Gaze upon this great LG G7 ThinQ render

The first real look at LG’s 2018 flagship.

We’ve been tracking the LG G7 ThinQ’s rumors, leaks, sketchy images and renders for some time now, but this is absolutely our best and most reputable look at the phone yet. It comes courtesy of @evleaks, of course, who sent out a crisp and clear promo render that looks exactly like what you’d see in an official LG-sanctioned ad after its announcement.

LG G7….ThinQ. pic.twitter.com/qEVKHbfGFd

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) April 17, 2018

The render gives us a lot of information. It offers up a great look at a thick metal frame, which is reminiscent of the LG G6. Subtle side bezels and curved display corners complete the understated look. It also does a brilliant job of disguising what is an all-but-confirmed display notch at the top. With the choice of a wallpaper that’s dark at the top it makes the display notch near-invisible, but simply crank up the brightness on the image and it comes into view.

So if we take it at face value that this is an official render that’s been leaked, we now have more information on the size of the notch relative to the phone and what’s in there. A quick glance shows a cluster of the typical sensors on the left, a front-facing camera dead in the middle, and a small earpiece speaker to the right. The width of the notch looks to be about one-third the width of the screen, which makes it larger than the Huawei P20 Pro but not as wide (proportionately) as the iPhone X. People sure are heated about notches right now, and making it that wide probably isn’t going to help.

LG G7 ThinQ: Rumors, Specs, Release Date, and More!

@evleaks is typically spot-on with his leaks, so we shouldn’t look past the point that he also tosses the “ThinQ” moniker in there. So yeah, that’s definitely happening.

The LG G7 ThinQ will be announced on May 2, so we have just a couple of weeks to wait before seeing it all unveiled officially. Does this new render help or hurt your feelings about the upcoming flagship? Let us know in the comments below!

LG G6

• LG G6 review!
• LG G6 specs
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Tesla pauses Model 3 production again

As Tesla attempts to meet its own projections for Model 3 production, Buzzfeed reports that it is temporarily shutting down the car’s Fremont, CA assembly line — where a report earlier today claimed it’s undercounting injuries — for four to five days. This follows a similar pause in March, and the company gave the same response now as it did then, saying “These periods are used to improve automation and systematically address bottlenecks in order to increase production rates. This is not unusual and is in fact common in production ramps like this.”

Last year Tesla projected it would manufacture 5,000 of the mass-market aimed EVs per week by the end of Q1 2018, but its production report a couple of weeks ago showed the number at 2,020. CEO Elon Musk has recently pointed out an over-reliance on robots and battery module production at its Gigafactory in Nevada as limiting factors. Now Musk has pointed out July as a potential target, saying that production of AWD models is likely to begin after it hits the 5,000 per week number.

Source: Buzzfeed

ESPN+ now streams on Roku devices

ESPN+ launched on seemingly every platform under the Sun except for one: Roku. That’s something of a glaring omission, isn’t it? Thankfully, ESPN has been quick on the draw. ESPN+ has gone live through a new ESPN channel on Roku devices, giving you the same live sports (though sadly, no eSports) and on-demand shows whether you’re using a dedicated player or a Roku-enabled TV.

The price remains the same: it’s $5 per month, or $50 per year. This addition still doesn’t make ESPN+ ubiquitous (it’s notably absent from game consoles and most smart TVs), but the rapid expansion suggests it might just be a matter of time before you have at least one big screen viewing option.

Source: Roku

iHeartRadio offers curated playlists to free users

iHeartRadio added on-demand music streaming powered by Napster to its broadcast radio-centric service in 2016. The company later added curated activity-, era- and genre-based playlists for paid subscribers since then, too. Now the company is bringing this Playlist Radio feature to all of its users, including free members.

Introducing the brand new Playlist Radio feature on iHeartRadio! Explore hundreds of expertly curated playlists for FREE! Open the iHeartRadio app now and give it a try. https://t.co/E8vNKW5ap8 pic.twitter.com/uspoL9ij5j

— iHeartRadio (@iHeartRadio) April 16, 2018

iHeartRadio promises thousands of hand-curated music playlists that have created around specific moods, activities, genres and eras. Only paid users will be able to create their own playlists, save music from our curated playlists, listen to music offline, play the songs in the order they please, and instantly replay playlist songs they love. Free members will be able to listen to the curated playlists, including ones made for road trips, ’80s music and workouts.

iHeartRadio isn’t the only streaming service with curated playlists, of course. Apple Music and Spotify. users can listen to curated lists, as well. Spotify free members can create their own playlists, but they’re limited to 6 skips per hour and will hear ads (and sometimes similar tracks instead of the ones in the playlist itself). Apple of course doesn’t have a free tier, but it does have curated and subscriber-made playlists available.

Source: iHeartRadio

Google Maps uses landmarks to provide natural-sounding directions

Most navigation apps give you instructions based on streets or distance. But that’s not really how humans provide directions — they’ll usually point to landmarks that are much easier to spot than a tiny street sign. And Google, apparently, knows this. Users are reporting that Google Maps has started offering directions based on local landmarks. Instead of “turn right at Main Street,” it’ll tell you to “turn right after Burger King.”

It’s not certain just what points of interest Google will use for directions, the regional availability (beyond New York City, at least) or the scale of the introduction. We’ve asked Google if it can shed some light on the situation. If this is more than a small-scale test, though, it could take a lot of the stress out of driving through an unfamiliar town.

So @googlemaps instructed me to “turn right after Burger King” … I think this is the best update yet. #mindblown

— Deemah MS (@iamdeemah) April 14, 2018

Google Maps told me to make a right “right after the White Castle.” Does it do that now?

— Scott Stein (@jetscott) April 14, 2018

Via: CNET

Source: Deemah MS (Twitter), Scott Stein (Twitter)

What’s on TV: ‘Westworld,’ ‘God of War’

While the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, the big events won’t arrive until this weekend. On Friday we’ll see the debut of God of War on PS4 and Nintendo Labo for Switch, before the season premiere of Westworld (no spoilers, please) on HBO Sunday night. Hulu streams The Looming Tower season finale and ABC calls it a wrap for Scandal. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• The Post (4K)
• The Commuter (4K)
• The Awful Truth
• Deep Blue Sea 2
• The Wedding Date
• MST3K (S11)
• The Awful Truth (Criterion)
• The Skulls
• Don’t Starve Mega Pack (PS4, Xbox One)
• Yakuza 6: the Song of Life (PS4)
• I, Hope (Xbox One, PS4)
• Nintendo Labo (Switch – 4/20)
• Assetto Corsa: Ultimate Edition (PS4 – 4/20)
• God of War (PS4 – 4/20)
• Phantom Trigger (PS4, Xbox One – 4/20)
• The Way Remastered (Switch – 4/20)
• Slyde (PS4 – 4/20)
• Atomic Heist (PS4, Xbox One – 4/20)

Monday

• I Am Evidence, HBO, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• American Idol, ABC, 8 PM
• Kevin Can Wait, CBS, 8 PM
• Lucifer, Fox, 8 PM
• Supergirl (spring premiere), CW, 8 PM
• WWE Raw, USA, 8 PM
• Man with a Plan, CBS, 8:30 PM
• iZombie, CW, 9 PM
• The Resident, Fox, 9 PM
• The Terror, AMC, 9 PM
• Living Biblically, CBS, 9:30 PM
• The Crossing, ABC, 10 PM
• McMafia, AMC, 10 PM
• Good Girls, NBC, 10 PM
• Scorpion (season finale), CBS, 10 PM
• Final Space, TBS, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Tuesday

• The Honeymoon Stand-up Special, Netflix, 3 AM
• The Chalet (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Civilizations (series premiere), PBS, 8 PM
• Shadowhunters, Freeform, 8 PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• Lethal Weapon, Fox, 8 PM
• NCIS, CBS, 8 PM
• The Flash, CW, 8 PM
• Alex, Inc., ABC, 8:30 PM
• New Girl, Fox, 9 PM
• Black-ish, ABC, 9 PM
• Black Lightning (season finale), CW, 9 PM
• JDM Legends (series premiere), Velocity, 9 PM
• The Challenge (season finale), MTV, 9 PM
• LA to Vegas, Fox, 9 PM
• Rise, NBC, 9 PM
• Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 9 PM
• Splitting Up Together, ABC, 9:30 PM
• Andre the Giant, HBO, 10 PM
• Legion, FX, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• For the People, ABC, 10 PM
• NCIS: NO, CBS, 10 PM
• Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G., USA, 10 PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 10 PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10 PM
• The Last O.G., TBS, 10:30 PM
• Adam Ruins Everything, TruTV, 10:30 PM
• The Jim Jefferies Show, Comedy Central, 10:30 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM
• The President Show, Comedy Central, 11 PM
• The Chris Gethard Show, TruTV, 11 PM

Wednesday

• The Looming Tower (series finale), Hulu, 3 AM
• Riverdale, CW, 8 PM
• Famous in Love, Freeform, 8 PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8 PM
• Empire, Fox, 8 PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8 PM
• Alex, Inc., ABC, 8:30 PM
• The Originals (season premiere), CW, 9 PM
• The Expanse, Syfy, 9 PM
• Modern Family, ABC, 9 PM
• Criminal Minds (season finale), CBS, 9 PM
• Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9 PM
• Star, Fox, 9 PM
• Suits, USA, 9 PM
• I Am MLK Jr., Paramount, 9 PM
• American Housewife, ABC, 9:30 PM
• The Americans, FX, 10 PM
• Catfish, MTV, 10 PM
• Chicago PD, NBC, 10 PM
• Krypton, Syfy, 10 PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10 PM
• Criminal Minds, CBS, 10 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Thursday

• Take 5: The Shadow of Isis, Sundance Now, 3 AM
• Charité (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Gotham: A Dark Knight, Fox, 8 PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8 PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8 PM
• Jersey Shore Family Vacation, MTV, 8 PM
• Supernatural, CW, 8 PM
• Siren, Freeform, 8 PM
• The Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8 PM
• A.P. Bio, NBC, 8:30 PM
• Young Sheldon, CBS, 8:30 PM
• Ex on the Beach (series premiere), MTV, 9 PM
• Station 19, ABC, 9 PM
• Showtime at the Apollo, Fox, 9 PM
• Arrow, CW, 9 PM
• Mom, CBS, 9 PM
• Life in Pieces, CBS, 9:30 PM
• Champions, NBC, 9:30 PM
• Chicago Fire, NBC, 10 PM
• Nobodies, Paramount, 10 PM
• S.W.A.T., CBS, 10 PM
• Atlanta, FX, 10 PM
• Scandal (series finale), ABC, 10 PM
• Black Card Revoked, BET, 10 PM
• Thursday Night Darts, BBC America, 10 PM
• Party Legends, Viceland, 10:30 PM
• The Rundown with Robin Thede (season finale), BET, 11 PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11 PM

Friday

• Pass Over, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Dope (S2), Netflix, 3 AM
• Dude, Netflix, 3 AM
• Kodachrome, Netflix, 3 AM
• Aggretsuko (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• The Remix, Amazon Prime, 3 AM
• Spy Kids: Mission Critical (S1), Netflix, 3 AM
• Mercury 13, Netflix, 3 AM
• Vice, HBO, 7:30 PM
• Once Upon A Time, ABC, 8 PM
• Blindspot, NBC, 8 PM
• Macgyver, CBS, 8 PM
• Dynasty, CW, 8 PM
• Jane the Virgin (season finale), CW, 9 PM
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., ABC, 9 PM
• Hawaii Five-0, CBS, 9 PM
• Rellik, Cinemax, 10 P
• Blue Bloods, CBS, 10 PM
• Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas, HBO, 11:30 PM
• Trevor Moore: The Story of Our Lives, Comedy Central, 12 AM

Saturday

• The Letdown, Netflix, 3 AM
• Ransom, CBS, 8 PM
• Christiane Amanpour: Sex & Love Around the World (season finale), CNN, 10 PM

Sunday

• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3 AM
• The Joel McHale Show, Netflix, 3 AM
• Bob’s Burgers, Fox, 7:30 PM
• Howard’s End, Starz, 8 PM
• American Idol ABC, 8 PM
• Killing Eve, BBC America, 8 PM
• Instinct, CBS, 8 PM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, Showtime, 8 PM
• The Simpsons, Fox, 8 PM
• The Untold Story of the 90s, History, 8 PM
• Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 8:30 PM
• Westworld (season premiere), HBO, 9 PM
• Fear the Walking Dead, AMC, 9 PM
• Genius Junior, NBC, 9 PM
• Unsung: Lost Boyz, TV One, 9 PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 9 PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9 PM
• Ash vs. Evil Dead, Starz, 9 PM
• Unforgotten, PBS, 9 PM
• Last Man on Earth, Fox, 9:30 PM
• Silicon Valley, HBO, 10:15 PM
• Trust, FX, 10 PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10 PM
• Naked & Afraid, Discovery, 10 PM
• Deception, ABC, 10 Pm
• Timeless, NBC, 10 PM
• Barry, HBO, 10:45 PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 11:17 PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11:15 PM

[All times listed are in ET]

‘Omniphobic’ smartphone display coating repels it all, from water to peanut butter

Touchscreens are awesome. The thing that’s not awesome about them? The fact that our tendency to carry our smartphones everywhere means that the screen regularly becomes a target for grime. Things get even worse when there are kids around, thanks to their unerring ability to find the nearest sticky substance for your phone to come into contact with.

This problem is something that researchers at the University of Michigan may have come up with an answer to, however. They’ve created a clear “omniphobic” coating that can be painted or sprayed onto a surface to make it repel a wide range of materials — everything from water and oil to alcohol and even peanut butter will simply slide off the surface.

“We have developed a smooth omniphobic coating which is easily applied to a broad range of materials,” Mathew Boban, a materials science and engineering graduate researcher on the project, told Digital Trends. “The key challenge was to tune the amount of separation between a liquid-repellent molecule and a binder that sticks it to a surface, so that a very dense and smooth layer of these molecules is formed. Because the coating is smooth and entirely solid, it is more transparent, durable, and stable than many other liquid repellent surfaces, including those using rough textures to entrap tiny air pockets, liquid lubricants, or single layers of repellent molecules.”

University of Michigan

In addition to smartphones and other mobile devices, Boban suggested that the special coating could be usefully applied to other surfaces such as windows to allow them to stay clean for longer. Other applications might include use in refrigeration, power generation, and oil refining. That’s because all of these industries depend on the condensation of liquids, and this coating could increase their efficiency by letting them shrug off condensed water and chemicals more quickly. Finally, it could help improve microfluidic devices used for biomedical research and diagnostics.

“Using the separation-tuning approach, we aim to develop a range of omniphobic coatings using different combinations of binders and liquid-repellent molecules with varying chemistry,” he said. “This will allow us to optimize cost, safety, and performance, and scale up production.”

A paper describing the work, titled “Smooth, All-Solid, Low-Hysteresis, Omniphobic Surfaces with Enhanced Mechanical Durability,” was recently published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

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The FDA approves special contact lenses which turn dark on sunny days

Photochromic sunglasses which can darken or lighten depending on how much ultraviolet radiation they come into contact with have been around for years. Until now, folks who wear contact lenses haven’t been quite so lucky, unfortunately. That is about to change, however, thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially giving its seal of approval to the first contact lenses which incorporate photochromic elements.

Thanks to a special additive, the lenses will automatically darken when they’re exposed to bright light while becoming clear again in normal or dark lighting conditions. As such, they offer vision correction that will continuously balance their tint to control the amount of light entering each eye. The upshot is that you get a bit of added protection from the sun, while also having the chance to scare the bejesus out of your co-workers with your reflective black shark eyes! (Although we’re assuming that, in reality, the effect is a little bit more subdued than that.)

“This contact lens is the first of its kind to incorporate the same technology that is used in eyeglasses that automatically darken in the sun,” Malvina Eydelman, who oversees the ophthalmic, and ear, nose and throat devices for the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

The Acuvue Oasys Contact Lenses with Transitions Light Intelligent Technology are produced by Johnson and Johnson Vision Care. The soft contact lenses are designed for daily use up to a maximum of 14 days for people who are both nearsighted and farsighted. They can additionally be used by folks with certain types of astigmatism, an abnormal curvature of the eye. In total, upward of 40 million Americans wear contact lenses, meaning that there is a potentially massive market for this technology.

The lenses are the result of more than a decade of product development and clinical trials involving more than 1,000 patients. According to current plans, they will be available to buy in the first half of 2019.

Other photochromic technology we’ve recently covered at Digital Trends include special windows developed by researchers at Stanford University which switch from dark to clear depending on an electric current.

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• Dubai’s smart license plates contact paramedics when the car crashes

France creates secure chat app to keep its president off Telegram

Telegram is about to lose some more customers following the Russia ban, albeit for very different reasons. The French government is testing an encrypted messaging app that would keep officials’ data on servers inside the country. It’s worried about the “potential breaches” that could happen if data was encrypted in the US or Russia, and it’s easy to see why. Between Russia’s demand for Telegram encryption keys and Facebook’s data sharing scandal, France is concerned that sensitive chats could end up in the wrong hands.

Only 20 officials are trying the app right now, but it will ideally become mandatory for the government by the summer.

The switch was likely prompted by the messaging habits of France’s leadership. President Macron, his inner circle and other officials have been hooked on using Telegram to chat about work, to the point where Macron is reportedly online into the wee hours of the morning. It’s not necessarily a huge security risk between Telegram’s insistence on strong encryption and officials’ care to avoid discussing secret or strategic info (at least, according to a spokesperson talking to Bloomberg). However, this would still leave the discussions of high-level staff in the hands of a third-party service that France hasn’t vetted.

It’s not guaranteed that the app will help. The developers would have to be certain that hackers can’t compromise the encryption keys or otherwise intercept messages. If it does work as promised, though, it could set a precedent for countries using their own secure chat apps as a precautionary measure.

Source: Reuters

Google will pre-vet addiction treatment ads following scams

In September, following a Verge report detailing scams conducted through misleading drug and alcohol treatment advertising on Google, the company began pulling addiction treatment-related ads in the US. In January, Google did the same in the UK following a similar report from The Sunday Times and later, it extended the suspension of these sorts of ads globally as it worked out a strategy to ensure those advertising on its platform were legitimate. Now, Reuters reports, Google has established a way to vet addiction treatment facilities wanting to post ads.

In-person facilities, crisis hotlines and support groups will now have to be vetted by Oregon-based LegitScript before they can advertise on Google search pages or through the millions of apps and websites that use Google ads. LegitScript will assess addiction treatment providers based on 15 criteria, which include criminal background checks as well as license and insurance verifications. LegitScript told Reuters that these companies will also have to provide “written policies and procedures demonstrating a commitment to best practices, effective recovery and continuous improvement.” The company’s vetting service will cost $995 up front and $1,995 annually.

Last year’s Verge report described how companies were taking advantage of Google’s ad platform to scam those looking for treatment. Though some of those advertising were legitimate, others were collecting large commissions for referring customers to certain facilities, among other abuses.

Google will begin accepting ads from LegitScript-vetted US centers in July, but it doesn’t yet have a system in place for non-US treatment facilities or sober-living houses.

Via: Reuters