The world’s biggest Christmas tree just showed up on a flight tracker

For many Europeans, a “festive flight” might mean a short trip up to Lapland with the family to meet Santa Claus. But for a German pilot in the cockpit of an Airbus A380 over Germany this week, it meant flying a route in the shape of a giant Christmas tree.

Taking around five-and-a-half hours to complete, the outline of the tree — complete with festive baubles — appeared on online flight tracker services like Flightradar24 and FlightAware.

No, the plane’s captain wasn’t a rogue pilot who’d downed one too many Christmas sherries before taking the controls, nor were there any passengers in the back wondering what on earth was going on. The carefully planned flight was actually testing a new A380, a double-decker aircraft that’s currently the largest passenger plane in the world. It’s just that Airbus fancied having a bit of fun with the route.

The jet plane’s journey, which started and finished in Hamburg, stretched almost the entire length of Germany and traced the shape of a tree. It even included different colors, which reflected the different altitudes of the flight.

Flightradar24 tweeted about the special flight, noting that Airbus had “turned a standard pre-delivery test flight for a new A380 into something a bit more festive.”

Didn’t catch it yesterday? @Airbus turned a standard pre-delivery test flight for a new A380 into something a bit more festive.

See how the tree came to be at https://t.co/YQPtQ179tG pic.twitter.com/nH8jKp7UWV

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) December 14, 2017

While most commenters lauded the creative effort, one pointed out that “the carbon footprint on this tree must be astronomical.”

The aircraft used in the test flight will end up carrying passengers around the world for Emirates, based in Dubai.

It wasn’t so long ago that a pilot for rival aircraft maker Boeing showed off their artistic skills in the sky, in August drawing a giant jet plane across the U.S. in a flight that lasted 18 hours. As with the A380’s recent outing, this was not a flight of fancy but instead a necessary endurance test, that one for a Rolls-Royce aircraft engine that’s undergoing certification.

And back in February, a Boeing test pilot flew one of the company’s new 737 MAX aircraft over Washington state and nearby Montana, tracing the word “MAX” in the sky that plane watchers could also see on flight tracker websites.

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Mannequins in space! Watch Jeff Bezos’ rocket company test a new crew capsule

Although SpaceX gets plenty of attention with its rocket launches and indisputably impressive landings, there are other companies out there tinkering with their own designs for reusable space vehicles.

Take Blue Origin, set up by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. His team has developed a rocket and capsule that Bezos wants to use for tourist rides into suborbital space within just a couple of years.

The company recently conducted its seventh successful test flight of its New Shepard rocket, with an all-new crew capsule, from its spaceport in West Texas. Determined to throw the focus of the test on the capsule, which features comfier seats and bigger windows than the original design, Blue Origin stuck a mannequin inside and filmed the whole event.

The dummy, called “Mannequin Skywalker” (well spotted, it does sound remarkably like “Anakin Skywalker”), doesn’t do much during the flight. But that’s precisely what you’d expect with a dummy. It’s there apparently to give some scale to those enormous windows and tempt wannabe space tourists into one day parting with a large sum of money.

The video, shot entirely from inside the capsule, shows us that the entire experience from launch to landing lasts around eleven minutes. As the capsule reached an altitude of 328,000 feet — around nine times higher than a cruising jet plane — the New Shepard rocket made a successful return to terra firma.

In a tweet, Bezos noted that paying customers will have a lot more fun than the dummy, explaining that “unlike him, you’ll be able to get out of your seat during the zero gee part of the flight.”

Full video of Mannequin Skywalker’s ride to space. Unlike him, you’ll be able to get out of your seat during the zero gee part of the flight. And ignore the pinging sound – it’s just from one of the experiments on this flight. #NewShepard @blueorigin https://t.co/dJ5VEeaWb6 pic.twitter.com/qGQC1vfW7D

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 15, 2017

Indeed, Bezos said in an interview last year that all kinds of shenanigans could take place during the short adventure: “We want people to be able to get out, float around, do somersaults, enjoy the microgravity, look out of those beautiful windows.”

Besides Mannequin Skywalker, the new crew capsule also carried 12 payloads from various customers conducting experiments and gathering data.

The recent test flight also saw the first use of Blue Origin’s landing pad robot, which, in another nod to Star Wars, it’s calling Blue2D2.

Blue Origin is yet to take bookings or name a price for the tourist flights, the first of which could take place in 2019.

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Siri: Apple’s digital assistant could soon be whispering sweet nothings to you

You don’t have to be asking Siri about a delicate medical matter or a personal hygiene issue to know that it can feel a little awkward barking questions into your iPhone or Apple Watch when you’re out in public.

Or how about if you’re in a library, movie theater, or work meeting and you want to discreetly request information or set a reminder without having to fumble about with the on-screen keyboard?

In situations like this, you’re probably more cautious about engaging with Apple’s digital assistant, but would you be more likely to fire it up if Siri could whisper back its response?

Apple researchers are exploring the idea of giving Siri the ability to understand when the speaker is whispering an inquiry so that it can then offer a whispered response, a patent spotted by Gizmodo reveals.

Filed in 2016 and published this week, Apple’s patent notes how current digital assistants fail to respond to different kinds of speech, such as a whisper.

“They may respond in a regular or loud voice, which may be undesired under certain circumstances where a whispered response is more appropriate,” the patent says. “Providing a digital assistant that is capable of detecting a whispered speech input and providing a whispered speech response is thus important.”

To be clear, Apple is talking about whispered speech rather than just making Siri’s current voice quieter. If nothing else, such functionality could pave the way for some really rather intimate conversations between you and your iPhone, with seductive sweet nothings exchanged last thing before lights out. But we could be getting ahead of ourselves here, after all, there’s no certainty that the patent will ever make it off the drawing board.

But Apple’s idea is certainly an interesting one, and could help to increase the use of its steadily improving virtual assistant.

Siri is an important part of Apple’s future and the Cupertino-based company has been investing heavily in its development. The voice-activated assistant is set to play an increasingly important role in Apple’s smart home platform, which will take another step forward with the launch in 2018 of its HomePod. Apple’s Siri-enabled speaker will go up against the Amazon Echo and Google Home, powered by Alexa and Google Assistant, respectively. Samsung, too, is believed to be readying a speaker for launch next year that would be powered by its own digital assistant, Bixby.

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Rinspeed’s concept EV puts swappable pods on a ‘skateboard’

Rinspeed has been dreaming up insane vehicles for years — from scuba cars plucked from James Bond’s garage to modded self-driving rides. Even if they never make it to the public, the concepts are at least fun to check out, and the Rinspeed Snap is no different. Essentially a modular vehicle in two parts, the Snap is made up of interchangeable pods that attach to a rolling chassis, which houses data-processing computers and the EV power train. When the latter starts ageing, you simply slide a new one under your existing pod, theoretically extending the lifecycle of the vehicle at a fraction of the cost of buying a new car. And, if you get bored of the top half, you can swap that out too.

The pods Rinspeed teases in the accompanying video (see above) are built for passengers and cargo. But, commuters get to have all the fun, thanks to an on-board digital assistant that taps into your preferences to make recommendations, like restaurants.

To make its imaginary vehicle even crazier, the company is also touting an optional robotic helper to help with errands, shopping, and a back rub (we made that last one up). These are the types of promises you can make when your concept is all a bit pie-in-the-sky. In addition, the passenger pod packs three screens, so you never have to talk to your co-rider again. You’ll be able to get a closer look at it for yourself at CES 2018 next month.

Source: Rinspeed

Alphabet tries internet lasers instead of balloons for India

Alphabet is adopting laser-beaming boxes in favor of Project Loon’s balloons for its latest internet-delivery partnership in Andhra Pradesh, India. The state government is snapping up 2,000 of the hubs, which rely on Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) tech, from Alphabet’s X innovations lab. Next year, the light-beaming links will be placed kilometres apart on roofs and posts to plug network access gaps between cell towers and WiFi hotspots. “Just like fibre optic cable, but without the cable,” according to X’s Baris Erkman.

Less than 20 percent of Andhra Pradesh’s 53 million populace has access to internet, with the state government pledging to connect 12 million households by 2019 as part of its AP Fiber Grid program. The high-bandwidth FSOC links will form the “backbone of [that] network,” said Erkman. For Alphabet, it’s all about grabbing more first-time internet users on low-cost smartphones as it looks to tap Google’s next billion.

The FSOC tech is an offshoot of Project Loon, which uses high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere to provide LTE service. They were most recently seen flying over Puerto Rico, where they helped 100,000 internet-starved users get online in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Alphabet’s X is facing competition in the form of Facebook’s internet-serving program. In April, the big blue social network overcame the Indian government’s net neutrality concerns to start selling its Express WiFi in the country. And, aside from its massive Aquila drone, the company is also developing similar laser beam tech that can provide up to 2Gbps to remote places.

Source: Baris Erkman (Medium)

Sky and BT agree to share their top TV channels

After years of “on and off” negotiations, BT and Sky have agreed to share their most popular TV channels. The deal means that Sky’s Now TV streaming service will soon be available on BT’s set-top box. BT will sell the various passes directly to consumers — so if you subscribe to both, you won’t have to worry about separate bills anymore. On the flip-side, BT has agreed to give Sky “wholesale supply” of BT Sport. It will allow Sky to sell these channels standalone or as part of larger Sky TV packages. BT Sport will also be available on Sky Go and Now TV’s Roku-in-disguise boxes.

All of this should be available from “early 2019.”

Why help each other? Well, BT says it’s “the right time” to broaden its distribution of BT Sport. The company has spent a tremendous amount of money on the service, including live TV rights and big-name studio talent. A fresh Premier League bidding war is on the horizon, with technology companies such as Amazon and Facebook reportedly on the prowl. BT will need a war chest to fend them off and its historical rival Sky. Teaming up with the enemy might seem counterproductive — but if it boosts subscriber numbers, and therefore revenue, the trade-off might be worth it for now.

The same argument could be made for Sky. Now TV was designed for cord-cutters who are interested in cheaper streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. BT TV is not its prime competitor (that’s a rival for Sky’s larger and more expensive satellite TV packages.) At the moment, Sky’s priority is to increase Now TV’s subscriber base by any means necessary. It needs the platform to have the same popularity and brand recognition as Netflix — and that means being available on every platform imaginable. Buddying up with BT is, for now, a price Sky is willing to pay.

Source: Sky, BT

Canary’s security cameras will soon detect people

While Canary’s security cameras can notify you when they detect something moving in your home, they can’t differentiate between an intruder and your pet Fluffy doing zoomies. Once their new feature rolls out, though, you won’t have to get 20 notifications in an hour if you don’t want to. The company has announced that it’s rolling out Person Detection to all Canary and Canary Flex cameras in the near future — for free. It relies on machine learning to figure out whether your camera is seeing a human being, so the system can send you specific person alerts.

Canary didn’t say when the feature will be available. But when it goes live, you’ll be able to choose whether to get notifications only when your camera detects a person or to continue getting them for every movement it spots. The company also says that Person Detection is just one of the new “AI-powered intelligence” features it’s launching in the coming months and that it’ll reveal more details about it over the next few weeks.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Canary

‘Oxenfree’ developer’s next game is about drinking with Satan

2016 saw the release of many YA-themed games, and Oxenfree was one of the highlights. Developer Night School Studio is ready to show off its next project and, well, this one is a little different. In Afterparty, players assume the role of a pair of college seniors who have their revelry interrupted by their untimely death. As a result, they are doomed to a pub crawl in hell, as the adventure game follows them from bar to bar on a quest to outdrink Satan himself and escape.

IGN has more details on the game, where it appears that your focus will be choosing between a combination of drinks and dialogue options to make sure this “best night ever” ends on the right note. Three face buttons represent different responses, while the fourth is just for drinking. Night School co-founder Sean Krankel said that in Oxenfree “you really do get to interact with a coming-of-age story in ways that a movie or book don’t let you,” and we expect more of the same with this game. Whether you’re still at the age where staying out all night is an appealing idea or you’re looking back at those days with some combination of regret and/or longing, this may be a game to keep an eye on when it arrives in 2019.

Party your way out of Hell in #Afterparty, the next game from the heretics at Night School Studio. pic.twitter.com/fjgNLGyPKV

— Afterparty (@AfterpartyGame) December 14, 2017

Source: Night School Studio

Watch Blue Origin’s test dummy experience space tourism

Yesterday we got an exterior view of the first flight for Blue Origin’s Crew Capsule 2.0, but now the company is back to show us what it’s like from inside. Its plan is to offer “space tourism” trips that take six people at a time beyond the Karman Line to experience weightlessness and views through the capsule’s “biggest windows in space.” The test capsule isn’t looking as polished as the concept images we’d seen before, but this 11-minute video is a pretty good preview of what customers can expect when Blue Origin starts putting real people on top of its New Shepard spacecraft.

Plus, according to Jeff Bezos, passengers will be able to get out of their seats to experience zero-g, and on the ground perhaps enjoy the company of this Blue2D2 landing pad robot. Take that, SpaceX drone ship.

Full video of Mannequin Skywalker’s ride to space. Unlike him, you’ll be able to get out of your seat during the zero gee part of the flight. And ignore the pinging sound – it’s just from one of the experiments on this flight. #NewShepard @blueorigin https://t.co/dJ5VEeaWb6 pic.twitter.com/qGQC1vfW7D

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 15, 2017

First use of our landing pad bot #Blue2D2. @blueorigin pic.twitter.com/Ht2P7yVwEs

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 15, 2017

Source: Blue Origin (YouTube)

Sling TV now streams directly on your 2017 Samsung smart TV

If you bought one of Samsung’s 2017 smart TV models, you can go ahead and ditch the device you’re using to pipe in Sling TV. The live TV streaming company announced today that its app is now available directly those models, which will nix the need for separate streaming gadget or set-top box.

You’ll need to have either a Sling Orange or Sling Blue subscription, though there is a free 7-day trial period if you’re newly signing up. You’ll also need to install the app on your set by searching for “Sling TV” in the Samsung Smart Hub and then log in to your account in order to get started.

Source: Sling TV