Random Android bug shows your recent texts if you search ‘the1975..com’

Oh my hair smells like chocolate.

As awesome as technology is, it’s not uncommon for bugs/glitches to pop up every now and then. If just the slightest thing goes awry, a multitude of unexpected things can happen. Most recently, Android users have been discovering a particularly odd one that causes your recent texts to show up when searching for very specific words on Google Search.

First spotted by a few Redditors over Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., typing the1975..com into Google Search on an Android phone causes your most recent text messages to pop up.

The Redditor that initially caught this was apparently trying to go to the website for The 1975 rock band (who are really great if you’ve never listened to them), but after accidentally entering two periods instead of one, stumbled across this little gem.

Shortly after this, another user discovered that searching Vizela viagens, Izela viagens, and Zela viagens does the same thing.

As worrisome as this may seem, it’s not something you should be too concerned about. Turning off SMS permissions for the Google app prevents this bug from popping up, meaning that it’s a local issue and not something that someone can remotely trigger.

Even so, it’s still weird as hell. Some of the AC crew tried it out, and we’ve been able to confirm this happens on the Pixel 2, OnePlus 6, and Galaxy S8. If you’re worried, just make sure you’ve got a secure lock screen setup so any of your pesky/nosy friends can’t go snooping about your messages.

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Belkin’s New Wireless Charging Stand and Wireless Charging Pad Are Now Available

Belkin at CES debuted new wireless charging accessories, including the Belkin Boost Up Bold Wireless Charging Pad and the Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand, both of which are now available for purchase.

The Belkin Boost Up Bold Wireless Charging Pad is similar to the existing Belkin Boost Up Charging Pad, but it comes in a variety of colors that include pink, navy, black, and white.

It offers up to 10W output for fast charging on all Qi-enabled devices, and it supports the 7.5W charging necessary for fast wireless charging on the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

The Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Stand features the same circular design and the same colors as the Bold, but it features a frame that holds the iPhone in an upright position allowing the iPhone to be charged in landscape or portrait mode without the need for it to be flat on a table.

Like the Charging Pad, the Charging Stand supports the faster 7.5W wireless charging specification for the iPhone.

Belkin’s Bold Wireless Charging Pad is priced at $60, while the Wireless Charging Stand is priced at $70. Both can be purchased today from the Belkin website or from Amazon.com (Pad) (Stand).

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Belkin and may receive a small commission when you purchase a Belkin product.

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Drone to the rescue: Hawaii resident saved from Kilauea’s lava flows

Drones are fast becoming an invaluable tool for emergency response teams engaged in search and rescue operations. On the island of Hawaii, for example, the technology is being used right now to move people out of harm’s way as lava continues to pour from Kilauea volcano.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) this week described how live-streamed video from one of its unmanned aerial vehicles helped guide emergency responders to a resident whose home looked to be on the verge of getting swallowed up by the lava flow. Live footage from the flying machine was then assessed by a remote team so that it could direct the rescue group along the safest escape route.

“[The drone] helps prompt and guide evacuations and led to the successful rescue of a resident after a lava pond outbreak sent a very fast pahoehoe flow” down one of the Big Island’s streets, the USGS said in a Twitter post on Wednesday, May 30.

Footage posted with the tweet (below) shows the actual video captured by the drone, which the rescue team was able to use in real time as they tackled the hazardous conditions.

“Follow the drone to safety.” USGS UAS mission in Kīlauea volcano’s lower East Rift Zone on 5/27/18 helps guide evacuations and leads to the successful rescue of a resident after a lava pond outbreak sends a fast pāhoehoe flow down Luana Street. https://t.co/S3nUtwYMdM pic.twitter.com/kpfjQI9pOX

— USGS Volcanoes (@USGSVolcanoes) May 30, 2018

The situation on the ground looks precarious to say the least, and it’s safe to say the resident must have been feeling pretty terrified as the lava flow closed in. The live data from the drone allowed the rescue team to follow a safe path, and if you look carefully you can see their flashlights scanning the scene when they make it to the property. Once they reached the resident, the team was then guided to an available evacuation route, safely removing them from the danger area.

As Discover magazine points out, the recent rescue effort was prompted when a USGS drone flight spotted new, rapid lava flows from one of the volcano’s fissures. The situation became all the more urgent when it was apparent that vital escape routes looked as if they were about to be blocked.

Drone technology is clearly proving a real boon for volcanologists, as well as the emergency management teams that work with them. The remotely controlled flying machines offer a safe way to get up close to active volcanoes, providing geologists with up-to-the-minute data on the direction and extent of lava flows, and valuable information regarding developments on and around the volcano over a longer period of time.

When every second counts, real-time data is everything, and drones are proving to be an indispensable tool in the battle to protect lives on the Big Island as the lava continues to flow.

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Scotland has a rehab clinic for people who are addicted to trading bitcoin

If you find yourself taking the “hold on for dear life,” or HODL, stance toward cryptocurrency to the extreme, and can’t help yourself when it comes to buying cryptocurrency, you may be addicted. That’s the view of experts at the Scotland-based Castle Craig Hospital, which expanded its rehab services to cover cryptocurrency addiction earlier this month.

Experts have long compared the thrill of cryptocurrency to day trading, both of which entail high degrees of risk. You’re essentially gambling with your money with crypto and with day trading, and the thrill of massive returns — and the potential addictive effects — create an emotional dependence that is not much different from gambling addiction.

“The high risk, fluctuating cryptocurrency market appeals to the problem gambler,” Castle Craig gambling therapist Chris Burn says. “It provides excitement and an escape from reality. Bitcoin, for example, has been heavily traded and huge gains & losses were made. It’s a classic bubble situation.”

Similar to those that might be addicted to casino table games or slots, the addicted trader spends most if not all of their money on cryptocurrency, and will “chase” their losses in attempts to win back lost money. They may borrow excessively or even steal, or experience mood swings and obsessive thoughts and actions, the hospital says.

Castle Craig plans to treat addicts using the same methods used for excessive gambling. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the primary tool, and teaches the person how to accept responsibility for their addiction and coping strategies, finding positive activities to replace the need for cryptocurrency trading, and most importantly how to manage their debts and finances appropriately.

The help is not cheap: according to WikiTribune, Treatments start at 2,975 British pounds (about $4,000) per week for a multi-occupancy room all the way up to 4,970 pounds (about $6,600) weekly for a private room. Considering most addiction programs are multi-step processes — Castle Craig’s is 12 — treatment could easily run into the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While most won’t be able to afford the treatment out-of-pocket, the company says it offers payment plans, and in some cases a portion of the cost might be covered under public or private insurance. The company also operates clinics in at least six other European countries, however it’s not immediately clear if the program will be offered at those locations.

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Smarten up your old-fashioned watch with the Montblanc Twin Smart Strap

If you haven’t joined the smartwatch revolution yet, you’ve likely got a good reason for doing so. Maybe you’re really attached to your watch, and replacing it with a new device seems wrong when your current timepiece functions just as well for telling the time or finding north without a compass. German luxury watch manufacturer Montblanc has heard your keening cries and introduced the Twin Smart Strap, which can turn most classic watches into a smart device, capable of step tracking, digital payments, and more.

The Montblanc Twin Smart Strap is formed of two different parts — the comfortable watch strap, and a smart module with a curved screen. The strap is made from a high-quality rubber composite and topped with a variety of materials to match the user’s style, with black calf leather, vintage brown calf leather, black nylon, and black and grey striped nylon options available at launch. It also comes in 20mm and 22mm versions, meaning it should be able to connect to most male watch horns.

The smart module itself sits within the strap’s mechanical clasp, is made from high-quality stainless steel, and comes with an IP68-rating to help it resist rainwater and other accidental dips. The smart module’s screen is a curved monochrome AMOLED display, sitting underneath what Montblanc refers to as “elegant protective glass.” Users will be able to read notifications from the Twin’s display, will give LED and vibration alerts, and will be able to use NFC payment services with Montblanc Pay — a new payment service that Montblanc tells us was developed with Mastercard and Visa.

Users will use the iOS companion app to connect up to five cards for Montblanc Pay, as well as accessing the strap’s more in-depth features. A feature called “Memories” will sync up with the user’s iPhone, copying calendar events into the app, and connecting associated images. Montblanc says it hopes flicking back through Memories will create a deep emotional bond between users and the device. There has been no mention of an Android app at this time, and we have reached out to Montblanc for comment on this.

The Montblanc Twin Smart Strap will be available from Montblanc in August, with prices starting at 390 euros (around $455).

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Intel Optane DC could boost Xeon servers with up to three terabytes of memory

Intel has debuted a new entry in its Optane range which it calls DC Persistent Memory. It’s designed to act like both RAM and SSD storage, offering larger capacities and higher speeds than its individual counterparts. Aimed at servers — at least for now — the new standard will be built in 512GB sticks and is said to offer huge improvements to server reboot times, as well as to supported user numbers.

In a similar manner to the Optane modules that Intel has released so far, Optane DC Persistent Memory is a bridge that exists between longer-term storage and fast response memory. Offering masses more memory than traditional RAM sticks — as much as three terabytes per CPU socket — it will dynamically move data from longer-term solid state storage to memory chips as and when required much closer to the processor. That allows it to minimize the latency typically associated with fetching data from system storage.

Designed for datacenters and servers, the Optane DC Persistent Memory modules were found to offer big performance improvements in early testing. Intel claims that they can reduce restart times from minutes to seconds, thereby improving uptime and reducing penalties associated with system crashes. They also increase performance for virtual machine storage and cloud applications considerably, whilst allowing for much larger numbers of users per server.

Intel also suggests that analytics and applications that leverage large quantities of data can see big performance improvements when using the latest Xeon CPUs in conjunction with the Optane DC persistent memory.

The new memory/storage standard is in the sampling phase and will be shipping out to retail partners before the end of the year. Intel plans to make it broadly available to datacenter customers in 2019. Since developers need to program for DC Persistent Memory in order for users to take advantage of it, however, while production is ramped up, Intel will provide remote access to systems equipped with it in order to accelerate software development.

None of this is likely to speed up your new gaming PC any time soon, but the increase in user numbers supported by individual servers could offer some potential performance improvements for larger scale MMOs.

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False civil emergency alert text panics Oregon’s Marion County

KATU Photo

A vague but false civil emergency alert text sent to many residents of Marion County, Oregon, caused a significant panic on Tuesday evening, KATU reported.

The text message, sent at 8:29 p.m. PT on May 29 read:

Emergency Alert
Civil Emergency in this area until 11:28PM PDT
Prepare for Action OEM,1,OR

The message was supposed to notify residents of Salem, Oregon, the state’s capital city, about a tap water advisory. Instead, recipients of the whole county in which Salem is located were advised to “prepare” for some unqualified “Action.”

According to the Marion County Sheriff’s office, residents immediately started calling 911 to find out what was going on and what they should do about it.

Dispatchers at the 911 center told people not to call 911, that there was no emergency.

More than two hours after the disturbing text alert went out, the Marion County Sheriff’s office tweeted, “THERE IS NO CIVIL EMERGENCY. The message was intended to notify those affected by the water issue in Salem. PLEASE DO NOT CALL 911.”

A subsequent tweet by the City of Salem in response to a citizen’s query stated, “@OregonOEM sent this on our behalf. You can find out more information about the drinking water advisory on the City’s website: cityofsalem.net/Pages/drinking-water-advisory.aspx”

In a message to KATU, the Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM) explained a “technology issue” resulted in dropped data including the water advisory link in the message that went to phones. The message went out correctly to televisions but reverted to a default message on phones.

“The alert that was sent had to do with the water drink notice, sent on behalf of Marion County,” OEM spokesman Cory Grogan told KATU. “There were additional details that were supposed to go out, but for some reason, it went to the default message instead.”

The Salem tap water issue that was intended for the text alerts is a serious concern. The drinking water advisory explained that routine water testing of treated drinking water found low levels of cyanotoxins created by algal blooms in the city drinking water source, the Detroit Reservoir. Children under six, people with compromised immune systems, and other sensitive populations were advised not to drink tap water until otherwise advised.

Oregon OEM Director Andrew Phelps followed up later Tuesday evening with a statement that read in part:

“Beginning this evening, we are conducting a forensic analysis of the steps we took to send the message and ensure our procedures are written and practiced in a way that will prevent a confusing message from being sent from our system in the future.

“We understand the importance of emergency alerts and need to get it right, every time.”

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Dell is reportedly working on its dual-screen version of the Surface Phone

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Dell may become one of the first PC manufacturers to bring Microsoft’s vision of a dual-screen computer to life. Like Microsoft’s long-rumored Courier concept, Dell’s dual-screen device makes use of two folding screens, and it has been reported that Dell has been working on this concept since at least last summer. The endeavor is also known by its Januss code name.

It’s still too early to know specific details about Januss, but it appears that Dell may be borrowing ideas from the recent crop of Always Connected PCs. Januss will make use of an ARM-based processor and, more specifically, WinFuture reported that the device will arrive in the second half of this year with Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 850 chip and an LTE modem.

The use of an ARM processor from Qualcomm, rather than Intel’s x86 chips, should help the device in the battery life department, and an LTE modem will ensure that users will have access to the internet no matter where they go. There is even a demo of Dell’s Januss Prototype 2 that’s hosted on a Dutch product prototyping firm’s website, according to ZDNet, however, the simulation requires two PCs to operate the left and right panels.

Januss is said to be manufactured by Compal Electronics with at least one USB Type-C port, which could also be used to recharge the device, along with several cameras, and a number of sensors like an electronic compass, accelerometer, and gyroscope. Given the sensors, it appears that Januss may resemble a smartphone or tablet more than a traditional laptop.

Code found in a recent Windows 10 SDK suggests that Microsoft may be readying Windows to support dual-screen devices. According to Twitter user WalkingCat, Microsoft made references to both hardware and software within the code with mentions of Andromeda OS and an Andromeda device. Andromeda OS is said to support both ARM and x86 processors, but the Andromeda hardware will be based off of an ARM chipset. Following the Courier concept, Andromeda became Microsoft’s rumored code name for a dual-screen Surface Phone.

It’s unclear if Microsoft’s long-rumored Surface Phone or if Dell’s project Januss will come to market first, but when they do, these devices will be met with strong competition from the Android camp. Samsung, Huawei, LG, and a number of Android smartphone manufacturers are working on foldable smartphones. A foldable design allows the device to maintain a compact footprint for travel, but when unfolded, consumers will benefit from a larger screen area for more productive tasks.

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Apple is most definitely working on augmented reality glasses

There is now more evidence suggesting that Apple is working on its own smart glasses for augmented and virtual reality experiences. In a new job listing, Apple is seeking to hire a 3D user interface engineer to “drive the next generation of interactive experiences for our platform.”

“You will work with some of Apple’s most advanced technologies including the Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) support offered in ARKit and Metal 2,” Apple said of the 3D UI Frameworks Engineer position within The Technology Development Group in a job post spotted by 9to5 Mac.

A prior report suggested that Apple could ready its AR glasses by 2020, with company exploring wireless technologies to create a consumer-friendly untethered augmented and virtual reality experience. Unlike some current AR and VR solutions on the market today, Apple’s implementation will reportedly not need trackers or cameras. Instead, all the hardware will either be packed into the glasses or an accompanying box. The headset will rely on the WiGig 2.0 wireless standard to communicate with the box, eliminating clunky wires.

“We have been and continue to invest a lot in this,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a 2016 earnings call when asked about the technology. “We are high on AR for the long run, we think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity.”

Apple’s mixed reality glasses would be a natural progression of the company’s efforts in the augmented reality space. Apple has been experimenting with AR through its smartphones. The iPhone X, for example, allows users to create AR emojis called Animoji, and Apple allows third-party apps to deliver AR capabilities by using the cameras on its smartphones.

In addition to software, Apple had also been working on the hardware side for its glasses, and the company had filed a patent application for a lens system that would allow for a more compact set of glasses. Given that AR glasses are worn on the face, reducing the bulk and weight of the glasses would lead to a more comfortable experience, especially if the glasses are worn for a longer duration.

When it launches, Apple’s mixed reality glasses will face competition from Microsoft, Facebook, HTC, and others. Microsoft is pushing its Hololens at enterprise customers, while less expensive Windows Mixed Reality headsets are designed for AR experiences on Windows 10. Facebook’s Oculus and HTC Vive are also popular options.

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Snapdragon 710 chips mean nobody has to spend $1,000 on a phone

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 710 announcement has the potential to shake things up when we are ready to buy our next phone.

I’ve always been a fan of “mid-range” silicon. Whether that means overclocking the living daylights out of a Intel Core i5 or AMD FX CPU or optimizing software parameters for middle of the road SoCs in mobile (my HTC Hero was hella fast with my own version of Android on it), squeezing every last drop out of a clock cycle is my kind of fun. Most of the time any optimization also scales upwards and downwards, meaning low-end hardware becomes more usable and high-end hardware seems like magic when you turn it on.

More importantly, I’m a fan when a company that makes these parts does it itself. And Qualcomm looks to have outdone itself with the coming Snapdragon 710. It’s more than a better Snapdragon 600 series; it’s an entirely new type of product that has the potential to change buying habits.

Snapdragon 845 “lite”

On paper, the 710 looks like a really good mid-range SoC. In reality, it’s more like an inexpensive high-end SoC and shares more features with the Snapdragon 800 series — the chips that power the Pixel phones and Galaxy S phones and every other phone creeping towards the $1,000 line — than it does with the tried-and-true 600 series.

This chip is not an improved Snapdragon 660. It’s a Snapdragon 835 that’s been sensibly scaled back.

I thought the Snapdragon 600 line was a great value. By using one, a manufacturer could shave money off the price and still have enough hardware at its disposal to do almost anything you would want a smartphone to do. But there was a fairly large performance gap between the 600 and 800 series of chips, especially when it came to the things other than raw performance per clock cycle. Other, equally important performance metrics like image processing and network speeds were far superior on a phone with a Snapdragon 800 series than any other chip Qualcomm had to offer.

That’s where the 710 shines. From the ground up it’s designed to deliver flagship-class performance without the flagship price. Its built on the exact same 10nm process as the 845 (and future 800 chips), which means it’s incredibly power-efficient. This is more than “better battery life” because power efficiency affects thermal performance and longevity of almost every other component on a phone’s board and the battery. If this were the only change from the 600 line of SoC, it’s enough; better battery life, better performance for a longer time, and an increased life for all the hardware is nothing to sneeze at.

10 nanometer fabrication is the biggest advancement in chip design in the past 10 years. Sometimes less is more.

It’s not the only change though. A mobile SoC (System on Chip) isn’t the CPU. It’s a piece of hardware that can be soldered to a board that includes the CPU, the GPU, various signal processors, and networking components, all in one module. The 710 is using the newest generation of individual components inside the SoC just like the 845 is, which nobody expected and makes me very happy.

A quick peek into the specs — don’t worry, I won’t let it get too boring here — shows a BIG.little CPU configuration with the same high-powered cores as the 800 series paired with a new set of efficiency cores based on the A55 CPU design. There’s a 600 series Adreno GPU, a 685 Hexagon DSP, a 200 series Spectra ISP, on-board system cache, an upgraded X15 LTE modem package and pipes for 10-bit HDR. These components are what you would expcet to see in an 800 series chip, not a mid range chip.

In real world usage, that all translates into a few important upgrades over the previous mid-range champ, the Snapdragon 600. Your photographs will be processed using the same engine that the Galaxy S9 uses, as will the effects engine for features like bokeh and portrait mode.. So will your phone audio. Modem features like 4X4 MIMO and LAA (License-Assisted Access) are also something we see in the 800 series chips and will mean better data speeds, though capped at only 800 Mbps. The 10-bit wide pipelines mean HDR capture and display, which should pair well with a GPU capable of 4K-30/60 playback while using less power than a 660 chip to do so.

This isn’t a mid-range chip the way we know mid-range chips.

A new class of phones

I think the 710 will also do something you can’t list on a spec sheet — allow companies to build phones we want to buy that don’t cost $1,000.

Allow me the liberty to use Apple as an example here. Apple’s iPhone 8 is the company’s bread and butter flagship for 2018. It’s an engineering marvel, and ranks up there with the Galaxy S9 and Pixel 2 as the best phones you can buy in 2018. But it’s not the expensive model — that’s the iPhone X.

Unless Samsung starts adding a bunch of COM overhead to Android, the next Galaxy phone does not need a Snapdragon 855. (Please don’t do that, Samsung.)

A Snapdragon 710 would let Samsung build a Galaxy SX (yes, I went there) that does everything we expect and does it very well without driving the price any higher than the Galaxy S9 retail. The Note X could then use the newest breed of Snapdragon 800 chip for users who wan’t the most performance possible and are OK with paying more for it.

The Snapdragon 845 was designed to power a Microsoft Windows laptop, complete with overhead like Direct X and about a gazillion mismashed 32 and 64-bit background processes running. Many of the components used in an 845 SoC aren’t being used to their full potential when it’s inside a phone. In plain English, that means you don’t need a Snapdragon 845 to power your Galaxy S9, but a Snapdragon 660 just isn’t going to cut it. In comes the Snapdragon 710 to fill that void with hardware fully capable and everyone is happy and Timmy was rescued from the well.

Am I dreaming out loud here? Of course, that’s what I do best. Odds are the next big thing from the next company to release a flagship smartphone will use the newest Snapdragon 800 SoC and be sure to tell us all about it in product sheets and an unveiling event. But you need to know it doesn’t have to, and that the phone not getting all the attention which uses the Snapdragon 710 chip is probably everything you ever wanted and needed. And it won’t be $1,000.