-depth unboxing videos of the iPhone X will appear online as users in New Zealand and Australia begin receiving their devices. The first wave of iPhone X reviews also began arriving online today, including original iPhone reviewer Steven Levy’s impressions of the device.
Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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Tim Cook Visits China Where iPhone Sales Finally Rebounded Last Quarter After Lengthy Skid
Apple chief Tim Cook was among a group of leaders who met China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday at an annual gathering of advisers to the Tsinghua University business school in the capital Beijing, according to Reuters.
Apple declined to comment on details of his visit. Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg, who also attended, stated that “every year this trip is a great way to keep up with the pace of innovation and entrepreneurship in China.”
The meeting occurred just days before Apple launches its much-anticipated iPhone X in 55 countries, including China, with hopes the high-end smartphone can revive the company’s sales in the world’s second largest economy.
Apple shipped an estimated 11 million iPhones in China last quarter, up 40 percent from the year-ago quarter, according to research firm Canalys. The strong growth put an end to six consecutive quarters of declining iPhone sales in the region.
Canalys believes Apple’s rebound, buoyed by the launch of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus last month, could be short lived.
“Apple’s growth this quarter is only temporary. The high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X. Price cuts on earlier models after announcing the iPhone 8 have also helped. However, Apple is unlikely to sustain this growth in Q4,” said Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia.
Despite being touted as widely expensive, excitement for the launch of the iPhone X is building in China. “While the iPhone X launches this week, its pricing structure and supply are inhibiting. The iPhone X will enjoy a healthy grey market status, but its popularity is unlikely to help Apple in the short term,” added Jia.
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have quickly “run out of steam” in mainland China, despite being heavily discounted by online retailers such as Suning.com and JD.com, according to the South China Morning Post.
“The iPhone 8 might be the most poorly sold flagship iPhone model in China, as such huge discounts have never been seen before in the country,” said Zhao Ziming, a senior analyst at Pintu Tank in Beijing.
While the iPhone X could help Apple in the fourth quarter, its high price and supply constraints might inhibit the company’s growth in China in the short term, according to Canalys research analyst Mo Jia.
Apple was the fifth largest smartphone maker in China last quarter, behind local brands Huawei, Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi, according to Canalys.
Tags: China, Tim Cook
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iPhone X Will Default to Hiding Text Previews of Your Notifications on the Lock Screen
As we get closer to the iPhone X’s launch on Friday, November 3, more tidbits about the device are beginning to emerge thanks to the first wave of impressions, reviews, and hands-on coverage that hit this morning. Within his first impressions, Steven Levy shared an interesting aspect of the iPhone X’s software, which turns on hiding text previews for your notifications by default instead of making you turn this privacy feature on yourself.
As an explanation, with the launch of iOS 11 Apple introduced a way for you to hide text previews of all apps at once within Settings. With this turned on, you’ll notice when you have a notification for apps like Messages and Snapchat, but the actual content of the notification is hidden until you “unlock” the iPhone with Touch ID or a passcode. Then, you can read the content, and tap the Home Button to enter your iPhone. This feature has to be turned on manually on current iPhones.
After Face ID unlock, iPhone X will show text previews in notifications
According to Levy, iOS 11 on the iPhone X defaults to hiding text previews for all of your apps, automatically providing an extra bit of privacy for users on the new smartphone. So, when you raise the iPhone X in front of you, it’ll unlock with Face ID, and any notifications will then be filled out to show the full content of each message. This way, if someone picks up your iPhone and looks at it, Face ID won’t unlock and show notification previews. Of course, you can revert to the traditional text previews functionality in Settings.
Levy said that he used this feature as a way to confirm that Face ID had unlocked the iPhone X. Here’s the part from his review concerning text previews on the iPhone X Lock Screen:
I then see if the little lock icon on the screen has released its latch. Alternatively, a good way to see when you’ve been recognized is to notice the generic messages on the lock screen saying “you have a notification” from Facebook, Gmail, or wherever. When you and your iPhone X make that turn-on connection, those flesh out with the actual content of the message. (This feature—withholding potentially private alerts until the phone was unlocked—had previously been available as an option but now is the default.)
It’s also worth noting that sometimes the iPhone X review unit would unlock with Face ID and go “straight to where [Levy] left off,” while other times the UI asked him to swipe up to unlock the iPhone X, as has been showcased in marketing for the smartphone. Levy didn’t have an explanation for this part of his experience with the new iPhone, further stating that he was “mystified” as to why it would sometimes say swipe up after Face ID unlock, and other times simply open the iPhone.
Check out more information on the iPhone X in our Roundup.
Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Buy Now)
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Apple Demos iMac Pro at Final Cut Pro X Creative Summit
Apple set up an iMac Pro at the third annual FCPX Creative Summit in Cupertino, California over the weekend, providing attendees with a closer look at the powerful workstation ahead of its December launch.
Apple appears to have allowed attendees to take pictures of the iMac Pro at the event. French blog MacGeneration rounded up some of the photos shared on social platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
iMac Pro via Twitter user Softron Media
iMac Pro shares the same design as the standard iMac, but with an all-flash architecture, a new thermal design, and four Thunderbolt 3 ports. It’s also distinguished by its sleek, exclusive Space Gray enclosure.
The all-in-one computer is bundled with matching Space Gray accessories, including the Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2, and a wireless Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad introduced at WWDC 2017 in June.
iMac Pro via Twitter user Chris Fenwick
Apple said the iMac Pro will also feature up to an 18-core Intel Xeon processor, top-of-the-line Radeon Pro Vega graphics, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and up to 128GB of ECC RAM, with a starting price of $4,999 in the United States.
The FCPX Creative Summit, hosted by Future Media Concepts, featured three days of training on Apple’s professional video editing software Final Cut Pro X. Apple itself announced that Final Cut Pro X 10.4 will launch later this year.
iMac Pro via Instagram user runehansen
Final Cut Pro X 10.4 will include new color tools, like color wheels and a white balance picker. It will include support for HEVC, the new video format introduced in iOS 11 and macOS High Sierra, and direct import of iOS for iMovie timelines. The new version of the software will also support VR and HDR workflows.
Related Roundup: iMac ProTag: Final Cut Pro X
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The exosuits from ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ aren’t fictional anymore
The term “exoskeleton” conjures up sci-fi scenes – think Sigourney Weaver in Aliens, or Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt battling aliens on repeat in Edge of Tomorrow. Soldiers will surely man these mechanical machines someday, but many of the first exosuits will be developed for civilian use, from first responders pulling through rubble to laborers who could use a little extra support for their heavy lifting.
By 2020, robotics company Sarcos hopes to see workers climb into its line of fully-powered exoskeletons, designed to give people superhuman strength and endurance, while allowing them to repetitively lift large objects and minimize risk of injury. The company demoed some of its machines at its headquarters in Salt Lake City last week.
“We’re focused developing robots to augment human safety and productivity,” Ben Wolff, CEO of Sarcos, told Digital Trends. “This idea that we’ve got the ability to have a human either wearing or remotely operating a machine so that there’s always a human mind engaged in the decision-making process that is then instructing a robot that is stronger, with more stamina and greater precision, doing the real work.”
Sarcos plans to offer three exoskeletons over the next few years, each giving wearers a different degree of strength and endurance support. The Guardian XO will let wearers lift 80 pounds, the Guardian XO Max will max out at 200 pounds, and the Guardian GT — a monster of a machine with seven-foot arms — will handle upwards of 1,000 pounds. Both the GT and XO Max can be controlled by an operator who is either remote or riding in the machine.
To keep wearers safe, the Salt Lake City company has developed a patented system it calls “get out of the way control,” which will make sure the suit doesn’t accidentally squish a person inside.
“The suit and your body interact like two opposing magnets.”
“Imagine the suit and your body interacting with one another in the way that two opposing magnets would,” Wolff explained. “Through its sensor system, the suit is programmed to maintain a very small but very specific amount of distance from contact with your body. As a result, as you begin to move, swing your leg forward, it immediately moves to keep the front of the machine leg away from the front of your leg.”
Automation is bound to impact every worker in every industry. But rather than going fully automated, many tasks — particularly those that are performed in unstructured environments — may instead be performed by human workers augmented by machines. The goal here is to maintain a human’s cognitive flexibility with a machine’s strength and resilience.
“As soon as you move into a more unstructured environment where … you’re on a construction site and have to lift heavy items from one floor to the next in a one-off activity, not a lot of high repetition, that’s where it becomes far more challenging to find how automation to take control,” Wolff said. “The number of algorithms, sensors, awareness that a machine has to have to deal with the thousands of different variables…is simply far too advanced to rely on a computer and algorithm to help a robot decide what it needs to do.”
“For now,” he added, “let’s take the best of what a human being can offer, such as wisdom, judgement, intelligence, and instincts, and combine that with the best of what a robot can offer, in terms of strength, endurance, and precision.”
Like all companies that specialize in building the future, Sarcos is looking to stand out from competitors and thinks its full-body, fully-powered, and untethered machines will be a game changer. Hyundai, for example, is developing a full-body suit that needs to be tethered for full power, while companies like Panasonic and SuitX are developing smaller and untethered suits, which help give a wearer physical support and added strength, but don’t restrict the wearer’s freedom to roam.
Sarcos hasn’t offered an exact price for its exoskeletons yet, but Wolff says, “The cost to the user would be roughly equivalent to the cost of a fully-loaded salary employee in the $50,000 per year range … The one human operator plus our robot would cost roughly that of two human employees, but will allow for far fewer injuries and enhanced productivity.”
The company hopes to have the XO suits ready for commercial sale in 2019 and is currently taking preorders for custom-built GTs.
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Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
Everyone likes Apple apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for free for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up while you have the chance. Here are the latest and greatest iOS app deals available from the iOS App Store.
These apps normally cost money and this sale lasts for a limited time only. If you go to the App Store and it says the app costs money, that means the deal has expired and you will be charged.
Airport + flight tracker
This app takes you to airports to see restaurants, shops, and Wi-Fi capabilities. Airport lets you know if your flight has been delayed or cancelled and gives you the tools needed to quickly find an alternate flight and rebook, all in one place.
Available on:
iOS
Storyline
Create, narrate and share beautiful slideshows from your device in seconds. Add up to 20 photos, record your story, and share by text, email, or on your social networks.
Available on:
iOS
Picfx
Picfx is a powerful suite of filters and image adjustment tools for photo and video. Start editing your photo/video with your favorite filter, then use image adjustments such as exposure, contrast, and vignette to refine the edit.
Available on:
iOS
Baby Mozart
This app promises to make your life easier, help your baby sleep better, and help develop their brain with the most popular classical music for babies. Don’t waste your time using multiple apps for white noise and playing music, this app combines all those essential functionalities into one.
Available on:
iOS
Boba
A browser and mobile safari extension that lets you speed read your favorite web content, including NYTimes, HuffPo, ESPN, blogs, or any other news site.
Available on:
iOS
Fotograf
Besides having 36 amazingly versatile, high-quality filters and a buttery-smooth interface, Fotograf does many useful things your other photo apps don’t, like making your own preset filters.
Available on:
iOS
Editor’s Recommendations
- Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
- Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
- Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
- Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
- Best iOS app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time
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