Prepare yourself for ‘Super Mario’ Cereal

It seems even the Mushroom Kingdom eats cereal like the rest of us. Following the release of Super Mario Odyssey, breakfast blog Cerealousy has uncovered a new breakfast treat with Mario and Cappy on the box. Inside, you’ll find star-shaped oats and marshmallow pieces in the shape of Super Mushrooms, 1-Up Mushrooms and ? Boxes.

Cereal makers have long included video game toys (and even discs) in their boxes, but Kelloggs is doing things a bit differently this time around. Thanks to box art discovered by Cerealousy, we can see that some boxes will include “special Amiibo” that can be used to power-up proceedings inside Super Mario Odyssey. Amiibo typically take the form of figurines, although Nintendo does sell card packs separately.

“We cerealously appreciate your continued interest in seeing a Nintendo cereal,” Kelloggs told one eager Cerealousy reader. “We hope you’ll keep an eye out for the new Super Mario Cereal that is hitting store shelves now. This star-shaped cereal features Super Mario-inspired marshmallows, and a limited number of packages will have an Amiibo powerup sticker that can be used on the Super Mario Odyssey game with the Nintendo Switch gaming console.”

According to gaming tipster Wario64, Super Mario Cereal is already appearing the inventory systems of major US retailers. It can’t be as bad as Mario-themed Happy Meals, can it?

Kelloggs Super Mario Cereal is already in Target’s system, via Brickseek.
MSRP: $3.14
DPCI: 231-00-0209
UPC: 038000176159https://t.co/Vr0rPXdg27 pic.twitter.com/DKvXwBCLbP

— Wario64 (@Wario64) November 29, 2017

Via: IGN

Source: Cerealously

BBC iPlayer to host a ton of TV box sets this Christmas

Nippy mornings and early sunsets. The British winter is here, bringing with it the perfect weather for TV bingeing. For many, that means Netflix, Now TV and Amazon Video, however this year the BBC is embracing the box set culture too. A huge collection of programming will soon return to iPlayer, including the first three seasons of Peaky Blinders, the Tom Hardy drama Taboo and the Golden Globe-winning Wolf Hall. The BBC is also adding crime hit Line of Duty, Happy Valley and a bunch of modern Sherlock, including season three, four and the 2016 special, The Abominable Bride.

If you’ve been captivated by Blue Planet II recently, good news: the original Blue Planet will soon be on iPlayer, in addition to Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and last year’s Planet Earth II. The BBC has experimented with digital box sets before — back in 2014, for instance, it dropped the full series of Jonah from Tonga at once. It’s unusual, however, for the BBC to bring back old programming. Beyond the new BBC archive, most shows disappear after 30 days. Today’s announcement is a Christmas special — the shows will disappear again in the New Year — but maybe, just maybe, it’s a precursor to a larger, permanent shift in the BBC’s iPlayer strategy.

Source: BBC

iHeartRadio App Updates CarPlay Support to Include Podcast Listening

Radio streaming service iHeartRadio has updated its official iOS app to include support for podcast playback through Apple’s CarPlay feature, meaning listeners can now tune into their favorite iHeartRadio podcasts when they’re on the road.

The latest update introduces podcasts in CarPlay through a number of new features, according to a iHeartRadio blog post announcing the changes.

“Continue Listening” lets you resume your last podcast right where you left off, without even having to think. “Your Podcasts” provides easy access to all the podcasts you follow on iHeartRadio right on your screen — no need to take your eyes off the road to find the content you love! And “Podcast Topics” helps you find that specific podcast you’ve been looking for.

The Podcast Topics feature offers listeners 18 different categories to choose from, such as Fantasy Football, NPR, Business & Finance, Sports, and Spoken Editions.

Apple already includes its own Podcasts app in CarPlay, but according to PodTrac’s industry audience rankings, iHeartRadio is the second largest podcasting publisher in the industry, hosting more than 520 original shows.

iHeartRadio is a free app for iOS devices and can be downloaded through the App Store. [Direct Link]

Related Roundup: CarPlay
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Apple Pulls App Store Games That Glorify Philippine President Duterte’s Violent Drugs War

Apple has taken down games from its App Store that glorify the Philippine government’s deadly drugs war, according to a regional organization supporting victims of illegal drugs (via The Philippine Star).

Last month, the Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD) sent Apple CEO Tim Cook a letter demanding that the company remove several iOS games which it said valorized “the emerging tyranny of Duterte’s presidency and his government’s disregard for human rights principles”.

Tsip Bato by Ranida Games
The group named 131 organizations from several countries as supportive of the letter of complaint, with groups working on human rights, youth and drug policy reform among them.

In a statement posted on its website yesterday, ANPUD said that it never received a direct response from Cook, but the runner games that its letter accused of promoting murder, extrajudicial killings and violence appeared to have been removed as of Tuesday.

They include Duterte knows Kung Fu: Pinoy Crime Fighter, Duterte Running Man Challenge Game, Fighting Crime 2, and Tsip Bato: Ang Bumangga Giba!, all of which featured Duterte or Philippine National Police chief (Ronald) Bato dela Rosa shooting down criminals while evading obstacles.

Despite their removal from Apple’s App Store, the games remain available for Android users to download from the Google Play store.

Police chief Ronald dela Rosa told the Philippine Star that the removal of the games was a good idea, and that the government’s operation to tackle drug users was not about killing or the use of violence, despite Duterte openly endorsing extrajudicial killings in his drugs war campaign.

“They made the wrong interpretation. Tokhang [the campaign] is not about shooting people,” dela Rosa told reporters. Rather, he said, it involved policemen knocking on people’s doors and urging suspects to stop illegal drug-related activities.

As least 7,000 suspected drug dealers and users were killed in the first six months of Duterte’s crackdown, according to estimates from The Human Rights Watch group. Many of the killings are attributed to “unidentified gunmen”.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: App Store, Philippines
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Upcoming Microsoft App for iPhone Aims to Make Photo Transfers to Windows 10 Easier

Microsoft looks set to release a new iOS app for Windows 10 users in the coming months that lets them transfer photos from their Apple devices to their PCs more easily.

First discovered by Italian blog Aggiornamenti Lumia, the companion app is said to support the fast transfer of photos and videos from Apple smartphones to PCs provided they’re connected to the same Wi-Fi network. The app appeared briefly as an update on the Windows Insider “Fast Channel” and should become available to all Windows 10 testers soon.

The app seems to be for people who don’t use Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud backup service, as it replicates some features already available in the OneDrive app, which lets users upload pictures from an iPhone and import them directly into the Windows 10 Photos application.

The new software is part of Microsoft’s wider mobile strategy to improve its iOS offerings, now that Windows 10 Mobile hardware is no longer a focus for the company. Microsoft officially ended support for Windows Phone back in July, and is no longer developing new features or hardware for Windows 10 Mobile.

(Via The Verge.)

Tag: Windows 10
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New ‘Pixelmator Pro’ Photo Editing App for Mac Now Available

The team behind the popular Pixelmator photo editing app for iOS and Mac today launched its latest Mac app, Pixelmator Pro. Pixelmator Pro is a more advanced version of its existing Pixelmator software, built from the ground up for the Mac.

First announced in September, Pixelmator Pro features a reimagined workflow with simplified editing tools, a single-window interface, and intelligent image editing features powered by machine learning.

The software uses the Core ML framework built into macOS High Sierra to power features like automatic horizon detection, smarter quick selections, and better repair tools for removing unwanted objects from photos.

Non-destructive image editing is a key feature, and there are new tools for resizing and rearranging layers. New color adjustment tools and RAW support make it easy to quickly adjust photos, and there’s an entirely new painting engine and dynamic paint blending technology powered by Metal 2, along with new brushes.

For those who are used to Pixelmator, the new Pixelmator Pro interface is quite a bit different and may take a bit of time to adjust to, but it is easier to locate tools, especially for new users.

The repair tool for editing objects out of a photo is much improved and eliminates objects much more seamlessly with just a few clicks, and tools for selectively adjusting color, brightness, sharpness, and other image aspects are more easily accessible.

Painting with the new painting tools is an entirely different experience thanks to the blending options, and there are a ton of new brushes and styles to experiment with. For photo editing, a new Recipes feature lets you build and save nondestructive effects.

It’s much, much easier to work with multiple layers in the new version of Pixelmator using a new left-handed layer bar that allows layers to be quickly rearranged, resized, grouped, and more. There are also new guidelines for automatic spacing adjustments that are similar to what’s available in Photoshop, and quick selection seems to be much improved.

Pixelmator Pro can be downloaded from the Mac App Store or from the Pixelmator website. On the Pixelmator website, users can get a free 30-day trial to test the app, which is priced at $59.

Tag: Pixelmator
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iPhone and iPad tips offered via Apple’s new YouTube channel

So you’re fiddling about with your new iPhone and you can’t work out how to perform some relatively simple tasks. You might hit Apple’s online support pages for a solution, or try your luck DMing the company’s support service on Twitter. Or maybe load up Apple’s support app if all else fails.

Well, thanks to a new YouTube channel launched by the Cupertino-based company on Tuesday, you now have another option.

Apple Support on YouTube is a collection of how-to videos for anyone looking for tips on getting the most out of their iPhone and iPad. Most of the videos will also work for those of you with an iPod Touch, though Apple only mentions its more popular iOS devices on its new YouTube channel.

It’s official: we’re now on YouTube.

Subscribe and get helpful tips, tricks, and how-tos – straight from Apple. https://t.co/aKKtqzHBBU pic.twitter.com/LmkyRWesBg

— Apple Support (@AppleSupport) November 28, 2017

Having been up for just a few hours, the site so far shows only 10 how-to videos, including how to take a screenshot on your Apple device (by far its most popular video so far and embedded above), how to change the wallpaper, how to delete the call history, and how to link duplicates or delete contacts.

It seems like all of the videos are going to follow the same format — a split screen with a written explanation on the left and the device on the right, and a narrator explaining the steps you need to take. The videos posted so far run for between one and two minutes.

As we said, the channel has only just gone live, so expect Apple to add lots more how-to videos over time.

And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, then check out DT’s own comprehensive guides for Apple devices, including 27 tips and tricks for its latest operation system (iOS 11), handy tips for the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, 15 tips and tricks for the iPhone SE, and how to navigate iOS 11 using the iPhone X.

If you’re really starting from scratch with Apple’s mobile operating system, then our guide to getting started with your new iPhone or iPad (or iPod Touch!) should sort you out nicely.

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Amazon delivery drone could self-disintegrate for safety if it falls from sky

Hopefully it won’t happen very often, but when Amazon and others finally get fully fledged drone delivery services off the ground, there’ll be occasions when the flying machines suddenly drop out of the sky.

Whether it’s inclement weather, a software malfunction, or some ne’er-do-well with a catapult and a rock, we have to accept that those multi-copter contraptions will sometimes get into difficulties and fall all the way back to the ground.

It’s one of several challenges that gives the Federal Aviation Administration folks sleepless nights as they consider the safest way to let companies and organizations use the popular technology as part of their operations.

But Amazon may have the answer.

The online shopping giant is exploring an innovative system that would cause an airborne drone that’s in difficulties to disintegrate in mid-air, minimizing the force of the potential impact on any human, animal, or object on the ground.

The idea is outlined in a patent granted this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Titled “direct fragmentation for unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs),” the document describes how a malfunctioning drone could dismantle itself in the sky after assessing the conditions on the ground.

“The fragmentation sequence includes a release timing and a release location to fragment away (e.g., release, drop, jettison, eject, etc. away) one or more UAV components in case the flight operation of the UAV is disrupted,” the company says in the patent.

Amazon

Conditions that could cause problems for a delivery drone are listed as “unexpected heat, cold, wind, rain, hail, high or low (e.g., barometric) pressure regions, or other meteorological conditions.” These could affect the drone’s rotor system, flight control computer, battery, flight sensors, or other components, resulting in a major malfunction that makes it behave more like a brick than an aircraft.

The patent, which Amazon filed in June 2016, says that the release system could include “attachment mechanisms, such as clips, latches, hooks.”

Amazon says the fragmentation sequence would happen automatically, and that depending on which parts of the drone are jettisoned, “the weight, speed, air drag coefficient, and other factors related to the UAV can be altered.” This suggests that the drone wouldn’t always completely disintegrate. Rather, it would in some situations only eject the parts causing the problem if it allowed the damaged drone to make a safer landing.

We’re assuming the system would also do its best to ensure that whatever it’s carrying — several textbooks for a delivery, for example — is jettisoned away from anyone its sensors detect on the ground … providing it’s not its sensors that are malfunctioning.

It’s an intriguing idea, though Amazon has been filing a lot of intriguing ideas related to its delivery drone ambitions, some more outlandish than others. Check out this city-based drone tower that would look — and sound — like a giant beehive. And if you want to go full bonkers, then this patent for a “flying warehouse” should tickle you.

There’s no telling whether this latest idea will become a thing, but it nevertheless offers some interesting insight into how champions of the technology are hoping to overcome the great challenges that lie ahead.

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Hybrid-electric passenger plane project given boost by Rolls-Royce

The electric flying taxi project led by Uber may be making progress, but how about a much larger, hybrid-electric passenger plane for trips further afield?

The ambitious plan isn’t the work of some obscure company you’ve never heard of, either. Instead, it’s the goal of big-name firms Airbus and Siemens. And now Rolls-Royce is joining the collaborative effort.

The trio are confident that its hybrid-electric plane can transform the short-haul market, with the first demonstration aircraft taking to the skies as early as 2020. A commercial service using planes with up to 100 seats could potentially come just five years after that.

The race is on to build an airplane that’s kinder to the environment, and a design like this would help to markedly reduce both air and noise pollution compared to today’s jet planes.

The E-Fan X program, as it’s called, will start out by placing a two-megawatt electric motors alongside three jet engines on a BAe 146 aircraft, Airbus said in a release this week. Once sufficient progress has been made, a second electric motor will replace another of the jet engines. Fully electric planes are a challenge too far with the current technology because of the heavy weight of existing batteries.

The test aircraft aims to explore the challenges of high-power propulsion systems, “such as thermal effects, electric thrust management, altitude and dynamic effects on electric systems, and electromagnetic compatibility issues.” At the same time, the project will help to train a new generation of designers and engineers “to bring hybrid-electric commercial aircraft one step closer to reality,” the plane manufacturer said.

Airbus has been working with Siemens for several years on developing alternative methods of powering passenger planes, but the latest move to bring Rolls-Royce on board brings new skills and experience to the joint effort.

The three companies will use their respective areas of expertise to push the plan forward. Airbus will take care of the control integration of the hybrid-electric propulsion system and batteries and its integration with the flight controls, while Rolls-Royce will be responsible for the turbo-shaft engine, two megawatt generator, and power electronics. Siemens, meanwhile, will focus on the electric motors and their power electronic control unit, among other technical challenges.

“The E-Fan X is an important next step in our goal of making electric flight a reality in the foreseeable future,” said Airbus chief technology officer Paul Eremenko.

He added: “The lessons we learned from a long history of electric flight demonstrators … will pave the way to a hybrid single-aisle commercial aircraft that is safe, efficient, and cost-effective. We see hybrid-electric propulsion as a compelling technology for the future of aviation.”

Industry giants like these are in an excellent position to offer huge resources for the ambitious project, and hopefully the team can stay on track with its development plans for an exciting new aircraft capable of reducing not only air pollution, but also noise for those living close to flight paths.

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Samsung has moved on to second-gen 10-nanometer chips

Samsung is making sure that your current smartphone will soon be passé by starting fabrication of its second-generation 10-nanometer chips. Dubbed 10-nanometer LPP, they’ll have 10 percent higher performance or 15 percent lower power consumption than the current, 10-nanometer LPE chips. The chips are likely to be used in next gen Qualcomm chips (rumored to be the Snapdragon 845) and Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S9 and S9+ flagship phones.

The new 10-nanometer LPP chips are reportedly manufactured in much the same way as Samsung’s current LPE wafers, so little delay is expected for full volume production. Samsung has already qualified its 8-nanometer chips that, despite having smaller traces, are also manufactured in much the same way as its 10-nanometer processors.

By releasing two iterative versions of its current chips, Samsung is biding its time until it perfects 7-nanometer manufacturing, which requires the use of extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) lithography. Because of that, gains in speed and power for your future smartphone are expected to be modest — around 10-15 percent for each of the next two generations. Rival TSMC is supposedly ahead of Samsung in 7-nanometer chip manufacturing, creating speculation that Qualcomm might jump ship in the future.

Samsung gets a lot of credit for beating Intel in chip technology, but both companies are currently making modest gains, not doubling performance like we used to see. Intel has boasted, however, that it’s 10-nanometer Cannon Lake tech will be a generation ahead of its main rivals, Samsung and TSMC, because it’s packing more features into the same area. Both Samsung’s 8-nanometer chips and Intel’s 10-nanometer models are supposed to go into manufacturing by next year.

Source: Samsung