2017 December 21

21

Dec

LG’s latest PC monitors bring intense HDR and ultra-wide 5K

LG was one of the first out of the gate with high-end consumer HDR monitors, and now it’s ready to spread its wings a bit. It’s unveiling three new displays, all of which promise more intense DisplayHDR 600-rated visuals — that is, they can reach 600 nits of brightness while maintaining the wide dynamic range inherent to HDR. The eye-catcher of the bunch is arguably the 34WK95U, a 34-inch ultra-wide 5K (that is, 5,120 x 2,160) monitor designed for video editors and others who want side-by-side views without multiple displays. It includes a Thunderbolt 3 port that can pipe data, power and 5K 60Hz video through a lone cable.

Not that the other models are without their perks. The 32-inch 32UK950 you see below is ‘just’ a 4K display, but it touts nano IPS tech (nano-sized particles on the screen’s LED illumination) that promises both more accurate and more intense colors, reaching 98 percent of the cinema-grade DCI-P3 color space. Also, LG is pitching this as ideal for Thunderbolt 3-equipped laptops like the current MacBook Pro. Its display dock is the first to support 4K daisy chaining, so you can attach a second display while preserving all the data and power connections you’re used to.

There’s one more display, the 34-inch 34GK950G (not pictured). It’s ‘just’ a quad HD monitor, but it’ll pack Nano IPS colors and NVIDIA G-Sync to accommodate gamers looking for tearing-free visuals.

LG hasn’t outlined the pricing for the new monitors, and it’s unclear when they’ll ship. Given that these screens are loaded to the hilt, though, we’d expect them to carry high prices.

Source: LG Newsroom

21

Dec

FDA OKs first gene therapy for hereditary disease

The FDA has approved a new gene therapy that proves the technique can also be used to treat a variety of diseases other than cancer. According to the agency’s announcement, the therapy called Luxturna can treat biallelic RPE65 mutation-associated retinal dystrophy, a rare eye disease that leads to blindness, in both adults and children. This is the first time the agency approved a gene therapy designed to treat a hereditary illness and the first to target a disease caused by mutations in a specific gene — it’s a major milestone in the field and a huge victory for its proponents.

As FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement:

“Today’s approval marks another first in the field of gene therapy — both in how the therapy works and in expanding the use of gene therapy beyond the treatment of cancer to the treatment of vision loss — and this milestone reinforces the potential of this breakthrough approach in treating a wide-range of challenging diseases. The culmination of decades of research has resulted in three gene therapy approvals this year for patients with serious and rare diseases. I believe gene therapy will become a mainstay in treating, and maybe curing, many of our most devastating and intractable illnesses.”

Biallelic RPE65 mutation prevents the RPE65 gene from producing a protein that converts light to electrical signals in the retina. This leads to vision loss that ultimately progresses to total blindness. Luxturna works by delivering a normal copy of RPE65 to the retinal cells, allowing them to produce the protein needed to restore the patient’s vision.

The company that created Luxturna tested the treatment on 41 patients, who then had to complete obstacle courses in dim light. Most of the patients showed significant improvements navigating obstacle courses in the third phase of the study. Like the other gene therapies the FDA approved, though, it also has its limitations and potential side effects. It will only work for people with viable retinal cells, and it could cause cataracts and retinal tears. Oh, and it could cost over $1 million, which is most likely the biggest hurdle someone who wants to go through it will have to overcome.

Via: Gizmodo

Source: FDA

21

Dec

Apple Updates App Store Guidelines to Relax Restrictive Rules on Template Apps

Apple in June tweaked its App Store Review guidelines to add a new rule banning apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service, a move that ended up impacting small businesses without the resources to independently develop an app.

Many niche template-created apps for small restaurants, retailers, and other businesses were not allowed under the new rule, which also affected the companies that build those sorts of apps. Following media attention and feedback from small business owners, Apple today amended the rule to make it less restrictive, reports TechCrunch.

An example of a restaurant app created using a ChowNow template
The original rule, in section 4.2.6 of the App Store guidelines, read “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.” The new wording of the rule, located below, is more expansive and clarifies exactly what’s allowed and what’s not.

Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences. Another acceptable option for template providers is to create a single binary to host all client content in an aggregated or “picker” model, for example as a restaurant finder app with separate customized entries or pages for each client restaurant, or as an event app with separate entries for each client event.

Under the revised guidelines, small businesses that use template-style apps can continue to use them, but those apps must be submitted by the business itself rather than the template provider. Apple also suggests template providers can create something like a restaurant finder app, with the ability to search for all client restaurants rather than creating individual cookie cutter apps for each restaurant.

All apps published on the App Store going forward will need to be handled by the business or organization behind the app, and to make the transition simple, Apple is going to waive its $99 developer fee for government and nonprofit apps in the U.S. in early 2018.

In addition to changing its template app guidelines, Apple today tweaked a few other rules. Apps that offer in-app purchase “loot boxes” or other mechanisms that include randomized virtual items are now required to disclose the odds of receiving each type of item.

Apple has also clarified that virtual currency apps offering Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency futures trading, and other crypto-securities or quasi-securities trading must come from established banks, securities firms, futures commission merchants, or other approved financial institutions.

One last rule applies to VPN apps. Apps that offer VPN services are required to use the NEVPNManager API and must make it clear what user data is collected and how it is used. VPN apps must also follow local laws, and VPN apps in a territory where a VPN license is required must provide license information in the App Review Notes field when submitting an app.

Apple’s full App Store review guidelines are available on its developer website.

Tags: App Store, App Store Review Guidelines
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21

Dec

‘Star Wars’ fan’s crazy RC version of Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer takes to the skies

Whether it is using augmented reality (AR) to turn pieces of rolled-up paper into kickass lightsabers or impressive robot prostheses modeled after Luke Skywalker’s bionic hand, there’s just something about Star Wars that inspires tech fans to create some pretty darn awesome DIY projects. With Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, the latest movie in the franchise, currently running wild in theaters, popular YouTuber Peter Sripol has joined the pack by seizing the opportunity to build his very own remote control drone version of Kylo Ren’s new TIE Silencer spacecraft.

Although the sleek craft — reminiscent of the Return of the Jedi’s TIE Interceptor — made its first-ever screen appearance in the recently released The Last Jedi, it was actually shown off for the first time on an episode of the Star Wars Show back in July. That head start meant that Sripol had several months to work on his drone in order to get it ready to debut in time for the new movie’s release.

As you can probably imagine, it is not entirely straightforward to get the TIE Silencer up and running, due in no small part to its uneven, back-loaded weight distribution. That might be fine in the gravity-free expanse of a galaxy far, far away, but it proves something of a challenge here on boring old Earth. Still, watching Sripol pull off a barrel roll with his completed vehicle is enough to convince us that the time and effort involved in this homebrew project was 100 percent worth it.

This isn’t the first time we’ve covered an innovative project from Peter Sripol. This time last year, we wrote about his nifty underwater “wrist rockets,” which enabled him to propel himself through the waves like a human submarine courtesy of two T100 thrusters, a pair of wrist straps, and an Arduino-powered, belt-mounted unit. He’s also developed engineering projects ranging from an RC Lego airplane and DIY javelin missile to an enormous Zippo flamethrower.

Call us unashamed Star Wars geeks if you so wish, but his latest project might just be our favorite one so far.

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21

Dec

Microsoft pulls Store app that lets you safely install Google’s Chrome browser

Microsoft has confirmed that it pulled a Chrome-based app uploaded by Google from the Microsoft Store because it didn’t comply with store policy. Google published its “installer” app, a tool that downloads and installs the desktop version of Chrome on Windows 10, on the Microsoft Store on Monday, December 18.

“We have removed the Google Chrome Installer App from Microsoft Store, as it violates our Microsoft Store policies,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We welcome Google to build a Microsoft Store browser app compliant with our Microsoft Store policies.”

Microsoft and Google appear to be in a bitter browser war. Load up Microsoft’s built-in Edge browser on Windows 10, navigate to Google’s home page, and you’ll see a large box stating: “Switch to Chrome, a smarter browser.” And if you search for the Chrome browser using Bing, the results are aimed at showing how Edge is better than Chrome. Even Windows 10 itself will suggest using Edge over Chrome in the Notifications area.

Google’s now-deleted “installer” app wasn’t published out of spite. The company was reportedly trying to tackle a growing problem on the Microsoft Store where Google-related searches are pulling up fake/junk/malicious apps. But the removal of Google’s tool is the byproduct of a new effort on Microsoft’s part to weed out the very apps Google wants you to avoid.

Although Microsoft didn’t say how Google’s “installer” violated store policy, documents state that apps must have a distinct function and value. Apps that browse the web must also rely on HTML and JavaScript engines provided through the Windows Platform (aka Microsoft Edge). At this time, Chrome for desktop relies on Google’s version of the WebKit rendering engine called Blink.

And therein is why you’ll likely never see Chrome bundled up as an app on the Microsoft Store. Chrome is based on open-source software, whereas Edge is proprietary Microsoft technology. Look on the Microsoft Store, and you’ll see only one app uploaded by Google, which isn’t a browser at all. It’s an app that ties directly into the company’s web-based services, including YouTube, Gmail, Calendar, Maps, and more.

Google likely won’t inject Microsoft’s technology into its own software. Why not? After all, the Chrome app for iPhone and iPad relies on Apple’s own mobile rendering engine called iOS WebKit and created for Safari. If Google opens its Chrome doors to Apple, why not to Microsoft as well? From the outside, the reason may have something to do with the stores: Apple runs an extremely tight ship while Microsoft is having issues keeping junk off the shelves.

Microsoft’s move to remove Google’s installer likely wasn’t about rivalry at all. Google’s app downloaded and installed third-party software, paving the road for future “unofficial” apps that look official, but instead serve up malware on Windows-based PCs. Microsoft can’t monitor third-party downloads through the store, so it bans “installers” altogether. Meanwhile, Google wants Windows 10 users to download and install valid copies of Chrome.

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21

Dec

Get with the Christmas spirit with computer carols from Alan Turing

Just in time for the holidays, computer scientists released a couple renditions of iconic Christmas carols once played by Alan Turing’s computer. Though to our modern ears, the tracks sound more eerie than festive, they marked a major milestone as some of the first computer-generated sounds ever played.

The carols follow the release of three songs resurrected last year by a team of researchers from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“It all started when I found a reference in old material to the BBC doing a Christmas broadcast in 1951 that included some carols played by Turing’s computer in Manchester,” Jack Copeland, a University of Canterbury professor and one of the researchers who led the project, told Digital Trends. The carols included the classics Jingle Bells and Good King Wenceslas.

Along with his collaborator, composer Jason Long, Copeland set out to re-create the carols as they sounded 67 years ago. But, since Turing’s computer was dismantled decades ago, they had to improvise.

“We wanted to hear [the songs],” Copeland said. “The process consisted of chopping up the audio from a 1951 BBC recording of the same computer playing other melodies and then using the resulting collection of individual notes to rebuild the carols. It was like musical Lego.”

The results are some harsh renditions of the two Christmas classics. These aren’t tracks you can expect to find on an upcoming holiday album but, behind all grating melody, you can almost sense a machine trying to express Christmas cheer. Either way it’s impressive to consider how far — and how low — electronic music has come.

“I found it marvelous to hear that historic sound source belting out enjoyable festive music,” Copeland said. “Strange, too, to hear a computer that was destroyed more than half a century ago come back to life via our computers.”

Copeland and Long re-created three more songs last year, God Save the King, Baa, Baa Black Sheep, and Glenn Miller’s In the Mood, which was reported to have been played on the massive computer in the 50s.

“Thanks to Turing and co., there was something entirely new on the planet, software-generated sound,” Copeland said. “Every time your mobile phone beeps, you are sharing in their invention It was the start of something that changed the face of music — digitally created sound.”

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