A stamp-sized piece of this nanofilm can store more data than 200 DVDs

Northeast Normal University

Ninety percent of the world’s data has been created in the last two years, with a massive 2.5 quintillion bytes generated every single day. As you might suspect, this causes some challenges when it comes to storage. While one option is to gradually turn every square inch of free land into giant data centers, researchers from China may have come up with a more elegant solution.

In a potential breakthrough, they have developed a new nanofilm — 80 times thinner than a human hair — that is able to store large amounts of data holographically. A single 10-by-10 cm piece of this film could archive more than 1,000 times the amount of data found on a DVD. By our count, that means around 8.5 TB of data. This data can also be retrieved incredibly quickly, at speeds of up to 1GB per second: The equivalent of 20 times the reading speed of modern flash memory.

In the journal Optical Materials Express, the researchers detail the fabrication process of the new film. This involves using a laser to write information onto silver nanoparticles on a titanium dioxide (titania) semiconductor film. This stores the data in the form of 3D holograms, thereby allowing it to be compressed into smaller spaces than regular optical systems.

That’s exciting enough, but what really makes the work promising is the fact that the data is stored in a way that is stable. Previous attempts at creating films for holographic data storage have proven less resilient than alternate storage methods since they can be wiped by exposure to ultraviolet light. That makes them less-than-viable options for long-term information storage. The creators of this new film, however, have shown that it has a high stability even in the presence of such light. This environmental stability means that the device could be used outside — or even conceivably in harsher radiation conditions like outer space.

Going forward, the researchers aim to test their new film by putting it through its paces outdoors. Should all go according to plan, it won’t be too long before this is available on the market. We might be willing to throw down a few bucks on Kickstarter for a piece!

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82 percent of U.S. teens use an iPhone — and that number is only growing

The iPhone is a popular device — and it’s only getting more popular, especially among teenagers in the U.S. According to a recent report, around 82 percent of teenagers in the U.S. now use an iPhone — a figure that’s up from 60 percent back in 2014. “Thousands” of teenagers across 40 states took part in the survey.

First reported by Business Insider, the report comes from Piper Jaffray, which conducts the survey twice per year. According to the results it seems like every six months a higher percentage of U.S. teenagers are using iPhones — not only is the figure up from four years ago, but it’s also up from 78 percent in the fall of last year.

That’s pretty good news for Apple. Not only are more people, in general, using its products, but those people are young — and more likely to stick with the company as they get older. Not only that, but it’s highly likely that the figure will continue to go up — according to the report as many as 84 percent of teens say that their next device will be an iPhone. Usage is rising amongst related Apple products too — 20 percent of teenagers plan on buying an Apple Watch within the next six months. Further, Apple is the second most desired watch brand in the U.S. — behind only Rolex.

Apple’s stats don’t just look good among teens. As of late last year, around 85.8 million people in the U.S. use an iPhone, which represents around 43 percent of U.S. users. Some reports indicate that figure may be stabilizing — and that Apple’s growth in the U.S. is slowing. If, however, Apple’s popularity continues to grow among teenagers, it’s likely that usage by adults will also continue to grow over time, as those teenagers grow up and many of them continue to buy Apple devices.

Apple popularity could also jump later this year. The company is rumored to be working on three iPhone models to be launched in the fall, including one model that comes at a lower cost and still retains an iPhone X-like design. Rumors indicate that the cheaper model may do away some iPhone X features, and may have a rectangular battery in order to keep costs down.

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A VR experience lets you ride a jetpack over the world’s most romantic city

Nothing says 21st-century romance quite like taking your other half on a jetpack flyover of Paris, one of the world’s capital cities for all things love-related. Unfortunately, as of this writing, jetpacks are not widely available, so unless you happen to be a real-life Iron Man like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, you are probably going to be out of luck. Fortunately, a Parisian attraction called FlyView is here to help.

Using virtual reality and specially engineered ground-mounted jetpack units, FlyView promises interested parties an aerial tour of the French capital, complete with 360-degree views and a realistic haptics-aided flying sensation — but without the eye-watering bill that such a real life jetpack experience would undoubtedly come with.

In all, you will cover around 20 major Parisian landmarks, flying close by and at a low altitude. As you fly, the jetpack unit will lift, lower and swerve from side to side to offer the most realistic possible experience. The “ride” lasts a total of 13 minutes.

“Arnaud Houette, a professional engineer, is the inventor of the FlyView concept,” Sophie Lemonde, communications director for FlyView, told Digital Trends. “Inspired by his dream of flying and passion for historic sites, he [decided to use] virtual reality to make his dream come true.”

The project officially kicked off in 2014. Since then, a team of more than 100 people have worked on the project, which had a total budget of around 7 million euros ($8.6 million). After all of its hard work, the FlyView Paris project finally opened its doors on March 31 with a grand unveiling ceremony. It is now open to the public seven days a week, with tickets available to book online for 15 euros ($18.50) per person. The venue has 50 jetpacks and HTC Vive headsets, making it one of the world’s largest virtual reality installations.

Lemonde notes that the views over Paris are real, not 3D reproductions, meaning that this is as close to the real thing as possible. The 360-degree footage was achieved using drone photography. “The jetpack was designed by our engineering team, based on real flying machine designs,” Lemonde continued.

Well, that has our summer vacation destination sorted then!

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Spotify may offer free users better features in its mobile app

Spotify might have more to show at its April 24th event than you think. Bloomberg sources have asserted that Spotify is preparing a new version of its free offering that would make it easier to use, particularly on smartphones. The revamp would make it easier to access playlists and would give you more control over what you hear on those playlists, more closely resembling the experience of a paid subscription.

The tipsters didn’t say for certain that Spotify would launch this revised free access on the 24th, but the announcement is expected “within a couple weeks” — it would be odd to unveil a major update like this separately from whatever else appears on the 24th.

The company has lately been willing to limit free users’ access to new songs in a bid to both please labels and improve its bottom line, but it still has to cater to them. It’s not just because they still outnumber subscribers (Spotify reported 71 million paying users versus 157 million total as of this writing) — it’s that the free tier is often the gateway to becoming a subscriber. The more alluring no-charge access is, the more likely it is that you stick around and consider paying to get unfettered listening. That’s crucial when Apple Music is reportedly catching up to Spotify and could have more paying members (Apple’s only option after the trial period) as soon as the summer.

Source: Bloomberg

iOS 11.3 may break aftermarket iPhone 8 displays

iOS 11.3 brought with it some improvements for your iPhone, including ARKit updates, new battery features, and a new message that informs you when it wants access to personal data. Unfortunately, if you had your iPhone 8 display replaced by an aftermarket part, iOS 11.3 might also stop it from working. According to a post at Motherboard, several users who have third-party displays are reporting that their iPhones are unresponsive to touch after updating to the latest mobile operating system.

As Motherboard notes, aftermarket fixes for iPhones are often a less expensive, and sometimes the only option nearby. Last October, a similar issue with third-party screens occurred, says the site, though Apple was quick to issue a software fix for the problem. “We don’t even do the 8 repairs this year, on purpose,” Ohio-based iPhone repair shop owner Michael Oberdick told Motherboard. “I had a really good feeling that something like this was going to happen again.” Oberdick says the issue is likely a small microchip that powers iPhone screens that stopped working for aftermarket displays, which could mean that Apple is discouraging repairs made with non-Apple parts.

It’s hard to say this problem is intentional or not, of course. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

Via: ZDNet

Source: Motherboard

‘Overwatch’ event retelling the heroes’ shadowy past is live

After plenty of teasing, the Overwatch team revealed the game’s next event, Retribution, would feature a mode telling the story of some of the game’s ruthless heroes. Now it’s live, and until April 30th, players can dive in to explore when the shadowy BlackWatch squad went up against operatives from the rival Talon organization. And, of course, earn a bunch of new skins.

Archive declassification complete.
Overwatch “Retribution” and “Uprising” file status: OPEN.

Commencing playback in 3…2…1… pic.twitter.com/bJfZbNyQTG

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) April 10, 2018

The player-versus-computer co-op mode stars Genji, McCree, a pre-Reader Gabriel Reyes and Moira set on the game’s new map Venice (which will arrive in the PTR before being added to the game’s rotation). It’ll play a lot like last year’s Uprising event, which you can also dive into until the end of the month. Overwatch has rebranded both events under the Archives umbrella, cementing this season as a look back into the game lore’s past, and added plenty of new skins (including the black ops-style outifts Moira and Reyes wear in the Retribution mode) to earn.

Just be ready for a very large patch…to the tune of 18GB on desktop and 22GB on console. Blizzard tweeted out a heads-up, and the game’s team noted that the huge update includes data layout improvement to help loading times in the future.

Source: Overwatch (Blizzard)

Senators introduce bill creating a ‘privacy bill of rights’

At the same time Facebook’s CEO is facing questions from the Senate Judiciary & Commerce committees, two senators introduced legislation focused on protecting people from incidents like the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Customer Online Notification for Stopping Edge-provider Network Transgressions (CONSENT) Act proposed by Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) requires “edge providers” (read: Facebook and Google) to obtain opt-in consent to “use, share, or sell users’ personal information,” tell users about data collection and how the info is used, and protect it with “reasonable” measures. The full act is readable here (PDF)

Enforcement of these rules would be up to the FTC. Senator Blumenthal said “Our privacy bill of rights is built on a simple philosophy that will return autonomy to consumers: affirmative informed consent. Consumers deserve the opportunity to opt in to services that might mine and sell their data – not to find out their personal information has been exploited years later.” According to Markey “Voluntary standards are not enough; we need rules on the books that all online companies abide by that protect Americans and ensure accountability.” While the two said they seek a bipartisan resolution, during Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony, some senators including Thom Tillis (R-NC) suggested that too much regulation could stifle competition.

We cannot rely on @Facebook to self-regulate.

Congress should immediately pass my CONSENT Act before more Americans’ personal information falls into the wrong hands. pic.twitter.com/JmJ24ZqrIR

— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) April 10, 2018

Source: CONSENT Act (PDF), Senator Ed Markey

Xbox One X enhancements come to ‘Red Dead Redemption’ and ‘Portal 2’

Red Dead Redemption 2 might not launch for several months, but Microsoft is giving you the next best thing. The company has added Xbox One X visual enhancements to six classic Xbox 360 games, including the original Red Dead Redemption. If you’ve wanted to revisit John Marston’s saga on your 4K TV, this is likely as good as it gets until the sequel arrives. Not that the other games are obscure — Darksiders, Gears of War 2, Portal 2, Sonic Generations (the first time it’s available on Xbox One, in fact) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed are making the leap as well.

And if you’re not insistent upon Xbox One X support, there’s plenty more. A round of backward compatibility releases on April 17th will add eight new original Xbox games including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Jade Empire, Panzer Dragoon Orta and SSX 3. On April 26th, the focus is undoubtedly on Star Wars: the 11 titles added that day will include the original Battlefront games, Jedi Academy, Jedi Starfighter, Knights of the Old Republic II and Republic Commando.

If you ask Microsoft, it’s the largest backward compatibility update since the initiative began in November 2015. There are still holes in the catalog, but there are considerably fewer glaring omissions than there have been in the past — the odds are there are at least some must-play titles you can revisit on newer hardware.

Source: Xbox Wire

‘Football Manager’ will be on Nintendo Switch very soon

Football Manager, the simulator that’s all about handling a professional soccer team, is on its way to the Nintendo Switch. Engadget has confirmed the news via a person familiar with the matter at Sega, the publisher and parent company of series developer Sports Interactive.

It remains unconfirmed which version of Football Manger is getting the Switch treatment and when exactly it will go live, though we’re told it’ll be “very soon.” There are a few more hints about the new version floating around the internet, thanks in part to series director Miles Jacobson.

News broke in late March that the game was rated for Switch in South Korea, and shortly after, Jacobson tweeted the following:

When the seagulls follow leaky Korean trawlers, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. We’re not ready to talk about this, but we will be soon. Keep an eye on @footballmanager for Switch flavoured sardines.

— Miles Jacobson (@milesSI) March 23, 2018

(If you’re baffled by all the sardine talk, it’s in reference to a famous quote from footballer Eric Cantona, spoken right after winning his appeal against a short prison sentence for kicking a fan during a game.)

Football Manager 2018 comes in three flavors: The main game, Touch and Mobile. The Korean rating applies specifically to Football Manager Touch 2018, a version of the game that’s the same across PC, Mac, Linux and mobile platforms. It’s a slightly condensed edition, skipping the pre-match hype and media management that’s included in the core game, while emphasizing tactics and player transfers.

There’s no official word on which version is heading to Switch, but Football Manager is definitely coming to Nintendo’s latest console soon, in one form or another.

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook doesn’t use your mic for ad targeting

During today’s joint hearing before the Senate Judiciary & Commerce Committees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced one question that addresses a privacy concern you’ve probably heard about. Whether or not Facebook listens in on your conversations via microphones to display relevant ads. It’s a conspiracy theory that won’t die, but Zuckerberg fully denied it when asked by Senator Gary Peters (D-MI).

Peters asked him to answer “yes or no” whether Facebook used audio from personal devices to fill out its ad data, and Zuckerberg said no. He explained that users can upload videos with audio in them, but not the kind of background spying that you’ve probably heard people talk about.

Peters: I have heard constituents say Facebook is mining audio from their mobile devices for the purpose of ad targeting. This speaks to the lack of trust we are seeing. I understand there are technical and logistical issues for that to happen. For the record, I hear it all the time, does Facebook use audio obtained from mobile devices to enrich personal information about its users?

Zuckerberg: We do not. Senator, Let me be clear on this. You are talking about the conspiracy theory passed around that we listen to what is going on on your microphone and use that. We do not do that. We do allow people to take videos on their device and share those. Videos also have audio. We do, while you are taking a video, record that and use that to make the service better by making sure that you have audio. That is pretty clear.

Source: US Senate Committe on Commerce, C-SPAN