Xiaomi Mi Band 3 picks up an upgraded OLED panel and NFC, costs just $30

The Mi Band 3 offers a heart rate sensor, NFC, and a 0.78-inch OLED screen, all for $30.

Xiaomi is one of the most popular wearable manufacturers around, which is entirely down to the Mi Band series of fitness trackers. With its latest model, the brand is looking to kick things up a notch. The Mi Band 3 has made its debut alongside the Mi 8, offering a heart-rate sensor, a larger 0.78-inch OLED screen (up from 0.42 inches in the Mi Band 2), and NFC connectivity.

The OLED screen now offers a resolution of 128×80, and the 110mAh battery is also considerably larger than last year’s model — Xiaomi says it lasts for over 20 days between charges. The Mi Band 3 is water resistant up to 50 meters, so you can easily use it in a pool (or go diving) without any issues.

The Mi Band 3 connects over Bluetooth 4.2 LE, and the larger screen allows more information to be displayed on the band for incoming texts and notifications. The band is available in three color options at launch, and Xiaomi will undoubtedly make more colors available in the coming weeks and months.

Affordability has been a core tenet of the Mi Band series, and the Mi Band 3 continues that tradition. The fitness band will go on sale in China for just ¥179, or the equivalent of $30. That’s for the version with NFC connectivity, and there’s also a standard variant without NFC that will retail for around $25.

For now, we don’t know when the Mi Band 3 will make its way to international markets, but the product is one of few that Xiaomi sells globally, so we should know more soon. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the Mi Band 3?

California’s pro-net neutrality bill passes the Senate, still faces Assembly

California is halfway to restoring net neutrality rules across the state. A bill to bring ease back into the hearts of California web surfers, SB-822, sailed through the state Senate on a 23 to 12 vote. The bill now moves on to the California Assembly before potentially landing in the hands of Gov. Jerry Brown. 

The news arrives after the U.S. Senate voted to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to kill its own net neutrality rules set in place under the Obama administration. The Congressional Review Act seeks to overturn the decision made by the FCC in December 2017, but still must go through the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the FCC’s quest to “restore internet freedom” is still slated to go live in June. 

California’s bill aims to set net neutrality rules on a state level. The bill prohibits internet service providers from offering different quality of service levels outside specific conditions. It allows the state’s Attorney General to investigate and take action against those service providers in violation of the prohibitions. 

According to Section 1776 of the bill, internet service providers cannot block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices. Providers also cannot alter internet connections between devices and “lawful” sources, which would prevent throttling and paid fast lanes for specific media. The list goes on to include the ban of third-party paid prioritization, application-specific differential pricing, and more. 

Without rules, an internet service provider offering its own video streaming service could relegate Netflix and Hulu to “slow” lanes even if they provide better content. This bill, if passed, would prevent that type of prioritization. It would also prevent service providers from picking and choosing services that don’t count toward the customer’s data consumption. 

“Large ISPs such as AT&T don’t like this bill. They’ve mustered a series of absurd arguments that have been repeatedly rebutted. And yet, they came very close to convincing lawmakers to weaken the bill in their favor,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said on Wednesday. 

Internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast don’t want net neutrality reinforced because the rules will “cut into their bottom line.” In other words, they won’t be able to charge extra for prioritization stemming from faster lanes, unfiltered content, and throttle-free connections. Their argument, according to the EFF, is that if they can’t generate revenue from those streams, internet subscription prices will rise. 

An argument can be made that internet service providers didn’t practice content filtering, throttling, or paid fast lane access prior to the net neutrality rules. Many providers claim they won’t change once the rules cease in June. But given how they lobby against California’s new bill and the effort to reverse the FCC’s decision, internet subscribers can’t help but worry about an internet without net neutrality. 

“It’s time for our federal lawmakers in the House of Representatives to follow the lead of the U.S. Senate and California State Senate, listen to their constituents, tech experts, and small business owners, and vote for the Congressional Review Act resolution,” says Evan Greer of digital rights group Fight for the Future. 

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California’s pro-net neutrality bill passes the Senate, still faces Assembly

California is halfway to restoring net neutrality rules across the state. A bill to bring ease back into the hearts of California web surfers, SB-822, sailed through the state Senate on a 23 to 12 vote. The bill now moves on to the California Assembly before potentially landing in the hands of Gov. Jerry Brown. 

The news arrives after the U.S. Senate voted to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to kill its own net neutrality rules set in place under the Obama administration. The Congressional Review Act seeks to overturn the decision made by the FCC in December 2017, but still must go through the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the FCC’s quest to “restore internet freedom” is still slated to go live in June. 

California’s bill aims to set net neutrality rules on a state level. The bill prohibits internet service providers from offering different quality of service levels outside specific conditions. It allows the state’s Attorney General to investigate and take action against those service providers in violation of the prohibitions. 

According to Section 1776 of the bill, internet service providers cannot block lawful content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices. Providers also cannot alter internet connections between devices and “lawful” sources, which would prevent throttling and paid fast lanes for specific media. The list goes on to include the ban of third-party paid prioritization, application-specific differential pricing, and more. 

Without rules, an internet service provider offering its own video streaming service could relegate Netflix and Hulu to “slow” lanes even if they provide better content. This bill, if passed, would prevent that type of prioritization. It would also prevent service providers from picking and choosing services that don’t count toward the customer’s data consumption. 

“Large ISPs such as AT&T don’t like this bill. They’ve mustered a series of absurd arguments that have been repeatedly rebutted. And yet, they came very close to convincing lawmakers to weaken the bill in their favor,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said on Wednesday. 

Internet service providers like AT&T and Comcast don’t want net neutrality reinforced because the rules will “cut into their bottom line.” In other words, they won’t be able to charge extra for prioritization stemming from faster lanes, unfiltered content, and throttle-free connections. Their argument, according to the EFF, is that if they can’t generate revenue from those streams, internet subscription prices will rise. 

An argument can be made that internet service providers didn’t practice content filtering, throttling, or paid fast lane access prior to the net neutrality rules. Many providers claim they won’t change once the rules cease in June. But given how they lobby against California’s new bill and the effort to reverse the FCC’s decision, internet subscribers can’t help but worry about an internet without net neutrality. 

“It’s time for our federal lawmakers in the House of Representatives to follow the lead of the U.S. Senate and California State Senate, listen to their constituents, tech experts, and small business owners, and vote for the Congressional Review Act resolution,” says Evan Greer of digital rights group Fight for the Future. 

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This website lets you earn cryptocurrency by picking World Cup winners

From June 14 to July 15, the attention of sports fans across the globe will mainly be focused on one thing — the 2018 World Cup in Russia. As usual with this event, more than a billion people will be cheering on their favorite teams while simultaneously making bold predictions as part of the official FIFA Bracket Challenge. But this year, those who have a knack for picking the winning teams could also earn themselves a bit of cryptocurrency as well, potentially cashing in on the current crypto craze to take home some serious cash.

A website called Cryptocup is hosting a bracket challenge of its own, with all entrants earning a digital token based 0n their picks for the outcome of the World Cup games. Those tokens are generated as part of the Ethereum blockchain, which means they will hold a certain value on cryptocurrency trading networks based on the current price of Ethereum itself. That value can — and likely will — fluctuate up and down throughout the month-long World Cup tournament.

While that tournament is taking place, the token will gain points based on the number of games that its owner has picked correctly. Those who accurately predict the outcome of the games will shoot up the Cryptocup leaderboards, putting them in position to take home a slice of the prize money. The goal is to be in the top 10 percent when the tournament ends, as those players will split the purse, which will have its value determined by the number of players who have entered the contest and the current value of Ethereum.

The organizers of the Cryptocup tournament say that roughly 25 percent of the money collected will go toward paying the website’s overhead throughout the tournament. The remainder will be split among the top 10 percent of the players, with the exception of a small consolation payout going to the player who finishes in last place overall.

But there is another element to the Cryptocup game that makes it even more intriguing. In addition to the token gaining points based on how well the owner predicts the outcome of the World Cup games, that same token can be bought and sold on a secondary trading market that will spring up around the website. This gives players the opportunity to sell their token and cash out early should they find someone interested in buying it. Similarly, would-be buyers can look to cash in on a potentially valuable token by making an offer to its owner. All transactions of this type will be subject to a five percent commission, which will also be added to the prize money.

Currently, the pot is valued at 19.5 ETH, which equates to about $11,150. The current buy-in for those who want to take part in the Cryptocup tournament is .075 ETH or approximately $42. That price will increase as we near the start of the World Cup, potentially fueling an even bigger purse and payout down the line.

To find out more and join in on the fun, visit the Cryptocup website.

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This desktop ornament tracks the value of cryptocurrency using a … seesaw?

OK, so people who trade in currencies can check their market fluctuations online, but where is the fun in that? If you want a more original — and, to be honest, attractive — way of keeping tabs on the market then, boy, have we got the thing for you! Called The Market, it’s a kinetic smart sculpture of a bull and a bear on a seesaw, which tilts in real time to reflect actual day-over-day changes in capital markets.

By combining internet connectivity with old-world materials like copper, zinc, brass and natural woods, it’s the perfect mix of past and present. Users can set The Market to track any one of 11 global stock indexes or four major cryptocurrencies via an accompanying iOS or Android mobile app — although once it has been set, it will continue to function independently.

“I wanted to take the type of wonder people experience with installations and make that experience accessible for people to have in their homes and everyday life,” August and Wonder founder Steve August told Digital Trends. “With The Market, I feel like I’ve found the formula to make that happen: To fuse art and the Internet of Things to create [a] sense of poetic connection to the world.”

Only 300 pieces of The Market Series A will ever be created. While we have yet to get our hands on a unit, it looks to be a stunning object that deserves to have pride of place on your desktop or mantelpiece. It is currently available for pre-order in two versions. One is a plug-in version that will set you back $495, while a slightly more expensive $525 version is a cordless battery-powered variant. August also notes that customers can pay using Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Dash. Production is currently in progress and shipping is estimated to start in late June or early July.

“How we experience tech has been defined by the big tech companies: Hyper-functional, hyper-intrusive, sleek, but cold and transactional,” August explained. “August and Wonder is asking if tech can be fused with art to create things that are warm and organic, non-intrusive, yet still connective.”

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For these researchers, building a ‘smart cockpit’ means reading a pilot’s mind

It takes grit to be a pilot. One glance at all the buttons, gauges, and toggles in an airplane cockpit is evidence of that. Even though automated systems are increasingly taking over tasks on commercial flights, as long as there are pilots in the plane, they will wear the weight of responsibility for all its passengers.

That is to say, flying planes can be stressful. In cases where something goes wrong, coordination between the human and the automated systems can be strained.

In a bid to develop a “smart cockpit,” where pilot and plane become one, a team of researchers from Drexel University and a French aerospace engineering institute, ISAE-SUPAERO, have demonstrated that they can measure a pilot’s brain activity in real time. Using this study as a launching pad, they hope to design advanced technologies and training plans to help pilots overcome challenging mid-flight situations.

Using a portable fNIRS (functional near-infrared spectroscopy, which differs from the more familiar fMRI and can be worn like a headband), the researchers studied two groups of pilots — one flying a plane and one using a simulator. The device measures blood oxygenation changes in the prefrontal cortex, just beneath the forehead, where things like problem-solving and judgment are controlled, and is often used as a location to study the “brain at work.”

“This study is the very first to demonstrate that it is possible to monitor pilot’s brainwave in real time with fNIRS in highly realistic settings such as motion flight simulator and real flight condition,” Frédéric Dehais, a professor at ISAE-SUPAERO and expert in flight safety, told Digital Trends. The researchers also found that actually being in the cockpit — as opposed to a simulation — caused pilots to make more errors, which Dehais said, “suggests that the simulators may need to be calibrated against real flying conditions to be more engaging.”

Along with Hasan Ayaz, a research professor at Drexel, Dehais aims to develop a brain-computer interface based on fNIRS to improve training through a sort of neurological feedback. They then plan to use this system to monitor brain activity during operational flight, to better understand the pilot’s cognitive processes.

“These daily measures can be used to assess pilot’s cognitive workload state and mental fatigue thus providing airlines with analyses tools for crew rostering and flight safety officers,” Dehais said. “A last step is to adapt the flight deck depending on the crew’s workload to overcome cognitive bottleneck. The objective is to optimize task allocation between the pilots, the copilots and automation in order to enable better task switching, interruption management, and multi-tasking.”

The end result would be a futuristic cockpit, where pilot and plane become one. A paper detailing the research was published this month in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

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Apple is launching a pride Apple Watch face on June 4 — but you can get it now

It looks like Apple is preparing to launch yet another watch face for the Apple Watch. A beta version of iOS 11.3 suggested that Apple would launch a special pride watch, and now with the release of iOS 11.4, the release of that face has been confirmed, according to a report from 9to5Mac.

The new version of iOS notes that the watch face is “inspired by the rainbow flag,” and it basically shows threads of color that move across the screen when you tap it. As you would expect, there is also a placeholder image for the face, which you will see when you scroll through the different watch faces you can choose from. 9to5Mac was also able to find videos showing off what happens when you touch the watch face.

Of course, the Monday, June 4, release date is notable. Why? Well, it happens to be the same day of the keynote for Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. In other words, we’re expecting that the watch face will be announced on stage at the show. As 9to5Mac notes, the watch face can be enabled before the show by heading to Settings, General, then Date & Time. Then, turn off the option to automatically set the date and time and change the date to any day after June 4. You may want to simply wait though — changing the date and time can result in lost health data.

WWDC is set to be home to a ton more than just an Apple Watch watch face. We’re almost certain that Apple will launch refreshed versions of its software for Mac, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Apart from that, we’re also expecting to see a refreshed MacBook Pro, and Apple may end up using the event to refresh other Mac computers too.

The timing of the watch face also makes sense considering the fact that June is Pride Month.

The face will join a host of watch faces on the Apple Watch, and the selection is only growing. Perhaps most notable is Apple’s partnership with Disney, which has given rise to a pretty large selection of Disney-related watch faces, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

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The first cross-platform AR app for iPhone and Android just launched

Finally, you and your friends can escape into augmented reality together even if you’re using Android and iPhone!

Google has been talking about ARCore on Android for a while now. Apple’s been championing ARKit for iPhone for about as long. Today, the first cross-platform ARKit/ARCore app has launched on both app stores respectively. It’s called Just a Line and you and your friends can make drawings in the air, and even draw on top of each other’s art, using augmented reality.

It’s just a simple app. One person draws in the air using their phone. Another person draws in the air using their phone. Both air drawings show up on both phones, in real time. You can also record video of your AR doodles to share on your sosh meeds.

It uses Google’s Cloud Anchor system, which allows one person to “host” and AR session that others can join. The information is sent to Google’s cloud servers and directed back to each device, which makes it possible to play games and share experiences on Android and iOS devices.

This is just the first of what’s sure to be a lot of cross-platform apps and games that will make use of both ARKit and ARCore.

I can’t wait to play a rematch of that battle game I played with Russell Holly. You won’t beat me next time!

Download Just a Line (Free)

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 now receiving Android 8.0 Oreo update in the U.S.

The best Android tablet available today gets the latest software.

It’s been a long time coming, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 is finally getting its Android 8.0 Oreo update in the U.S. Months after the Galaxy S9 launched on Oreo and the last-gen phones also received the update, Samsung’s near-forgotten big tablet now has the latest software the company has to offer.

The update clocks in at 1.23GB, which is pretty large, and includes both Android 8.0 Oreo as a base and of course the latest Samsung Experience 9.0 updates on top to fall in line with the Galaxy S9 and Note 8. I’m currently installing the update and will relay any notable changes to the experience, but considering how the previous software was basically a scaled-up version of what the Note 8’s launch software offered, I expect the same to be true here again.

The Galaxy Tab S3 may be getting a little old at this point, but given the relative stagnation of the Android tablet market it’s still our top pick for the segment. If you need to have a large-screened tablet that can handle keyboard input, take a look around and see if you can find one on a discount.

First WWDC 2018 Decorations Start Going Up at McEnery Convention Center in San Jose

The 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference is set to kick off in five days, and ahead of the event, Apple has started decorating the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, which is where the conference will take place.

Apple’s WWDC 2018 convention center decorations feature the same design as the rest of Apple’s WWDC imagery used for the WWDC site, invitations, and app, featuring 3D buttons, toggles, and text on a white background.

#WWDC banners are going up on the convention center! pic.twitter.com/po7P361IwF

— Aaron Stephenson (@iosaaron) May 30, 2018

Apple has taken over the entire front entrance of the convention center, as it did with last year’s decorations. Additional banners and decorations will be added over the course of the weekend.

Since last year, Apple has been hosting WWDC in San Jose, a departure from the many years where the event was held at Moscone West in San Francisco.

The San Jose location is closer to Apple’s campuses and office spaces in Cupertino and the rest of the South Bay, and it is also more affordable for developers due to cheaper hotel options in the area.

It’s happening!! #wwdc2018

A post shared by App Developer For Startups (@azzoor) on May 30, 2018 at 12:24pm PDT

Apple’s 2018 Worldwide Developers Conference will begin on at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 4 with a keynote event where Apple is expected to debut new versions of iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS, perhaps alongside a few hardware surprises that could include refreshed Macs and iPads.

We’ll have live coverage of the keynote event both here on MacRumors.com and on our MacRumorsLive Twitter account. Make sure to tune in after the keynote too, as we’ll have ongoing coverage of Apple’s announcements and new software features throughout the week.

Related Roundup: WWDC 2018
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