Schwarzkopf’s smart salon personalizes your hair care regimen

As a woman whose long, thick hair has undergone several chemical treatments, I’ve always been concerned about the health and quality of my tresses. When I heard about Schwarzkopf Professional’s new hair analyzer, I was naturally intrigued by its potential uses. The company is bringing its SalonLab Analyzer system to Schwarzkopf salons across the US and Europe in 2018, so you can get a better understanding of how damaged your hair is. Not only that, salons can also use the information learned to better cater their treatments to your needs, as well as create personalized shampoos on the spot. I went for a quick consultation at CES 2018, and am so far impressed by what it offers.

To be clear, this system isn’t meant to replace hairstylists. In fact, it requires the input of an experienced professional to fill out a brief questionnaire about your hair, based on her observations and expertise. At Schwarzkopf’s suite in Las Vegas, I was attended to by the company’s professional global ambassador Lesley Lawson, who quickly entered my hair length, color and previous chemical treatments.

Then, she picked up the scanner and ran my hair through the opening, just like you would with a flat iron. Depending on your hair length, your stylist may scan one, two or three different points to judge its quality. Since my hair cascades down to my lower back, Lawson sampled a swatch of hair at my roots and again down closer to the tips.

The scanner, which has an image sensor to capture color data and an infrared sensor to measure cysteic acid levels, will send that information to the app. Schwarzkopf’s reps said cysteic acid is produced when the bonds holding protein strands in our hair are broken, so the more of it is present, the more brittle your hair is. According to the scanner, my hair condition is a relatively poor 60 percent (average of results scanned at the various sample sites), but a healthy 33 percent moist.

After getting your results, you can use the app to pick a dye and get to see what the actual hue will be based on your original hair color. You can also overlay the shades you’re considering over your hair in real-time via the app’s AR function. As we were running out of time at my appointment, I unfortunately didn’t get to try this feature out. But if it works well, it could help people better communicate with their stylists on the look they want or what colors best complement their complexions and faces.

At the end of the session, the app generates a shampoo formula based on your hair data, and sends it to what Schwarzkopf calls the SalonLab Customizer, which is basically an on-site shampoo “printer”. In merely 45 seconds, my little sample bottle of shampoo was ready, and the Customizer also spat out a little sticker that used the first two letters of my name to create a faux element a la the periodic table. This label also has a barcode that can be scanned at other partner salons to simply refill your formula.

I haven’t used my personalized shampoo yet, so I can’t comment on whether it indeed makes my hair feel better. Although customized hair products and AR apps to try out hair colors aren’t new, there hasn’t been an implementation that’s as comprehensive as Schwarzkopf’s. Plus, this is more of a professional solution that actually uses data from your manes, compared to competing custom formulation services that base your product on your answers to a set of questions.

Schwarzkopf recommends that salons offer SalonLab Analyzer as a premium service to its clients, although it doesn’t dictate how much they charge. Depending on your local stores, you may be able to try out this service for free, or pay a small fee. Although I haven’t been able to get any real benefit from trying out the new system yet, I feel more confident about working with my stylist if we both had such information about my hair. I’d also be more inclined to pay more for an add-on like a moisturizing treatment if presented with data about my hair quality.

To some, this may seem like yet another one of many services hairstylists are known for trying to upsell to you. But when combined with the app and custom shampoo service, this feels like a more well-rounded approach that could actually be useful.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

Tech wants to solve our tech-related sleep problems

Technology is bad for sleep. It keeps us constantly exposed to an endless cycle of bad news, and the blue light emitted by smartphone and tablet displays suppresses our ability to produce melatonin. Combine that with the feelings of inadequacy generated by watching other people’s picture-perfect lives on social media, and it’s no surprise that we’re all restless.

Sleep technology exists to solve this issue, and there were plenty of companies exhibiting new devices here at CES 2018. Many of them intend to tell you how well, or poorly, you have slept each night, in the hope you’ll make better decisions the following day. But, as well as becoming more commonplace, sleep gadgets are going to become far more diverse, at least according to what we saw at the show.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers have tracked sleep for years, using the principles of actigraphy: Monitoring how you move as you sleep with algorithms used to calculate your cycles. The less you move, the thinking goes, the deeper your sleep.

This week, companies like Nokia and Emfit both launched new underbed sensors that do the same job, but without a device on your wrist. The former will track your sleep duration and quality and offers a sleep-coaching function if you’re having trouble nodding off. In addition, the Nokia Sleep sensor offers control of your smart home with IFTTT, triggering recipes as you begin to nod off.

Using sleep technology as an extension of the smart home seems to be the beachhead from which these companies plan to enter our homes. Sleepace exhibited a whole suite of connected home gear that’ll automate your pad when it senses you’re sleeping. Spend enough cash and your residence will turn off the TV and draw the blinds as soon as you climb into bed. When you’re rousing the following morning, the system could gently turn on the lights and fire up the coffee machine.

Wake-up lights were sleep technology well before sleep technology was a thing, using daylight simulation to trigger your natural circadian rhythm. It’s probably best exemplified by Philips’ Wake Up Light, and at CES 2018 competing products appeared from companies like Witti and Aromarest. The latter pulls double duty as a scent diffuser, much like Bescent’s forthcoming night-time sleeping aid.

Other devices are attempting to appeal more to the marginal-gains crowd looking to get an edge on their bodies. Dreamlight, for instance, is an intelligent sleep mask that offers light therapy in the eye cups and sleep coaching. If you have taken a genetic test with 23andMe, you can even customize the sleep programs according to your DNA. Even to the point where, should your genetics indicate so, you can attempt to sleep like Leonardo DaVinci, who famously took 20-minute polyphasic sleep naps every four hours.

Sleep Number, which sells smart beds that cost upwards of a thousand dollars, claims that its SleepIQ platform is the “future of health and wellness.” The company believes that its monitoring technology will soon be able to proactively spot and warn you of medical conditions ahead of time. For instance, its future beds may be able to identify symptoms such as an irregular heart rate or breathing pattern, look for signs of you being laid up with the flu and relay vital signs to medical professionals. Assuming, of course, that its users are comfortable with the sheer volume of data that is being collected against them.

Then there are the more extreme interventions, like the recently launched bed from Magniflex, which will actually try to stop you snoring each night. Should its sensors detect your nostrils making the sound of falling rocks, the head of the bed will lift up by a couple of inches. That gentle motion should be enough to motivate your unconscious body to shift around, jolting you into stopping snoring.

There’s also Somnox, a pricey sleep robot in the shape of a peanut, which you cuddle up to over night. The device is designed to simulate breathing as if you were snuggling up to a loved one or pet, playing soothing music to get you off to sleep. Although setting you back $550 to buy one might make you reconsider just how much you need to spend on getting some shut-eye.

Of course, the lingering issue over many of these products is if there is a genuine need for them at all. Professor Jean Tenge at San Diego State University believes there is a much simpler solution to solve our sleep-related woes: put down the phone. In an editorial at The Conversation, she explained that limiting smartphone use is the fastest way for us to enjoy more restful sleep. The rule of thumb is to avoid using your phone as an alarm clock, don’t take it to bed and don’t use it in the hour before you sleep. If we want to remain sane, our bedrooms need to be as analog an environment as possible. Not that the technology industry will tell you that, of course, because very few people get rich by not selling you things.

Additional photography: Nicole Lee and Chris Ip.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2018.

‘Pokémon Go’ Community Days bring exclusive captures every month

Starting this month, Pokémon Go players will be able to participate in monthly events that will bring out special Pokémon with exclusive moves. Community Days will be worldwide events and to take part, you’ll just have to head outside to your local park. Each Community Day will feature a special Pokémon that will pop up more frequently for a few hours. Other event perks could include increased XP or Stardust, and Lure Modules activated on Community Days will last for three hours.

The first Community Day is scheduled for January 20th and the special Pokémon will be Pikachu, which will boast the exclusive event move Surf. As an added bonus, players will also dearn double XP during the Community Day event. You can see what time your region’s event will take place here.

Source: Pokémon Go

TimeFlip Magnet hands-on review

Research Center:
TimeFlip Magnet

No-one wants to waste time. We lead busy lives and must get used to multi-tasking and managing varied tasks, sometimes setting strict time limits on how long we spend doing something. This is the case for entrepreneurs, anyone who works at home, parents observing how long their kids spend watching TV over doing homework, and even for bosses checking office productivity (boo).

The thing is, checking how long you work on something is often a hit-or-miss mix of checking the clock, setting an alarm, or some other convoluted way that often ends up being forgotten or ignored. That’s where the TimeFlip Magnet comes in. It’s a simple idea that could transform the way you track time. Our TimeFlip hands-on review appropriately took place at CES 2018, where it’s notoriously hard to manage time, and such a device would come in handy, if only to see how little sleep everyone gets.

TimeFlip Magnet looks like a large, multi-sided plastic dice. Each side is blank when it arrives, ready to attach one of the custom stickers that comes in the pack — each using icons to show common tasks, like email and social networking — but you can create your own that are specific for you too. The dice-like case contains the TimeFlip Magnet module, which has an accelerometer inside, and is powered by a coin-cell battery that should last for up to a year. It connects to the TimeFlip app using Bluetooth.

You’re just about to start work on an overflowing email inbox, and only want to dedicate a certain amount of time to it before having lunch for an hour. Place the TimeFlip magnet with the email icon facing up, and the app begins tracking your time. When you’re done, and are ready to have lunch, turn the TimeFlip Magnet round to the side marked break, or food, and the app automatically switches to the new task. A circular graph in the app shows a breakdown of how you spend your time, which is also viewable on a web interface. The app also integrates with a variety of different task management systems, including Trello, Todoist, and Zendesk.

It’s a simple idea that could transform the way you track time.

It’s incredibly simple, and because it’s automated, there’s a far lower chance of you ignoring it. It’s also easily customised with either your own stickers or using a non-permanent marker to write ever-changing tasks on each side. If you’re really keen, an entirely new case can be 3D printed, ready for the TimeFlip Magnet module clipped inside. The name references the magnets used to keep the whole dice structure together.

The TimeFlip Magnet appeals because it’s easy. In the same way that fitness trackers aren’t used when they’re too complicated or time-intensive, we don’t want to spend time measuring our time either. It’s good to see a device that doesn’t get too deeply involved in adding features, or complicating things in the name of, “adding value.” It does one thing, and appears to do it well. It’s not the most aesthetically pleasing device, and we’d like to have seen other colors or designs. It’s also fairly expensive at $50.

TimeFlip Magnet Compared To

Star Wars: Jedi Challenges

Ventev Wirelesspro

Insta360 One

Samsung DeX Station

Oaxis InkCase i7 Plus

Ampy Move

Neo Smartpen N2

Motrr Galileo

Typo keyboard case

Moga Mobile Gaming Controller

Hasbro My3D

Iomega SuperHero

BlackBerry Presenter

Callpod Chargepod

Griffin Elan Holster

You can buy the TimeFlip Magnet through the company’s website now, where it has a shipping time of around four weeks at the time of writing. If you struggle with managing time, or want to keep a check on someone else’s time without adding a cumbersome or annoying new task, then it’s worth investigating.

Escape reality with the best augmented reality apps for Android and iOS

Augmented reality (AR) has long sounded like a wild futuristic concept, but the technology has actually been around for years. AR is all about superimposing computer-generated images on top of your view of reality, thus creating a composite view that augments the real world. AR apps run the gamut, from interactive map overlays and virtual showrooms to massive multiplayer skirmishes. More and more ARKit apps are rolling out on Apple’s iOS, and, while Google has killed off Project Tango, it’s still looking at ARCore as the future.

The available selection of augmented reality apps is diverse. Here are our top picks for the best augmented reality apps available, whether you’re searching for iOS or Android apps.

The best AR apps

‘Pokémon Go’ (Free)

It wouldn’t be a list of the best AR apps without mentioning Niantic’s Pokémon Go, a game that has quickly captured everyone’s attention and given them a reason to go out into the world, walk around, and catch Pokémon. The game uses GPS to mark your location, and move your in-game avatar, while your smartphone camera is used to show Pokémon in the real world. For the most part, it works, provided the game hasn’t crashed or frozen. There aren’t a lot of instructions when you first start, or information regarding game mechanics like the colored rings around wild Pokémon, but thanks to the nature of the internet, figuring out what to do isn’t that tough.

Players of Ingress, another Niantic creation, will see many similarities between the developer’s two games, right down to the locations marked as Pokéstops and Gyms. So far the game has received multiple updates, and hundreds of new Pokémon have been added, and Niantic is set to continue updating the game to improve its performance and add new features like trading, so we imagine Pokémon Go will stick around for a good, long while.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Ink Hunter (Free)

Ink Hunter is the app you should use when deciding on a tattoo and where to put it. The app lets you try out pre-made tattoos, as well as your own designs, and they can be oriented in whatever position you like and placed on any part of the body. Tattoos placed on the body using the camera look as close to real life as you’re going to get — without actually going under the needle that is — and that’s all thanks to the in-app editor and the way Ink Hunter renders tattoos. The app previously only supported black-and-white tattoos, but its latest update added support for color tattoos as well, meaning you can get a better understanding of what the design will look like before you make it permanent.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Holo (Free)

Remember the AR stickers on the Google Pixel? This app is pretty much where it all began. Holo allows you to take characters from both fictional worlds and the real world, and drag and drop them into your immediate surroundings; a process Holo refers to as “Holo-mixing”. Each of the characters, which range from YouTube celebrities to fictional characters, performs a range of set animations and sounds when placed in the world, and can be shrunk and expanded to match your ideal placement.

The actual execution can be a little glitchy, and the AR functionality isn’t without its bugs — you might find that the characters you’ve placed like to move with you, rather than letting you move around them — but as an app that’s available across both Android and iOS, it’s certainly an impressive endeavor nonetheless.

Download now for:

Android iOS

WallaMe (Free)

WallaMe lets you leave hidden messages in various locations around the world that can only be read by other people using the WallaMe app. When using the app, you can take a picture of a nearby wall, street, or sign, then use the in-app drawing and painting tools to create your own special messages. You can also attach pictures to the areas you’ve chosen, if only to prove you were actually there. The augmented reality really comes into play when you’re in a location that has a hidden message, but it can only be found by using WallaMe and your device’s camera. Messages can be made private, too, so that only friends using the app can see them, or they can be made public for everyone to discover.

WallaMe’s biggest strength also works against it, in a way. Those that aren’t aware of the app’s existence, or those that don’t regularly use it, may never see the clever messages created by others. That being said, fans of the app may want to keep it that way, in order to maintain the feel of exclusivity.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Google Translate (Free)

Google Translate isn’t strictly an AR app, but it does have one AR feature that’s incredibly useful for translating text. That particular feature is part of the app’s camera mode. Simply snap a photo of the text you don’t understand, and the app will translate the text in your photo in real time. When connected to Wi-Fi, the app supports a vast number of languages, but users can also download a number of language packs if they want to continue using the instant translation feature while offline or without a cellular connection. Next time you take a trip to a country with a language you aren’t fluent in, Google Translate could be your best friend and the only thing that will keep you from getting lost in a strange land.

Download now for:

Android iOS

Amikasa (Free)

Amikasa helps you style your room and figure out your desired layout before you ever buy a piece of furniture. Using your iPhone or iPad’s camera, you can easily walk around your bedroom, kitchen, work office, or any other room you decide to furnish, and place 3D models of various items to see how they look, or to discover their ideal placement. This includes the ability to tweak the color, because maybe that cherry red chair suits the room better than the peach. The app uses name brand items, which you can buy while using Amikasa, and if you’re ever unsure of your own style, your augmented rooms can be shared with friends and family through the app. The most recent update also added more kitchen faucets, cabinets, burners, and wallpapers, giving you even more options to design your perfect room.

Unfortunately, there’s no Android version available yet, but the IKEA Catalog app can offer similar functionality.

Download now for:

iOS

Google’s parent company quietly purchases U.K. startup Redux

CES 2018 is in full swing, and Google is busy showing off Google Assistant in smart displays, on the JBL Link View, and in a myriad of other devices. With all that going on, you’d be forgiven for not noticing that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, just quietly bought a U.K.-based startup that’s focused on integrating speaker functionality in smart device screens.

Redux has been working on technology that allows for sound to be emitted from underneath a device’s display, via an array of “micro-speaker” actuators placed beneath the touchscreen. These actuators create “bending waves” — or sound and vibration to the likes of you and me — that would effectively turn the device’s screen into a speaker. This would make a separate speaker redundant, and the extra space within the device could be used to increase battery size, add other components, or more completely waterproof the device. It’s an interesting idea, and one that Alphabet is clearly very interested in.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen tech like this; Sony built similar tech into last year’s Bravia A1E TVs, and building this sort of capability into increasingly space-starved smartphone design would be a massive boon for Google, who has been competing with Samsung and Apple for dominance of the premium smartphone market.

But that’s not all that Redux’s systems can be used for. Since sound is simply a series of vibrations, the micro-speaker array can also be used to create localized haptic feedback that could be used to mimic real-life touch. Imagine feeling a switch click under your finger, or be able to feel a rolling ball beneath your thumb, and you’ve got an idea of what such a system could be capable of. Smartphone touchscreens have plateaued over the last few years (with the exception of screen-based fingerprint scanning tech), and this sort of haptic feedback could signal a new beginning for smart devices of all types.

At the time of writing, Google has refused to release any details on the purchase, including how much Redux was purchased for, but it’s probably fair to say that Redux’s higher-ups won’t need to work for the rest of their lives. With much of the Google buzz at CES being centered around Google’s smart assistant and its integration into multiple devices, it might be that the reason we haven’t seen a Google-built smart speaker with a screen (like the Amazon Echo Show or JBL View Link) is because Google is planning to integrate this technology into a possible Google Home View — though that’s pure speculation at this time.

Redux’s website is now defunct, and can only be accessed by means of the Internet Archive service.

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Hackers may be able to access private WhatsApp conversations

Private conversations beware! Despite end-to-end encryption now being commonplace in WhatApp conversations, German cryptographers have discovered a minor flaw in WhatsApp’s security that could lead to private conversations being gatecrashed by uninvited hackers, bypassing the usual chat admin invitations.

In their paper, More is Less: On the End-to-End Security of Group Chats in Signal, WhatsApp, and Threema, presented to other enthusiasts at the Real World Crypto Symposium in Zurich, Switzerland, the team warned that WhatsApp has no security measures to stop invitations being spoofed from their own servers, leaving a hole that could leave millions of conversations at risk of being snooped on.

But it’s not all bad news. Essentially, the hacker would need to be in control of WhatsApp’s main chat servers — a fairly tall order — and only then would they be able to bypass the group’s administrator and insert users into any conversation. However, anyone who did manage to achieve this would then have near limitless power within the chat, being able to selectively block message visibility from accounts, and even block users from participating in the chat.

However, Facebook-owned WhatsApp doesn’t seem to be too worried about the potential hole in its security. A WhatsApp spokesperson (speaking to Wired) admitted that the flaw was real, but pointed out that there was no way that the added user could be hidden and receive messages from the group. WhatsApp has built-in security measures that stop hidden users from being able to participate in group chats, and anyone who wanted to snoop on a particular chat would find their cover quickly blown when the client announced their arrival to everyone in the chat, making it an inefficient way to spy on users. What’s more, disabling the flaw would likely break the “Group Invite Link” feature that many group chats enjoy — implying that the security issue likely stems from this particular feature.

However, Matthew Green of Johns Hopkins University called WhatsApp’s response “dumb,, likening it to leaving a bank’s vault open and relying on a single security camera to deter criminals. If any really sensitive information was stored in that group chat, then the hacker would have access to it, making WhatsApp’s lauded encryption useless.

WhatsApp has been in the news multiple times for reasons of security. After making all messages sent on its platform fully encrypted in 2016, the chat company has faced criticism from U.K. lawmakers, while action taken by Brazil was of a more serious nature.

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• Microsoft and Signal team up to bring end-to-end encryption to Skype
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• The 10 best messaging apps for Android and iOS

Boox Max 2 and Boox Note Pro hands-on review

Research Center:
Boox Max 2

E Ink screens are wonderfully versatile, and are surprisingly underused outside of ebook readers like the Amazon Kindle, and quirky devices like the Yotaphone. Boox — a name that’s pronounced like “books” — has been in the industry for years, but is only now branching out into selling its own hardware. At CES 2018 we met with the company to see its two latest products, the Boox Max2 and the Boox Note Pro, two big-screen, tablet-like devices that allow you to do so much more than just read the latest book.

We spent the most time using the Max2, which beats even the 12-inch iPad Pro when it comes to screen size. The massive E Ink Mobius display measures 13.1 inches and it has a 207dpi resolution. That’s higher than any other tablet of this size out there, and it makes a big difference. The screen is glorious — pin-sharp detail and crisp text, exactly what you want from a device like this. The screen is surrounded by a plastic bezel and wrapped in a very lightweight and slim metal body. It’s comfortable and easy to hold with one hand, and the sheer size gives a magazine-like reading experience.

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

While reading on an E Ink screen is always the No. 1 reason for buying one, the Boox Max2 does plenty more. It comes with a Wacom stylus to annotate PDFs, take notes during meetings or class, or even write music. There are built-in templates for all this, plus for artists, there are a variety of brushes and fonts to draw on the pressure sensitive screen with. E Ink screens have a reputation for being slow, but the Max2 is fast and fluid, and the stylus is brilliant to use, with notes and text appearing instantly. Everything can be saved and exported using a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or Micro USB connection.

Alongside the Micro USB port is a Micro HDMI port, which when connected to a computer turns the Max2 and Note Pro into a second display. This won’t be a feature for everyone, but could be useful for anyone who wants to avoid reading long documents on a PC screen. This is where E Ink screens excel — they don’t strain your eyes, which is why they’re so great for reading in bed.

Reading on an E Ink screen is always the number one reason for buying one.

Is the Max2 suitable for bedtime reading, considering its size? Possibly. Its definitely light enough, but it’s far from subtle. That’s where the Boox Note Pro comes in. It’s has a more sensible 10.3-inch screen size, with slim bezels running down the sides, yet still offers the same high resolution screen and speedy operation. The design is less businesslike as well. The two ebook readers have plenty of power with a 1.6GHz quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM, and either 32GB or 64GB of storage space. The 4,100mAh battery should last around a month without recharging with average use.

Both Boox tablets run Android 6.0, and have custom user interfaces over the top. It’s not like using your smartphone, despite the presence of Google’s operating system. The Max2 has several physical buttons to accompany the touchscreen, while the smaller has a single home button below the screen. Operation is swift, although don’t expect it to be as fast as using an Android tablet or an iPad — E Ink screens and devices don’t work like that. The user interface is fine, although it was a little confusing to use, and finding your way out of apps was often confusing or took too long. This should disappear after you’ve used it for a while though.

There’s plenty of file support — 11 different types in all, including PDF and some comic book formats — and additional features that make it a cool creative tool as well. They are quite expensive. It’s $800 for the Max 2, and $500 for the Note Pro, and both should be available to buy soon. While these prices sound high when compared to Amazon ebook readers, it’s in line with other similar examples like the Sony DPT-S1 and the ReMarkable tablet.

We liked the Boox ebook readers a lot. The build is excellent, they feel great in the hand, and the screens look superb. Most of all, we liked the versatility. Read magazines, books, and music, take notes, listen to audio through the speaker, and even the bonus of it working as a second monitor. If you’re investing in a big-screen ebook reader, definitely consider a Boox.

Boox Max 2 Compared To

Kindle Oasis (2017)

Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2

Kobo Aura One

Kindle Oasis

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 2015

Kindle Voyage

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2013)

Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight

Kobo Aura HD

Kobo Mini

Sony Reader PRS-T2

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

Spring Design Alex

Barnes & Noble Nook

Sony PRS-700

You’ll soon be able to get Google AMP quality without that pesky AMP URL

Every good thing seems to come with a price, and when it came to Google’s fast-loading webpages, that price was seeing an Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)-specific URL instead of a normal web address. But luckily, it looks like Google’s no longer charging us with those URLs.

This week, Malte Ubl, the tech lead for the AMP Project, announced that a new version of the AMP Cache would make its debut. In short, the team is changing how AMP works in Google Search and other platforms, and will thereby allow linked pages to “appear under publishers’ URLs instead of the google.com/amp URL space.” Best of all, this change won’t have any effect on the speed or privacy that comes along with AMP Cache serving. 

“When we first launched AMP in Google Search we made a big trade-off: To achieve the user experience that users were telling us that they wanted, instant loading, we needed to start loading the page before the user clicked.” Malte explained in a blog post. He continued, however, “Privacy reasons make it basically impossible to load the page from the publisher’s server … Instead, AMP pages are loaded from the Google AMP Cache but with that behavior the URLs changed to include the google.com/amp/ URL prefix.”

But now, Google is looking into a new version of the AMP Cache that is predicated upon the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Packing standard, which should make the AMP addresses look like, well … any other web address. Thus far, Google’s tests have proven satisfactory, and Malte wrote, “The next steps are moving towards fully implementing the new web standard in web browsers and in the Google AMP Cache.” The goal is for Web Packaging to become “available in as many browsers as possible,” he noted. “In particular, we intend to extend existing work on WebKit to include the implementation of Web Packaging and the Google Chrome team’s implementation is getting started.”

The new changes are expected to begin reaching users in the second half of 2018, but in order to take advantage of this upgrade, you’ll have to be sure to update your browser.

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Online supermarket Ocado’s humanoid robot is the factory worker of the future

United Kingdom online supermarket Ocado wants to establish itself as one of the most tech-savvy ecommerce companies around — and it’s got the (prototype) robot to prove it. Called ARMAR-6, the humanoid bot is being developed as part of the European Commission’s SecondHands project. It is now being put through its paces by Ocado’s innovation wing, Ocado Technology, with the goal of one day working alongside humans in its warehouses.

“The SecondHands project aims to create a robot that provides help to our warehouse technicians in a proactive manner,” Alex Voica, head of Technology PR and Communications for Ocado, told Digital Trends. “Our warehouses include state-of-the-art automation and robotics systems, and our technicians and operations engineers are tasked with ensuring that they function 24/7, 365 days a year. The ultimate goal is for the robot to use machine learning and computer vision to scan its surrounding environment and identify tasks it could help with. So, for example, if it observes a technician attempting to change a panel and requiring a set of tools, it will come and offer its assistance — either by holding the panel for the engineer or grabbing the various tools that are needed.”

In addition to picking up objects and recognizing its surroundings, ARMAR-6 will also benefit from an Alexa-style speech recognition system, allowing conversations between the robot and the humans it works with. Development on the robot is being carried out by a number of universities, including the the Institute for Anthropomatics and Robotics at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), University College London, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, and Sapienza University.

“The choice of a humanoid form factor was influenced primarily by its behavior when working with humans,” Voica continued. “While some industrial robots tend to position themselves in ways that are uncomfortable to humans, we really wanted to design a robot that can work seamlessly with our technicians and make their jobs easier instead of getting in the way. The choice of form also allowed the project to rely on [creator Professor Tamin Asfour’s] prior experience with building humanoid robots and accelerate the time to manufacture. Finally, having a humanoid behavior and form makes the interactions between humans and machines more natural. Research shows people are more comfortable working with both the morphology and behavior that they expect to see.”

At the end of the SecondHands project, the hope is that it will be possible to integrate all ARMAR’s separate technologies into one unified system. And after that? Smarter warehouses, hopefully. Who knows? If Ocado ever branches out into physical stores, we could even find ARMAR-6 on the shop floor.

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