Apple Watch Earth Day Challenge Requires You to Complete 30 Minutes of Exercise on April 22

Apple’s next Activity Challenge for Apple Watch wearers will be centered around Earth Day this Sunday, April 22, with notifications that should begin appearing on Friday, April 20. The Earth Day Challenge requires you to do any workout for 30 minutes or more on April 22, and record your activity within the Workout watchOS app or any other app that adds workouts to the Health iOS app.

As is tradition with Activity Challenges, once you complete this feat on Earth Day then Apple will grant you a new achievement badge within the Activity app on iPhone, as well as various iMessage stickers that you can use to decorate your messages to friends and family members. 2018 marks the second year Apple has launched an Earth Day-specific Activity Challenge, and its goal is the same as it was in 2017.

Apple will be celebrating Earth Day a variety of ways this upcoming week, with employees in retail stores again wearing green shirts instead of traditional navy blue as a way to mark the annual environmental-focused event. In the past, Apple has marked Earth Day by adding a green leaf accent to the Apple logos of its retail stores, and shared Earth Day videos, Apple Music playlists, and featured apps in the App Store.

For Activity Challenges, this is the fourth one in 2018, following a Ring In The New Year Challenge in January, Heart Month Challenge in February, and International Women’s Day Challenge in March. If Apple keeps following its annual Activity Challenge schedule, the next physical trial for Apple Watch owners will take place around Mother’s Day in May.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4Tag: Activity ChallengeBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)
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cPass wants to be the European MoviePass for all entertainment

It might surprise you to learn that MoviePass has been offering unlimited movie tickets as a monthly subscription for over five years now. But the name only really rocketed into the public consciousness last summer, right after the price per month dropped below $10. MoviePass struggled to keep up with the wave of new interest, and its continued, rapid growth caught the attention of many. Enter cPass, a new service hoping to fill a MoviePass-shaped hole in Europe. Only it doesn’t want to limit itself to movies. Co-founder brothers Puya and Pedram Vahabi hope cPass will become an all-you-can-eat subscription for all kinds of entertainment.

As it stands, cPass is a MoviePass-inspired clone with only a limited number of beta accounts currently live in London. It operates in much the same way: subscribers reserve tickets for same-day showings through an app, turn up at the theater and use their cPass to pay for the seat. A monthly fee of £9.95 (around $14) entitles you to one standard ticket per day, which is to say 3D, IMAX and other premium types of screenings are off-limits. The cPass is tantamount to a debit card, with the movie theater itself collecting the full purchase price for each ticket.

The Vahabi brothers have worked on several startups over the past 12 years. Some gained traction, others didn’t. Currently, Pedra is a UX designer at Amazon and startup mentor at Google Launchpad. Puya is a research scientist at Pandora and lecturer for UC Berkley’s School of Information.

Puya doesn’t deny MoviePass has influenced their latest side gig. “Just one of the factors we consider when we choose the next project to work on is if someone else is showing there’s need,” he told me.

There is a key difference between the services, however, in that cPass has no formal agreements with any of the UK’s cinema chains. The company does have a partner that acts as the middleman, turning taps in the app into ticket reservations. The cPass network, then, includes any theater in London that has a basic online presence and accepts card payments. In the short-term, the plan is to avoid any structured agreements.

MoviePass has had its fair share of growing pains, but so far there hasn’t been any industry pushback to cPass. The UK Cinema Association (UKCA), which represents theater operators, has expressed skepticism about the service. “cPass is in the recruitment phase, building a subscriber base without any actual offer,” the UKCA told its members in a letter seen by Deadline.

The only dealings theater chains have really had with cPass thus far was to ask that their logos be removed from its website when it first went live. Listing names was fine, cPass was told, but using logos (especially without consent) implies a formal level of involvement that could be misleading.

cPass isn’t particularly close to launching to the public, though, so we’ll have to see how that shakes out. At the moment, it’s simply filling a few seats that might otherwise be empty. But two of the UK’s biggest chains, Odeon and Cineworld, offer their own unlimited passes for £17.99 and £17.90 per month, respectively. If and when cPass begins poaching these users, the potential for animosity obviously heightens. That’s a pretty big if, mind.

The problem cPass has is one of sustainability. It’s simple math: if a subscriber pays £10 per month and goes to, say, ten screenings that cPass pays full ticket price for, that’s a significant shortfall. But Puya is confident cPass could be profitable within a few years, as long as investors keep pumping money into it to keep it afloat. As it stands, I’m told cPass is on track to officially launch to the public around September/October time, though that could be accelerated. If money’s tight, one option could be to introduce a slightly cheaper subscription tier offering one ticket per week, but the founders insist unlimited movies for £10 per month is definitely viable.

As much as that’ll get people through theater doors, UKCA CEO Phil Clapp believes it may also be a cause for concern for operators. Where streaming services and digital downloads have brought the price of watching films at home down, ticket prices for the silver screen have increased. The worry is that cPass-like services will devalue the cinema experience. If moviegoers become accustomed to a cheap subscription service that subsequently folds, normal ticket prices may seem unreasonable by comparison, impacting attendance.

On the other hand, if a subscription service was to thrive, this new middleman finds itself in a position of power. With 5 million members, cPass could decide it no longer wants to pay face value for tickets. Theaters might be forced to agree to discounted rates or risk being blacklisted from the service. These scenarios are completely hypothetical, of course, but could result in less money flowing the way of distributors, production houses, and all other stakeholders that rely heavily on box office takings to keep making movies.

Puya admits cPass is a high-risk concept, which is why everyone isn’t doing it, but there are ways to make it profitable. You’ve probably already guessed where the value lies — just like MoviePass, it’s in user data. “There’s gonna be a promotional platform that we will build in parallel,” Puya said. The idea is serve ads and promotions within the app, with users also having the option to pay more per month to opt out of data collection. Puya was keen to stress that all data will be kept in-house and only used for targeted ads, rather than being sold to third-parties.

“We will 100 percent respect European privacy laws, and any modifications in the UK in the future.” Stricter data protection regulations are coming into force across the EU very soon, of course, but Puya is also mindful of the huge Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal that’s dominating the data debate right now. It doesn’t help that MoviePass has recently been scrutinized for the way it handles user data after some questionable comments from its CEO and a shady location tracking feature discovered within the app.

Still, creating an internal ad platform is how cPass intends to make most of its money, but with such slim margins, a large user base is essential. Expanding geographically is one way to achieve this. The plan is to start out in London, then spread across the UK before slowly rolling out to other European cities. But making the service and the app a must-have is just as important. In fact, the ad platform is only slated to be introduced after cPass has become a much richer service.

This starts with better personalization features. “We need very sophisticated algorithms to bring [subscribers] to the right place at the right moment. We need user profiling, personalization and state-of-the-art recommendation systems,” Puya said, adding “there is your competitive advantage.” And while MoviePass has now moved into actually distributing films, having a stake in their success, cPass wants to go in a different direction, branching out into other kinds of fun. “We don’t wanna stay just within the context of cinemas, but all entertainment events.”

An obvious next step is music, from events at your local jazz cafe to bigger concerts. The idea is the user pays an additional subscription fee for topics they’re interested in for all-you-can-eat entry to those events, not just movie screenings. After all, who wants to go to the movie theater every day? cPass is currently doing market research, running simulations and the like to see what realm it’s best placed to move into next.

Whether it makes it that far is anyone’s guess, though. We already know a cheap monthly subscription that promises unlimited entry to the latest blockbusters is attractive to people, and that data is big business. But with profitability being a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel, we could just have another Sliceline on our hands.

Some quotes have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Source: cPass

Engadget UK giveaway: Win a ‘Pacific Rim’ edition Honor 7X

Giant mind-controlled robots fighting even bigger inter-dimensional alien monsters is a tale as old as time, and what better way to show your appreciation for the unashamedly action-packed plot of the Pacific Rim franchise than with a physical totem? Thanks to our friends at Honor, this week we’re giving away a special edition Honor 7X created to celebrate the recent theatrical release of Pacific Rim Uprising. There are only ten of these devices in existence, and we’ve got one to send the way of a lucky UK-based reader. Head to the Rafflecopter widget below to enter this week’s competition up to three times — after you’ve given the rules a quick look beforehand, of course.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
• Contest is open to all residents of the UK, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) winner will receive one (1) ‘Pacific Rim’ Honor 7X.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
• This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Honor and Engadget / Oath are not held liable to honour warranties, exchanges or customer service.
• The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
• Entries can be submitted until April 20th at 11:59PM BST. Good luck!

Sony shrinks its Digital Paper E Ink tablet

Sony is one of the few companies persisting in E Ink stylus devices, despite the fact that they’re way less practical than a tablet and surprisingly expensive. It has just unveiled a new model, the DPT-CP1 that helps (a bit) on the latter count. It’s much the same as the A4 (13.3-inch diagonal) DPT-RP1 released a year ago, but has a smaller, 10.3-inch diagonal (A5) sized screen instead.

The benefits of Sony’s Digital Paper E Ink tablets are clear with the DPT-CP1. It has an excellent, highly readable 1,404 x 1,872 black and white screen, but is just 5.9 mm thick, weighs about 8 ounces and can go a month on a single charge. It also has a certain x-factor, thanks to the stylus and ability to let you read, jot, sketch and work in longhand on a more paper-like screen than other products.

The problem, however, is the price: It costs 70,000 yen (around $650). That’s $100 less than the 13.3-inch model, but it’s still not an impulse purchase like, say, a Kindle. It’s an interesting product, though, so hopefully Sony will keep making them, and making them cheaper. In any case, it’s only available in Japan and isn’t likely to come to North America.

Source: Sony (Japanese)

Samsung may use blockchain for its global shipping system

Samsung is considering shifting to a blockchain-based system to keep track of its product shipments around the world. According to Bloomberg, the head of blockchain at the company, Song Kwang-woo, said that it could slash shipping costs to the tune of 20 percent.

Blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrencies, but the ledger system can have widely applicable uses. Within shipping, the blockchain method of recording, verifying and sharing transactions could reduce the amount of time it takes to trade paperwork and to arrange scheduling with port authorities.

The key here for consumers is that the electronics giant’s switch to blockchain for shipping could decrease the amount of time between when a product launches and when it arrives in stores or at a consumer’s front door. It could also make for fewer product shortages.

It’s unclear what kind of time frame Samsung is working with and where the company is within this process. However, it will certainly be interesting to see whether Samsung officially makes the switch and whether other major tech companies follow suit.

Source: Bloomberg

Deals: Exclusive Twelve South HiRise Duet Discount, Nest at Best Buy, and More

MacRumors and Twelve South have partnered up again this week, offering our readers the chance to get the accessory maker’s HiRise Duet charging stand for $30 off its original price of $119.99. The HiRise Duet is a combination charging stand that supports both the iPhone and Apple Watch, with an integrated Lightning charger for iPhone and iPad, as well as a Magnetic Charging Disc for the Apple Watch, all of which are powered by a single AC cable.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

To get the discount, head over to Twelve South’s official Amazon page for the HiRise Duet, add the dock to your cart, and enter the promo code 30DUET during checkout. For Amazon Prime members with free two-day shipping, this marks the stand down to $89.99 from $119.99, excluding tax. The MacRumors exclusive HiRise Duet code will run through Saturday, April 28, so be sure to take advantage of the deal before that date if you’re interested. Twelve South notes that this is the largest discount it has ever offered on the HiRise Duet.

In other deals happening today, Best Buy is discounting both the Nest Learning Thermostat and lower-cost Nest Thermostat E, but only for My Best Buy members. If you have an account, you can get the third-generation Nest Learning Thermostat for $199.99, down from $249.99, and the Nest Thermostat E for $139.00, down from $169.00. Best Buy’s sale prices are some of the best deals online for Nest’s thermostats this week, coming in about $10 to $20 cheaper than Amazon and Walmart.

Also notable is Belkin’s first discount on the Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad, compatible with Apple’s iPhone X, 8, and 8 Plus. United States users can get the Qi mat for 20 percent off through May 12, with the accessory priced at $47.99, down from $59.99. Sales on the device are also hitting Amazon, where Belkin’s official store has the Boost Up mat for $44.99 as of writing. Belkin’s Qi accessory was one of the devices promoted by Apple following the debut of the new iPhones last year, along with Mophie, but on Apple.com the Boost Up device remains $59.95.

For more information on the latest sales happening this week — including $200 off select MacBook Pro models at Best Buy — be sure to visit our full Deals Roundup.

Related Roundup: Apple Deals
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Facts about the masters tournament

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Musk’s SpaceX helps NASA get busy testing human and bull sperm in space

“Do sperm squirm the same in space?” Forget birds and bees — NASA’s California Ames Research Center wants to know if human sperm measures up to bull sperm in space, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX is helping.

The sperm squirm project is called “Micro-11,” a missed opportunity for space science chuckles.

On April 2, 2018, NASA launched freeze-dried samples of human and bull sperm on SpaceX CRS-14, the transport company’s fourteenth cargo resupply mission. The giant rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral for the approximately 41-hour flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

You can watch the bull and human sperm being launched in the SpaceX video below — no need for concern about the video rating, despite the transport company’s name.

NASA plans to compare male reproductive material from the two mammals to see how human sperm measures up to bull matter — additional fodder for a catchy project name.

Why test sperm from both humans and bulls? It makes sense to study the effects of space travel and reduced gravity on human reproductive health, but what about bulls? Is NASA considering suiting up astronaut bulls for bovine booty calls in space?

It turns out bull ejaculate scores higher on motion consistency than human sperm, which is often varied. As a side note, NASA’s news release is mum on testing male commitment in space. No such tests have been successful on earth.

All hands busy at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center preparing sperm samples for launch to the International Space Station. NASA

Sperm needs to be activated to start swimming when it arrives on site, in space and on Earth. With no species imperative-style activation, sperm squirms around randomly, possibly trying to answer a call for a smoke.

To kick off the reproductive process, deposited sperm must start swimming faster toward an egg and then fuse with the egg’s surface. While a sperm cell swims, its membrane has to become more fluid to facilitate fusion.

In earlier experiments with bull sperm and sea urchins, astronauts discovered swimming activation happened faster in space’s microgravity than on Earth, so that’s a good thing, disregarding any concerns about premature activation. In the same tests, however, the pre-fusion membrane fluidity changes were slower up there than on Earth, if they occurred at all. So the sperm got busy faster but often swam with no final purpose.

Sea urchins aren’t mammals, but they set a high bar for reproductive excitement and commitment. The prickly ocean creatures turn themselves inside out like socks as the respective genders release clouds of sperm and eggs.

At the International Space Station lab, the crew will thaw the bull and human sperm samples, add chemicals to trigger activation and fusion, and record the activity on video. The samples will then be preserved and shipped back to the Ames Research Center, where scientists will analyze the results of the microgravity hookups and compare them with similar tests on Earth.

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‘Humans are underrated’ — Musk admits that Tesla was too reliant on robots

In a recent interview with CBS, Elon Musk discussed the future of Tesla and the problems the manfucturer was having producing enough Model 3 vehicles to meet growing demand. One of the issues that Musk touched on was the company’s over-reliance on robotics, saying that they had slowed the company down.

“Yes, they did … ” Musk said in response to questions regarding whether or not the company’s use of robots delayed production. “We had this crazy, complex network of conveyor belts … And it was not working, so we got rid of that whole thing.”

Musk followed up these statements on Twitter by admitting that “humans are underrated.”

Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2018

Tesla has been under an increasing amount of pressure due to its failure to produce enough units of the Model 3 to meet demand. While Musk did admit that the company’s over-reliance on robots had led to delays, he said that customers should not be worried about getting their cars. He said it might take up to nine extra months, but customers would get them.

“There shouldn’t be a question mark as to whether somebody’s gonna get their car, it’s just, yes, you’ll definitely get your car,” Musk told King. “It’s gonna be six to nine months longer than expected.”

Musk also pointed out that three of those months have already passed, so customers don’t have too much longer to wait. That being said, he did admit that some customers had canceled their orders. He believes that most of them did so simply because they needed a car right then and there, and Tesla didn’t have it.

The low production levels have taken a toll on Tesla’s stock. Last month, share prices fell from $340 t0 $252, but things are improving according to Musk, who noted this in a tweet to the Economist.

The Economist used to be boring, but smart with a wicked dry wit. Now it’s just boring (sigh). Tesla will be profitable & cash flow+ in Q3 & Q4, so obv no need to raise money.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2018

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Hackers broke into a casino’s high-roller database through a fish tank

In an anecdote that illustrates how our increasing reliance on the Internet of Things (IoT) has compromised the security of confidential information, a cybersecurity executive revealed how a high-roller database of gamblers was accessed by hackers — through a thermometer in an aquarium in the lobby of the casino.

According to Business Insider, Darktrace CEO Nicole Eagan told attendees at an event in London how cybercriminals exploited a vulnerability in a connected thermostat in the unnamed casino. “The attackers used that to get a foothold in the network,” she explained. “They then found the high-roller database and then pulled that back across the network, out the thermostat, and up to the cloud.”

With so many connected devices in our houses, we rarely consider the security flaws that might be present in each individual unit. “There’s a lot of internet of things devices, everything from thermostats, refrigeration systems, HVAC [air conditioning] systems, to people who bring in their Alexa devices into the offices,” said Eagan. “There’s just a lot of IoT. It expands the attack surface and most of this isn’t covered by traditional defenses.”

Israeli researchers recently tested some off-the-shelf smart home devices and found that they were able to access most of them by simply using default factory passwords. Some phone applications designed to monitor household appliances have likewise been found to contain serious security flaws. Your robot vacuum could even be giving hackers a guided tour of your home using their on-board cameras.

The former head of the British government’s digital spying agency, Robert Hannigan, said governmental oversight is probably needed. “It’s probably one area where there’ll likely need to be regulation for minimum security standards because the market isn’t going to correct itself,” he said. “The problem is these devices still work. The fish tank or the CCTV camera still work.”

It’s probably safe to say you won’t be attacked by your robot lawnmower any time soon, but the proliferation of cheap unregulated IoT gizmos means cybersecurity firms are responding to new threats every week. “With the internet of things producing thousands of new devices shoved onto the internet over the next few years, that’s going to be an increasing problem,” Hannigan said. “I saw a bank that had been hacked through its CCTV cameras because these devices are bought purely on cost.”

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