Russia lost a $45m satellite because of a launchpad mix-up

Despite Russia’s ambitious plans for space domination it’s not had a great deal of luck bringing its designs to fruition. The Roscosmos program’s budget was slashed in 2015 (because of “moral decay”) and in April last year a technical glitch postponed the launch of its first rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome. Now, the team have straight-up lost a satellite after setting it to launch from the wrong place.

The 2.6 billion-rouble ($45 million) satellite — the Meteor M — was launched last month from Vostochny, with Roscosmos losing contact with it shortly after. It then emerged that the rocket carrying the satellite had been programmed with the wrong coordinates, and had instead been given bearings for far-off cosmodrome Baikonur. Deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin blamed the snafu on an “embarrassing programming error”, which isn’t going to instil much confidence in future guests of Russia’s space hotel, also announced this week.

Source: Guardian

A ‘Final Fantasy’ VR coaster is coming to Universal Studios Japan

Universal Studios Japan is launching a limited-time Final Fantasy ride and just released a video and other info to show what it’ll be like. Called the Final Fantasy XR ride, it uses the existing Space Fantasy the Ride roller coaster, with the addition of VR headsets playing Final Fantasy content. Riders will board airships and warp between various Final Fantasy worlds, meeting up with heroes and jeopardy along the way.

You’ll see Final Fantasy VII’s Sephiroth (above), along with Cloud, Squall, Lightning and others from pretty much all the game’s versions. All the visuals were produced by Final Fantasy developer Square Enix’s FX house, Visual Works, which created cut scenes for many of the games.

The ride is part of Universal Studios Japan’s annual Cool Japan event. It’s running for a limited time, but on the off-chance you’re in Osaka between January 19th and June 24th and happen to be a Final Fantasy fan, it looks worth a side-trip. Given the number of Final Fantasy versions and volume of content, we’re frankly surprised the game doesn’t have its own theme park.

Via: Kotaku

Source: Universal Studios Japan (translated)

Apple Pay Promo Offers $5 Off Fandango Movie Tickets

Apple is offering an Apple Pay promotion this week that discounts Fandango movie tickets by $5 when you make a purchase using either the Fandango app or the Fandango.com website.

The discount will be available on movie ticket purchases made through January 2, according to the email that went out to Apple customers this morning. When you make a purchase using Apple Pay, you will need to use the promo code “AppleCheer” at checkout to get the Fandango discount.

In addition to providing the Fandango deal, Apple is also highlighting retail apps that accept Apple Pay and can be used for New Year’s party planning, including Safeway, Party City, ULTA Beauty, Lyft, TouchTunes, and McDonald’s.

Over the course of the two months, Apple has been promoting Apple Pay through a series of emails that include deals and discounts. A November, email, for example, offered a discount on a Postmates Unlimited subscription.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
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Italian Clothing Company Wins the Right to Use Steve Jobs’ Name

An Italian clothing company that uses the name “Steve Jobs” as its brand will be able to continue using the moniker after winning a multi-year legal battle, reports Italian site la Repubblica Napoli (via The Verge).

Brothers Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato named their clothing brand “Steve Jobs” in 2012 after learning that Apple had not trademarked his name.

Image via la Repubblica Napoli
“We did our market research and we noticed that Apple, one of the best known companies in the world, never thought about registering its founder’s brand, so we decided to do it,” the two told la Repubblica Napoli.

The Barbatos designed a logo that resembles Apple’s own, choosing the letter “J” with a bite taken out of the side. Apple, of course, sued the two brothers for using Jobs’ name and a logo that mimics the Apple logo. In 2014, the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office ruled in favor of the Barbatos and rejected Apple’s trademark opposition.

While the outcome of the legal battle was decided in 2014, Vincenzo and Giacomo Barbato have been unable to discuss the case until now, as their claim on the brand was not settled until 2017.

The two told la Repubblica Napoli that Apple went after the logo, something that may have been a mistake. The Intellectual Property Office decided that the “J” logo that appears bitten was not infringing on Apple’s own designs as a letter is not edible and thus the cutout in the letter cannot be perceived as a bite.

Image via Business Insider Italia
While the Barbatos currently produce bags, t-shirts, jeans, and other clothing and fashion items, they told Business Insider Italia that in the future, they plan to produce electronic devices under the Steve Jobs brand. “We are working on a line of highly innovative electronic devices, projects we have been working on for years,” said the two.
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‘Half-Life 3’ fan venture ‘Project Borealis’ is taking shape

The team behind Half-Life’s fan-made third instalment, Project Borealis, have been busy. In an update posted to Reddit, the developers revealed some of the progress they’ve made in their first few months of real pre-production, sharing screenshots of concept art, links to music samples and a few clues on the game’s plot structure. But while it’s no secret that the game is based on Marc Laidlaw’s Epistle 3 tale, the team is adamant it’s not going to leak any spoilers on the story “beyond what was originally laid out by Marc”.

The post also details some of the work being done with 2D and 3D components, as well as the “nuts and bolts” of the gameplay system. The team has spent hours looking at Half-Life specs to make sure it gets the mechanics right and to “make the base experience as close as possible to the original”. Still no work on when players can expect the game to land, but the update suggests meaningful progress is being made and that the team is just as eager as the fans to get it out there.

Source: Reddit

‘Ring in the New Year’ Activity Challenge Begins Appearing for Apple Watch Owners Ahead of January

One year after launching a “Ring in the New Year” challenge for Apple Watch owners, Apple today is rolling out the challenge again for 2018. The challenge’s rules appear slightly similar to last year, requiring you to close all three Activity rings for seven days in a row in January. During the previous challenge, you had to accomplish the same goal coupled with the specific requirement of the Activity streak lasting from a Monday to a Sunday.

Once you complete the task you’ll get a special Apple Watch achievement, which has been designed liked the 2017 award. Apple has been consistently launching Apple Watch challenges for its users, most recently including Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, Mother’s Day, Earth Day, and even a challenge designed to celebrate America’s national parks.

Apple Watch owners in the United States should start noticing the challenge appearing on their Apple Watch and within the Activity iOS app today. For users in other countries, the challenge began appearing yesterday.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: Activity ChallengeBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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Apple Holding Discussions With Saudi Arabian Government to Open Retail Store in 2019

Apple could debut its first retail location within Saudi Arabia as soon as 2019, thanks to the government’s current push towards a “high-tech look” for the country. Reuters reports today that officials in Saudi Arabia’s capital of Riyadh — including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — are currently in licensing discussions with both Apple and Amazon in an effort to entice major technology companies into the country.

Apple is rumored to be talking with SAGIA, Saudi Arabia’s foreign investment authority, and a licensing agreement for Apple’s retail stores with the authority is expected to come by February 2018. The first location would then be targeted for an opening in 2019.

Image of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia via Wikimedia Commons

Apple and Amazon are in licensing discussions with Riyadh on investing in Saudi Arabia, two sources told Reuters, part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s push to give the conservative kingdom a high-tech look.

A licensing agreement for Apple stores with SAGIA is expected by February, with an initial retail store targeted for 2019, said two sources familiar with the discussions.

Amazon’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services, is said to be leading the company’s discussions with Saudi Arabian officials. The talks are believed to be in “earlier stages” than Apple’s, with no specific time frame given for Amazon’s investment plans in the country.

The Saudi Arabian government’s regulations previously placed heavy limits on foreign ownership of businesses, preventing companies like Apple and Amazon from coming to the country. In the past two years, however, falling crude oil prices “highlighted the need to diversify” the country’s dependency on oil within its economy, leading to courting technology companies.

Evidence of this came in September, when Saudi Arabia lifted a ban on services that provide access to calling someone over the internet, including Apple’s FaceTime. The ban was enacted in 2013 and began due to the government’s fear of non-secure internet communication among its residents, but was lifted this year in the country’s new efforts to “attract more business” to its economy.

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.

Related Roundup: Apple StoresTag: Saudi Arabia
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iPhone X too expensive for you? A rumored price cut may change that

The most expensive iPhone yet may become slightly cheaper next year, if new rumors are to be believed, potentially enticing more people to by an iPhone X. The reason? Apple isn’t selling enough of them in the United States, Singapore, Taiwan, and other important markets.

This comes from a DigiTimes report, a website known for its hit-or-miss rumor coverage, so don’t take any future price cut as certain. However, it follows on from reports Apple plans to lower its iPhone X orders for the first three months of 2018 due to an apparent lack of demand. The best way to drum up new business? Cut the price.

Analysts at JL Warren Capital blamed, “weak demand because of the iPhone X’s high price point,” in a quote to Bloomberg, and expects shipments to fall from 30 million over the last three months, to 25 million in the first three months of 2018. Other analysts estimate far higher predicted sales numbers, and greater drops for the iPhone X next year.

The iPhone X starts at $1,000, but can cost a lot more depending on the amount of storage space it contains. How much will Apple cut from the price? The DigiTimes rumor doesn’t go into any detail, and should it come to pass, we shouldn’t expect the iPhone X to suddenly challenge the OnePlus 5T at about $500. The report’s wording suggests the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus — which suffered from poor sales due to anticipation for the iPhone X —  may also fall in price.

Apple isn’t averse to dropping the price of an iPhone, but mostly it does so when a new model is about to come out, or has just been released. If the outgoing iPhone is still current in Apple’s range, then a $100 price drop isn’t uncommon. Cutting the price on a current phone just a few months after release is more unusual; but it did pull a similar trick to reinvigorate iPad sales in 2017.

The iPad cuts may give us a clue about how much Apple could reduce the iPhone X by, and they range from $50 to $100. Would you consider buying a $950 iPhone X, after deciding a $1,000 iPhone X was too much? For now, no such price drop is official, and the rumor’s source isn’t always reliable; but it’s intriguing due to how it fits in with analyst concerns about the iPhone X’s overall sales success.

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Carrier report card: How we rated the Big Four U.S. networks in 2017

See who passed, who failed, and who needs to stay after class when it comes to the Big Four.

As part of any year-end roundup worth its salt, it’s time for a look at how the companies who provide our phone service did over the last 12 months.

For most people, talking about a cell phone provider is not sitting high on a list of interesting things. And that’s great, maybe even the way it should be. The best carrier for you will be the one that’s just there and works without any unnecessary fuss or fiddling, and as long as you send it a few dollars every month, there is nothing to talk about. That means picking the right carrier is one of the most important things about having an Android phone.

We’re going to look at four areas that make a big difference in how much we love our phones and see how each carrier did in them. And we’re going to be grading their performance and talk about how the grades were earned. It’s fun (and important) to judge things this way!

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The Network

A look at a map will tell you why it’s impossible for any carrier to cover all of the U.S. Any company that would try to provide top-tier performance for every location inside our borders would quickly run red ink and disappear — the country is too big. Thanks to newer technology and the ever-increasing population, things are better than they used to be, but we have a long way to go before we can say any company has you covered everywhere.

In this category, both total coverage and good coverage matter. The way we tend to use our phones means that low-speed or spotty service is no better than not having any at all. This is based on our experience, feedback from users, and actual real-world experience rather than coverage maps.

• Verizon: B+. Verizon once again has the best overall coverage in the U.S. and it’s getting even better. In 2017, Verizon quietly continued to expand coverage in rural areas and tried to keep providing the same excellent service available in metropolitan centers. Unlimited data plans, however, did have a major impact on LTE network speed averages. OpenSignal noted that average data speeds on Verizon’s LTE network slowed to 14 Mbps and we’re reading the same experience from users around the web. Anecdotally, we’re not seeing a dramatic difference in the areas we live, work, and play here, but all signs say they exist.

Where Verizon can improve: Find a way to deal with congestion. No matter how much bandwidth is available in total, it’s shared bandwidth. More people using more data makes it difficult to spread it all around and users aren’t very happy with ideas like throttling or spotty performance. Verizon isn’t afraid to spend money on equipment when it needs to, and this is a tough thing to fix that will need plenty of money.

• T-Mobile: B. While T-Mobile can’t boast when it comes to total coverage, the company can claim to have the most reliable service in the places it does cover. Network availability and speed in metro areas is strong, and OpenSignal claims that T-Mobile outperforms even Verizon here. Our experience supports this, as does user feedback. Not having the same network footprint as Verizon can’t be ignored, though.

Where T-Mobile can improve: Rural coverage. It’s well-known that finding the spot where T-Mobile goes from great to non-existent isn’t difficult. Usually, you only need to drive a few miles from any town or interstate to see things go from good to bad and even T-Mobile is aware they need to step it up outside their comfort zone. The 600 MHz spectrum is the fix and T-Mobile is positioned to use it.

• AT&T: C. A “C” grade means average, and that’s exactly what AT&T’s network in 2017 earns. It too experienced a significant slowdown in network speeds when an unlimited plan was made available in OpenSignal’s testing, though not as dramatic as Verizon’s with speeds dropping by just 1 Mbps to 13 Mbps on average. Network availability remains mostly unchanged since last January, as does the total network footprint. AT&T’s network performance is steady and stable in our testing and according to user feedback. A healthy “C” grade fits perfectly.

Where AT&T can improve: Like Verizon, AT&T has coverage in almost any location. Maintaining the level of service throughout the year in the face of more customers using more data is impressive, but we think AT&T could better utilize its fiber optic cable network to bring a faster and more reliable service to more customers. Without increasing the rates for either.

• Sprint: D. Sprint was in a tough spot all around in 2017. It is doing a fair job improving its existing network, though not at the pace we would like to see, but expansion seems to have stopped. OpenSignal noted that in several locales like Cincinnati, Sprint had both the best speed and reliability, so they are capable of going toe-to-toe with any other company in existing markets. Our anecdotal evidence has Sprint outperforming every other company in the western DC suburbs and maintaining the same level of service in other markets. Plenty of users can report the same, but more people have a very different experience.

Where Sprint can improve: Money. For the past few years, it seems that every plan to turn Sprint around has failed. The growth we hoped to see when SoftBank acquired 70% of the company in 2012 never really materialized and we once again saw attempts to consolidate and merge Sprint into another company. Sprint owns very valuable assets and has control over plenty of spectrum. With the right leadership, it could eclipse the competition.

Customer service

Of of the perks that come with using a “big four” carrier is the level of customer service you receive when compared to pre-paid service or an MVNO. We expect to be taken care of when we’re spending more money, and each carrier tries to deliver it. Some did well, while others struggled.

• Verizon: A. By all accounts, Verizon excels when it comes to customer service. For every horror story, you’ll see there is a counterpoint where Verizon has gone above and beyond to offer support. Offering tech support for users of such a complicated service is difficult, and Verizon does it best.

• T-Mobile: B-. T-Mobile may not have the expansive online tools that Verizon has (which the grade reflects), but they have mastered one very important area when it comes to customer service — social media. Tweet or message a support issue to T-Mobile’s army of social media experts and you’ll get a response almost every time. That’s impressive.

• AT&T: C. Once again AT&T comes in with a “C” grade because there hasn’t been much change. AT&T offers good customer service to subscribers (with pre-paid support for Cricket users a highlight) but the company hasn’t gone the extra mile to improve dramatically in any area. This isn’t a bad spot to be in, but we would like to see AT&T get even better here.

• Sprint: D. I don’t want to give Sprint a failing grade when it comes to customer service because of one reason — the dedication of their support staff. We’ve mentioned how leadership and money remains a big problem for Sprint and its customer service reflects this. While we can’t see any one area where Sprint is doing a great job at the corporate level, we can say that the employees are doing their best with what they have. Hard work and dedication of support staff deserve to be rewarded and because of the sincere desire to help we see from the people on the phones and on social media they garner a “D” grade instead of failing outright.

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Service plans

It’s not just the number of plans or the price that matters here. A company needs to provide the right plan for everyone (or as many users as possible) with the right features at the right price. Every carrier did well here in 2017, and we couldn’t be more pleased!

Best unlimited plan

• T-Mobile: A+. No more games with unlimited plans from T-Mobile. Calls, texts, and data (up to a whopping 50GB before any throttling) with a clear policy on high-resolution streaming are now the norm. Add in a cheaper option for seniors and you get that “A” grade. Paying all the taxes and fees gets that A+.

• Sprint: A. Sprint’s unlimited plans simply can’t be beaten. Excellent pricing and few restrictions on service are exactly what we want to see from a service provider and Sprint does both. If it ever gets the network in shape, Sprint could be our top pick for the best unlimited plan. We also have to mention that Sprint’s unlimited plans are priced so well that there isn’t much need for tiered data plans on its network. We like what we see from Sprint when it comes to service plans.

• Verizon: A. Unlimited data made a triumphant return to Verizon in 2017, and small snafus with streaming resolution are negated with a quick realization that two tiers of unlimited data plan better serve both the customer and the bottom line. Well done, Big Red. Well done indeed.

• AT&T: A. Like Verizon, seeing an unlimited plan return to AT&T was unexpected but welcomed. Seeing it include 10GB of LTE tethering blew our minds — nobody ever expected AT&T to include tethering on an unlimited plan. If you’re not a DirecTV subscriber, the top tier plan can be a bit pricey but millions of iPhones and Galaxy phones are chewing through more battery power than ever now that unlimited on AT&T is back. That is a good thing.

Every carrier did great here and that means the real winners was all of us.

Phone selection

This gets ignored too often when it comes to talking about carriers and how they are doing. We’re looking at both the phones a carrier sells and unlocked phones that work on the network as well as the company policy when it comes to using them.

• AT&T: A / T-Mobile: A (tie). No surprises here. Both AT&T and T-Mobile sell the most popular flagships from Apple and Samsung, decent mid-range phones from other names we know and trust like LG or Motorola, and entry-level phones for people who aren’t tethered to a touchscreen all day and don’t want to be or can’t afford it. What gives each carrier an “A” grade is their network technology for both voice and data. GSM is the worldwide standard and there are very few unlocked phones sold that won’t work on either.

• Verizon: C. We never thought we would see the day when all phones sold from Verizon were SIM unlocked and you were able to bring a phone with compatible network bands to use as an LTE-only device to Big Red. This might be a requirement for the spectrum Verizon was awarded, but the lack of resistance to the idea is awesome and we’re glad it stopped. What keeps Verizon from getting an outright “A” grade is not something they can fix for a while — a CDMA network. You need a phone number and service to make calls and send texts, and Verizon isn’t able to certify most unlocked devices for VoLTE. It’s great that the HTC U11 “works” on Verizon. It’s not great that the OnePlus 5T doesn’t.

• Sprint: C-. Sprint is a huge company that phone manufacturers want to support, even though you only hear the bad news about it. All the big names in mobile offer their best devices through Sprint and a wide selection of inexpensive phones are available, too. What keeps Sprint from getting an above-average grade is both their CDMA network and their list of “approved” unlocked phones. The network is something they can’t change right away (though like Verizon, they are working on it) and unlocked phones must be able to use Sprint’s CDMA network to get service. On the plus side, it’s easy to get your Sprint phone unlocked. On the minus side, many Sprint phones don’t support the LTE bands you might need with another carrier.

2017 was a good year

The return of unlimited data to AT&T and Verizon capped a great year where we saw T-Mobile continue to push towards the top and Sprint maintaining their presence as a top-tier provider despite the odds against it. Other highlights were T-Mobile eating the fees and taxes on your bill, Sprint making family plans almost free after you pay for the first line, and seeing all of the major carriers reacting to each other to give us more and better choices when it comes to phone service.

Here’s hoping 2018 is even better!

Carriers

• Which unlimited plan should you buy?
• Verizon’s Unlimited plans: Everything you need to know
• Everything you need to know about the T-Mobile ONE unlimited plan
• Everything you need to know about the AT&T Unlimited plan
• Everything you need to know about Sprint’s Unlimited Freedom plan
• Join the Discussion

The Morning After: Thursday, December 28th 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Good morning. NASA is already planning a mission in 2069, we watch an iPhone X camouflage your face, and combine sex, robots and popular culture.

Hype matters more than quality.Will Smith’s ‘Bright’ is terrible, but that doesn’t matter to Netflix

Despite a low Rotten Tomatoes review score (32 percent), Bright could still be the algorithmically-created hit Netflix is seeking.

If you have a TV, you can explore most of the issues yourself.You don’t need a Ph.D. to grasp the anxieties around sex robots

Many of the preoccupations that were on display at the third International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots are ones previously explored in pop culture. From Futurama to Westworld, going back to Weird Science and The Stepford Wives, the questions that academics are currently pondering have already been played out, fictionally at least, on TV. To spare you a lot of very dry reading, we offer this guide on what you should be watching. If last year’s show was about the potential for humanity to cause harm to robots, then this year’s was devoted to our anxieties about our transhumanist future.

“I do not really know what it can be used for.”Watch a developer erase his face with the iPhone X

The iPhone X’s Face ID sensors have shown great potential for art, gaming and the weird, but a Japanese developer has taken another tack with the device. Using Unity, ViRD game developer @noshipu, aka Kazuya Noshiro, completely erased his face, except for his mouth and eyes. Calling the trick “optical camouflage,” Noshiro admitted that he has no clue about a use case. “If you want to make your face transparent, we’re recruiting,” he joked.

Keep downloading.Nintendo is delaying the Switch’s 64GB game cards

To get around the Switch’s current 32GB limit on game cards, Bethesda split Doom into two parts. The single player campaign is what shipped on the game card, and multiplayer was a separate download. It sounds like that might be the norm for a bit longer. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nintendo won’t start supplying 64GB game cards until 2019, around six months later than the original mid-2018 target. According to WSJ’s sources, some technical issues are to blame, Nintendo wants to ensure that product quality is up to snuff.

Politics can’t stop the revolution.Year in review: Green tech will be everywhere in 2018

With the green energy expectations of consumers, companies and governments all getting higher, 2018 has a lot to deliver. Here’s what to expect on the consumer side for EVs, clean home power, battery storage backup, and more.

Do you suffer from gaming disorder?The WHO may add video games to its list of recognized addictions

If you have lacked control over playing video games (like when and how often), prioritized gaming over other life interests and are unable to stop playing games even when negative consequences have occurred as a result, then you may be an addict. Well, you might be if the World Health Organization keeps “Gaming Disorder” on the International Classification of Diseases list when it finalizes the 11th revision next year.

But wait, there’s more…

• Apple’s original graphical OS will be available for free in 2018
• LG unveils its first smart speaker with Google Assistant
• What’s on TV: ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Bill Nye’ and bowl games
• Hackers say Nintendo’s hidden golf game on Switch is gone
• NASA hopes to send a probe to Alpha Centauri in 2069

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