Google removed the ‘Tablets’ section from the official Android site (Update: It’s back up)

In case you didn’t already know that Android tablets were dead.

Update, June 2: According to the SVP of Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer, the section was removed accidentally during a routine update. It’s back now.

Oops we had a bug when we updated the site. It’s back up now. Sorry for the confusion! https://t.co/5mI3L3Gzif

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) June 3, 2018

Original story is below:

Android tablets have always been interesting beasts. Companies like Motorola and Samsung tried making them popular with the Xoom and Galaxy Tabs early on, and Google soon swooped in with home runs such as the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. However, due to lacking developer support and no proper optimizations for the OS on the big screen, Android tablets never caught on the way the iPad did.

It’s been apparent for some time that Google’s all but given up on Android tablets, but now the final nail in the coffin has been set with Google quietly removing the “Tablets” section from the official Android website.

If you visit android.com, you’ll see the navigation bar pictured above. There are links to Phones, Wear, TV, Auto, and Enterprise. A Tablets button was there prior to today, but now it’s nowhere to be seen.

This isn’t surprising in the slightest considering that Google’s last tablet was the overpriced Pixel C from 2015, and the quiet removal from the Android site without any big announcement goes to show that Google knows no one really cares about Android tablets and haven’t for some time.

So long and farewell, Android tabs. You were never really amazing, but we’ll still miss you (kind of, but not really).

Here’s to Chrome OS tabs 🍻

I, for one, am totally OK with Chromebooks replacing Android tablets

RealWear’s HMT-1Z1 augmented reality headset could change how industries do business

Augmented reality (AR) hasn’t truly permeated the mainstream consciousness just yet, but the technology is swiftly being adopted by global industries. It’ll soon be unsurprising to find a pair of AR glasses strapped to a helmet sitting on the heads of service workers, and RealWear, a company at the forefront on developing these headsets, thinks it’s on the edge of something big.

RealWear has put a lot of work into ensuring its headsets are both well-designed and easy to use. Think Google Glass, but bulkier and attached to a hardhat or cap. It’s immensely useful technology that can help workers access digital data without using their hands, stream video back to another team member, or receive guidance during training periods.

Christian de Looper / Digital Trends

The latest version of its AR headset is called the RealWear HMT-1Z1, recently unveiled at Augmented World Expo (AWE) in California. It’s being billed as being the first “intrinsically safe” headset, which in layman’s terms means it’s explosion-proof. 

Explosion-proof and designed for tight spaces

Perhaps the most important aspect of the RealWear HMT-1Z1 is its design. After all, the headset needs to be lightweight and comfortable to be adopted by industrial workers, and it needs to be able to quickly get out of the way when the wearer doesn’t need it. The HMT-1Z1 is designed to be used in tight spaces — it fits on standard hard hats, and while it does add a bit of extra weight and width to a helmet, it doesn’t extend anywhere close to the wearer’s shoulders — which means it should fit anywhere a human can fit.

There’s an arm on the side of the helmet that extends in front of the wearer’s eye, and it can be moved out of the way when it’s not in use. It’s here where the display is stored, and it’s what workers will be looking at when they need visual information to help with the task at hand. RealWear said you can still use parts of the headset when you’re not looking directly at the display, which is why the camera is not directly attached to the arm (it sits higher up). 

Christian de Looper / Digital Trends

The headset being intrinsically safe is a big deal in the industrial world. It means the headset is completely free from any sparks or micro-sparks that could result in disaster for certain hazardous environments, such as places with flammable gases, for example. Companies can begin to do away with those bulky, intrinsically-safe tablets they’ve been carrying around factories and move to the HMT-1Z1.

Under the hood, the headset boasts a Snapdragon 625 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, and a 3,250mAh battery rated for up to a hefty 12 hours of use, though that will depend on exactly what you’re doing with the headset.

Voice activation

What’s most impressive about the RealWear HMT-1Z1 is how you control it. There’s no touch-sensitive gestures you need to learn — it’s all managed with voice, and better yet, there’s no need for a hotword like “Hey Google.” The headset listens for certain commands. For example, from the home screen just say “show my files” to see files downloaded to the device, and you can go back to the home screen by saying “navigate home.” When you’re looking at documents — like schematics — you can say “zoom in” or “zoom out” to move to the place you want to focus on. It worked almost flawlessly, even in a noisy environment like the AWE show floor.

That’s an important factor to consider. If you’re a worker repairing a factory component, you don’t want to have to mess around with physical controls, and you want to be able to easily navigate through the software, which is based on Android. From each screen, there are a few voice commands you can give, and options are often numbered too, so instead of having to remember the names of things, you can simply select them based on their number.

The future of AR

AR has a place with businesses, and as RealWear explains, this interest will only grow as younger employees who grew up in the information age continue to join the work force. Some aspects of RealWear’s tech, we think, could very much be applied to consumer augmented reality in the future. It’s exciting to see the technology grow, and we can’t wait for AR glasses to trickle down further for consumers.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Head-up displays for smart helmets may have just gotten more affordable
• Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon chip will take VR, AR to the next level
• Lenovo Mirage Solo with Daydream review
• Adidas AM4NYC runners are templates for shoe design in the future
• Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus review

How to sell Steam Trading Cards

Steam has become more than just a platform for buying and distributing games — developer Valve has, over the years, inserted hooks to make it feel like a bit of a social network and a game unto itself. One of the big ways Steam encourages people to use the client and interact with other people is its Steam Trading Cards system, where games dish out digital cards when you play them that you can then trade with other people.

If you’re not a fan of collecting and trading digital cards, though, there is another option — selling them. Steam allows you to put up some digital and in-game items on its Community Market, which can net you money in the form of Steam credit to spend on more games. While most trading cards only go for a few pennies, a select few can be pretty lucrative. Plus, even if you only get a little, that a bit less leaving your pocket next time you buy a game.

Interested? We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to walk you through the process of selling your Steam trading cards.

Download the Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator app

In order to use the Steam Community Market to sell cards (or anything else), Valve requires that you set up two-factor authentication with its Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator app. You can find the app in the Google Play store, the iOS App Store, and the Microsoft Store. Sign into the app with your Steam account to use it to activate two-factor authentication. Keep it handy: You’ll need it to confirm when you try to sell cards.

Play some games, earn some cards

Not every game on Steam issues trading cards, but if you find games that have some, procuring a few is as easy as installing a game and playing. Cards drop after you’ve spent a certain amount of time playing the game, and usually limits the number of drops per session — how many cards you can get depends on the game. To check if a game supports cards, check its store page under the list of features to see if it’s tagged as including Steam Trading Cards. That’s not completely foolproof — some games dish out cards even though it isn’t listed as a feature — but the designation is pretty reliable. You can also search Steam using the Steam Trading Cards tag to find more games with cards.

Find the cards you don’t want in your inventory

When cards are added to your account, they appear in your Steam inventory. You can find your inventory by hovering over your account name at the top of the Steam window and clicking “inventory” on the drop-down menu that appears. On the Inventory page, click the left-most “Steam” tab to see your cards. From there, you can select cards and find the ones you’re ready to get rid of on the market.

Clicking on a card allows you to read its description and find other info, including the number that have sold on the market in the last 24 hours, and what the lowest starting price is on the market.

List your card

When you’re ready to sell, click your card and scroll all the way to the bottom of the screen, to the bottom of the section on the right side that gives you information on the card. Beneath the information about the sales volume and starting price on the Community Market, you will see a button marked “Sell” that will get you started. When you click it, you’ll get a window that lets you set your price for the card, and shows you a graph of how many cards have sold lately, and at what price. Use that information to decide how much to ask for the card when you list it.

You can set your price in either one of two ways: How much money you will receive from the person buying your card, or how much they will pay in total. The two prices are different because Steam adds a small fee to every transaction on the Community Market, so the price the buyer pays is always a little higher than what you receive in Steam credit.

Confirm the listing

Now it’s time to grab your Steam Guard Authenticator app. Log into the app and go to the “Confirmations” tab on the main menu, which you can access by tapping the three lines in the top left corner of the app. Find the listings you want to confirm and tap the big gray box on their right side, then click “Confirm Selected.” Once you hit that button, your card goes on the Community Market.

Check your listings

Once you post a card, it’s easy to find and view your listings or adjust as needed. To find them, however over “Community” on Steam to pull up the drop-down menu and hit “Market.” Steam will show your current active listings, which you can remove if you need to (and relist if you want to change prices), as well as your complete market history on another tab. Otherwise, that’s it: You have listed your Steam trading cards on the Community Market and all that is left to do is wait for pennies’ worth of Steam credit to roll in.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Gabe Newell says Valve currently has multiple games in development
• Steam privacy changes make purchase-tracking service Steam Spy useless
• Steam Machines quietly disappear from Valve’s home page
• Cleaning up your game library? Use our tips to organize your digital clutter
• You can soon stream your Steam PC games to Android, iPhone, Apple TV

HTC U12 Plus vs. LG G7 ThinQ: Which powerful flagship prevails?

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

While we’re always the first to acknowledge excellence, it’s important to remember there are a lot of great phones out there that don’t have “Apple” or “Samsung” stamped on them. High on that list will almost always be the latest offerings from LG and HTC, and if you’re not keen on the latest iPhone or Galaxy flagship, then these companies are a great place to start. That’s especially true with the LG G7 ThinQ and the HTC U12 Plus.

Now, the question becomes which of these two should you buy? With powerful specs, great displays, and 2018-worthy designs, it can be hard to pick between the two. We’ve taken an in-depth look at both phones, so you know which one is best for you.

Specs

HTC U12 Plus
LG G7 ThinQ

Size
156.6 x 73.9 x 8.7 mm (6.16 x 2.9 x 0.34 inches)
153.2 x 71.9 x 7.9 mm (6.03 x 2.83 x 0.31 inches)

Weight
188 grams (6.63 ounces)
162 grams (5.71 ounces)

Screen size
6-inch Super LCD
6.1-inch IPS LCD

Screen resolution
2,880 x 1,440 pixels (537 pixels per inch)
3,120 x 1,440 pixels (564 pixels per inch)

Operating system
Android 8.0 Oreo
Android 8.0 Oreo

Storage space
64GB, 128GB

64GB, 128GB

MicroSD card slot
Yes
Yes, up to 2TB

Tap-to-pay services
Google Pay
Google Pay, LG Pay (in South Korea only)

Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845

RAM
6GB
4GB, 6GB

Camera
Dual 12MP and 16MP telephoto rear (both with OIS), dual 8MP lenses front
Dual 16MP (with OIS) and 16MP wide-angle rear, 8MP front

Video
Up to 4K at 60 frames per second, 1080p at 240 fps
Up to 4K at 30 frames per second, 720p at 240 fps

Bluetooth version
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0

Ports
USB-C
3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C

Fingerprint sensor
Yes (back)
Yes (back)

Water resistance
IP68
IP68

Battery
3,500mAh

QuickCharge 3.0 (4.0 with adapter, not included)

3,000mAh

QuickCharge 3.0 (4.0 with no adapter included)

Qi wireless charging

App marketplace
Google Play Store
Google Play Store

Network support
T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon
T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint

Colors
Translucent Blue, Ceramic Black, Flame Red
Aurora Black, Platinum Gray, Raspberry Rose, and Moroccan Blue

Price
$800
$750

Buy from

HTC, Amazon

Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, Project Fi

Review score
Hands-on review
3.5 out of 5 stars

Performance, battery life, and charging

With the brand-new and powerful Snapdragon 845 powering these devices, you’re likely to get similar great performance out of them. The U12 Plus has a small advantage with 6GB of RAM as standard, but the impact is likely to be minimal. Expect great performance from both in a variety of apps and games.

The G7 ThinQ’s 3,000mAh battery surprised us during testing, providing strong performance that belied its smaller capacity. It could easily manage more than one day on standard usage, and it’s unlikely to disappoint. We’ve not had a chance to fully test the HTC U12 Plus’ 3,500mAh battery yet, but we expect the extra capacity will prove to be a strong contender in this fight. There’s QuickCharge 3.0 support enabled for both right out of the box, with the option to attach a QuickCharge 4.0 adapter, if you have one. There’s wireless charging on the G7 ThinQ, but none on the U12 Plus, despite the glass back.

This is an exceptionally tough fight for us to judge. There’s a lot here that’s equal between the two phones. Without proper testing of the HTC’s battery life, we think the inclusion of wireless charging just ekes out the win for the G7 ThinQ.

Winner: LG G7 ThinQ

Design and durability

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The LG G7 ThinQ boasts an extremely up-to-date design with a glass body, notched display, and bezel-less design — and while that’s a good thing, it’s also a little boring. While it’s a pretty enough phone, there’s not much here to differentiate the G7 ThinQ from the competition, and that’s honestly a real downside. In contrast, while the U12 Plus hits similar notes — bezel-less design and glass build — there’s enough of HTC’s unique touches to make it really stand out. The Liquid Surface design ethos that debuted last year is beautiful, and the Translucent Blue’s transparent back is stunning. There’s at least one major downside to HTC’s design choices — the death of the headphone jack started with the HTC U11 and it has not been resurrected here.

Durability-wise, you can expect similar performance from both of these phones. Both are water- and dust-resistant up to an IP68 rating, but with all that glass, you can bet you’re going to want a protective case for both.

Despite the lack of headphone jack, the U12 Plus’ improved design just barely puts it ahead of the G7 ThinQ.

Winner: HTC U12 Plus

Display

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

There are two great 1,440p screens on display here. The G7 ThinQ’s screen is the larger of the two, a 6.1-inch LCD display running a taller than average 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 3,120 x 1,440-pixel resolution. It supports HDR10, and comes with a boosted brightness mode for direct sunlight. LG refers to the area around the notch as the “second screen,” and you can turn it into black bars if you want to hide the notch.

The U12 Plus’ 6-inch Super LCD display has a more standard 18:9 aspect ratio, running a 2,880 x 1,440-pixel resolution. It’s not as sharp as the G7 ThinQ’s display, but we doubt anyone would notice the tiny difference between the two. We did notice that the U12 Plus’ display was slightly harder to see in direct sunlight though, and while we haven’t finished our full tests on the U12 Plus’ display, that leads us to suspect the G7 ThinQ has a slight lead here.

Winner: LG G7 ThinQ

Camera

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The G7 ThinQ comes with a pair of 16-megapixel lenses — one standard, one wide-angle — and they provided some decent test images during our review. The wide-angle mode took some especially notable shots, but it’s let down by the low light performance, even with the Super Bright Camera enabled. The AI Cam does help in some circumstances, but on the whole, low-light performance is fairly disappointing. Still, the overall performance is solid.

We haven’t had a chance to really dig into the U12 Plus’ capabilities yet, but we’re hopeful. The phone has been awarded a high mark by camera tester DxOMark, placing it second only to the stunning Huawei P20 Pro right now, and the dual 12-megapixel and 16-megapixel telephoto lenses really seem to take care of business. We reckon the U12 Plus’ camera will be a surprise hit when we fully test it.

In terms of video, both are capable of 4K recording and slow motion of up to 240 frames per second — the U12 Plus can achieve 240fps at 1080p, while the G7 ThinQ is stuck at 720p.

Initial tests of the U12 Plus are strong, and we’re expecting it’ll do very well in our tests. It wins this round.

Winner: HTC U12 Plus

Software and updates

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

You won’t find pure stock Android on either of these phones, but they’re pretty close. The U12 Plus is the closest to stock Android, with the phone running on Android 8.0 Oreo, with a few HTC additions like Blinkfeed. The G7 ThinQ uses a slightly adapted skin over the top of Android 8.0 Oreo, but it’s still fairly close to a stock experience. Either way, no one with previous Android experience should have an issue with these quick and snappy interfaces.

You can bet your bottom dollar that both of these phones will be getting an eventual upgrade to Android P. However, HTC has generally been quicker with Android upgrades than LG, which wins the U12 Plus this round.

Winner: HTC U12 Plus

Special features

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

As befits premium flagships, both of these phones are chock-full of special features. The G7 ThinQ is part of the ThinQ brand, which means it’ll be able to talk with other LG devices with the ThinQ name. We suspect you’ll find some of the other features more useful though, with the amazing Boombox sound especially worthy of note, as is the dedicated button for activating the Google Assistant.

The U12 Plus also has its own special way of activating the Google Assistant — Edge Sense. The “squeeze-to-activate” feature from the HTC U11 is back, and it’s better than ever. HTC has added some new options in there, with the U12 Plus supporting single-edge squeezing. A double tap on either side will activate one-handed mode — a great idea on a phone this large. The U12 Plus also uses the Edge Sense sensors to detect how you’re holding your phone, so it’ll know whether to rotate your view based on how you’re holding it. The U12 Plus comes with HTC’s BoomSound for better sound quality.

In our eyes, the HTC phone has more special features that you’re likely to use day-to-day.

Winner: HTC U12 Plus

Price

The HTC U12 Plus is currently available for pre-order, and the base model will set you back $800. However, it’s only available on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon’s networks. The LG G7 ThinQ is now available for sale, with prices starting from $750. The G7 ThinQ is available from most carriers, with the exception of AT&T.

Overall winner: HTC U12 Plus

It was a hard-fought battle on both sides, but thanks to its fresh design, incredible camera, and special features, the HTC U12 Plus has come out the other end as the stronger phone. That’s not to say the G7 ThinQ is a bad choice, though — it’s got amazing power, some fresh ideas, and a super-sharp display, even if the design leaves a bit to be desired. But for our money, the HTC U12 Plus is simply the better phone of the two.

Editors’ Recommendations

• HTC U12 Plus vs. Galaxy S9 Plus: Clash of the plus-sized phones
• HTC U12 Plus vs. OnePlus 6: The new kids battle for supremacy
• HTC U12 vs Google Pixel 2 XL: Can HTC take out the stock Android king?
• OnePlus 6 vs. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus: Which big phone is better?
• LG V35 ThinQ vs. LG V30: Is the newer model worth the extra cash?

The best free antivirus for Mac

Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, MacOS is just as susceptible to malware as Windows 10 — it’s just that Windows 10 is a more common platform, so more malware is coded with Windows users in mind. Apple’s operating system is far from invulnerable, and new Mac threats appear regularly, so it’s important to keep up on basic security.

Fortunately, there are many fantastic anti-malware platforms designed to give your Mac a booster shot against the latest viruses, adware, and ransomware, as well as historic threats.

The best

Avast! Free Mac Security

Avast! is one of the most popular security suites available, and it’s easy to see why. It’s effective and free for non-commercial use, providing on-demand tools for quickly performing full-system malware scans as well as sifting through specific email threads, attachments, and various web activities (I.E., webpages, downloads, and Java scripts). Furthermore, it offers drag-and-drop scanning for individual files and phishing protection, along with the ability to scan external drives and attached volumes for potential infections.

The application’s interface is straightforward and self-explanatory, too, and features a navigational pane on the left that consists of five primary buttons and a real-time graph that aggregates shield activity and allows users to quickly check the overall stats of their computer. The free version also offers to install two other programs during installation: Avast Online Security ($60 per year) and Avast SecureLine VPN ($60 per year). Neither are necessary for detecting and removing malware, however, so pay attention during installation if you don’t want them.

The rest

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac

Windows users have long turned to Malwarebytes’ free version, affectionately known as MBAM, as a backup for always-on malware software. Although it markets itself as much more these days, if you’re a Windows user, it’s a great tool for scheduling deep-scans of your system. The Mac Malwarebytes version started as an adware removal tool, but as of today, it’s also a fully-fledged tool for protecting your machine against malware. Plus, it’s just as effective in MacOS as it is in Windows, a fact that’s aided by the Malwarebytes team’s constant research on current threats — the company identified the first Mac malware threat in 2017.

Using the program couldn’t be easier. Just launch it, hit scan, and the software will quickly let you know if you’re infected with any Mac-specific malware. Like the Windows iteration of the free version, though, this is not an always-on solution and is thus more suited for performing deep-scans and ridding yourself of particularly pernicious MacOS malware like Fruitfly. As MalwareBytes describes itself, it’s a remediation solution. It doesn’t provide “real-time” protection like its premium version or some of the other options on our list.

Sophos Antivirus Mac Home Edition

If offering an entire history of Mac malware dating back to ’82 isn’t evidence of a developer on top of its game, we don’t know what is. Straddling the line somewhere between necessity and excess, Sophos offers all the basic utilities you’ve come to expect from quality antivirus software, and a whole lot more. The utility offers custom, on-demand, and scheduled scans for specified files, folders, and drives, along with additional tools for deleting and quarantining any software Sophos deems a potential threat.

The software even incorporates real-time protection features that will quarantine unknown files that are merely exhibiting suspicious behavior. Although the program has a tendency to scan slower than most, it’s fairly lightweight, and non-obtrusively performs vital background tasks while barely leeching or exhausting your system’s resources.

Despite its robust feature set, Sophos manages to cram all this functionality into a compact interface. Initiating a full-system scan can be done directly from the top of the main menu, and you can configure exemptions quickly from easily navigable menus. Additionally, the malware definitions are constantly being updated, ensuring the program is never without the latest knowledge of potential threats. It’s one of the most hands-off antivirus programs on the market, and as such, sits among the best.

Bitdefender Virus Scanner

Built upon Bitdefender’s award-winning anti-virus engine, Bitdefender Virus Scanner features a host of scan options, allowing you to quickly perform deep scans of your entire system, or those targeting specific locations. If you grant it access, the streamlined program even provides an option for scanning critical locations — such as your Mac’s launch agents and the entirety of your system library — thus allowing you to bypass lengthier scans when pressed for time. Moreover, it automatically updates with Bitdefender’s hourly malware definitions prior to scanning, while providing a quick means for blacklisting specific locations from system scans.

Other features are limited, though. Bitdefender Virus Scanner automatically tries to disinfect and quarantine suspicious files it comes across, and though the feature is not unique to Bitdefender’s offering, the software can also quickly search for malware within various archives and file types (PDF, PKG, ZIP, RAR, etc.). Said functionality is housed within a sleek window that showcases the three scanning modes in addition to a sole “Update” button, the latter of which can be used in lieu of automatic updates.

Avira Free Antivirus for Mac

Avira strikes a nice balance between ease of use and quick access to advanced utilities, ultimately rendering basic system scans just as simple to execute as those that are scheduled and file-specific. The software is equipped with standard spyware and adware protection, along with the ability to intercept harmful websites and block tracking. Plus, it comes bundled with 5GB of online storage in addition to one-click deletion of malicious files.

Unlike most of the software in our roundup, Avira is coupled with a moderately-lengthy installation and an update process that goes hand-in-hand with the software’s heavy use of system resources. It’s certainly not a deal breaker when you consider the non-existent price tag and its thorough antivirus engine, but it’s an unfortunate downside.

Avira’s interface is also rather bulky, though easy to navigate. The app is lined with red-and-gray highlights and a left-hand navigational bar for viewing the status of your system, scheduling tasks, and viewing past quarantine history, among other options. Virus definitions are updated in a timely fashion, too, regardless of how long the initial updates might take to finish. It’s resource heavy, but capable enough if you’re looking for automation, scan history, and other advanced features.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best security apps and antivirus protection for Android
• Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 Insider Preview release all about fighting malware
• The best free antivirus
• How to password protect a PDF
• Windows Defender thwarts major malware attack directed mostly at Russian users

Take a VR journey to an exoplanet with NASA’s new ‘Travel Bureau’

NASA/JPL

NASA has opened a new Exoplanet Travel Bureau, a place where you can journey through the cosmos and imagine what it might be like to stand on the surface of an alien planet.

The website offers an intergalactic vacation in the form of interactive visualizations of planets beyond our solar system. No actual images of these planets exist, of course, but the artistic conceptions are based on observations from the Kepler Space Telescope.

The 360-degree visualizations are available for desktop or mobile devices, as well as virtual reality headsets.

Accompanied by cool retro-style travel posters, there are three planets to visit, with more on the way. The “nightlife never ends” on PSO J318.5-22, because it doesn’t orbit a star, but wanders freely through space. The latest entry, Kepler-186f, has a setting that lets you toggle atmosphere on or off.

“Because Kepler-186f and the majority of Kepler-discovered planets are so distant, it is currently impossible to detect their atmospheres — if they exist at all — or characterize their atmospheric properties,” said NASA scientist Martin Still in a blog post.

“Consequently, we have limited knowledge about what these distant worlds are really like, but these surface visualizations allow us to imagine some of the possibilities,” he added. “Current and future NASA missions, including TESS and the James Webb Space Telescope, will find the nearest exoplanets to our solar system and characterize their atmospheres, bridging the gap between speculation and what’s really out there.”

The Travel Bureau was designed by NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Although hundreds of potential exoplanets have been discovered so far, scientists arte particularly intrigued by those in the “Goldilocks Zone,” the orbit in a temperature range that could support liquid water and, possibly, extraterrestrial life.

The Kepler spacecraft, which trails the Earth in an orbit around the sun, has produced most of the exoplanet discoveries, but it’s out of gas and about to end its mission. However, the just-launched TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope are both specifically designed to search for exoplanets, and thousands of alien worlds await discovery.

Editors’ Recommendations

• NASA’s planet-hunting TESS satellite: What you need to know
• NASA’s planet-hunting satellite sends back its first image — and it’s amazing
• NASA’s planet-hunting deep space telescope is about to run out of fuel
• NASA’s upcoming Parker Solar Probe might as well be walkin’ on the sun
• Get your Sagan on with 60 awe-inspiring photos of the final frontier

7 of the biggest scandals in tech history

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

The tech industry isn’t immune to scandal. With literally trillions of dollars at stake and the ability to gain access to people from all over the world for personal or political gain, that’s no surprise. But what are the biggest scandals to have shaped the history of high tech as we know it? While it’s tough to narrow it down to just a short list, here are seven of the most infamous.

Samsung’s disastrous Note 7

Think of how much it would cost to have airlines read out the name of your company’s latest flagship smartphone before every single flight. That’s the situation Samsung found itself in back in 2016. Unfortunately, it happened to be because the company’s Galaxy Note 7 phones had a tendency to explode, and were therefore banned from airplanes.

After news stories ranging from a Note 7 torching a family’s car to one causing the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines flight, Samsung made the decision to recall the disastrous handset at great personal expense. It tried reissuing a corrected version, but this also suffered from similar issues. In the end, Samsung took the phone off the market entirely and put out a software update to brick any surviving handsets.

To this day, the company’s reputation as a handset maker is suffering the aftereffects of the Galaxy Note 7 scandal.

The treatment of Alan Turing

Unlike many of the scandals on this list, the death of Alan Turing was tragically not officially recognized as such for many years. Turing, the genius World War II codebreaker, computer pioneer and grandfather of artificial intelligence, killed himself in 1952.

This followed Turing’s conviction for gross indecency after he was exposed as homosexual at a time when this was illegal in Britain. Turing was given the choice of prison or a painful chemical castration, and opted for the latter. He subsequently committed suicide at the age of 41.

In 2013, Turing was given an official royal pardon. It reads: “Now know ye that we, in consideration of circumstances humbly represented to us, are graciously pleased to grant our grace and mercy unto the said Alan Mathison Turing and grant him our free pardon posthumously in respect of the said convictions.”

The death of Aaron Schwartz

Along with Alan Turing’s story, the death of Aaron Schwartz is the most tragic scandal on this list. Schwartz was a computer programmer and copyright activist who committed suicide in 2013 after being charged with downloading large numbers of academic journal articles to make them freely available online.

Schartz’s punishment entailed a potential maximum of $1 million in damages and 35 years in prison. He was found dead after hanging himself in his Brooklyn apartment, a victim of one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the U.S. Justice Department.

Foxconn suicides

Foxconn, a Taiwan-based manufacturer which assembles the iPhone for Apple, was at the center of a 2010 scandal after a string of suicides at its Chinese factories. In the aftermath, it asked employees to sign “no suicide” pledges and erected external nets to break the fall of any would-be jumpers.

Although Apple is not the only company to use Foxconn for manufacturing, the scandal threatened to engulf the Cupertino tech giant due its role as the most prominent Foxconn client. In a rare misstep, then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs made things worse when he defended Foxconn’s factories as being “pretty nice” and “not a sweatshop.” The comments made Jobs and Apple appear uncaring, as did his suggestion that, “We’re all over this.”

In the years since, Apple has continued to work to improve conditions in its supply chain. Nonetheless, the Foxconn incident was a reminder to many people about where exactly their beautiful shiny new devices come from.

Massive Yahoo data breach

From eBay to Anthem and Sony to Equifax, there have been a number of large-scale data breaches in the age of the internet. However, the one which looms the largest remains the 2013 Yahoo data breach of 3 billion (!) user accounts. The perpetrators of the massive hack haven’t ever been caught, although Russian spies were indicted for a later 2014 breach.

The fallout of the 2013 hack cost ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer her cash bonus and slashed the company’s value by hundreds of millions of dollars. But for most users the biggest takeaway was just how unsafe our data is in the era of ultra-connectivity.

Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Hacking user accounts is one thing, but helping to hack democracy itself? That was the accusation leveled at Facebook following the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal. While it’s no secret that Facebook tracks user data, the Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the alleged illegal data mining of as many as 87 million users on Facebook for political ends.

The media reported links with President Donald Trump’s presidential bid and the U.K.’s Brexit vote, which further fed fears about the way that technology can help shape opinions — often without us being aware of exactly how this is happening.

NSA spying

The worry that our tech may be spying on us surfaces every year or so when an Amazon Alexa erroneously records a conversation and sends it to another user or photos show that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taped over his laptop webcam.

The biggest piece of evidence that we really are being watched by our tech took place in 2013, however, with revelations about the way that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was carrying out global surveillance of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens. Edward Snowden was the ex-NSA contractor responsible for the leaks, which were published in leading media outlets around the world.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Facebook was always too busy selling ads to care about your personal data
• Localblox data breach is the latest nightmare for Facebook, LinkedIn
• Facebook rolls out stricter rules regarding email-targeted advertisements
• After data scandal, Zuckerberg promises to ‘do better for you’ in newspaper ads
• Another Facebook privacy scandal — 3 million users’ data exposed by quiz

7 of the biggest scandals in tech history

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

The tech industry isn’t immune to scandal. With literally trillions of dollars at stake and the ability to gain access to people from all over the world for personal or political gain, that’s no surprise. But what are the biggest scandals to have shaped the history of high tech as we know it? While it’s tough to narrow it down to just a short list, here are seven of the most infamous.

Samsung’s disastrous Note 7

Think of how much it would cost to have airlines read out the name of your company’s latest flagship smartphone before every single flight. That’s the situation Samsung found itself in back in 2016. Unfortunately, it happened to be because the company’s Galaxy Note 7 phones had a tendency to explode, and were therefore banned from airplanes.

After news stories ranging from a Note 7 torching a family’s car to one causing the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines flight, Samsung made the decision to recall the disastrous handset at great personal expense. It tried reissuing a corrected version, but this also suffered from similar issues. In the end, Samsung took the phone off the market entirely and put out a software update to brick any surviving handsets.

To this day, the company’s reputation as a handset maker is suffering the aftereffects of the Galaxy Note 7 scandal.

The treatment of Alan Turing

Unlike many of the scandals on this list, the death of Alan Turing was tragically not officially recognized as such for many years. Turing, the genius World War II codebreaker, computer pioneer and grandfather of artificial intelligence, killed himself in 1952.

This followed Turing’s conviction for gross indecency after he was exposed as homosexual at a time when this was illegal in Britain. Turing was given the choice of prison or a painful chemical castration, and opted for the latter. He subsequently committed suicide at the age of 41.

In 2013, Turing was given an official royal pardon. It reads: “Now know ye that we, in consideration of circumstances humbly represented to us, are graciously pleased to grant our grace and mercy unto the said Alan Mathison Turing and grant him our free pardon posthumously in respect of the said convictions.”

The death of Aaron Schwartz

Along with Alan Turing’s story, the death of Aaron Schwartz is the most tragic scandal on this list. Schwartz was a computer programmer and copyright activist who committed suicide in 2013 after being charged with downloading large numbers of academic journal articles to make them freely available online.

Schartz’s punishment entailed a potential maximum of $1 million in damages and 35 years in prison. He was found dead after hanging himself in his Brooklyn apartment, a victim of one of the most shameful chapters in the history of the U.S. Justice Department.

Foxconn suicides

Foxconn, a Taiwan-based manufacturer which assembles the iPhone for Apple, was at the center of a 2010 scandal after a string of suicides at its Chinese factories. In the aftermath, it asked employees to sign “no suicide” pledges and erected external nets to break the fall of any would-be jumpers.

Although Apple is not the only company to use Foxconn for manufacturing, the scandal threatened to engulf the Cupertino tech giant due its role as the most prominent Foxconn client. In a rare misstep, then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs made things worse when he defended Foxconn’s factories as being “pretty nice” and “not a sweatshop.” The comments made Jobs and Apple appear uncaring, as did his suggestion that, “We’re all over this.”

In the years since, Apple has continued to work to improve conditions in its supply chain. Nonetheless, the Foxconn incident was a reminder to many people about where exactly their beautiful shiny new devices come from.

Massive Yahoo data breach

From eBay to Anthem and Sony to Equifax, there have been a number of large-scale data breaches in the age of the internet. However, the one which looms the largest remains the 2013 Yahoo data breach of 3 billion (!) user accounts. The perpetrators of the massive hack haven’t ever been caught, although Russian spies were indicted for a later 2014 breach.

The fallout of the 2013 hack cost ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer her cash bonus and slashed the company’s value by hundreds of millions of dollars. But for most users the biggest takeaway was just how unsafe our data is in the era of ultra-connectivity.

Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

Hacking user accounts is one thing, but helping to hack democracy itself? That was the accusation leveled at Facebook following the recent Cambridge Analytica scandal. While it’s no secret that Facebook tracks user data, the Cambridge Analytica scandal involved the alleged illegal data mining of as many as 87 million users on Facebook for political ends.

The media reported links with President Donald Trump’s presidential bid and the U.K.’s Brexit vote, which further fed fears about the way that technology can help shape opinions — often without us being aware of exactly how this is happening.

NSA spying

The worry that our tech may be spying on us surfaces every year or so when an Amazon Alexa erroneously records a conversation and sends it to another user or photos show that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has taped over his laptop webcam.

The biggest piece of evidence that we really are being watched by our tech took place in 2013, however, with revelations about the way that the United States National Security Agency (NSA) was carrying out global surveillance of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens. Edward Snowden was the ex-NSA contractor responsible for the leaks, which were published in leading media outlets around the world.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Facebook was always too busy selling ads to care about your personal data
• Localblox data breach is the latest nightmare for Facebook, LinkedIn
• Facebook rolls out stricter rules regarding email-targeted advertisements
• After data scandal, Zuckerberg promises to ‘do better for you’ in newspaper ads
• Another Facebook privacy scandal — 3 million users’ data exposed by quiz

Can we get an apology? Two big MacBook fails that Apple should fix at WWDC

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Apple is no stranger to controversy, but the missteps on the latest MacBook Pro design go beyond the standard fare.

WWDC is just around the corner, and while we don’t expect Apple to refresh the MacBook Pro beyond a CPU bump, it’d be a great chance to level with its fan base about the failures of its laptops. At the very least, I don’t want to hear a word about how innovative these two features were without some admission of guilt.

The failure of the keyboard

First introduced in the 12-inch MacBook, the low-travel keyboard of the MacBook Pro has been divisive. It uses a “butterfly” switch mechanism to create a greater sense of movement in the keys, without actually providing much key travel. While some people prefer it and some people despite it, its durability issues can’t be overlooked.

Reports about failing, sticky keys started in 2016, and the negative consensus only grew from there. According to annoyed Apple fans, even the smallest amount of dust could render a key useless. The public pressure hit a fever pitch in the past few months when lawsuits were filed and petitions were signed.

Apple may give some kind of acknowledgement of the keyboard problem at WWDC this year.

Normally, Apple would just replace the defective units and quietly move on, but here there’s no avoiding the issue. While we probably won’t see a recall or a replacement program on the level of the iPhone battery situation, Apple needs to fix the problem moving forward. It can’t keep selling defective keyboards in new products.

The good news is Apple is already pursuing technology that could solve the problem. In March, we reported that Apple had patented a “crumb-less” keyboard that used a couple of different approaches to keeping small particles away from the keys. We doubt Apple can iterate on that technology quick enough for WWDC in June, but Apple needs to do something to resolve the problem.

The failure of the Touch Bar

We may get some kind of acknowledgement of the keyboard problem at WWDC, but this next one is almost hopeless. The Touch Bar was first introduced in the 2016 MacBook Pro, and it looked like an interesting alternative to touchscreen laptops. The company has famously avoided them, and the Touch Bar seemed like a way to bring some of that touch capability to MacOS. Unfortunately, it ended up being more of a hassle than anything else.

Because of its location on the keyboard deck, it actually removes useful buttons. On top of that, it often freezes, which requires a reboot to fix. I haven’t spoken to a single person that uses the Touch Bar and appreciates it’s functionality over physical function row keys. Even in Apple forums, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who likes the Touch Bar. From the perspective of people who use MacBooks, it’s a total failure.

Releasing a 15-inch version without the Touch Bar would go a long way to pleasing Pro users who need the extra power.

Yet Apple can’t go back on it. It’s spent too much time and energy pouring development resources into it. There’s really only one way Apple could (and actually would) fix it: Double-down. I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple replaced the keyboard and trackpad altogether with a full-sized touchscreen in the next redesign. It’ll be a tough sell, but there’s no question it’s the direction the company is headed.

The best we can hope for is that ten years from now we’ll look back at the 2016 MacBook Pro as an awkward teenager going through puberty.

What can it do in the meantime?

Well, for starters, Apple could release a 15-inch model without the Touch Bar. Continue to make it a premium option for those willing to pay for it. That would at least please Pro users who need the extra power without the unnecessary expense of the Touch Bar.

A ‘sorry’ would be nice, too.

Editors’ Recommendations

• MacBook Pro users file class action lawsuit over keyboard issues
• Apple Store hints you shouldn’t buy a new MacBook Pro until after WWDC
• Apple offers to replace swollen batteries in certain MacBook Pros
• Failure rate of MacBook Pro ‘butterfly’ keyboards is double that of older models
• Huawei MateBook X Pro vs. MacBook Pro

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