Anti-doping agency to ban gene editing starting in 2018

Anti-doping agencies are constantly playing whack-a-mole with cheating, as new drugs pop up as soon as tests are found for the old ones. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) now says it wants to to crush a new one before it grows into a monster: Gene-editing. Starting next year, the list of banned substances includes “gene editing agents designed to alter genome sequences and/or the transcriptional or epigenetic regulation of gene expression,” the agency says.

If you’re thinking that sounds a lot like CRISPR gene editing, the new rule seems to be targeting just that. As it stands, WADA already bars genetically modified cells and other types of gene therapy that can enhance performance, the existing rules don’t cover CRISPR-type methods.

The agency said that certain types of gene therapy might be allowed, as long as they don’t significantly enhance athletic prowess. “Generally, performance enhancement implies enhancement beyond a return to normal, although you may appreciate that this is not always easy to prove definitively,” WADA spokesperson Maggie Durand told New Scientist.

WADA seems to be well ahead of any actual cheating. Only one CRISPR trial with humans has been completed, a form of lung cancer treatment at Sichuan University in China — though dozens more are planned in the nation. Unlike regular drug doping, CRISPR requires sophisticated, expensive equipment and techniques, so it’s not like shady MDs can do it their garages — for now.

It’s a good thing that WADA doesn’t have anyone to catch yet, because it doesn’t really seem to have any detection methods, either. When quizzed by New Scientist (Engadget has reached, out too) about how it plans to catch gene-editing cheaters, the agency had no response. It’s been working on techniques to detect such doping for over ten years, but only came up with a single test least year. For now, the best method might be the “biological passport” that can detect significant changes in an athlete’s body.

Via: New Scientist

Source: WADA

Wells Fargo Adds Apple Pay Support to More Than 5,000 ATMs

Wells Fargo today announced that NFC functionality is now available at more than 5,000 of its ATMs across the United States.

The technology enables customers to initiate an ATM transaction by holding their smartphone or wearable device with mobile payment functionality near an NFC-enabled ATM terminal and inputting their PIN.

Supported digital wallets include Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and the bank’s own Wells Fargo Wallet for Android.

Customers that have added their Wells Fargo debit card to Apple Pay, for example, can simply hold their iPhone near the ATM, enter their PIN, and complete a transaction, with no physical plastic card required.

Wells Fargo said it plans to upgrade the rest of the company’s more than 13,000 ATMs with NFC by 2019. NFC-enabled terminals are marked with the universal contactless card symbol.

Earlier this year, Wells Fargo launched a separate one-time access code feature that lets customers authenticate at an ATM by entering an 8-digit code generated from the Wells Fargo app, along with their PIN, for card-free access.

Bank of America also began rolling out Apple Pay support for withdrawing cash from hundreds of its ATMs last year.

Related Roundup: Apple PayTags: NFC, Wells Fargo
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Apple Music Announces Short Film About Niall Horan’s Debut Solo Album ‘Flicker’

Apple Music subscribers will be able to watch an exclusive short film about the making of Niall Horan’s new album “Flicker,” with the movie and album set to launch simultaneously on October 20 (via Billboard). The film will showcase Niall in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of his debut album, similar to the short film that Apple Music released about Harry Styles around the launch of his own debut album in May.

“On The Record: Flicker” will feature interviews, footage of acoustic rehearsals, and “insight into Horan’s creative process and this watershed moment in his career — all with heart-on-sleeve honesty that he pours into his songwriting.” Prior to the October 20 debut of the film and album, there will be an “intimate private screening” for fans of the movie in Los Angeles on October 19, after which Horan will premiere the songs from Flicker in a live performance.

“I always knew that if I ever made a solo album what it would sound like,” Horan says in a preview of the film. “I spent the last year and a half between the four walls of a studio and I’m ready to go and show how proud of the album I am.”

Another recent Apple Music short film looked into Pink’s creative process when making her new album “Beautiful Trauma.” The film — titled “On The Record: P!nk – Beautiful Trauma” — included interviews and behind-the-scenes footage with Pink “reflecting on her art and her career, on motherhood and the world we live in–all with the sort of honesty and sense of humor we’ve come to love and expect.” Similar to Horan’s film and album, Beautiful Trauma is set to release on October 13 alongside the short film about the album’s creation.

Tag: Apple Music
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Flipboard rolls out new features to help boost visibility for publishers

Why it matters to you

Flipboard’s latest update makes it easier for publishers to build a larger online presence and have their stories discovered on the platform.

Flipboard on Tuesday announced the launch of its new self-service program that helps publishers with reader discovery and building new traffic. It has also introduced Reader Enhanced Display — known as RED Bolt — to make reader-friendly websites more visible on its platform.

With Flipboard — available for iOS and Android — you can find popular stories and news based on a variety of genres all in one app. It also allows you to build your own magazines focused on specific topics by filling them with content from any source, publication, or person. For those who share similar interests and passions, there’s the option to follow each other through the app, where you’re able to like or comment whatever is shared.

For further social discovery of its content, the company has incorporated RED bolt, which will specifically appear next to articles on Flipboard that have mobile-optimized pages. The publications that will receive RED Bolt at launch include The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Esquire, among hundreds of others.

With a large majority of traffic coming from mobile devices, Flipboard wants to be able to give readers an experience that is not only fast but also high in quality. With the advancements it has rolled out in design and mobile standards, its platform is now open to millions of different sources.

In order to receive RED Bolt, Flipboard requires mobile sites to follow a few specific guidelines. The sites should be able to load in one second or less, be free from aggressive pop-up ads, and should not redirect readers to another site either. In upcoming months, it will roll out to thousands of more publishers and — by the end of 2017 — will be automatically awarded to sources that follow its user experience guidelines.

Launching alongside RED Bolt is a more simple way for publishers to join the platform. Using a new publisher sign-up tool, publishers are now able to add, edit, and organize their content automatically on the app. Once you sign up as a publisher and submit an RSS feed for review, your content will be live on Flipboard, and articles will be indexed and surfaced in related topics using an algorithm.

If you’re an existing publisher, you can log into your account on Flipboard’s site and add or manage the RSS feeds under your profile. You’ll also be able to edit, add, and update feeds that are associated with any of your Flipboard magazines. The new interface allows you to control your feeds on the app, and make sure fresh content and important coverage is reaching your audience as stories are published.

Long live the black box! How ThinkPads have thrived for 25 years

When technology analyst and columnist Tim Bajarin sat down with Steve Jobs just after his return to Apple, Tim asked a straightforward but important question. How would Jobs turn the company around? The answer was, at the time, surprising. Steve Jobs wanted to focus on industrial design.

Today, twenty years after that conversation, that answer seems obvious. In 1997, it was radical. Most computers – including those built by Apple – were simple beige boxes, vessels for the hardware they delivered. A year after his return, Apple introduced the iMac, the first of several devices that re-forged its computing business.

“IBM was already way ahead of him at that point. They already had thought industrial design was critical.”

Yet, as Bajarin later realized, Jobs’ vision was not unique. In fact, another company had beat him to the punch, and had been building laptops with visionary design for years — IBM. “If you think about it historically,” Bajarin said, “IBM was already way ahead of him at that point. They already had thought industrial design was critical.”

The original ThinkPad 700C, released in 1992, began a dynasty that’s now 25 years old. Simple, black, and boxy, ThinkPad’s consistent commitment to function and durability has earned a reputation envied by every other company in the PC business. Digital Trends flew to Japan for the 25th anniversary celebration of the brand, which gave us a chance to tour ThinkPad’s Yamato Labs and ask executives about the brand’s history – and its plans for the future.

The first modern laptop

Arimasa Naitoh, who is often called the father of the ThinkPad, — and wrote a book on its evolution –found himself assigned to IBM’s New York office early in his career. While there, he ran into a manager with an unusual habit. “My boss was commuting by train,” Naitoh recalled. “What he did was to ask his secretary to print all the emails he received that day, and he took those emails on the train, and wrote his responses. The next day, he handed them back over to his secretary.”

Naitoh didn’t realize the significance of the story at first, but later, as he found himself working on prototypes for what would become the ThinkPad, his email-toting boss sparked an epiphany. “He wanted to work more, work longer,” Naitoh realized, “but there was no way to work effectively after he left the office.” Why not build a computer that could do anything you’d do at the office – but do it from home, a hotel, or even a train?

That computer was the ThinkPad 700C. Featuring a 9.5-inch LCD screen, a 25MHz processor, and a 120MB standard hard drive, it wasn’t the first laptop ever made. Compaq, Toshiba, and even IBM began building small, portable PCs in the late 1980s, which themselves were predated by “luggables” the size of a large suitcase. Those early laptops were often heavy, and lacked many conveniences desktops commonly offered – like a color screen, an integrated pointed device, and Windows compatibility. Early laptops were computers, to be sure, but using them wasn’t at all like using the desktop back at the office.

ThinkPad changed that. It was designed from the start to make portable the features of any other PC from its era, and to do it in a simple, functional, durable design. The original 700C, though bulky and heavy by modern standards, is still easily recognizable as a laptop. Its proportions and features are similar to ThinkPads built and sold in 2017.

Nowhere is its lasting influence more evident than the TrackPoint, the tiny red nub found in the center of every ThinkPad’s keyboards. TrackPoint wasn’t the first attempt at adding cursor support to a laptop, but it was the only attempt that become an enduring concept. “That particular piece of technology was really critical,” Bajarin explained. “That little red dot was a major change in the concept of bringing a mouse to a portable experience.” The only competitors to attempt anything similar, such as Apple’s PowerBook 100, used trackballs, a design that provided far less precision.

Today, many ThinkPad fans still swear by TrackPoint – but you won’t find many Mac owners begging for the ball’s return.

Think Next

The ThinkPad 700C and its siblings, the 700 and 300, were a hit. Reviewers instantly fell in love with the tough, portable machines. And the public took notice. “IBM could not make them fast enough,” David Hill, ThinkPad Vice President and Chief Design Officer, told Digital Trends. “They had to make additional factories and assembly lines to produce them.”

“Without people that have the talent, and understand what people’s problems are, and solve them, you will have no products.”

Design was at the heart of this success, according to Hill. While laptops were already known as a tool for executives and other organization leaders who needed to work on the go, most people saw them as only that – a tool. ThinkPad was desired. “It looked cooled,” Hill explained. “All the computers of the time were sort of uninteresting, unimaginative. [The ThinkPad] was kind of a unique black box, kind of mysterious.”

That didn’t bind the ThinkPad team into a straightjacket of its own making, however. Its engineers set out to explore new ideas, to find what works. The success of the 700C built a new brand, and proved there was massive interest in portable computers outside the world of high-paid executives and frequent fliers. An era of fast-paced innovation followed. Often this experimentation led to classic designs, like the ThinkPad 701C’s folding “butterfly keyboard” and the ThinkLight, which let owners work late into the night before backlit keyboards were a thing. But not all experiments were successful.

“There was all this brainstorming about, what’re we going to do next?” Hill remembered. “It was an experimentation bed, where you could invent new things.” Naturally, some of those ideas went wrong, or introduced innovations that, as it turned out, no one wanted. “There’s some clankers out there,” Hill said, remembering the 755CDV, a ThinkPad with a fully transparent display designed for use with projectors of the era. The company also built the 550BJ, which had a built-in printer in the bottom of the laptop, and the Transnote, an innovative yet strange device that could transfer notes written on real paper, with real ink, to the PC.

These misfires were as much a part of ThinkPad’s growth as the successes. “We create a culture of innovation,” Luis Hernandez, Vice President at ThinkPad, agreed. “Without people that have the talent, and understand what people’s problems are, and solve them, you will have no products.” It’s easy, after 25 years, to look back at the failures and wonder – what were they thinking? Yet without those experiments, ThinkPad wouldn’t have been first to adopt new ideas like an integrated disc drive, swappable drive bays, and fingerprint authentication.

Eventually, though, the ThinkPad brand did begin to settle down, and the company looked for a way to clarify its expanded library of laptops which, at the time, were (mostly) named only with a model number. The shift to a family of products designated by series – X-Series, T-Series, E-Series, and so on — took place at the turn of the century, and it laid the foundation for the ThinkPads that are recognizable today. “We needed to have a strategy that divided these things in a meaningful way,” Hill told Digital Trends. “That’s the little one. That’s the big one.”

IBM ends one era, Lenovo begins another

Shifting ThinkPad to distinctive series made its laptops even more memorable, and fans quickly picked favorites. While some preferred the pleasantly mid-sized T-Series, others insisted on the featherweight X-Series, and still others felt only the power of the P-Series would do. ThinkPad loyalists had an identity to latch onto, while those outside the fan club were finally able to navigate IBM’s line-up without the help of a chart.

Yet not all was well. ThinkPad sprung up in the waning days of IBM’s involvement in the PC business. It was, by then, already diminished compared to the 1980s, when IBM-compatible PCs were the gold standard. The success of new computers running Microsoft Windows and powered by Intel processors put the final nails in the coffin of IBM-compatibles. Seeing that shift, the company decided to move away from building products, which often operated on tight profit margins. Instead, IBM would focus on the new demand for high-tech services.

ThinkPad didn’t fit into that plan. It had to go.

Samuel Palmisano, then CEO of IBM, received interest from Dell and a number of private equity firms, but brushed them aside in favor of a more unusual suitor. Lenovo, originally founded as Legend in 1984, was not a complete stranger to the PC business: It sold devices under several brands across the globe. Yet it was certainly a small player – the ninth largest by volume in 2004 – and almost completely unknown in North America.

The company’s Chinese origins didn’t help matters. The New York Times reported the Pentagon was examining the proposed sale as a national security risk. Some fans took up that concern, while others wondered how a relatively small foreign company could possibly do the brand justice. Analysts were skeptical, too.

“I don’t look at the heritage as something that’s holding us back”

“When I got word that Lenovo was going to buy the IBM PC business, I have to tell you I was not exactly delighted,” said Bajarin. “Like a lot of analysts, I was quite skeptical […] The idea of another company taking IBM’s business and making it successful was highly questionable.”

In 2005, the acquisition went through. None of the forecasted doom occurred. Lenovo, as it turned out, understood what it was buying. The company wanted to know how to build great laptops, and relied on its newly purchased division for that knowledge. Today, Lenovo trades blows with HP for the title of world’s largest PC manufacturer, and it maintains a larger selection of ThinkPad products than was ever possible under IBM.

“The ability to integrate a business the way [Lenovo] did is now a case study, because it’s the most successful integration of any business we’ve seen from an outside company.” Bajarin praised Lenovo: “I thought they were going to completely change the way they do business. They didn’t.”

Looking forward, but remembering the past

Lenovo’s massive growth has helped ThinkPad expand while competitors like Toshiba, once a ThinkPad rival, have struggled to keep customers in the shrinking PC space.

That doesn’t mean ThinkPad is safe, however, or plans to play it safe. PCs are not as popular as they once were, while many people – and companies – looking at new PCs want one with a touchscreen, for use as either a tablet or laptop.

At a glance, that sounds like bad news for a laptop line made legendary by robust yet boxy design, but Lenovo doesn’t plan to let ThinkPad languish as computers evolve. Yoga, Lenovo’s line of 2-in-1 laptops that offer a 360-degree hinge, offer proof of that. “That concept was actually started in the Lenovo team,” said Luis Hernandez. “Working together […] allowed us to come up with [a Yoga product.]” Today, the ThinkPad X1 Yoga is arguably ThinkPad’s flagship PC.

PC 2-in-1s and tablets aren’t the only area ThinkPad might innovate in the future. The brand is constantly considering what might work, though it also maintains a high standard for what’s worthy of the name. “A ThinkPad phone … we have debated this question for years,” said Jerry Paradise, Executive Director, at the ThinkPad anniversary event. “We a have a box full of design models,” Hill agreed. The idea never came to fruition, however, because ThinkPad’s engineers couldn’t find a compelling way to make it work. Of course, Lenovo now has its own phone brand in Motorola, which builds the “unbreakable” Moto X Force and the modular Moto Z.

“I don’t look at the heritage as something that’s holding us back,” said Brian Leonard, Lenovo’s Vice President of Design. “I look at it as something that helps us move forward and take chances on new things, instead of trying to reinvent who we are, what we are.”

Hill agreed. “To me, ThinkPad is not just a laptop. It’s a belief system, an idea. It has meaning beyond just a keyboard and a screen. […] If for some crazy reason no one ever bought laptops again, ideally, the ThinkPad brand would live on beyond that.” It’s hard to predict what the next trend will be years in advance, but ThinkPad doesn’t think it needs to. Instead, the computer makers can rely on its strong design to guide it. Whatever a computer looks like 25 years from now, at least some people will want it to be simple, functional, and durable.

They’ll want a ThinkPad.

If you’re a ThinkPad fan, don’t forget to check out the ThinkPad 25th Anniversary Edition, now available for $1,900.

The Morning After: Tuesday, October 10th 2017

It’s Tuesday morning and we’ve got a proper trailer for The Last Jedi and WiFi networks that can monitor your breathing. Oh, and a monstrous new RED camera that you probably can’t afford, but would like to hear all about.

A modding tool for adding emulated games supports Nintendo’s mini-console.
Nintendo’s mini SNES has already been cracked to run more games

It appears that Nintendo really doesn’t mind modders cracking open its little retro consoles and using them for more than they were originally intended. Back when the NES Classic Edition was released, it took Russian tinkerer Cluster just a few months to figure out how to side-load additional games on to the system. Nintendo doesn’t seem to have made the process any more difficult on the new mini SNES., as little more than a week after its release.

Let’s scratch that itch.
Here’s your full-length ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ trailer

Luke, Leia, some high-tech butterfly stitches on Kylo Ren, and a whole lot of fighting and build-up. The Last Jedi gets its first full-length trailer, and while some fans might want to resist, the force is strong with this one. (I clicked.)

They just need to add Origin Wireless’ algorithm.
WiFi mesh networks can detect your breathing

In the world of indoor security systems, motion detection usually relies on cameras or, at least, dedicated sensors. Both types of solution add to hardware plus installation costs, not to mention that not everyone is comfortable with having cameras pointing at them all the time. Origin Wireless, on the other hand, found a way to make use of WiFi signals bouncing around a room to detect even the slightest movement — down to something as subtle as a person’s breathing rate. What’s more, this Time Reversal Machine technology is just some clever algorithmic work with little burden on the processor, so it can potentially be added to any existing WiFi mesh routers via a firmware update.

The Vista Vision sensor has more dynamic range and lower noise levels.
Red’s new flagship camera is the $80,000 Monstro 8K VV

RED’s cinema cameras are too expensive for most of us, but they do push the state-of-the-art, making future cameras you can afford better. Take RED’s latest sensor, called the Monstro 8K VV (Vista Vision). The bombastic name aside, it packs impressive specs. The sensor handles 35.4-megapixel stills and 8K, 60 fps video, features 17+ claimed stops of dynamic range and shoots at higher ISOs with lower noise than the last model. It’s all good stuff.

Why stop at Twitter and Facebook?
Google also found traces of Russian influence in US election

According to the Washington Post, Google has found evidence that Russian agents purchased election-linked ads on YouTube, Google Search, Gmail and the company’s DoubleClick ad network. However, the investigation is said to be in its “early stages,” so the number of accounts and dollar figures are still unknown.

The Big Picture.
Twitter bot’s ‘Glitch Art’ is a digital impressionist dream

While most people find video glitches or artifacts distracting, some folks see the beauty in them. One of those is programmer and visual artist David Kraftsow, known for his trippy YooouuuTuuube generator and delightfully droll First Person Tetris. One of his latest projects is a Twitter bot called @youtubeartifact, which generates so-called Glitch Art out of the occasionally delightful hiccups produced by YouTube’s MP4 motion compensation algorithm.

The name really nails it.
Google created a fun way to learn about simple AI

Teachable Machine is a fun way to break down the complex notion of machine learning without having to dive into code. Through your camera and microphone, this Google project can pick up on enough cues to perform simple tasks like displaying a particular picture when you wave your hand. It’s an interesting gimmick right now, but this could be the setup process for your next AI-powered phone or smart home device.

But wait, there’s more…

• EA extends ‘Star Wars Battlefront II’ public beta until Wednesday
• Microsoft canceled this all-screen Windows phone in 2014
• What’s on TV this week: ‘Mr. Robot,’ ‘Lore’ and ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’
• EPA plans to repeal Obama-era Clean Power Plan

NVIDIA introduces a computer for level 5 autonomous cars

At the center of many of the semi-autonomous cars currently on the road is NVIDIA hardware. Once automakers realized that GPUs could power their latest features, the chipmaker, best known for the graphics cards that make your games look outstanding, became the darling of the car world.

But while automakers are still dropping level 2 and sometimes level 3 vehicles into the market, NVIDIA’s first AI computer, the NVIDIA Drive PX Pegasus, is apparently capable of level 5 autonomy. That means no pedals, no steering wheel, no need for anyone to ever take control.

The new computer delivers 320 trillion operations per second, 10 times more than its predecessor. Before you start squirreling away cash for your own self-driving car, though, NVIDIA’s senior director of automotive, Danny Shapiro, notes that it’s likely going to be robotaxis that drive us around.

In fact, the company said that over 25 of its partners are already working on fully autonomous taxis. The goal with this smaller, more powerful computer is to remove the huge computer arrays that sit in the prototype vehicles of OEMs, startups and any other company that’s trying to crack the autonomous car nut.

NVIDIA’s announcement should make all those companies happy. The computing needed to power a self-driving car’s AI and data-crunching, not to mention the huge amounts of data coming from potentially dozens of cameras, LiDAR sensors, short and long-range radar is staggering and usually means there’s a small server room stored in the trunk. All that processing power sucks up a ton of power from the vehicle and as more cars are going electric, the last thing an automaker wants is a system that cuts into the range of their new car.

The new NVIDIA Drive PX Pegasus AI computer is the size of a license plate and uses far less power than the current model. But it’s going to be a while before anyone gets their hands one. The new computer will be available in the second half of 2018 with next generation GPUs that NVIDIA hasn’t actually announced yet.

There’s already one institution that’s ready to go autonomous: the Deutsche Post DHL. The delivery service is looking to deploy a pilot fleet with the current Drive PX in 2018. The idea is to have a car that is able to shadow its delivery people as they drop off packages. A driver could get out of the truck or van with a few packages for a block and when they are finished, the vehicle will be waiting for them outside the last house.

The autonomous future isn’t just about delivering people, it’s also about delivering your online purchases.

Source: Nvidia

Amazon drops Echo Show price after YouTube fallout

The Echo Show currently costs $200, down from its original asking price of $230. Amazon is hoping the temporary sale price will convince you to overlook the fact that the device no longer supports YouTube. Google removed its popular video service from Amazon’s touchscreen smart speaker late last month, and it may never return. At the time, the search giant claimed the Echo Show violated its terms of service by creating a “broken user experience.” But, just days later, news broke that Google may be mulling a similar product of its own (to add to its expanding Home line-up). Meanwhile, Amazon’s device reportedly began plummeting down its sales chart as a result. A quick glance at its reviews show that plenty of customers are peeved that they can no longer stream YouTube videos on the Echo Show. So, is this a case of damage control? Maybe.

It could also be down to the Echo products on the horizon. After all, the alarm clock-like Echo Spot also sports a (smaller) screen, and will cost just $130 when it arrives in December. Then there’s the beefed-up Echo Plus, and the next-gen Echo. But, that doesn’t mean the Echo Show has nothing left to offer. Yes, it lacks YouTube, but you can still watch Amazon Prime videos on its 7-inch display. It also boasts impressive speakers, video call functionality, and integration with smart home cameras.

Still, Amazon’s spat with Google does little for its artificial intelligence ecosystem. You see, CEO Jeff Bezos wants to play nice with his rivals in order to grab more Alexa skills. He’s already found success, courtesy of his firm’s partnership with Microsoft (which will share its Cortana digital assistant with Amazon, and vice versa). But the likes of Google and Apple evidently aren’t in the mood to play ball. Especially, since they seem to be chasing the same goal: To have their respective software serve as the control deck for your smart home.

Source: Amazon.com

Blizzard is recruiting for an entirely new ‘Overwatch’ project

Blizzard could be working on a new Overwatch game. Between its updates aimed at curbing toxicity online and the bevy of new features it keeps rolling out, the publisher has plenty on its plate. But, a new vacancy on the Blizzard website suggests it may be looking to expand the Overwatch universe. The company is seeking a “generalist artist intern” with “knowledge and understanding” of Overwatch to work on an unannounced project. The role seems to be geared at students, as it’s expected to last just a few months during 2018 at its office in Irvine, California.

Alas, this is far from confirmation of a new Overwatch game, sequel, or mobile spinoff for that matter. But, it ties into prior job postings that also suggest something big is in the works. Last year, a beady-eyed NeoGAF user pointed out listings for lead software engineers for a “first-person” title. And, in August, Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime said the company had incubation teams working on new projects, “especially on mobile.” Of course, Blizzard brought its popular card game Hearthstone to Android and iOS in 2015. It also just introduced a smartphone app for its Battle.net platform.

There’s always the chance that the vacancies could signal an altogether new game. Either way, it’s best to temper your excitement for now, as there’s bound to be a bit of a wait for whatever’s in the pipeline.

Source: Blizzard Careers, NeoGAF

Apple Exploring Self-Adjusting Apple Watch Band Designs

Apple is investigating designs for Apple Watch bands that self-adjust to fit the wearer’s wrist using an integrated tensioner mechanism (via AppleInsider). A patent application granted on Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes multiple designs that utilize such a system, which could one day replace magnetic clasps, velcro, and other fasteners used in current bands.

Titled “Dynamic fit adjustment for wearable electronic devices”, the patent begins by highlighting the cumbersome nature of existing fastening methods, which can be inconvenient to adjust or require special tools to achieve the desired fit, and often fail to offer fine-grained adjustment.

The patent goes on to note that not only can a sub-optimal fit be uncomfortable, it also risks decreasing the sensitivity of onboard biometric sensors and reducing their measurement accuracy. These potential problems are often exacerbated by sweat and motion during exercise, the document notes.

A number of possible solutions are offered, using variations of a built-in tensioner mechanism that adjusts automatically or at the wearer’s request, tightening or loosening as required. Variations include embedded shape memory wire, internal ratcheting apparatus, gas or fluid bladders, retractable band elements, and even extendable portions of the device housing.

As always with patents, it’s not known whether the inventions will ever be used in Apple’s consumer product line-up, but the designs clearly relate to potential future models of Apple Watch or watch band, the latest being the Sport Loop with hook-and-loop fastener.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: patentBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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