Gaming-focused Logitech G560 may be most immersive computer speakers ever

Products with the Logitech G label — one of four brands under the Logitech umbrella, focused on equipment for gamers — aren’t always “cool,” even if they’re good. Last August, the company released a gaming mouse and keyboard with ordinary designs, eschewing flashy lights and futuristic builds altogether.

The new G560 speakers, however, are built with both style and substance. The 2.1-channel system includes a downward-firing subwoofer and two custom-tuned satellite speakers, each of which are outfitted with two RGB LED zones — one facing backward, intended to splay onto the wall behind your PC, and one that shines behind the grille in front.

The G560 support DTS:X Ultra surround sound imaging (which you can toggle on and off), and reach a peak of 240 watts. You can connect via USB, 3.5mm aux, or Bluetooth (you can connect two devices simultaneously via Bluetooth). The “G” key on the satellite speakers can control macros if you set them up in the Logitech G software; by default, the button adjusts LED brightness.

The G560 are designed with an open software development kit (SDK), which means game developers can actually program in scenes based upon events that happen in-game. For example, Epic Games has already built in support for its ultra-popular Fortnite Battle Royale,  so when players find themselves caught in “the storm,” all of the lights will immediately turn purple, immersing the player further into the experience. Developers can use this kit to transform the lights into indicators for health bars, ammo counts, or pretty much anything else you can think up.

That might sound limiting — after all, you can’t expect every game studio to implement such features — but the G560 have some neat tricks to improve your experience with other games, too. The software allows you to choose between five different color effects, including “audio visualizer” (which works with any audio source) and “screen sampler,” an awesome mode that allows you to select four different rectangular areas on your screen and assign those areas to the four RGB zones. The software will then pull whatever color appears most in a given area and change the LED colors accordingly. So, if your character is wandering through a forest, your lights will shine green — even if the developer hasn’t utilized the SDK.

The G560 are available for pre-order as of March 15, and will begin shipping later in the month. They retail for $200.

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Xiaomi’s Mi Body Composition Scale makes its way to India for ₹1,999

Xiaomi’s smart scale uses 10 data points to accurately measure your body composition.

Xiaomi said back at the launch of the Redmi Note 5 Pro that it would bring more ecosystem products to India this year. I’m personally excited because Xiaomi makes a lot of great lifestyle products and having to buy them locally is significantly easier than importing them from China.

The latest product from the Mi Ecosystem series to make its debut in India is the Mi Body Composition Scale. This is the second-generation smart scale, and it uses 10 data points to accurately measure your body composition. It details your muscle mass, BMI, bone mass, weight, body fat, visceral fat, basal metabolism, and the total amount of fluid in your body to give you an overall body score.

Xiaomi says the scale uses “complex algorithms” in conjunction with Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis to analyze your body score, and it can store profiles for various members of your family (it can store up to 16 profiles). It syncs the data over Bluetooth to the Mi Fit app, and you can get an overview of your weight as well as other metrics from within the app.

The scale itself is made out of ABS plastic with a polished glass coating on the top, and there are stainless steel electrode pads that are used to measure the muscle mass and BMI. The glass coating gets an anti-slip finish to ensure you don’t slide off the scale even when your feet are wet.

It works off of four AAA batteries, which are included in the box, and Xiaomi touts a battery life of over eight months. I’ve been using the first-generation smart scale for over a year now, and it works flawlessly. The ability to sync with Mi Fit is the standout feature, and the added metrics on offer with the Mi Body Composition Scale make it much better.

If you’re interested, you can get your hands on Xiaomi’s smart scale for just ₹1,999 from its website. Who’s looking to pick one up?

See at Mi India

Logitech adds what gaming speakers were missing: synchronized lights

Logitech G’s latest PC speakers aren’t just focused on sounding good — they can also create a light show around your desk. The company’s new G560 speakers come equipped with four RGB LED lighting zones, which can display around 16.8 million colors. And with Logitech’s LIGHTSYNC technology, they can also synchronize with what you’re seeing on screen, or the music you’re listening to. While extensive lighting might seem like an odd feature for a set of desktop speakers, they fit right into the latest PC gaming trend: the more LEDs, the better.

The G560 ($200) are a 2.1 system delivering 240 Watts of peak power, and 120 Watts RMS (its average output capability). While Logitech has been making high-quality PC speakers for years (I was an early adopter of its popular Z-680 line), this is the first set to come from the company’s gaming division. They also pack in DTS:X Ultra technology to simulate surround sound. With the popularity of headphones and 2.1 systems today, gamers are less interested in full 5.1 setups, Logitech representatives told us.

Technically, the G560 are an evolution of the MX Sound speakers Logitech launched last Fall. They feature a similar design: two round satellites held up with a small notch on the side. The previous system was just a 2.0 setup though — the new entry adds a huge downward-firing subwoofer for some thumping bass. You’ll be able to connect up to four devices to the G560 at once with USB, the 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth.

But back to that crazy lighting. While they’re not the first gaming speakers to feature colorful LEDs (Razer’s Nommo uses them far less dramatically), the G560 are the first set we’ve seen that can completely change the ambiance of your room. It’s reminiscent of Philips’ Ambilight technology and its upcoming Hue color matching feature. Together with Logitech’s Gaming Software, the LIGHTSYNC technology will match the colors of what you’re seeing on screen, even if you’re looking at a movie. Game developers can also integrate the tech in various ways. If you’re low on health, for example, they could flash red to give you a heads up.

During a brief demonstration with a few songs and games, the G560 delivered a clear and large soundscape, with impressive bass. And while I was skeptical of the LIGHTSYNC technology at first, I could see it being genuinely useful for some gamers. I’ve grown to love bias lighting on my OLED TV, which helps to reduce eyestrain. I could see Logitech’s technology having a similar effect.

Logitech G is also bringing LIGHTSYNC to its new G513 mechanical keyboard ($150). The company claims its latest switches respond 25 percent faster than competitors, something that serious gamers will likely appreciate. The Romer-G Tactile switch will deliver “soft tactile feedback,” while the Romer-G Linear offers a smoother feel. The keyboard will sport an aluminum top, as well as a USB passthrough port for connecting other devices.

The G560 speakers and the G513 keyboard will both be available in April.

Qualcomm adds Tobii’s eye-tracking tech to its mobile VR kit

Tobii’s eye-tracking tech was such a great fit for virtual reality that taking it for a spin at CES 2018 ruined every headset without its capabilities for Engadget editor Devindra Hardawar. Now, Tobii has teamed up with Qualcomm to create an updated version of the chipmaker’s Snapdragon 845 Mobile VR Platform. Unlike the rather underwhelming design we tested in February, the development kit’s new version will come loaded with Tobii’s eye-tracking tech.

That means future head-mounted displays (HMDs) based on Qualcomm’s standalone headset kit will feature more efficient foveated rendering. Since they can tell where you’re looking, they’ll be able to dedicate most of their graphics power to make that part of the experience as sharp and clear as possible. They can even downgrade graphics on parts of the screen you’re not looking at, which could lead to systems with lower specs and lower price tags.

Eye tracking will also make experiences more personal and interactive. Avatars and in-game characters could look at you when you look at them, which could make interactions in VR social networks much more enjoyable. Games that require hand-eye coordination (shooting, bowling, etc.) could feel more intuitive and realistic, as well.

Tobii’s partnership with a tech giant like Qualcomm could make eye-tracking in VR more commonplace. In the future, as Tobii chief Henrik Eskilsson told us, manufacturers might even see the technology as a requirement for VR headsets.

Logitech Releases New G560 Gaming Speaker System With Lights That Sync to Games and Movies

Logitech’s G brand today announced the launch of a new gaming speaker, the G560. While primarily designed for gaming PCs, the G560 Gaming Speaker has unique features that may also be appealing to Mac users.

The G560, which features two light-up speakers and a subwoofer, is the first of Logitech’s gaming speaker systems to come equipped with Logitech G Lightsync, designed to synchronize light and sounds to gameplay, movies, music, and more for a more immersive experience.

With Lightsync support, the lights built into the speaker can light up while you’re playing games that have implemented the Lightsync API to add ambiance to gameplay. Many game developers have added support for Lightsync and have custom chosen the colors that will be displayed during various aspects of the gameplay. Supported games include Dota 2, Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto V, and more.

Developer-supported Lightsync options are mainly for PCs, but Lightsync also works based solely on the colors on your display. Using the screen sampling tool in Logitech’s Gaming Software for Mac, you can tie the lights to four different zones of your Mac’s display, so while you’re playing a game or watching a movie, the G560 lights will light up with colors that are linked to whatever colors are in the media you’re using.

If you’re watching a colorful movie, for example, the colors of the movie will be reflected through the G560’s lights, and the same is true for when you’re playing a game. If you’re playing music, you can also set the lights to change in time with the beat of the music, and colors can be customized using Logitech’s app. The lights support 16.8 million colors and several animation effects, and sound can be customized using a detailed equalizer tool.

According to Logitech, the G560 offers “amazing sound” with 240 Watts Peak/120 Watts RMS power, making it suitable for all kinds of media on PC and Mac. On PCs, it also includes DTS:X Ultra 1.0 support for precise positional audio.

Along with these features, the G560 supports Logitech’s Easy-Switch technology, which allows you to connect several devices to the speaker at once and then switch between them. You can connect one USB device, one device through the 3.5mm input, and two Bluetooth devices at the same time. So, for example, you could connect your Mac, your iPhone, and your iPad to the speakers and then easily swap between them, allowing you to use the G560 with all of your devices.

Logitech’s new G560 Gaming Speaker will be available for purchase from retailers around the world starting in April of 2018. It will be priced at $199.99, and it will be sold alongside the new $150 G513 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, which also supports Lightsync.

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Apple Allegedly Suspends iPhone Production at Assembly Plant Over Use of Unauthorized Parts

Apple supplier Wistron has dismissed a report claiming operations at its China-based iPhone production plant have been suspended by Apple for alleged use of “unauthorized components”.

Taiwan’s Chinese-language Commercial Times reported on Thursday that Apple ordered Wistron to halt production of iPhone 8 Plus handsets at its plant in Kunshan, China for two weeks pending a probe into alleged use of water-proof components from a supplier not certified by Apple. Wistron penalized several high-level executives in an attempt to regain Apple’s trust, according to the report.

In a morning filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange this morning, Wistron said it wouldn’t comment on matters between specific clients and denied there had been a “two-week production suspension as reported”, maintaining that operations remained “completely normal”. Wistron shares dropped on the report by more than 5 percent during early TSE trading, before recovering to close at NT$26.50, down by NT$0.45.

Wistron provides Apple with a smaller portion of iPhone 8 Plus models compared to rival supplier Foxconn, which makes up to 80 percent of the handsets, although Wistron has recently emerged as Apple’s principal iPhone manufacturer in India.

The Taiwanese firm has reportedly invested around $157 million to build a new assembly unit in the tech hub of Bengaluru, where it plans to manufacture iPhone SE and potentially iPhone 6s models for the Indian market.

(Via DigiTimes.)

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Google Maps Adds ‘Wheelchair Accessible’ Routes to Transit Navigation in Several Cities

Google Maps today announced the availability of new “wheelchair accessible” routes in its transit navigation directions for several cities around the world, recognizing that using trains and buses can present challenges for people who use wheelchairs or have other mobility needs.

Information about which stations and routes are wheelchair friendly isn’t always readily available or easy to find. To make public transit work for everyone, today we’re introducing “wheelchair accessible” routes in transit navigation to make getting around easier for those with mobility needs.

To access the new “wheelchair accessible” routes in the Google Maps app, enter a desired destination, tap Directions, select the public transportation icon, and then tap Options. The new route type can be found under the Routes section.

After selecting the “wheelchair accessible” option, Maps’ directions list routes that take mobility needs into consideration, such as if a transit station has accessible stops, platforms, entrances, and exits.

Google says the feature is rolling out across London, Tokyo, Mexico City, Boston, and Sydney, with other major metropolitan transit centers around the world to follow.

In addition to the new feature, Google has been updating its Street View imagery of transit stations and city centers to allow users to preview locations ahead of time. Google says it hopes the expanded coverage will make life easier not only for people who use wheelchairs, but also for anyone who’s using crutches or pushing a stroller.

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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Forks not required: Pi Day celebrates our favorite infinite number

Quick! Get out your favorite circular objects to celebrate Pi Day!

As the math and science enthusiasts among us already know, March 14 (i.e. 3/14) is officially Pi Day — a day to celebrate the number Pi, identified by the Greek letter π, which is used to calculate the circumference of a circle.

Due to its length, Pi is typically shortened to 3.14. But because the number is both irrational and transcendental, it “will continue indefinitely without repeating,” as the official Pi Day website kindly explains.

With the use of handy computers, Pi now calculates out to more than one trillion digits beyond the decimal. The very mysterious nature of Pi — the fact that it can never be entirely known — helped generate the adoration for the nyumber held by the mathematically inclined.

Welsh mathematician William Jones first used the famous Greek letter as a symbol for for Pi in his work Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos published in 1706. But the symbol didn’t really gain widespread popularity until Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler adopted the Greek letter over 30 years later in 1737.

So what exactly is the purpose of Pi Day?

“Mathematics and science can be a fun and interesting part of a child’s education, and learning about Pi can be an engaging way to teach children about geometry and attract them to study science and mathematics,” Congress stated when it officially designated Pi Day in 2009. “America needs to reinforce mathematics and science education for all students in order to better prepare our children for the future and in order to compete in a 21st Century economy.” 

Pi Day was first celebrated in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium, which remains one of Pi Day’s primary promoters. At the time, math enthusiasts paraded around the monument in a clockwise circle three and one-seventh times while singing “Happy Birthday” to Albert Einstein (March 14 is his birthday too). Today, Pi Day celebrations take place in countless grade schools across the country. 

While a wide variety of Pi Day celebrations are acceptable, some of the more popular include circle-measuring parties, watching the movie Pi (1998), Pi recitation contests (to see who can accurately recall the most digits) and, of course, eating actual pie!

So get out there, and enjoy all things circular. The celebrating will make your math teachers proud!

Updated March 13: Added details regarding Pi Day’s history.

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SteamVR will fine-tune VR to match the graphics chip, not the headset

The latest beta of SteamVR now includes a new feature that fine-tunes virtual reality experiences to match your PC’s graphics chip for the best experience possible. This component will alleviate the need to upgrade the PC’s graphics card when customers purchase next-generation headsets with higher resolutions than the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

According to Valve Software’s Alex Vlachos, SteamVR now measures the speed of the installed graphics chip and tells applications to render the experience at a certain resolution. On a more technical level, it determines how many “VR megapixels per second” the GPU can safely handle at 90 frames per second, and sets the resolution accordingly.

For example, if the chip can’t handle the application at its native resolution, viewers will see everything at a lower resolution that is more appropriate for their GPU’s rendering capabilities. Likewise, if the chip can handle the experience at a higher resolution than the application’s native setting, the experience will see a visual boost due to a higher resolution. 

“The best part is that customers won’t have to do anything to get the correct resolution settings. The SteamVR runtime does all the hard work. Of course, if one prefers a different resolution, it’s easy to manually override this by editing the Video settings in SteamVR (previously known as supersample settings),” Vlachos said. 

Vlachos believes the new SteamVR component should reduce the cost of VR on a whole. If customers already own a “VR Ready PC” or “VR Ready GPU,” there won’t be any need to upgrade. Vlachos says many applications still don’t take full advantage of the GPUs currently on the market. 

Valve’s approach with this new SteamVR component is that for decades, PC gamers have upgraded their monitors without changing the core components in their PC. The company is now applying the same logic to VR headsets given they’re just receivers and don’t really do any hard work. Of course, to get the maximum resolution supported by the HTC Vive Pro, you need a graphics card that can handle the resolution at 90 frames per second. If it can’t, a GPU upgrade may be in order anyway. 

Outside of the benefits for VR headset owners, the new SteamVR component is good for developers, too. That’s because they are required to test applications on every headset running on every supported graphics chip available on the market. They must make “difficult trade-offs” in order to render high-resolution graphics on next-generation headsets. 

More importantly, with more than 2,000 VR applications made available through Steam, getting developers to update those applications to support newer headsets and higher resolutions is out of the question. But that is no longer the case given the new SteamVR feature pulls VR headsets out of the development process. 

The new feature is only available through the SteamVR Beta. You can join the fun by going to “Library > Tools” and right-clicking on “SteamVR” to pull up the “Properties” box. Click the “Beta” tab and select “beta” from the drop-down menu. 

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Take a bite of the new Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ on Pi Day

If you’re a mathematician, then March 14 is probably one of your favorite days of the year. It’s Pi Day, maybe the only officially recognized celebration of a number and, in addition to feasting on a real pie, it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the influence of math and science on technology. If you’re the Raspberry Pi Foundation, then it’s also a great day to introduce a new member of its single-board computer family.

This time around, it’s the Raspberry Pi Model B+, the newest version of the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B that was first introduced roughly two years ago. As the foundation points out, it usually releases “plus” models after a couple of years with improved specs and functionality, and the Raspberry Pi 3 is the next in line to receive the same treatment.

The Model B+ updates include improvements in the diminutive computer’s performance, including incorporating an updated version of the Broadcom application processor, the BCM2837B0, that is 200MHz faster and builds in power integrity optimizations and a heat spreader that allows it to run so much faster. In addition, the Cypress CYW43455 combo Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip improves wireless performance, particularly on the 5GHz band. It also uses new metal shielding that’s certified under Federal Communications Commission regulations, making conformance testing of Raspberry Pi solutions easier and less costly.

There are a host of other improvements as well, including faster wired Ethernet connectivity, Power over Ethernet (PoE) support, and general thermal improvements that should make for a generally faster and more stable single-board computer. If you’re looking to build a Raspberry Pi project, then you’re going to find it to run faster and more reliably — always a good thing.

Here are the complete specifications for the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+:

SoC:
Broadcom BCM2837B0

CPU:

Cortex-A53 @ 1.4GHz

RAM:

1GB LPDDR2

Wireless:

802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2

Wired:

1GB Ethernet over USB 2.0

Connectivity:

4 x USB 2.0, HDMI, CSI camera port, DSI display port, 4-pole stereo output and composite video port, microSD, Extended 40-pin GPIO header

Power:

5V/2.5Am DC power input

If you’re looking to kick off a Raspberry Pi project, then you will be happy to know that the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ remains available at the same low $35 price. It’s available for purchase, meaning that you can get started right away on that artificial intelligence-powered smart mirror you have been wanting to build.

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