Google built a spatial audio kit for games and VR

Immersive audio is particularly important in an era where games are mainstream and virtual reality is quickly catching on, but there isn’t a common framework for it. What works on your PC may be useless on your phone. Google wants to fix that: it’s launching Resonance Audio, an open source developer toolkit that brings spatial audio to games, VR, AR and 360-degree video across many devices and platforms: Android, iOS, macOS, Linux and Windows are all covered. The technology borrows from Google’s VR Audio kit to spatialize “hundreds” of 3D sound sources in real time, even on low-powered hardware like your smartphone. And depending on where it’s running, it can even produce clever effects with a relatively low performance hit.

On all platforms, Resonance Audio not only offers control over where audio is coming from, but how it propagates. You can narrow its spread, for example, or make it so that sounds are louder when you’re facing an object. It’ll automatically create near-field effects as you approach a source, which can be critical in VR apps where positional audio is everything. The technology works with multiple engines (including Unreal Engine and FMOD), but there’s a particular advantage if you’re building with Unity: you can precalculate reverberation effects for a given environment (say, an echo-filled hall) so that they won’t chew up too much processing power.

It’s up to developers to make use of Resonance Audio, and there’s no guarantee they will. Some may decide that existing options are better for their needs, or even create their own. However, Google isn’t shy about its plans here: between this and the Poly object library, it wants developers to have as painless an experience as possible when creating 360-degree and VR content. The easier it is to create an immersive experience, the more likely it is that Google will see uptake for in-house technologies like 360-degree YouTube videos and Daydream VR.

Source: Google, Resonance Audio

iPhone X Outpaces iPhone 8 Series in First Weekend Adoption

A new study suggests the iPhone X recorded a higher adoption rate than the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus over each device’s first three days of availability.

After the first weekend of sales, the device is estimated to have captured nearly one percent market share among all iPhone models, the highest over that time since the iPhone 5s, according to mobile engagement platform Localytics.

By comparison, Localytics measured iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus adoption of 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent respectively among all iPhone models after the first weekend of sales for those devices back in September.

The data suggests that many customers may have been waiting for the iPhone X instead of purchasing an iPhone 8 or iPhone 8 Plus.

It’s important to note that the data does not represent actual sales of the iPhone X, but rather measures users who have received the devices and started using one of the 37,000 apps integrated with the Localytics SDK.

It’s also important to consider that there are significantly more iPhones in the market today than in previous years, so each new iPhone has a tougher challenge of gaining market share among all of the models before it.

Even if the adoption data from Localytics doesn’t precisely line up with Apple’s internal sales figures, the company’s revenue guidance of between $84 billion and $87 billion in the current quarter does imply significant iPhone X sales, so there’s a good chance the device is outpacing the iPhone 8 series.

Apple stopped releasing first weekend iPhone sales figures starting with the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, as demand typically outweighs supply, so the company feels it is no longer a representative metric for investors or customers.

In years past, we’ve announced how many new iPhones had been sold as of the first weekend following launch. But as we have expanded our distribution through carriers and resellers to hundreds of thousands of locations around the world, we are now at a point where we know before taking the first customer pre-order that we will sell out of iPhone 7.

These initial sales will be governed by supply, not demand, and we have decided that it is no longer a representative metric for our investors and customers. Therefore we won’t be releasing a first-weekend number any longer.

Apple has also never released iPhone sales figures on a model-by-model basis, but chief executive Tim Cook did reveal the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were its best-selling models between their September release and iPhone X launch day.

iPhone X orders placed today ship in an estimated 3-4 weeks around the world, and the device also has limited in-store availability.

Related Roundups: iPhone 8, iPhone XTag: LocalyticsBuyer’s Guide: iPhone 8 (Buy Now), iPhone X (Buy Now)
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For Nike, augmented reality is the perfect way to sell hyped sneakers

Buying limited-edition shoes is complicated and not as fun as it should be. The rise of violence in sneaker culture (people have been murdered for a pair of Air Jordans) led companies like Nike to launch hyped products almost exclusively on digital channels. But selling sneakers on a website, or doing raffles on Twitter, came with challenges of its own. That’s because resellers started using bots, automated computer scripts, to buy or reserve pairs faster than a human could. If you couldn’t enter an address and credit-card number in a matter of seconds, whatever you were hoping to get was going to be sold out.

But Nike may have a secret weapon against auto-buying tools: augmented reality. The company began experimenting with the technology in June during the release of the SB Dunk High Pro “Momofuku,” a model designed in collaboration with famous chef David Chang. Nike made pairs available through its SNKRS app for iOS (sorry, Android folks), and the only way sneakerheads could buy them was using a new AR feature.

To unlock these in the application, you had to go to the product page, tap on a 3D model of the sneaker and then point your smartphone’s camera at a menu of Chang’s Fuku restaurant in New York City. The tech wasn’t limited to a physical menu, so you could also gain access by pointing your device at a web version of it or special SNKRS posters that Nike put up across NYC. AR is all about mixing digital objects with the real world, and this was a great way to show how that would sell product.

Most important (and perhaps unexpectedly), AR became the perfect tool for Nike to fight off bots, since the experience requires a physical interaction with buyers. And that seems to be paying off. Just a few weeks ago, Nike President of Direct to Consumer Business Heidi O’Neill said at Recode’s Code Commerce conference that bringing the tech to SNKRS “has come very close to eliminating bots, and taking the sneaker hunt [to] as close to a fair game [as] it is anywhere in the industry.” In fact, the experiment has turned out so well that Nike now plans to use it more broadly.

I had the chance to try out one of the latest AR experiences in SNKRS recently, which uses geo-location components to draw crowds to a specific place — a la Pokémon Go. As part of an early launch of The Ten: Air Force 1 Low, one of the most anticipated shoes of 2017, Nike demoed these features at its new s23NYC studio in Manhattan, where the company is developing “innovations geared toward reimagining sneaker culture and commerce.” Along with SNKRS AR, that also includes things like SNKRS Stash (think: a scavenger hunt sans AR) and Shock Drop (an unexpected release).

The entire AR experience worked seamlessly; granted, I was in a controlled setting with about 20 other reporters and some social-media influencers. For this particular demo, Nike posted SNKRS stickers all throughout its s23NYC space, which you had to find in order to buy The Ten: Air Force 1 Low. Once I found one, I took out my iPhone, opened the SNKRS app, found the product page and then tapped the “Start Looking” button. That brought up the camera view and, once I pointed it at the sticker, an “Unlock Now” option came up — along with a 3D model of the shoe.

After that, I just had to double check that my size, address and personal credit card details were correct before purchasing. This is simplified if your info is already stored in your Nike account. All in all, I’d say it only took about two minutes to complete the process, from the moment I started looking for the stickers to when I received the craved “Got ‘Em” message. Naturally, this would be slightly different if you were, say, in Central Park, but Pokémon Go is the perfect example of how AR can work well in large crowds.

While Nike was hosting media at its s23NYC studio, it had a random drop using SNKRS AR in Chicago. To find where the augmented-reality feature could be activated, sneakerheads had to look at a vague image of a place and guess where it was. After they showed up, Nike said the sneaker sold out in less than 20 minutes. Going forward, Nike intends to bring experiences like these to more cities around the world.

Nike Chief Digital Officer Adam Sussman told Engadget the company didn’t create these features with killing auto-buying tools in mind. Still, that was a positive byproduct of experimenting with new technologies. “We’re very focused on security and stability. Everytime we have a release, we’re incredibly focused on limiting any type of bot attacks,” he said. “But we’re also moving to a world of serving consumers one to one, [and] that naturally fights off bots attacks because now we’re starting to develop individual relationships.”

Sussman, who worked at gaming companies EA and Zynga before joining Nike, said that ultimately, his team’s goal is to “get our shoes to people who want [them], not to robots or resellers.” And while he wouldn’t discuss specific numbers, Sussman said there’s been “a very high success rate in fighting bots” since the introduction of SNKRS AR and other features like Stash. He added that one of the reasons Nike wanted to bring augmented reality into the mix because it saw its potential to become mainstream, particularly after the launch of Apple’s ARKit, which will put the technology in millions of people’s hands.

Ultimately, our focus is making sure that we get our shoes to people who want them, not to robots or resellers.

Nike’s Chief Digital Officer, Adam Sussman.

Of course, there are also risks. For starters, going out on AR hunts could lead people into robbery traps. But Nike is confident this won’t be the case; after all, you won’t be getting the shoes right there and then. “When you don’t have product on site showing the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots,’ said Ron Faris, GM of Nike SNKRS and s23NYC, “the risk of negative elements sometimes associated with physical launches and lines is reduced.” He added that Nike’s actually seen a positive effect with SNKRS AR and Stash, with sneakerheads helping each other throughout the process.

Nike competitors such as Adidas haven’t tried anything like this yet, but if SNKRS AR ends up being more than a gimmick, don’t be surprised if the German sportswear giant starts finding ways to use the tech. As it stands, there’s definitely potential for SNKRS AR, but the challenge ahead for Nike will be to see if it can make it work on a larger scale, not just in a handful of cities. It will also have to figure out how to get Android users involved because right now most of these experiences are exclusive to iOS — and that seems like an oversight.

Supreme Court denies Samsung’s appeal in Apple lawsuit

Samsung has been fighting tooth-and-nail against Apple’s victory in a key smartphone patent lawsuit, but it may have little choice but to pay up at this point. The US Supreme Court has refused to hear Samsung’s appeal in the case, upholding a circuit court decision reinstating a $120 million penalty for allegedly infringing on Apple’s patents for technology like slide-to-unlock and autocorrecting text. Samsung had argued that the lower court didn’t consider additional legal material, and supposedly changed laws for both issuing injunctions and invalidating patents.

We’ve asked Samsung for its response to the Supreme Court decision. At first glance, though, it looks like this may be the end of the road for this particular case: Samsung doesn’t exactly have other courts to turn to.

The amount is trivial, of course — $120 million would barely make a dent in Samsung’s $12.91 billion profit from last quarter. Rather, it’s more about the symbolism of having to pay in the first place. The company has been fighting (and serving) phone patent lawsuits for most of this decade, and it doesn’t want the saga to end in defeat.

Via: Reuters

Source: US Supreme Court (PDF)

The FDA just changed how it reviews genetic health risk tests

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced new rules today regarding direct-to-consumer genetic health risk (GHR) tests and the process by which they’re approved for sale. In a statement, Gottlieb explained that these sorts of tests can provide more and more information as the technology develops, information that is not only in demand but could also serve as a useful medical tool. “These tests can prompt consumers to be more engaged in pursuing the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices and more aware of their health risks,” said Gottlieb. “Consumers are increasingly embracing genetic health risk testing to better understand their individual risk for developing diseases.”

The challenge for the FDA is ensuring the safety and accuracy of GHR tests while also making sure it’s promoting and spurring innovation. “The agency has been increasingly nimble and creative in adapting its regulatory framework to fit the challenges of new technology platforms. In its consideration of GHR tests, the FDA seeks to strike a balance that provides for an efficient pathway to bring these tests to consumers, without sacrificing the assurances offered by FDA oversight,” said Gottlieb.

To do that, the FDA will now exempt GHR tests from premarket review as long as companies that are selling them meet certain requirements. From now on, manufacturers will have to present themselves to the FDA for a one-time review and if the agency finds that their practices are satisfactory and meet all of the necessary safety and reliability standards, they’ll be allowed to sell new GHR tests without any additional reviews. Until recently, consumers had to go to a physician in order to get the results of a genetic health risk test. The agency only began allowing popular at-home test-maker 23andMe to tell customers about certain health risks this April.

Along with these new regulations, the FDA has also laid out exactly what requirements will have to be met in order for manufacturers to pass their review, which include accuracy and reliability assessments. Additionally, the FDA also issued a final order exempting genetic carrier screening tests from premarket review.

These changes follow an announcement made by the FDA in June expressing the agency’s intent to begin considering a company’s history of testing and maintenance of their low-risk products — such as health apps — rather than each individual product developed by the company. All of these efforts are meant to get new, useful products on the market quickly and efficiently while still ensuring their safety and relevance. “We’ll continue to look for opportunities to use this type of firm-based regulatory approach, both for new tests and other novel medical products,” said Gottlieb. “Our goal is to streamline the regulatory pathway to get innovative medical products to people more efficiently, while providing the FDA assurances that consumers seek.”

Source: FDA

Google showed misinformation about Texas shooter in search results

In the wake of a national tragedy, Google’s search results were once again peppered with misinformation and conspiracy theories. Searching for the Sutherland Springs, Texas shooter by name last night as the news came out, you’d see tweets from Info Wars editor at large Paul Joseph Watson and far-right Twitter account Stock Monster USA, Gizmodo reports. The Stock Monster tweet that was surfaced read “Sutherland Springs, Texas Killer Devin Patrick Kelley is being said to be a Radical Alt-Left Antifa member. – Lots of Facebook posts” with images of the shooter and a rifle attached, but without links to any sources.

Since the shooting occurred, publications including CBS and The Daily Beast have more or less disproven the false information regarding the perpetrator’s motives and military history.

Google’s official statement is as follows:

The search results appearing from Twitter, which surface based on our ranking algorithms, are changing second by second and represent a dynamic conversation that is going on in near real-time. For the queries in question, they are not the first results we show on the page. Instead, they appear after news sources, including our Top Stories carousel which we have been constantly updating. We’ll continue to look at ways to improve how we rank tweets that appear in search.

Google’s public liaison for search Danny Sullivan told Gizmodo that his employer is working so the Twitter module isn’t populating false information and that it is curating the tweets versus just relaying them.

“On the one hand you might say, it would be great if we could show whatever Twitter’s doing and it’s not our fault, but that’s not what’s happening nor is that sort of something we want to reach for,” he said. “The concern here is there is something on our search results page that needs to be improved. We want to improve it.”

“We weren’t happy that those tweets that people were pointing out to us were showing up that way… For whatever reason, those are getting there. It wasn’t by intent, it wasn’t by design and it wasn’t something we’re striving to keep.”

The offending tweets were also accompanied by one from Denver news anchor Cheryl Preheim. Stock Monster’s account is currently suspended, but Watson’s is active.

Because the Twitter results in a Google search are updated as more tweets come in, searching for the shooter by name this morning comes back with posts from NYC Media Lab’s Justin Hendrix and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In the wake of last month’s shooting in Las Vegas, Google searches briefly promoted a 4chan thread purporting that the perpetrator of that shooting was a member of an “anti-Trump army” based on his Facebook activity and page likes. At the time, Google issued a statement blaming its algorithm.

“Within hours, the 4chan story was algorithmically replaced by relevant results. This should not have appeared for any queries and we’ll continue to make algorithmic improvements to prevent this from happening in the future.”

The problem with saying it’s the algorithm’s fault is that Google (and Facebook and Twitter and and) has no one to blame for its algorithm but itself.

Source: Gizmodo

Introducing Engadget’s 2017 holiday gift guide!

Behold: our 2017 holiday gift guide, where we’ve curated 119 recommendations, running the gamut from laptops and fitness trackers, to smart speakers and kitchen gear, to apps and services, to video games and Blu-ray box sets. Oh, and for the first time since Engadget started publishing gift guides, we have a section dedicated to toys and coding kits. That might just be our favorite.

One difference this time around: We’ve formatted our guide not in galleries, but in one neatly laid-out page that’s as easy to navigate on mobile as it is on the desktop. Feel free to peruse everything at once, or try filtering by price. You can also jump straight into the Gear, Gaming and Entertainment tabs, at which point we’ll give you some sub-categories to help you narrow down your selections further (say, if you wanna get something for the PC gamer in your life). Enjoy, and happy shopping!

A note on prices: We’ve mostly included MSRPs, but if we noticed what appeared to be an across-the-board price drop, we went with that. Keep in mind that real-world prices are likely to vary — sometimes you can find a surprise deal, and sometimes short supply means you’ll pay a premium.

Source: Engadget Holiday Gift Guide 2017

Sony will turn your PSN trophies into (a little) real cash

Seems like Sony is throwing a bone to game completionists. The Sony Rewards program will now award points to use in the PSN store for silver, gold and platinum trophies. Not by much, mind you, but isn’t it nice to see your hard work (minorly) rewarded?

Alongside existing promotions for renting movies and signing up for PSN services, the program will now grant 100 points for 100 silver trophies, 250 points for 25 gold tropheis and 1,000 points for 10 platinum trophies. Note that every 1,000 points can be traded in for a $10 coupon on PSN, so keep that reward ratio in mind as you grind for those platinum 100% game completion trophies. It’s probably easier to just have that PlayStation credit card racking up company currency.

Via: Kotaku

Source: Sony Rewards

Learning to fly with NASA’s spacewalk simulator

What you’re looking at is not a production set photo from Gravity, but rather a training simulation for Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. He’s suspended over a mockup of the International Space Station (ISS), while attached to the Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. For this particular session, engineers ran tests in both light and darkness to simulate the 90 minute day/night cycles experienced by orbiting astronauts.

ARGOS is essentially an overhead bridge crane 41 x 24 x 25 feet in size. Rather than hoisting cargo, however, it lifts up or at least boosts people and any objects they might handle. It has various strain and force sensors that follow the trainees wherever they go, maintaining a consistent force for whatever environment NASA is trying to simulate.

The system has computer-controlled electric motors that drive motion in all three axes. Vertically, a load cell is attached to a cable and commands the motors to raise or lower the load to maintain a constant force as the subject moves. It can accelerate rapidly and move 300 pound loads as fast as 10 feet per second, and 750 pounds at 4 feet per second. Horizontally, subject motion is measured by a cable angle sensor, which commands the system to keep the subject’s weight centered below the lifting system.

It can simulate various types of systems, including zero-gravity aboard the ISS and orbiting spacecraft, lunar gravity that’s one-sixth of Earth’s gravity, and Mars, which has 38 percent of the forces we experience here. ARGOS has different types of “gimbals” that can be used to attach people or objects to create accurate simulations. “These gimbals have been developed for both human (suited and shirt-sleeve) and robotic subjects, and are specialized for various test situations (such as planetary gravities or microgravity),” NASA points out.

ARGOS is aimed at testing and training for future Mars, Moon, asteroid “or any other celestial destination,” NASA says. Given the big plans of both NASA and private companies like Boeing and SpaceX, that means it’s likely to get heavy use over the next decade or two.

SpaceX, for instance, plans to send cargo to Mars by 2022 and the first manned missions by 2024. A system like ARGOS would be helpful for both types of missions, as it can handle simulations for both robots and humans. It also works for microgravity simulations, so it would be a big help for astronauts during the 200 day schlep to Mars, too.

The OnePlus 5T goes on sale November 21st

OnePlus will unveil its new 5T smartphone during a live show on November 16th at 11AM EDT, just five days before the device will actually hit store shelves. The 5T is an upgraded version of this year’s surprisingly affordable OnePlus 5, and it’s set to go on sale in North America and Europe on November 21st.

A few details about the new phone have already found their way online: Most notably, according to a leaked picture, the 5T’s screen stretches from end-to-end. This is a change from the OnePlus 5, which has side bezels.

OnePlus will unveil the 5T at a live show dubbed “A New View” in Brooklyn, New York on November 16th. Anyone hoping to see this sucker first-hand will be able to purchase a ticket to the event starting November 8th at 12PM EDT. Tickets are $40. The whole show will also be live streamed on the official 5T event page.

Source: OnePlus