Qualcomm’s sample headset teases what’s next for mobile VR

Ahead of Mobile World Congress, which is taking place in Barcelona next week, Qualcomm has announced a VR headset reference design based on its latest Snapdragon Mobile VR platform. The new system works on the Snapdragon 845, the company’s latest premium mobile chipset, and will bring about new features like foveated rendering and room-scale tracking. According to Qualcomm, it’ll also be 30 percent faster and use 30 percent less power than the Snapdragon 835 version.

The Snapdragon 835 is already in some notable VR headsets, including the HTC Vive Focus and Lenovo’s Mirage Solo. With the 845, devices can support higher-res displays, with “more than twice as much display throughput compared to the Snapdragon 835 mobile platform,” according to the company’s announcement. That means dual screens, each with 2K resolutions, can be powered by the chip at the same time.

The Snapdragon 845 will also enable what Qualcomm calls Adreno Foveation, which is basically foveated rendering using its Adreno GPU. The reference design headset has four cameras — two of which are pointing at the user’s face to track your pupils. The GPU uses that information to render higher quality graphics where the eyes are paying attention.

The new platform will also support what the company calls Roomscale tracking, using inside-out 6-DoF (degrees of freedom) tracking with SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) to follow your body and the room you’re in. This way, it can detect obstacles in front of you so you can avoid them while remaining immersed in VR.

Although we first heard about the Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform in December, seeing the reference design gives us a glimpse of what to expect in the next generation of mobile VR headsets. The reference design is available for both standalone goggles as well as those where you have to slot in a smartphone to power the VR experience. While we’ve seen examples of foveated rendering and SLAM in other devices, it’s likely that Snapdragon-powered headsets will be more widely available.

According to Qualcomm, the Vive Focus was a derivative of its Snapdragon 835 reference design, which is another reason why this is a taste of upcoming VR devices. To date, the company said it has “supported customers in the launch of more than 20 XR (Xtended Reality) devices across standalone head-mounted displays and XR-capable smartphones.” We’ll be checking out the actual device itself at MWC next week, so stay tuned for our impressions.

Facebook Messenger adds an easy way to start group calls

If you’ve ever tried initiating a group voice or video call on Messenger, then you know that it’s not intuitive at all. You’d have to hang up on your friend, start a new group convo and then call from within that window to be able to talk to several friends at the same time. Facebook must have realized that the process shouldn’t be more complex than setting up a three-way call on a landline, so it has launched an easier way to initiate group calls. Now, when you want to bring the rest of your circle into an ongoing call, you simply have to tap on the screen and select the “add person” icon.

From there, you can choose the people to add and be able to see them all on your screen if it’s a video chat. The original person you’re talking to won’t have to miss anything if you called to show them, say, an event going on in real time — and yes, filters work even when you’re talking to several people. The feature is most likely one of the improvements Facebook promised for group chats back in January, when it announced its plans to simplify Messenger this year. It’s now available for both iOS and Android devices around the globe; you just have to update your app to be able to make initiating group chats a more seamless experience.

Source: Facebook

Watch SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch its internet satellite payload

A SpaceX Falcon 9 is blasting into the skies today carrying Hisdesat’s PAZ satellite, which will spend five and a half years carrying out radar and imaging work for the Spanish government and businesses. The launch, which uses a first stage booster previously used last August during the FORMOSAT-5 mission, will also have on board SpaceX’s first demonstration satellites for its proposed satellite broadband service, which will be tested out before a full constellation launch over the next five years. Weather permitting, you’ll be able to watch the launch live on PAZ’s YouTube channel at 9AM EST (6AM PST), although a back-up window has been scheduled for Thursday 22 February, should things go awry — since today’s launch was initially slated for February 17, that’s not entirely unfeasible.

Via: TechCrunch

Parallels Toolbox 2.5 for Mac Gains Web Page Screenshot Feature, Batch Image Conversion, and More

Parallels has released Parallels Toolbox 2.5 for Mac, bringing a handful of new features to the standalone application which aren’t necessarily tied to virtualization. Essentially, the Toolbox places a drop-down menu in the Mac’s menu bar, allowing users to do certain tasks more quickly. Tasks include the ability to record the screen, take screenshots, record audio, archive files, convert and download video, lock the screen, and more.

New one-click tools in this version include: a Screenshot Page function, which lets you capture and print lengthy web pages that don’t fit on a single screen; a Free Memory tool for checking available RAM and quickly reclaiming memory; and a batch image resizing utility to convert multiple images to your desired file size and format.

Elsewhere, Toolbox 2.5 includes enhancements to existing functions, such as Clean Drive live disk monitoring, extended Download Video and Record Video options, and new delay settings for Screen Capture. In addition to the above, Parallels has streamlined the video/photo capture and conversion process, and enhanced the presentation and screen sharing modes to make additional options available to the host user. This version also has Archive and Unarchive utilities bundled to improve workflows involving file compression.

Lastly, Parallels has announced Toolbox Business Edition, offering IT admins focused time-saving tools that aim to solve help tickets more efficiently, such as license and subscription management features, mass Toolbox deployment, and customizable Tool libraries for individual users.

Parallels Toolbox 2.5 for Mac is available at the Parallels website as a standalone product for $19.99 per year. Each annual license includes free updates of new and enhanced tools as they become available.

Tag: Parallels
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Google’s Gboard can now search emoji, stickers and GIFs at once

Gboard is making it easier to look for the perfect emoji, sticker and GIF in one go — at least for beta testers on Android. As 9to5google reports, the keyboard’s latest beta update adds a “Search all media” option that surfaces all the results it has on offer that corresponds to your query. So, if you search for a smiley face, it brings up all the emoji, all the stickers and all the GIFs you can use at the same time. To find the new search bar, tap on the Google icon, then any of the other icons that pop up and then the search button that appears on the bottom left-hand part of the keyboard.

In addition to the new search function, Gboard beta version 7.0.2 also adds support for Korean and Chinese languages. Japanese, which first went live on beta version 6.7 but was pulled back down, is now also available in Preferences under Languages. Simply tap on the Google icon, go to More options, click on Settings and add a new keyboard under Languages. You will have to join the keyboard’s beta program to be able to access all these new features. Once you are, you’ll only need to update your app on Google Play to be able quick-search for graphics and animations you can use to flood your friends with.

Source: 9to5google

10 Essential Tips for Using the macOS Finder More Efficiently

The Finder is a classic Mac system component that’s ever-present on your desktop, ready to help you find and organize your documents, media, folders, and other files. It’s the smiling icon known as the Happy Mac logo on your Dock, and includes the Finder menu bar at the top of the screen.

A lot of hidden power resides in every Finder window. In this article, we’ve highlighted some of our favorite Finder tips and tricks to help you work more efficiently with files and folders on your Mac.

1. Quickly Adjust Column Widths

The Column view is one of our favorite ways of working with files, and we’ve got two quick column adjustment tips to make it work better for you.

If you open a new Finder window and the column width is too small to view the names of your files, double-click the bottom of the column divider and the width will automatically expand to fit the longest filename.

Another useful trick is to hold down the Option (⌥) key when adjusting the column width manually (by click-dragging the divider). This adjusts all of the columns in the same window at the same time, and also sets the chosen size as the default column width for all Finder windows going forward.

2. Set a Default Folder for a New Finder Window

If you often work with files in a specific folder, then it’s worth setting it as the default folder that every new Finder window opens with automatically.

Click Preferences in the Finder menu bar, and under the General tab you’ll see a dropdown menu under “New Finder windows show:”. Select one of the options in the list, or click Other… to choose a custom location.

3. Customize the Toolbar

You can put more options at your fingertips when working with files and folders by adding more action buttons to every Finder window’s toolbar.

To do so, right-click (or Control-click) the Finder window’s toolbar and select Customize Toolbar…. You’ll see a dropdown menu of buttons any of which you can drag up to the toolbar with your mouse cursor, as well a default set that you can drag up to replace any you’ve previously added.

4. Add Shortcuts to the Toolbar

You can add convenient shortcuts along the top of the Finder window to any app, file, or folder you like, simply by holding down the Command (⌘) key and dragging the item onto an available space in the toolbar.

5. Merge All Open Finder Windows

If your desktop is being taken over by multiple Finder windows, you can quickly unify them as tabs in a single window: With a Finder window active, simply click Window in the menu bar and select Merge All Windows.

6. Reveal the File or Folder Path

The location of a folder or file may not be immediately obvious when viewed in a Finder window, so here are a few ways to find out.

The easiest method is to right-click (or Control-click) the folder name and icon in the title bar. This will show you the full path in a dropdown menu, allowing you to quickly jump to any folder in the list.

Alternatively, you can make the path constantly visible at the bottom of every Finder window, by selecting View -> Show Path Bar in the Finder menu bar. Note that you can double-click on any folder in the Path bar to jump straight to it in the current open window/tab.

If you don’t want the Path bar taking up space in each Finder window, you can make the path appear by default in the title bar. Simply open Terminal (in Applications/Utilities) and type the following command into the Terminal window:

defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true; killall Finder

If you no longer want the path to appear in each Finder’s title bar, just run the above command again but replace the word true with false.

7. Show the Status Bar

Surprisingly turned off by default, Finder’s Status bar displays two pieces of information that will come in handy when organizing your files.

In the Finder menu bar, select View -> Show Status Bar, and at a glance you’ll be able to tell how many items are contained in the open folder, as well as the current disk’s available storage space.

8. Reveal the Library Folder

Apple hides the Library folder by default to prevent less savvy users from fiddling with its contents and causing app/system issues, but if you’d rather have easy access to the Library folder, here are two ways to reveal it.

For quick access to the Library folder from the Finder menu bar, click the Go menu, hold down the Option (⌥) key, and then select Library in the dropdown menu.

If you want to reveal the Library folder permanently, navigate to your home folder (found in /user/[yourname]/… from the system root directory), select View -> Show View Options from the menu bar, and then check “Show Library Folder” at the bottom of the options pane.

9. Search Only the Current Folder

The Search bar in every Finder window searches your entire system by default, but there’s an option in Finder’s preferences that lets you automatically limit searches to the folder that’s currently open.

In the menu bar, click Finder -> Preferences and select the Advanced tab. In the dropdown menu under “When performing a search”, select Search the Current Folder.

10. Enter a Fullscreen Slideshow in Quick Look

Most macOS users are familiar with Finder’s spacebar-activated Quick Look mode, which offers a preview of the currently highlighted file or files, but fewer users will be aware of Quick Look’s fullscreen slideshow feature.

You can enter a fullscreen slideshow preview by holding the Option (⌥) key when you next press the spacebar to activate Quick Look. The desktop will fade out for a close-up of your selected images and/or documents, which can be scrolled through using the arrow keys or using the onscreen navigation overlay. You can also select the index card icon on the overlay to glance at all your selected files on the one screen.

Related Roundup: macOS High Sierra
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HoloLens adds mixed reality to a Japanese national treasure

One of the best ways to give centuries-old artifacts a modern touch is mixed reality. The technology allows you to add interesting elements to any object without actually touching or altering it in any way. Microsoft, for instance, has helped Tokyo-based mixed reality lab hakuhodo-VRAR turn a Japanese national artwork from the 1600s into an interactive experience for HoloLens. They’re applying mixed reality to the The Folding Screen of Fujin and Raijin (Wind and Thunder God), explaining the motivations of its Edo-period artist, Tawaraya Sōtatsu, in an immersive experience.

When visitors stand in front of the National Treasure with a HoloLens on, a holographic version of a Zen Buddhist monk will explain what Sōtatsu meant to convey with his artwork through a dynamic graphic narrative. You’ll see the artwork brought to life with rainclouds, lightning and thunder, find yourself standing above a lush Earth and in outer space surrounded by celestial bodies. The 10-minute experience will also show you 3D versions of the other art pieces painted by artists Sōtatsu inspired.

The bad news is, you’ll only be able to experience it yourself if you’re in Japan in the end of February, since you will need to stand in front of the Wind and Thunder God screen. You can see the national artwork and experience its accompanying MR Museum in Kennin-ji Temple, Kyoto’s oldest Zen Buddhism temple founded in 1202, from February 22nd to 24th. If you won’t be able to make it there, you’ll get another chance to see the exhibit when it’s displayed at Kyoto National Museum from February 28th to March 2nd.

Source: hakuhodo-VRAR

Apple may secure its own battery materials to avoid shortages

Cobalt is an essential component in lithium ion batteries, making it a crucial material in the production of smart devices and electric vehicles. But, as battery-hungry cars go mainstream, there’s a risk that the world’s supply will be eaten up by cars, which poses a problem for all of the other things we use. It’s why Apple has reportedly entered into direct talks with cobalt miners in the hope of securing a supply of the material itself. Bloomberg reports that the company, which has previously left the effort to its battery manufacturers, has now taken a more active role.

According to the report, Apple is seeking to lock down a long-term deal, securing several thousand metric tons a year, for a last five years. The move puts Apple in direct competition with other big players who are also looking for a similar agreement, and advantage. BMW, Volkswagen and Samsung’s own battery division are thought to be engaged in similar negotiations for their own EV projects.

It’s clear from the piece that Apple is only seeking to secure material for batteries that go inside its consumer hardware. CEO Tim Cook has been open about his company’s interest in the “autonomous systems” market, but wouldn’t be drawn on what exactly was being worked on. Rumors out of Apple’s self-driving car project, codenamed Titan, suggest that work is now underway on a plug-and-play system for third party manufacturers.

Procuring a supply of a highly-coveted resource is something that Apple has done several times in the past, often with market-altering results. Perhaps most famously, the company purchased a significant chunk of the world’s NAND Flash supply in 2009, effectively shutting out its competitors.

Apple’s involvement may also improve conditions in the mines themselves, since the company will be dealing directly with producers. Last year, it received plaudits from Amnesty International in its efforts to trace and eliminate child labor from its supply chain.

Source: Bloomberg

Apple in Talks to Buy Key Battery Ingredient Cobalt Directly From Miners

Apple is in talks to purchase long-term supplies of cobalt directly from miners to ensure a steady supply of the key battery ingredient amid industry fears of a shortage, according to a report by Bloomberg today.

The companies that make batteries for Apple’s iPads and iPhones depend heavily on the availability of cobalt, but Apple is said to have taken the issue into its own hands, prompted by fears that the electric vehicle boom could see supply of the raw material dwindle.

Apple is seeking contracts to secure several thousand metric tons of cobalt a year for five years or longer, according to one of the people, declining to be named as the discussions are confidential. Apple’s first discussions on cobalt deals with miners were over a year ago, and it may end up deciding not to go ahead with any deal, another person said.

About a quarter of global cobalt production is used in smartphones that use lithium-ion batteries, according to Bloomberg. Smartphones are said to use around eight grams of refined cobalt, but the battery for an electric car requires over 1,000 times more. That means Apple will be in fierce competition with carmakers like BMW and Volkswagen as well as battery producers like Samsung as the firms seek to secure supplies into the future.

With two thirds of all supplies sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has a history of political instability and child labor, the price of cobalt has more than tripled in the past 18 months and now trades more than $80,000 a metric ton.

In recent years, Apple has responded to criticism from human rights groups for its metal supply chain, which in the past has bought cobalt from mines that use child labor. Last year the tech giant published a list of companies that supply the cobalt used in its batteries for the first time, and said it would not allow cobalt from smaller Congo mines into its supply chain unless they could prove that “appropriate protections” to safeguard against child labor were in place.
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These are the best Xiaomi lifestyle products you can buy in 2018

Xiaomi makes hundreds of lifestyle products under its Mi Ecosystem label. These are the best of the lot.

Xiaomi’s phones get all the attention, but over the years the manufacturer has rolled out hundreds of lifestyle products through its Mi Ecosystem label.

Under the Ecosystem label, Xiaomi partners with hundreds of Chinese companies to offer smart home products, fitness bands, smart shoes, robot vacuums, and even a rice cooker. Over the course of the last year, that partnership has extended to include everyday objects like backpacks, luggage, and screwdriver sets. Xiaomi sells these products under its own label, with the smart home products marketed under the Mijia sub-brand.

For instance, the $25 Mi Band 2 is sold as a Xiaomi product, but it is manufactured by Huami. The brand’s smart shoes are also made by Huami, and are sold under the Mijia label. Then there’s the Mi Robot vacuum, which is made by Roborock.

By focusing on the lifestyle category, Xiaomi is looking to build an ecosystem of devices that communicate with each other. You can use the Mi Home app to control all of the brand’s smart home products, and there’s also the option to group multiple products and set up rules. For instance, you can set up a motion detector at the door, and have the lights and air purifier switch on the moment you enter your house.

A lot of these products are sold exclusively in China, so you’ll have to purchase them via third-party resellers. Without further ado, these are the best Xiaomi lifestyle products you can purchase today.

Yeelight LED bulb

The LED bulb is available for just $22, less than half the cost of an equivalent Hue bulb. The best part about the Yeelight LED bulb is that it doesn’t need a centralized hub to work, lowering the barrier to entry.

Each individual bulb connects directly to your home Wi-Fi network, and can be controlled by either the Mi Home app or the dedicated Yeelight app.

Yeelight’s Wi-Fi bulb offers Philips Hue quality at half the cost

There are several preset options to choose from, or you can just play with the color palette to get the desired lighting effect. The Yeelight LED bulb also works with Google Assistant and Alexa, giving you the ability to control the lights and change the scene with your voice. The color temperature of the bulb goes from 1700K to 6500K, and you can set up “rooms” within the Mi Home app to link up several bulbs and control them at once.

The Yeelight LED bulb is now officially available in the U.S. as well, but it costs slightly more at $29.99. The U.S. version comes with an E26 socket and works over 110V at 60Hz, and is sold directly on Amazon.

The international version of the bulb comes with an E27 socket and is designed to work over 220V, and is available for $22.35.

See at Amazon

Yeelight LED Lightstrip

Yeelight’s LED lightstrip offers the same premise as the brand’s LED bulb — you get a similar feature-set as the Hue LightStrip for a fraction of the cost. The lightstrip is two feet long (same as Hue), but costs just $29.

There’s a remote with a single button that lets you toggle the lightstrip, and you can also control it via the Mi Home app. The lightstrip is certified IP65, so you can use it outdoors as well. And it comes with Google Assistant and Alexa integration.

Best of all, it’s available direct from Amazon in the U.S. for $29.99. If you’re looking to pick these up in other markets, you’ll have to shell out $36.72.

See at Amazon

Mi Band 2

The Mi Band 2 is one of Xiaomi’s most popular products around, and it’s not hard to see why. The fitness band costs just $28, and comes with a dizzying array of features that include an OLED screen, activity tracking, heart rate sensor, call and notification alerts, and automatic sleep tracking.

You’ll be able to view detailed statistics on your daily activity from the Mi Fit app, which syncs with Google Fit. One of the biggest reasons for the Mi Band 2’s success is its battery life. Offering over 20 days of battery life on a full charge, the Mi Band 2 dwarfs most of its rivals in this category.

If you’re using the Mi Band 2, you should also consider picking up the Mi Smart Scale. The $42 scale hooks up to the Mi Fit app, and gives detailed information of your weight, BMI index, and much more.

See at Amazon

Mi Robot vacuum cleaner

The Mi Robot vacuum cleaner is one of my favorite Xiaomi products. I’ve been using the first-generation variant for just over a year and a half now, and I haven’t had any issues with it.

I recently upgraded to the newer model, which comes with a mop for wet cleaning. The vacuum has a powerful 2000Pa motor, a laser sensor that creates a 360-degree map of your house, and an algorithm that tracks the most efficient cleaning route.

Xiaomi Mi Robot vacuum cleaner review

The 5200mAh battery provides a cleaning time of over two hours on a full charge, and the vacuum automatically returns to the base when it’s low on charge or after it finishes cleaning the house. You can also monitor the cleaning process in real-time with the Mi Home app, and set automated schedules. It doesn’t come cheap at $549 (the first-gen model costs $325), but it’s well worth the investment.

See at GearBest

Mijia 5-in-1 Smart Home Security Kit

Xiaomi’s smart home security bundle is a must-have if you’re looking to get started with home automation. The $60 kit includes a door and window sensor, a motion detector, a smart plug, wireless switch, and a gateway.

You hook up the gateway to a wall outlet, and add the rest of the components as sub-devices in the Mi Home app. The gateway is a ZigBee hub, and controls the rest of the devices. Once set up, you can configure a wide range of options for each device. For instance, if you have a Yeelight LED bulb, you can set up the wireless switch to act as a portable dimmer switch to toggle the bulb on and off.

As mentioned earlier, you can use the motion sensor to set up rules for various actions. As for the smart plug, it is rated for 100V-240V and has overload protection built-in. The door and window sensors can be used for triggering alarms when they’re set off.

See at GearBest

Mijia Smart Shoes

If you’re not keen on wearing a fitness band to record your daily activity, then Xiaomi’s smart shoes are a better alternative. The shoe features a fabric upper and a heel section made out of styrene-butadiene rubber, and comes with an embeddable Intel Curie module.

It is the Curie module that enables activity tracking. It automatically differentiates between various forms of activity — running, walking, and climbing — and connects over Bluetooth to transmit the data to Mi Fit.

Even without the fitness tracking smarts, Xiaomi’s smart shoes are a bargain for $68. Throw in the ability to record your daily activity without having to wear a fitness band, and you have one of the best options in this category.

See at GearBest

Xiaomi Travel Backpack

Xiaomi’s $45 Mi Travel Backpack is designed to fit a lot of gear. The bag has a water-resistant outer shell and a total of 11 compartments, allowing you to slot in your everyday carry essentials with ease.

The inside of the bag is lined with polyester — with a suede section for storing sunglasses — and there’s a dedicated notebook sleeve that is reinforced with padding, as well as a tablet sleeve that can hold the Galaxy Tab S3.

For $45, you’re not going to find a better gear bag.

See at GearBest

Xiaomi Laser Projector

Of all the items on this list, Xiaomi’s short-throw projector is the costliest by some margin. It launched late last year for $1,470, but you’ll have to shell out close to $1,900 to get your hands on one outside of China.

Dubbed the “world’s first truly cinema-level laser projector,” it offers 3,000:1 contrast levels, 5,000 lumens brightness, and can cast an image up to 150 inches in size in Full HD. It uses Appotronics’ ALPD 3.0 laser tech, and has a built-in speaker system with two tweeters and two woofers.

I picked up the projector at the end of last year, and after two months of usage, I can confidently say that it is fantastic. The image quality is great, and the integrated speakers are more than adequate for my use case.

The main problem with the projector is that the interface is in Mandarin, so you’ll have to use Google Translate during initial configuration. The content suggestions are also tailored for the Chinese market, but you can sideload APKs or hook up a Chromecast.

See at GearBest

Building an ecosystem of connected devices

The unifying theme among all of Xiaomi’s lifestyle products is great value for money, a trait that served the manufacturer very well in the phone business.

Xiaomi is going one step further in China by enabling voice recognition across its diverse range of offerings. The feature is limited to its home market for now, but Xiaomi has mentioned that it has sold over 10 million voice-enabled products, mostly in the form of its voice-activated TV remote.

The manufacturer has also stated that it perfected the Mandarin language model over the last two years, and that Chinese users can talk to the voice-enabled remote or the AI speaker to issue commands to control its smart home products.

Building a language model from scratch takes years of effort, but Xiaomi could start doing the same in the Indian market, where it has introduced the Mi TV 4 recently. India is the first market outside of China to receive the Mi TV, and the brand has revealed that it plans to bring several ecosystem products to the subcontinent over the course of 2018.