No, terraforming Mars isn’t going to be possible in your lifetime

Sure, Mars colonization is possible with us living in indoors in giant domes, but the whole thing would certainly be easier if the planet’s atmosphere was somehow made more like Earth’s. One way to achieve this would be to utilize the carbon dioxide already trapped in the Martian surface to thicken the atmosphere up to the point at which Mars is warm enough to keep water in the liquid form we know and love. Simple, right?

“In changing the Martian climate to one that is more Earth-like, we would want to increase the atmospheric pressure, so that we could walk around without spacesuits, and the temperature, so that ice would melt and we wouldn’t need to use heaters as much,” Bruce Jakosky, a professor in the Geological Sciences department at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Digital Trends. “To do this, we need to add a greenhouse gas to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is the best available greenhouse gas — it’s very effective, and it should be abundant on Mars.”

Sadly, science is here to act as Debbie Downer, since a new research paper from Jakosky and Northern Arizona University’s Christopher Edwards suggests that there’s simply not enough carbon dioxide to go around.

“The short answer is that much of the CO2 has been lost to space,” Jakosky continued. “That which remains behind is not enough to raise either the pressure or the temperature enough to be useful. Furthermore, it’s very difficult to mobilize the CO2. In practice, it’s not possible to use CO2 on Mars to terraform the planet, and terraforming cannot be done with present-day technology.”

Even if it was possible to melt the polar ice caps on Mars using thermonuclear explosions (a theory put forward by SpaceX CEO and would-be Mars émigré Elon Musk), the amount of CO2 released would only be enough to bring Mars’ atmospheric pressure to a measly 1.2 percent of Earth’s. Even for the most ambitious of Martian settlers, that’s pretty tough to live on!

Don’t give up hope, though. Just because this method wouldn’t work doesn’t mean that terraforming is out of the question altogether. “It would still be possible to terraform Mars by, for example, manufacturing high-efficiency greenhouse gases such as CFCs that could raise the temperature,” Jakosky said. “But that would require large-scale manufacturing processes that clearly are beyond our present capability.”

In other words, things may look hopeless to us now, but there’s still hope for the Mars enthusiasts of 2118. Is it wrong to be envious of your great, great, great grandchildren?

A paper describing the research was recently published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

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• Get your Sagan on with 60 awe-inspiring photos of the final frontier
• Mars rover Curiosity finds the building blocks of life on the red planet
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• NASA will send a tiny drone helicopter to fly through the Martian skies
• Scientists think a form of bacteria could help make Mars hospitable to humans

Earn up to $10,000 by squashing printer-based bugs in HP’s bounty program

HP is calling an “industry first” by launching a print security bug bounty program providing rewards up to $10,000. It’s backed by Bugcrowd, a crowdsourced security platform that manages bug bounties, vulnerability disclosures, and more. The program will focus on bugs related to printers, which can be an entry point for hackers.

“As we navigate an increasingly complex world of cyber threats, it’s paramount that industry leaders leverage every resource possible to deliver trusted, resilient security from the firmware up,” Shivaun Albright, HP’s Chief Technologist of Print Security, said in a statement. “HP is committed to engineering the most secure printers in the world.”

According to HP, researchers participating in the program will report their findings directly to Bugcrowd. HP will evaluate any vulnerability that was already unearthed by the company and may reward the researcher “as a good faith payment.” Bugcrowd will verify all submitted bugs and reward researchers according to the severity of the flaw.

Why would hackers choose a printer as their attack vector? In the home or corporate environment, it can be connected directly to the local network and even shared across the internet. Even more, they could contain confidential data in memory as they print sensitive documents. In the case of 3D printers, hackers could steal prototype designs.

To make the problem more severe, the printer is typically the last device you’d think would be susceptible to hackers. Homes and corporation alike place the PC at the top of the security list, but flaws in printer software and firmware can enable hackers to access sensitive data stored in the printer – not in the PC – from another location on the network.

Hackers have various ways they can attack and even use a printer, such as installing a chip that can forward information to a remote location. They can bypass the authentication process that controls access to the device, modify the data residing in the printer’s memory, or create malware on a personal device that connects to the printer and gains access to the entire network.

“Multi-Function Printers can be hacked by concentrating on security problems from most of the brands,” reports Infosec. “In most printers, when we search the address (not technical) http://your-printers-ip:9100, it will not lead to any location, but it reads a print job. It gives a request for root document by https. This gives access to the LCD display, through which the attacker enters. This proves no need of any tools or code for access.”

That’s where HP’s new program comes in. Researchers can hunt down potential problems, have the vulnerabilities verified, and get rewarded for their effort. A report released by Bugcrowd claims that the firm saw more than 37,000 bug submissions over the past year, 69 percent of which were actually valid. That’s a 21 percent increase over the vulnerabilities discovered last year.

Unfortunately, HP and Bugcrowd aren’t pointing to an actual page where researchers can find more information. Instead, they point to HP’s Printer Device Security page where you can learn more about HP’s “secure” printer portfolio.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Google awards teenager $36,000 as part of its bug bounty program
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• T-Mobile website bug reportedly exposed private customer account details
• Patch your Windows 10 PC, now! Hackers are exploiting a zero-day flaw
• BMW racing to patch 14 security vulnerabilities found in its cars

NASA’s winners of its habitat competition offer a glimpse of Martian living

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Team Zopherus Nasa

Team AI. SpaceFactory Nasa

Team Kahn Yates

Team SEArch+/Apis Cor Nasa

Team Northwestern University Nasa

When astronauts finally touch down to establish a community on the moon or another planet, they will have to quickly erect unique structures to shelter them from the elements. The architectural design of these habitats will depend on their location, including what resources are available and what conditions are like outside. And, since it’s expensive to ship supplies into space, we’ll likely depend on 3D printing to fabricate the buildings with as much ease and local resources as possible.

To get a better understanding of what these structures might look like on Mars, NASA partnered with Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois for its 3D-Printed Habitat Centennial Challenge competition, which began in 2014. The first two phases included a design competition and structural competition. The five winners of the latest phase, which challenged the teams to design sub-scale habitats, were recently announced and will share in the $100,000 prizes.

“We are thrilled to see the success of this diverse group of teams that have approached this competition in their own unique styles,” Monsi Roman, program manager for NASA’s Centennial Challenges, said in a statement. “They are not just designing structures, they are designing habitats that will allow our space explorers to live and work on other planets. We are excited to see their designs come to life as the competition moves forward.”

The winning teams used digital tools to fabricate the physical and functional features of their Martian habitats, earning their lot of the prize money based on scores given to them by a panel of judges. Eighteen teams from around the world were considered. The five winning teams were:

1. Team Zopherus of Rogers, Arkansas – $20,957.95
2. AI. SpaceFactory of New York – $20,957.24
3. Kahn-Yates of Jackson, Mississippi – $20,622.74
4. SEArch+/Apis Cor of New York – $19,580.97
5. Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois – $17,881.10

You can check out the virtual model of each entry on YouTube.

“We are encouraging a wide range of people to come up with innovative designs for how they envision a habitat on Mars,” Lex Akers, dean of the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology at Bradley University, said. “The virtual levels allow teams from high schools, universities, and businesses that might not have access to large 3D printers to still be a part of the competition because they can team up with those who do have access to such machinery for the final level of the competition.”

Editors’ Recommendations

• The UN and Yale unite to build a ‘smart’ tiny house for the future
• Get your Sagan on with 60 awe-inspiring photos of the final frontier
• Explore our planet through an immersive AR experience with the Earth app
• To unlock secrets of evolution, scientists want to sequence all life on Earth
• The best PlayStation 4 games

These are all the Huawei/Honor phones coming out in 2018

Having trouble keeping up with Huawei’s countless phones? You’re in the right place.

Although it may not be as popular as Samsung or Apple in the U.S., one of the world’s biggest smartphone brands is Huawei.

Huawei often releases some of the best and most interesting Android phones of the year, including powerful flagships and more affordable options through its Honor sub-brand.

It can be hard to keep up with Huawei’s endless releases, so to help keep you in check, here are all the phones the company’s launching in 2018.

The phones we’re still expecting

Huawei Mate 11

The Mate 10 Pro

Towards the end of 2017, Huawei decided to go out with a bang with the impressive Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro.

The Mate 10 Pro paved the way for Huawei’s 2018 lineup, featuring the Kirin 970, a large 6-inch 18:9 screen, and fantastic dual cameras.

Rumors surrounding its successor are still pretty light, but if it’s anything like last year’s model, it’ll be big, powerful, and a true beauty to look at. The Mate 10 Pro was the first in the series to adopt a new glass back, and we’ll likely see Huawei continue that trend this year with the Mate 11.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro review: Best Android flagship for battery life

Honor 8X

Released at the very end of last year, the Honor 7X continues to be one of the best ways to spend less than $200 on a smartphone well into 2018.

Honor really hit the nail on the head with the 7X, offering a sturdy metal design, fast Kirin 659 processor, 5.93-inch 18:9 display, and respectable dual cameras for just $199 in the U.S.

We fully expect an Honor 8X to be announced before 2018 is over, featuring a similar price and even more bang-for-your-buck.

Honor 7X review: The new budget champion

The phones that have already come out

Huawei P20/P20 Lite/P20 Pro

A few months after the Mate 10’s U.S. launch, Huawei came out swinging once more with its P20 series — consisting of the P20, P20 Lite, and P20 Pro.

There are a lot of similarities with the three phones, including glass designs, fingerprint sensors, and notches in their displays.

While all of the handsets are worth a look, the P20 Pro is easily the most eye-catching. In addition to its ultra-reflective and color-changing glass back with the Twilight color, you’ll find not one, not two, but three rear cameras — including a 40MP RGB sensor, 20MP mono sensor, and 8MP telephoto one.

The end result of this wild combination are some of the best photographs you can take from a smartphone, especially when it comes to low-light shots.

You’ll find a lot to love about the P20 Pro, but depending on where you live, buying it could prove to be a bit tricky.

Where to buy the Huawei P20 Pro in the U.S. and Canada

Huawei Porsche Design Mate RS

If the P20 Pro isn’t cool enough for you and you’ve got endless amounts of cash to burn through, the Huawei Porsche Design Mate RS might be the perfect fit.

This is essentially the same phone as the P20 Pro, but it’s got a different design, stunning red color, in-screen fingerprint sensor, and a pain-inducing $2000 price tag.

The Porsche Design Mate RS certainly isn’t for everyone, but it’s easily the most eye-catching phone in all of Huawei’s lineup for the year.

See at Porsche Design

Huawei Mate SE

On the complete polar opposite end of the spectrum from the Mate RS is the Huawei Mate SE.

The Mate SE costs just $249 in the States and comes with a 5.93-inch edge-to-edge 18:9 FHD+ display, dual 16MP and 2MP rear cameras, Kirin 659 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB of storage, and a large 3,340 mAh battery. It’s also available in both Grey and Gold colors.

You get a lot of bang-for-your-buck with the Mate SE, but if you want to stretch your dollars even further, I’d suggest checking out the Honor 7X that was released at the tail-end of 2017.

Honor 7X vs. Huawei Mate SE: What’s the difference?

Huawei Nova 3

If you like the Huawei P20 but wish it came in a more affordable package, that’s where the Huawei Nova 3 comes into play.

In regards to its design, the phone looks very similar to its P20 cousin. The front is home to a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with a 19:9 aspect ratio, and because this is 2018, there’s a notch at the very top.

Around back is a glass finish that comes in Purple, Black, Aqua Blue, and Primrose Gold/Yellow colors. This is also where you’ll find the fingerprint sensor and dual 16MP + 24MP primary cameras.

Under the hood is the Kirin 970 processor, 6GB RAM, and Android 8.1 Oreo. Huawei will officially unveil the Nova 3 on July 18, but it’s already up for pre-order on VMall right now.

See at VMall

Honor View 10

Honor’s first phone for 2018 was the Honor View 10, and boy does it have a lot to offer. This is one of the pricier Honor phones at $499, but it comes equipped with just about every flagship feature you could ask for.

The Honor 10 impresses at first glance with a metal unibody design and ultra-slim bezels. The display measures in at 5.99-inches with an 18:9 aspect ratio and has a resolution of 2160 x 1080. There’s a fingerprint sensor underneath it, 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom of the frame, and dual 16MP + 20MP cameras on the back.

Other goodies include the Kirin 970, 6GB RAM, 128GB of storage, NFC, and Android 8.0 Oreo with EMUI 8.0 on top of it. Add all that together with a face unlock feature and a long-lasting 3,750 mAh battery, and you end up with one heck of a phone.

See at Amazon

Honor 10

The Honor 10 was released in late April, and it has more in common with the Honor View 10 than just a similar name. Just like the View 10, the Honor 10 has the Kirin 970, 6GB RAM, and either 128GB or 64GB of storage. However, that’s where the similarities end.

You’ll find dual cameras on the Honor 10, but they’re a bit different with 16MP and 24MP sensors. There’s also a 24MP shooter for the selfie camera, 5.84-inch 1080p LCD screen with a notch at the top, and a reflective, color-changing glass back just like the Huawei P20 Pro.

The Honor 10 is available in China and the UK, and depending on the storage configuration you choose, you’ll spend between $414 and $478.

Honor 10 announced with the P20’s design and a much lower price

Honor 7A/7C

Next up, we’ve got the Honor 7A and 7C. These are the cheapest phones on this list, coming in at £139.99 and £169.99, respectively.

You won’t find the most impressive specs on the 7A and 7C, but what you do get is all the basics for a solid experience at an incredible price.

The 7A is the more affordable of the two, offering a plastic body with a metal-like finish, Snapdragon 430 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of storage, and a single 13MP camera. With the 7C, you get a faster Snapdragon 450, 3GB RAM, 32GB of storage, and a depth-sensing 2MP camera to go along with the primary 13MP shooter.

You can purchase the Honor 7A and 7C in the UK and India.

Honor 7A + 7C bring face unlock to the sub-£170 price point

Honor Play

There’s been a recent interest in gaming phones in the Android space, with notable handsets including the Razer Phone and Asus ROG Phone. Honor’s the latest company to take a stab at this growing niche with the Honor Play.

A good gaming phone needs to be plenty powerful, and the Honor Play delivers here. It’s powered by the Kirin 970 and comes with a feature called GPU Turbo that allows you to eek out even more performance when playing particularly demanding titles.

You’ve got your choice between 4 and 6GB of RAM depending on the model you choose and 64GB of storage is present for housing all your local files. Other specs include a 3,750 mAh battery, Android 8.1 Oreo, and a 6.3-inch 19:9 screen with a resolution of 1080 x 2280.

The Honor Play is launching first in China with a starting price of around $375.

See at VMall

Honor 9i

The Honor 9i was also announced alongside the Honor Play, but it ditches the gaming focus and instead aims to be your typical Honor mid-ranger.

Up front is a 5.84-inch 19:9 display with a 1080 x 2280 resolution. The Kirin 659 powers the phone along with 4GB RAM and a 3,000 mAh battery should offer respectable endurance.

Other features include dual 13MP + 12MP cameras on the back, 64 or 128GB of storage, and Android 8.0 Oreo.

Similar to the Honor Play, the Honor 9i is also launching in China and carries a starting price of $220.

See at VMall

Honor 10 GT

In early July, Honor officially took the wraps off of the Honor 10 GT. This is mostly the same phone as the Honor 10 that was released earlier in the year, save for the fact that it has a whopping 8GB RAM.

Aside from that, everything else is just as you’d expect. The Honor 10 GT is powered by the Kirin 970 processor, has a 3,400 mAh battery, 5.8-inch 2280 x 1080 display, 16MP selfie camera, 16MP + 24MP rear-facing sensors, and the rare 3.5mm headphone jack.

The Honor 10 GT is launching in China on July 24, and while pricing is still unknown, it’ll likely cost around $500 or so.

See at Honor

Honor Note 10

A little over a week before Samsung takes the wraps off of the Galaxy Note 9, the Honor Note 10 has conveniently been announced just ahead of it.

First thing’s first, this is a big phone. There’s a massive 7-inch screen on this puppy that’s paired with a Super AMOLED panel and a resolution of 1080 x 2200. The tall 18:9 form factor should help out a bit with usability, but even so, there’s no getting around the point that this thing’s massive.

Other specs for the Honor Note 10 include the Kirin 970 processor, 6GB/8GB RAM, 64GB/128GB internal storage, and a monstrous 5,000 mAh battery. Add that together with a PC-like liquid cooling system, microSD card support, and dual cameras, and you’ve got a well-rounded package.

The Honor Note 10 goes on sale August 1 with a starting price of $409 for the 6GB/64GB model.

See at Honor

Huawei P20 + P20 Pro

• Huawei P20 and P20 Pro hands-on
• Huawei P20 and P20 Pro specs
• The Porsche Design Mate RS is a P20 Pro that costs $2000
• Join the discussion in the forums

Updated July 31, 2018: Added the Honor Note 10 to the list!

Apple’s Services Revenue Up 31% Year-Over-Year in 3Q 2018, Company is ‘Thrilled’ About Upcoming Services Pipeline

Apple’s services category continues to see rapid growth, further cementing its position as an important revenue driver for Apple.

During the third fiscal quarter of 2018, Apple’s services revenue brought in $9.55 billion in revenue, up 31 percent from the $7.27 billion in revenue services earned in the third quarter of 2017.

The services category includes iTunes, the App Store, the Mac App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple Pay, and AppleCare.

According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple “feels great” about the momentum in its services business, and the company saw double digit growth in its active services installed base. This quarter’s growth was driven by strong performance in a number of area.

Subscriptions from Apple and third parties have surpassed $300 million, an increase of 60 percent year over year. Cook called the revenue from subscriptions “significant” and an “increasing portion of services.”

There are now nearly 30,000 apps that offer subscriptions, a number that continues to see strong growth.

Cook said that App Store revenue, which set a new June quarter revenue, had exceeded Apple’s “wildest expectations.” Customers around the world are visiting the App Store more often and downloading more apps than ever before. Citing third-party research, Cook said pointed out that the iOS App Store saw twice the revenue of Google Play.

Apple has seen rapid growth in revenue from App Store search ads, with a recent update expanding search ads to Japan, South Korea, France, Germany.

Apple Music grew by more than 50 percent year-over-year (with Cook again reiterating the 50M subscriber number from May), and AppleCare grew at its highest rate in 18 quarters. Apple’s cloud services revenue was up 50 percent year over year, and communications services, including FaceTime and Messages, are hitting all time usage highs. Siri requests have exceeded 100 billion, and articles read on Apple News have doubled year over year.

Apple in 2017 set itself a goal to double its services revenue to $14 billion per quarter by 2020, and the company is well on its way to reaching that goal.

Earlier this year, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty predicted that over the course of the next five years, services revenue growth will contribute more than 50 percent of Apple’s total revenue growth.

Huberty estimated that services revenue is at $30 per device, with just 18 percent of Apple’s total device install base subscribing to paid services, leaving plenty of room for growth in the coming years.

Apple is working on bolstering its services category, with rumors suggesting that a new TV streaming service for its original TV shows is in the works, along with a magazine subscription service based on its April Texture acquisition.

In response to a question about Apple’s future services plans, Cook said that Apple is “thrilled” with its upcoming product pipeline and the new services that are included with it, hinting at that rumored TV service. Cook explained that Apple has hired two TV executives (Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg) to work on a project that Apple is not ready to discuss. Cook said that Apple is expecting dramatic changes to the content industry and is happy to have something in the works.

“We’re not really ready to share all the details of it yet, but I couldn’t be more excited about what’s going on there. We’ve got great talent in that area that we’ve sourced from different places and feel really good about what we will eventually offer.”

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12Tags: App Store, Apple’s Hollywood ambitionsBuyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple CEO Tim Cook on Tariffs: ‘We’re Hoping Calm Heads Prevail’

Apple CEO Tim Cook this afternoon spoke about the tariffs the United States has imposed on goods imported from China, and how Apple might be impacted.

Cook said that while Apple believes the trade agreements the United States has with other major economies are in need of modernization, the company does not think that tariffs are the right approach. “We’re sort of encouraging dialogue and so forth,” said Cook.

Apple CEO Tim Cook with Donald Trump at the Executive Tech Summit at Trump Tower in December 2016
In terms of the three tariffs that have already been put in place that impact steel, aluminum, and $50B worth of additional goods from China, none of Apple’s products have been directly impacted.

A fourth tariff on $200 billion in Chinese goods is out for public comment, and Apple says it is evaluating the tariff and will be sharing its views on it with the administration before the end of the comment period. The original Apple Watch has been named in the latest proposal, alongside devices that include the Fitbit charge and some Sonos speakers. Apple has already discontinued its original Apple Watch and newer Apple Watch models are not impacted.

Cook said that examining tariffs is a “tedious process” because there are factors to consider that include not only revenue, but also purchases being made through other companies unrelated to revenue, such as data centers. Apple plans to share its results at a later date.

According to Cook, the risk associated with a macroeconomic issue like an economic slowdown or currency fluctuation is difficult to quantify, and that’s not something Apple is trying to do. Cook said that Apple is “optimistic” that the tariff issue will get sorted out. “There’s an inescapability of mutuality between the United States and China,” said Cook. “Each country can only prosper if the other does… and the world needs the U.S. to and China to prosper.”

Cook said that while he can’t predict the future, he’s “optimistic” that the countries will get through this. “We’re hoping that calm heads prevail,” said Cook.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook ‘The Smartphone Market is Very Healthy’

During today’s earnings call covering the third fiscal quarter of 2018, Apple CEO Tim Cook was questioned about the health of the smartphone market and the impact the company’s choice to offer low-cost battery replacements might have on replacement cycles.

In response, Cook said that he believes the smartphone market is “very healthy. “It’s the best market to be in for someone in the business that we’re in,” said Cook. “Whether it grows one percent or two percent or five percent or six percent or 10 percent or shrinks one or two percent, it’s a great market because it’s just huge.”

iPhone revenue, Cook pointed out, was up 20 percent during the quarter compared to the third quarter of 2017, and Apple has seen mid-single digit growth averages on a weekly sales basis and double-digit growth on an ASP basis. Apple sold a total of 41.3 million iPhones during the quarter, bringing in revenue of nearly $30 billion. The iPhone X continued to be the most popular iPhone during the quarter.

Cook said that he does believe replacement cycles are lengthening, and he says the “major catalyst” for that has been the fact that subsidized plans have become a much smaller percentage of total sales around the world. Apple’s goal is to make great products to encourage customers to purchase new devices.

I think for us, the thing we always have to do is come out with a really great, innovative product. I think iPhone X shows that when you deliver that, there’s enough people out there that will like that, and it can be a really great business.

In a separate response given to a question about Apple’s focus on the home, Cook shared additional comments about the importance of smartphones. “The smartphone has become the repository that goes across the whole of your life, not something meant for a portion of it,” he said. He went on to explain that Apple is focused on a number of areas with its product lineup — home, work, the time between, health, and more. “We’re focused on all of those things.”

In terms of the battery replacement program that has seen Apple offering $29 iPhone battery replacements since the beginning of the year, Cook reiterated a statement he made back in February during an earlier earnings call. Apple, he said, has never done an internal analysis on how many people bought a battery compared to purchasing a new phone because it wasn’t a factor in the decision.

“It was never about that for us,” said Cook. “It was about doing something great for the user. Treat users and customers well and you have a good business over time. That’s how we look at that.”

Related Roundup: iPhone XTags: Tim Cook, iPhone SlowdownBuyer’s Guide: iPhone X (Caution)
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Huawei Surpasses Apple to Become #2 Worldwide Smartphone Vendor in Q2 2018

With 54.2 million smartphones shipped in the second calendar quarter of 2018, Chinese smartphone company Huawei has surpassed Apple to become the number two worldwide smartphone vendor, according to new data shared today by IDC.

During the quarter, which includes data from April to June, Apple shipped 41.3 million iPhones worldwide, a number that it shared earlier today with its earnings release for its third fiscal quarter. In the year-ago quarter, Apple shipped 41 million iPhones, marking just a small increase in shipments this year.

According to IDC, Apple’s share of the smartphone market for the quarter was 12.1 percent, compared to Huawei’s 15.8 percent. Huawei saw 41 percent year-over-year growth in market share with an increase of 15.7 million smartphones shipped in Q2 2018 compared to Q2 2017.

Samsung continues to be the number one smartphone vendor with 71.5 million smartphones shipped and 20.9 percent of the market, with Xiaomi and OPPO trailing after Apple and Huawei with 31.9 and 29.4 million smartphones shipped, respectively. Canalys, Strategy Analytics, and IHS Market have also published data agreeing with IDC’s assessment of the smartphone market.

In total, IDC says there were 342 million smartphones shipped during the second quarter of 2018, a 1.8 percent decline from the 348.2 million smartphones shipped during the second quarter of 2017.

While Apple’s iPhone shipments were largely stagnant year-over-year, the higher average selling price it achieved with the iPhone X resulted in an impressive 20 percent increase in revenue and iPhone earnings of nearly $30 billion.

IDC’s numbers look only at total number of smartphones shipped, with Huawei seeing major growth in the $600 to $800 segment thanks to the P20 and P20 Pro series.

We are likely to see shifts in these smartphone vendor rankings over the course of the next few quarters as this is Apple’s weakest quarter. At this point, Apple’s flagship iPhones are several months old, which always results in a slowdown in sales. After new devices are released in the fall, Apple will see much stronger shipment numbers during the fiscal fourth quarter of 2018 and first fiscal quarter of 2019.

Apple dropped to the third spot for the first time despite its second quarter growth. Apple shipped 41.3 million iPhones, representing modest growth of 0.7% over the 41.0 million units shipped last year. The iPhone continued to perform well at the high end as the iPhone X remains a top seller in many markets. Apple will look to regain control of the market this fall with the expected launch of three next generations of iPhone models. The new models are rumored to bring different screens sizes, price points, increased performance, and new features to the table when they arrive next quarter.

Rumors suggest Apple plans to better compete in the mid-priced smartphone market in late 2018 and 2019 with a lower-priced 6.1-inch feature-rich iPhone that offers Face ID, an edge-to-edge display, and the same fast processor as the company’s more expensive OLED models.

Tags: Samsung, IDC, Huawei
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Bose Sleepbuds review — Everything you need to know

This article previously appeared on our sister site, SoundGuys.com

If you’ve got tinnitus, getting to sleep never really gets easier with time. While we’d all like to envision ourselves as the protagonist of Baby Driver, those afflicted with tinnitus or a noisy sleep environment are generally tired wrecks during the day. That’s where the Bose Sleepbuds come in.

What are the Bose Sleepbuds?

In short, this product is designed people who just can’t get to sleep without some added noise help. Bose created a set of truly wireless earbuds to drown out the air conditioner, tinnitus, or really any unwanted noise around you. Earplugs alone aren’t up to the task if you have tinnitus, so this is a one-size-fits-all solution for insomniacs out there.

The batteries may take forever to charge, but they also last longer than any truly wireless earbuds on the market.

Unlike other truly wireless earbuds, these aren’t built to listen to music as you sleep, no: they only work with the Bose Sleep app. There, you can choose between a number of ambient recordings for you to zonk out to. Basically, it’s a white noise machine that won’t annoy your partner (or downstairs neighbors).

While I would have preferred some sort of noise-cancelling or more effective isolation, I understand why this was impossible. Basically, it’s all about comfort: having little earbuds jammed deep in your ear canal can be distractingly uncomfortable, so Bose elected to not risk poking your sensitive ear bits with a large nozzle. These buds sit just outside your ear canal, held in place by a helix fin so they don’t fall out if you toss and turn.

How do the Bose Sleepbuds work?

Billed as a set of noise-masking earbuds, the Bose Sleepbuds do not offer any noise cancellation or much isolation. Instead, they play ambient sound recordings — from a campfire to a rainy day — to drown out the world around you. Normally this can be a very risky thing to do, but this particular product manages its output well, as I’ll outline below. It will not damage your hearing due to noise exposure on its own.

Very tiny and unobtrusive, the Sleepbuds sit just outside the ear canal, though they do act as a physical barrier to it.

When people talk about a sound “drowning out” another, they’re really referring to a phenomenon called auditory masking, where your brain (and ears) will prevent you from perceiving quieter sounds with similar notes. If there’s a louder sound (a masker), you won’t hear the quieter sounds you’d normally get annoyed by.

As you can imagine, this is the least-preferable method of dealing with unwanted noise, as it’s most likely to damage your hearing. However, there’s no issue if the total sound pressure level (SPL) that reaches your eardrum remains under 80dB. Considering the ear tips physically block some sound already, the Bose Sleepbuds aren’t as dangerous to your long-term hearing health as you might expect.

Do the Bose Sleepbuds work well?

While it’s hard to objectively assess new product categories as they arise, the Bose Sleepbuds weren’t actually all that challenging to pin down. Considering their entire purpose is to drown out sound, there’s only a few things we need to figure out:

Can they mask normal apartment sounds?
Are they safe to use?
How long is the battery capable of lasting?

With this in mind, I tested these using an air conditioner at full blast and a test head over some time. For the most part, this product works as advertised — with little else to discuss. The Sleepbuds mask out enough normal sounds to work as intended. If for whatever reason you’re unable to block out the noise around you, that’s a serious problem. This product is designed to be safe to use, and if the sound levels around you are so high they can’t be used effectively, you’re likely already in danger of hearing loss without them.

It may seem a little useless to point out, but the Sleepbuds can only drown out so much noise. While that may annoy you, it’s for the best — otherwise they’d be unsafe to use.

Are the Bose Sleepbuds safe to use?

More or less.

Zero low-end attenuation means lots of sound will reach your ear… just not high-pitched noise.

The Bose Sleepbuds do a fairly commendable job blocking out high-frequency sound, but they do almost nothing to physically isolate you from the low hum of the air conditioner, airplane, or that damn truck idling outside your window (thanks, road crew). However they block out super high notes and sounds surprisingly well, even though it’s tough to get a good seal. This product definitely leans on drowning out low-frequency sounds with its loudness.

If you do nothing but increase the force applied to your ears, you risk damaging your hearing by something called noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). While my testing revealed a higher peak SPL than what Bose advertises, I also pushed the limits of this product to see how bad the noise situation could be. Even when putting the test fixture next to a loud air conditioner, the simulated ear drums never saw a sound pressure level over 80dB.

Even if you don’t have tinnitus, these work well enough if you have an air conditioner at full blast.

However, the Sleepbuds on their own cannot damage your hearing. I measured their peak dBSPL at roughly 74dB, which is solidly shy of the level needed to cause hearing damage at an exposure of eight hours. Considering it would take decades of exposure for more than eight hours every day for that level to cause hearing damage, it’s safe to say this product is unlikely to harm you. It’s not impossible, just extremely unlikely.

How long does the battery last?

Because this product relies on being used for an entire night, Bose eschewed ANC and modern lithium batteries in favor of noise-masking and silver-zinc batteries. By reducing power requirements and opting for a lower-output cell, the Sleepbuds last a whole lot longer than most truly-wireless earbuds. Even if you blast them at full volume, they should last you most of the night.

At max volume, the Bose Sleepbuds last 15 hours and 2 minutes

The Sleepbuds are charged and stored in a battery case (like most truly wireless options) with a brushed metal exterior. When charging, the buds are held in place magnetically, and should be good to go after 8 hours. That’s a super long charging time, but remember you get a super long battery life as well. As long as you put the buds back in the case when you wake up, they should be ready early enough for a post-work nap if you need it.

At max volume, the Bose Sleepbuds last 15 hours and 2 minutes before one channel disconnects from the other. I didn’t even bother testing at 50 percent because nobody needs to sleep that long (and I love sleeping late). If you keep the volume under the recommended limit, you could probably squeeze a couple days out of these. Due to the nature of the product itself, we don’t expect anyone to use it at minimum volume. You need volume to drown out noise, right?

Should you buy the Bose Sleepbuds?

At the end of the day, this is an expensive, specialized product. It does exactly what it’s supposed to do, but I imagine there’s a competing solution for a little less money. Then again, it’s hard to put a price on good sleep. If you don’t have tinnitus, ear plugs can be uncomfortable and they hurt when you toss and turn at night. Additionally, regular foam earplugs generally don’t isolate much more than 10dB.

If sleep-assisting earbuds become a product category, Bose’s Sleepbuds are currently the gold standard.

Apple’s Wearable Category Sees 60% Growth Year-Over-Year, With Revenue Exceeding $10B Over Last Four Quarters

Apple’s “Other Products” category, which includes AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPod touch, HomePod, Beats products, and Apple-branded and third-party accessories brought in $3.74 billion in revenue during the third quarter of 2018, up an impressive 37 percent percent compared to the year-ago quarter.

Apple does not break down the specific sales numbers of products in the “Other” category, which makes it difficult to determine specific sales numbers for products like the HomePod, AirPods, and the Apple Watch, but Apple CEO Tim Cook this afternoon provided some insight into Apple’s wearable business.

Revenue from wearables, which includes the Apple Watch and AirPods, saw 60 percent growth year over year, according to Cook. Wearables revenue also exceeded $10 billion over the course of the last four quarters.

Apple Watch had a record-breaking June quarter with revenue growth in the mid 40 percent range. The Apple Watch’s record-breaking June quarter comes just weeks ahead of when Apple is expected to introduce a whole new model, with a larger display, better heart rate tracking, and other improved features as outlined in our Apple Watch roundup.

Cook didn’t go into details on the AirPods, but he said Apple is “thrilled” to see so many customers using AirPods. “It reminds me of the early days of the iPod,” he said. “When I saw those white earbuds everywhere I went.”

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 4, watchOS 5, AirPodsTag: earningsBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Caution), AirPods (Caution)
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