Nike’s 3D-printed textiles make running shoes even lighter

Nike’s use of 3D printing to craft ever-better performance shoes has reached its next logical level. The company has introduced Flyprint, the first 3D-printed textile upper for performance footwear. The material is ultimately a TPU filament melted and applied in layers, but the geometry is the key: Nike is using athlete data (such as that from distance runner Eliud Kipchoge) to determine the composition of the textiles. The result is a high-performance shoe upper that can be rapidly customized for specific regions and individual runners.

Regardless of the runner, Flyprint promises to be both lighter and more breathable than previous textiles. The fused nature of 3D printing also eliminates the frictional resistance that comes with conventional fabric. There can be very specific benefits for individual athletes, however. The first implementation, the Zoom Vaporfly Elite Flyprint, is destined for Kipchoge and promises to not only be 0.38oz lighter (a big difference in this category), but more resistant to the water absorption that can bog you down during a run.

You’ll first see the technology in action when Kipchoge uses an Elite Flyprint pair in a London marathon on April 22nd. However, you will have the chance to get a hold of the shoes yourself… if you’re lucky. Nike is selling a “limited run” of the Flyprint shoes in London through the Nike App on the marathon weekend, so you’ll need to act fast (and possibly book a trip) if you have to be the envy of your fellow hypebeasts. Flyprint will no doubt be used elsewhere — it’s just a question of when it’s available to the masses.

Via: Sole Collector

Source: Nike (1), (2)

Amazon is turning William Gibson’s ‘The Peripheral’ into a series

It’s about time we got a serious attempt at adapting William Gibson’s work to the small screen. With the success of Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon and Philip K Dick’s The Man In The High Castle, streaming studios with an eye on originals can only benefit from Gibson’s seminal take on the future. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, the creative team behind HBO’s Westworld reboot, are taking on The Peripheral, Gibson’s 2014 sci-fi thriller, for Amazon Studios.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the series landed at Amazon via a competitive bid. The studio apparently gave Joy and Nolan a script-to-series order (there won’t be a pilot) for their Warner Bros.-affiliated production company Kilter Films. The novel focuses on Flynne Fisher, who lives in near-future America. Fisher subs in for her brother, a cyber-enhanced combat veteran who now works security in a virtual world for the Milagros Coldiron company. When she realizes that the game world looks a lot like a futuristic London, then witnesses a murder, she realizes that things might not be so virtual, after all.

Amazon has been pushing genre adaptations quite a bit lately, with the Ian M. Banks’ first Culture novel, Consider Phlebas and a Lord of the Rings TV series as prime examples. Gibson’s novel has a sequel to Peripheral coming out this year, titled Agency, which could bode well for fans of the adaptation as well as Amazon if it does well.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

LG appliances now respond to both Alexa and Google Assistant

LG has officially joined the ranks of appliance makers that support more than one voice assistant. The electronics giant has announced that its current collection of ThinQ-branded appliances now takes commands from both Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. The amount of control you’ll have will vary, of course, but there are common elements: you can make ice in your fridge door, turn off the oven or cool down with your air conditioner.

This isn’t the first company to officially support more than one voice assistant, but those brands are still few and far between. LG is certainly one of the largest given its international scope. And frankly, it’s good to have smart appliances that give you choices for voice commands. When you’re likely to own an appliance for a decade or more, you don’t want to be locked into a single AI helper that might be rendered obsolete.

Source: PRNewswire

New York to investigate cryptocurrency exchanges

As the SEC and other US regulators look for ways to deal with cryptocurrency, New York is taking a step forward. The state’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, sent letters to 13 virtual currency exchanges on Tuesday that request specific disclosures about how each company manages its business.

Schneiderman’s office also launched the Virtual Markets Integrity Initiative, which it describes as “a fact-finding inquiry into the policies and practices of platforms used by consumers to trade virtual or ‘crypto’ currencies like bitcoin and ether.”

More people are investing their money into these currencies, and Schneiderman believes that they have a right to transparency and accountability from exchanges, which may not make things as clear as they should be to consumers. With reports of theft, sudden trading outages, potential market manipulation and difficulties withdrawing funds, Schneiderman said, it’s essential to get the requested information out as clearly as possible.

The letters contain a fairly exhaustive questionnaire so exchanges can disclose the ownership and control of each company, details on basic operation and fees, the specific trading policies and procedures, information on outages and trading suspensions, what internal controls are in place and policies on privacy and money laundering.

Source: NY Attorney General

iPhone X Responsible for 35% of Total Worldwide Phone Profits in Q4 2017

The iPhone X accounted for 35 percent of total worldwide handset profits in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to new estimates shared this morning by Counterpoint Research.

The device generated 5x more profit than the combined profit of more than 600 Android OEMs during the quarter, despite the fact that it was only available for purchase during the final two months of the year and in spite of reports pointing towards lackluster sales of the device.

Other Apple iPhones, including the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus accounted for a second large chunk of global handset profits, with iPhones holding 8 of the top 10 profit share rankings. Apple was the most profitable brand with 86 percent of total handset market profits.

While overall global handset profits declined by one percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016, Apple’s profits grew one percent year over year.

“Global handset profits declined 1% YoY, but Apple grew 1% YoY even with the iPhone X being available for only two months in Q4 2017. The iPhone X alone generated 21% of total industry revenue and 35% of total industry profits during the quarter and its share is likely to grow as it advances further into its life cycle. Additionally, the longer shelf life of all iPhones ensured that Apple still has eight out of top ten smartphones, including its three-year-old models, generating the most profits compared to current competing smartphones from other OEMs.”

Apple does not break out iPhone sales by device, so it is difficult to confirm Counterpoint Research’s specific numbers, but Apple did set new revenue records in Q4 2017, earning $10.7 billion on $52.6 billion in revenue. The company sold a total of 46.7 million iPhones during the quarter.

Similar reports and estimates published in the past have also confirmed that Apple’s iPhones bring in the lion’s share of smartphone industry profits, earning significantly more than its closest competitors like Samsung and Huawei. Apple has been the most profitable smartphone company for several years running.

Related Roundup: iPhone XBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Neutral)
Discuss this article in our forums

Best Smart LED Light Bulbs that Work with Google Home

Google has so far done a pretty great job in the smart home race — between the stellar Google Home speakers and Google Assistant baked into the Android experience, we’ve all likely come to rely on Google’s smart home assistant more and more over the past couple years.

If you love the idea of controlling the lights around your home using just your voice, here are your best options for smart LED bulbs that work with Google Home.

• Philips Hue
• LIFX Smart Lights
• TP-Link Multicolor LED Bulbs
• Sengled Element
• Smartika
• Nanoleaf Aurora

Philips Hue

Philips is one of the leading manufacturers of wireless LED smart bulbs. The Philips Hue lineup features a multitude of different lighting options for around your home, which must be configured through the Philips Hue Bridge via. You’re able to connect up to 50 lights to one Bridge and then configure and control them in so many different ways.

Once set up, you’re able to speak to your Google Home to set and adjust your Philips Hue lights throughout your house without leaving the couch, or easily turn off all the lights when you’re leaving the house or it’s time for bed.

See at Amazon

LIFX Smart Lights

LIFX offers its third generation of smart bulbs for both indoors and outdoors. Both offer 1100 lumens of brightness, with options to customize the look with 16 million colors and 1000 shades of warm to cool whites. No additional hardware is required to get things set up with Google Assistant as each bulb connects directly to your Wi-Fi network.

A single A19 bulb starts at $50, but if you’re planning to do up your home with LIFX bulbs, you’re definitely better off buying the 4-pack of A19 bulbs for $196

See at Amazon

TP-Link LED Bulbs

TP-Link offers a full line of smart LED lightbulbs along with other hardware including smart plugs and switches that allow you to convert lamps and appliances you already own into smart devices you can automate to power on or control with your voice.

Whether you’re fine with a standard A19 dimmable bulb ($20), a Multicolor A19 bulb ($36), these are quality products that do not require a hub to set up with Google Assistant. We’ll link to the 3-pack starter kit below, which is your best value at just $55.

See at Amazon

Sengled Element

Sengled bulbs are some of the cheaper options for smart bulbs, but the tradeoff is that you will require a hub.

The starter kit we’ve linked below includes four bulbs and the required hub for just $60 — not bad at all. From there, if you really want to tech out your home with smart bulbs, you can build out your home with 4-packs of bulbs for just $33 or an 8-pack of bulbs for $77. These are just your standard white dimmable smart bulbs and are ideal for lamps and fixtures around your home.

See at Amazon

Smartika

Smartika is a Canadian company that offers rather stylish home automation products for lighting your home fully compatible with Google Home as well as Amazon Alexa and IFTTT.

Everything is controlled via the Smartika Hub, which lets you create groups and scenes by programming automated functions. The Hub also lets you connect to the Smartika mobile app, which lets you easily interconnect and control all your Smartika products.

Beyond the Hub, Smartika offers five different lighting fixtures, which range from $135 for recessed ceiling lights to $500 for a full track light setup with four adjustable lights — perfect for a kitchen renovation.

Installation is available for those living in Quebec and Ontario, otherwise, you’re left to install things on your own via the included installation and user manual.

See at Smartika

Nanoleaf Aurora

Most of the lights we’ve featured so far are practical solutions, but the Nanoleaf Aurora? This is just downright cool.

Aurora consists of modular panels that you can connect together into whatever shape your heart desires. Russell Holly dove in with a full review but in short these are futuristic triangle panels of LED light which you can arrange into fantastic shapes and then control via your smartphone. Nanoleaf Aurora is now compatible with Google Assistant meaning you’ll be able to control these rad lights with your voice.

The Rhythm Starter Kit sells for $229 and comes with nine light panels, along with the Rhythm module that allows the light panels to respond to your music, putting on a pretty epic personal light show. 15- and 30-panel kits are also available.

See at Amazon

What’s your preference?

Which smart bulbs do you prefer? Using something that’s not on our list? Let us know in the comments!

Google Hardware

• Google Wifi review
• Google Home review
• Chromecast Ultra: all you need to know
• Which Chromecast should you buy?

Google Wifi: Google
Amazon
Google Home: Google
Best Buy
Chromecast Ultra: Google
Best Buy

Save big on various Arlo and IP security camera sets at Amazon today only

See it from anywhere.

Security cameras are something that you may not be thinking of adding to your home, or you may want to but don’t want to pay a small fortune to do so. Well, today Amazon has some big discounts on a variety of systems that you’ll want to check out. The most affordable option in this sale is Arlo’s one camera system with outdoor security mount for just $105.99. The camera itself normally sells for $140 and the mount is an additional $20, making this a savings of $55.

The 3-pack of Arlo Pro 2 cameras is down to $509.99 from its regular $680 price tag, marking its first price drop since the release back at the end of February. If you want to go all out, the 6-camera Arlo Pro system is currently $711.99, which is $130 lower than it has ever sold for in the past. Arlo’s systems are some of the most user-friendly options and are extremely easy to set up and use. You’ll have access to the most recent 7 days of recordings under the company’s free plan, but if you want to be able to see more, you’ll need to pay upwards of $149 a year.

There are also a few IP camera systems that are discounted today, including this LaView 4 1080P set, which can still push notifications of motion to your phone but records locally to its 2TB internal drive. It sells for $289.99 today, and the 6-camera version is $90 more at $379.99. The process of setting these up is a bit more intense, but in the long-run, they can save you a bit more money since there is no monthly or yearly fee associated with them.

Be sure to check out all the options and grab one before the day is over and the prices run away.

Want a VPN for life? Get Ivacy for only $30!

We all value our privacy, and when have so much of our lives online, that privacy and security is paramount. It’s far too often that people are the victims of identity theft, doxing, and worse, so having a quality VPN to protect the anonymity of your online browsing habits is a great idea.

Ivacy VPN is a highly reviewed service that offers person-to-person file sharing at blazing fast speeds, while completely protecting your identity, and right now you can get a lifetime subscription for only $29.99. With a regular retail price of $1,194, you save 94% through Android Central Digital Offers. The other wonderful benefit of a VPN is the ability to stream tens of thousands of movies, TV shows, sports events, and more from around the world. Having a quality VPN can help you completely bypass geo-restrictions, so you can get to the content you want now. You’ll even get a dedicated VPN add-on for Kodi.

Ivacy VPN lets you connect to more than 450 servers in over 100 locations around the world, and its an official partner of the National Cyber Security Alliance, helping to promote privacy education and awareness. If you’re worried about the state of net neutrality and your internet speeds going forward, Ivacy VPN can help you overcome throttling and port blocking.

No more region-blocking the content you want to see; no more hacking, spyware, or government surveillance; no more worry that your privacy is at stake. Check out Ivacy VPN at Android Central Digital Offers and get a lifetime subscription for only $29.99!

See at Android Central Digital Offers

Best ways to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Android

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is underway and the action is just starting to heat up. With 16 teams still in contention to raise Lord Stanley’s cup, there’s no better time to be sure you’ll be able to follow your team through the playoffs on your phone so you’ll never miss a moment of the action.

With the games being broadcast by NBC Sports in the U.S. and on Rogers Sportsnet up in Canada, you have options whether you’re a cable subscriber or a cord cutter.

If you’ve got a cable subscription

Your cable TV subscription gives you the option to stream from smartphone apps using your subscriber credentials. You’re probably overpaying for cable TV, so you may as well get the most out of it right?

(Also works if you’ve got really awesome family or friends that are willing to share their log-in credentials with you 🙌)

NBC Sports App 🇺🇸

NBC has embraced the NHL and they offer some pretty outstanding coverage for American hockey fans, and with so many games to cover and broadcast NBC has been showing games across all its sports networks — even the Golf Channel!

If you have a cable subscription you’re in luck, as you should be able to log into the NBC Sports app with your cable provider credentials and stream the entirety of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to your phone.

I say “should” because based on the recent app reviews there’s a lot of people having issues logging into this app, and even when they do there are people who complain that there are too many ads. Still, it’s your best bet if you’re a cable subscriber looking to follow your team on the go.

The app works with Chromecast, and there are also NBC Sports apps available for Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox, and Samsung Smart TVs, so even if you’re somewhere that doesn’t have cable you’ve still got options to stream the game on a TV.

Download: NBC Sports (Free)

Sportsnet 🇨🇦

Rogers basically owns hockey in Canada — from the broadcast and streaming rights to their part ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs — so it should come as little surprise that you’ll need a Rogers app to stream playoff hockey.

Fortunately, the Sportsnet app includes much more than just live-streaming content and it’s worth downloading if you’re a Canadian sports fan. It’s a great resource for following news, highlights, and analysis for the NHL along with all the other sports leagues you follow. During the regular season there are regional blackout rules in effect, but since playoff games are all national games you can watch them all!

Download: Sportsnet (Free)

If you don’t have a cable subscription

If you’re a sports fan who’s ditched cable, the playoffs can be really hard. All you want to do is settle in and watch the game from the comfort of your home, right?

Before you resort to illegal options, you do have some decent options — especially if you’re in the USA.

Hulu 🇺🇸

Hulu is a marquee sponsor for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, so you better believe you can watch every playoff game on the platform.

You probably know Hulu as one of the bigger on-demand streaming services, but Hulu with Live TV (currently in beta) looks to kick Hulu’s offering up a notch by bundling in access to live stream over 55 channels straight to your phone or other devices with the Hulu app along with all the sports you could ever need. Beyond the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you’ll be able to stream NCAA, NBA, NFL and the English Premier League. Hulu is available on practically all your devices, so you can log in and watch hockey practically everywhere.

Seriously, we Canadians would be all over a service like this, and at $39.99/month it’s a pretty compelling option that includes a lot more than just hockey. Plus, if you’re new to Hulu you can get a 7-day free trial, so check it out!

See at Hulu

NHL App 🇨🇦

As mentioned before, Rogers really has Canadians by the balls when it comes to watching hockey. They own all the streaming rights for the NHL and make it pretty damn complicated — for example, you may have Rogers cable and NHL Centre Ice, but Centre Ice doesn’t include playoff hockey If you’re smartphone is running on the Rogers network.

It’s all built into the NHL Live section of the NHL app and requires a rather hefty subscription for access. If you’re a Rogers customer with a Share Everything Plan, you may already have a free subscription to Rogers NHL Live.

The rest of us can buy a 2018 Stanley Cup Playoff Pass for $74.99, or you can opt to buy a monthly pass for just $29.99 a month and pay as you go. Steep, but seemingly worth it if you’re a hardcore Canadian hockey fan.

The problem is that the NHL app is still really unreliable as a video streaming platform, but because Rogers has it all locked down it’s the only legal option available.

Download: NHL app (Free)

Who are you rooting for?

Are you following the NHL Playoffs? Have you tried watching a game on your phone? Let us know in the comments!

Android distribution numbers: Everything you need to know!

Your (usually) monthly fix on the current state of Android.

About once a month, Google releases distribution numbers that outline the various Android versions and the percentage of current devices they’re running on. This data is meant for developers so they can create and update their apps according to which Android versions are the most popular, but they also give enthusiasts like us a glimpse into how quickly OEMs are adopting the latest and greatest the platform has to offer.

To source this data, Google tracks the Android versions of any devices accessing the Play Store over the course of a 7-day period. This ensures that only active Android gadgets are being accounted for and not your HTC Dream that’s been sitting untouched in a drawer for the past few years.

Any version that accounts for 0.1% or more is listed, but versions that have less than that are ignored.

Without further ado, here’s the current state of Android.

April 2018

For April of 2018, Google tracked Android devices accessing the Play Store for 7 days with the collection period ending on April 16.

The last report from February showed Oreo just barely accounting for more than 1% of Android devices, but that number has since climbed to 4.6% (4.1% being 8.0 and the other 0.5% going to 8.1). Nougat also sees an increase with a jump to 30.8% compared to 28.5% (7.1 and 7.0 combined), and Marshmallow is still trailing in second place at 26%.

Comparing these numbers to February’s findings:

• Gingerbread – No change
• Ice Cream Sandwich – No change
• Jelly Bean – 0.5% decrease
• KitKat – 1.5% decrease
• Lollipop – 1.7% decrease
• Marshmallow – 2.1% decrease
• Nougat – 2.3% increase
• Oreo – 3.5% increase

February 2018

February’s report was the first time Android Oreo crossed the 1% threshold despite that version of the OS being released back in August of last year.

Marshmallow continued with a tight grip at 28.1%, but this also marked the first time that Android Nougat jumped into first place with a combined total of 28.5% – that including versions 7.0 and 7.1.

Additionally, Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.3 to 4.0.4) also finally dropped to 0.4% from last January’s 0.5%.

January 2018

In January 2018, Android Marshmallow still reigned supreme as the most popular version of the OS at 29.7%. This also saw 8.1 Oreo make an appearance on the board for the first time with 0.2% adoption, and 8.0 remained at the same 0.5% it was at in December.

Jellybean and KitKat both decreased compared to last month’s check-in, but Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread are still holding on at the same 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively.

What version of Android are you running?

What about the phone you’re using? What one is it and what version of Android is it rocking? Sound off in the comments below and let me know!