Evernote Slashes Premium Subscription Rate Amid Reports of Company ‘Death Spiral’

Productivity app Evernote has slashed its premium subscription rates amid reports of a flurry of key staff departures at the startup.

An annual membership for the productivity suite now costs $42, down from $70, provided customers pay the fee in one lump sum. Monthly premium subscriptions remain at $7.99 per month (almost $100 over a year), so the deal is worth looking at if you’re a long-time fan of the app.

According to TechCrunch, the productivity app has lost several of its most senior executives in the last month, including CTO Anirban Kundu, CFO Vincent Toolan, CPO Erik Wrobel, and head of HR Michelle Wagner.

Evernote has not commented on the departures, but one source claiming knowledge of the matter told TechCrunch that “Evernote is in a death spiral… Paid user growth and active users have been flat for the last six years and their enterprise product offering has not caught on.”

Evernote used to be ranked as one of the most popular productivity apps in the App Store, but its popularity has gradually waned with the emergence of rival (and free) alternatives such as Apple Notes, Google Keep and Microsoft OneNote.

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Award winning robot travels through water pipes to detect leaks

It sounds unbelievable, but each day around 20 percent of clean water produced in the world is lost as the result of leaky pipes. According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, this amounts to an estimated 6 billion gallons of clean water per day in the U.S. alone. The problem is exacerbated by current detection technology, which means that most of the leaks are either not found or discovered too late, after they’ve already caused sinkholes and burst pipes.

A new soft robot may be able to help, however — and it’s just netted the 2018 James Dyson Award, a design competition to celebrate up-and-coming inventors. The award-winning creation is the work of recent Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) doctoral graduate You Wu. Called Lighthouse, the low-cost bot is designed to travel through water pipes on the hunt for leaks before they turn into major problems.

All a technician needs to do to use Lighthouse is to insert it into a water pipe by way of an existing hydrant. It then passively flows through the pipe, navigating around pipe elbows, discovering leaks due to the suction force of the puncture. It then measures the strength of the suction and records details of its location. The technician can then retrieve the robot when it’s flushed out of the pipes through a hydrant, and wirelessly download a map of leaks.

“Winning the James Dyson Award is a great recognition of my six years of effort to solve the world’s water loss problem through engineering and design,” Wu told Digital Trends. “This summer, I built my company, WatchTower Robotics, with the technology coming out of this project. The James Dyson Award is bringing publicity to my company at the perfect time. It will connect us with potential customers, team members, partners, and investors. Moreover, it will help us educate the public that the 20 percent water loss is a real and common problem — and now we have a technology to address it effectively.”

U.S. runners-up for the James Dyson Award include Infinite Cooling, a technology that recovers large quantities of clean water from power plant cooling tower plumes, and Night Loo, a portable, personal urinal for women and girls living in refugee camps.

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Instagram said to be prepping a standalone shopping app

Patrick Foto/Getty Images

A report out Tuesday suggests Instagram is planning to launch a standalone shopping app allowing users to browse and purchase products in just a few taps.

Sources claiming to have knowledge of the matter told The Verge that the app will be called “IG Shopping” and enable merchants and brands to promote and sell their wares.

According to the report, the app is still being prepped and while there may be a timeline for its possible launch or testing, the sources did not share that information.

It’s not clear if Instagram’s current ecommerce features would remain within the original app, or be moved to the dedicated shopping app.

While satisfying the shopping urges of online consumers, launching a shopping-only Instagram app could also help to persuade more businesses that a presence on Instagram — or an Instagram shopping app — is vital. Around 25 million businesses already use Facebook-owned Instagram to promote and sell their products, so the company would be able to quickly populate its dedicated shopping app with storefronts, allowing it to hit the ground running. Then it just needs people to download the app …

Paid-for business tools could also become a money-spinner for Instagram, the sources suggest, as new promotion and management tools could be introduced for the shopping-focused app.

Shopping on Instagram

Instagram introduced an in-app shopping experience in 2016 before rolling it out more widely last year. The system offers purchasing opportunities via tagged items in posted images, and more recently Instagram has been working to make the shopping experience as seamless as possible.

Given Facebook’s propensity to launch spin-off apps, the arrival of a shopping-focused Instagram app wouldn’t come as a huge surprise. The last such standalone offering from Instagram came in with the launch of IGTV in June 2018; others include Hyperlapse and video-clip-generator Boomerang.

But seeing that Instagram has built its success on photo sharing with ecommerce only added later, it could find it a challenge to convince ‘grammers to download an app geared toward shopping. Having said that, around 80 percent of Instagram users — that’s around 800,000 people — are known to follow at least one business, a statistic that could be enough to persuade the company that its shopping app has a chance of success.

It could be a while before a shopping app from Instagram sees the light of day, but we’ll be sure to update if it happens.

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Skype finally gets built-in call recording so you can ‘capture special moments’

Skype

Skype has finally gotten around to adding call recording to its service.

The Microsoft-owned company said the feature is available now on the latest version of Skype for desktop and mobile. But somewhat surprisingly, it’s not yet ready for Windows 10. Hang in there though — it’s coming for Windows 10 in “a few weeks.”

“When we added video to Skype calls over 10 years ago, the ability to share important moments with loved ones took a big step forward,” Skype said in a post announcing the new feature, adding, “Today, we’re introducing call recording to help capture special moments in a Skype call with your loved ones or record important meetings with your colleagues.”

It’s easy to record a Skype call. Simply hit the “+” sign at the bottom of the display, then select “start recording.”

Whenever someone in the video chat hits the record button, everyone else in the chat will be notified by way of a banner, in order to keep everything transparent.

The cloud-based feature records everyone’s video as well as any screens shared during the call — in other words, it’ll record the Skype conversation from the perspective of each caller, as the display will vary slightly for each person. When the conversation is over, you have 30 days to download it and/or share a link to it.

To save a call on desktop, go to your chat and click “more options,” and then select “save to downloads,” or “save as” if you want to put it in a particular folder.

Saving a chat on mobile is straightforward, too. Simply tap-and-hold the recorded call in the chat and then, when the menu shows up, tap “save.” The recording will then automatically download and save to your device’s camera roll.

Skype for Business customers have been able to record their calls for a while, so it’s a mystery why it’s taken so long to land for Skype’s regular service. Up to now, anyone who wanted to record their Skype calls had to download third-party software, and so it remains to be seen whether users ditch their regular recorder in favor of Skype’s built-in offering.

Skype’s call-recording feature lands in the same week that the app ditched its Snapchat-like “Highlights” feature in a series of changes designed to simplify the app after a year in which it cluttered the interface with extras that users didn’t want.

If Skype is still failing to deliver, check out Digital Trends’ suggestions for other software that offers the same kind of service.

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Skype finally gets built-in call recording so you can ‘capture special moments’

Skype

Skype has finally gotten around to adding call recording to its service.

The Microsoft-owned company said the feature is available now on the latest version of Skype for desktop and mobile. But somewhat surprisingly, it’s not yet ready for Windows 10. Hang in there though — it’s coming for Windows 10 in “a few weeks.”

“When we added video to Skype calls over 10 years ago, the ability to share important moments with loved ones took a big step forward,” Skype said in a post announcing the new feature, adding, “Today, we’re introducing call recording to help capture special moments in a Skype call with your loved ones or record important meetings with your colleagues.”

It’s easy to record a Skype call. Simply hit the “+” sign at the bottom of the display, then select “start recording.”

Whenever someone in the video chat hits the record button, everyone else in the chat will be notified by way of a banner, in order to keep everything transparent.

The cloud-based feature records everyone’s video as well as any screens shared during the call — in other words, it’ll record the Skype conversation from the perspective of each caller, as the display will vary slightly for each person. When the conversation is over, you have 30 days to download it and/or share a link to it.

To save a call on desktop, go to your chat and click “more options,” and then select “save to downloads,” or “save as” if you want to put it in a particular folder.

Saving a chat on mobile is straightforward, too. Simply tap-and-hold the recorded call in the chat and then, when the menu shows up, tap “save.” The recording will then automatically download and save to your device’s camera roll.

Skype for Business customers have been able to record their calls for a while, so it’s a mystery why it’s taken so long to land for Skype’s regular service. Up to now, anyone who wanted to record their Skype calls had to download third-party software, and so it remains to be seen whether users ditch their regular recorder in favor of Skype’s built-in offering.

Skype’s call-recording feature lands in the same week that the app ditched its Snapchat-like “Highlights” feature in a series of changes designed to simplify the app after a year in which it cluttered the interface with extras that users didn’t want.

If Skype is still failing to deliver, check out Digital Trends’ suggestions for other software that offers the same kind of service.

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Xiaomi launches the Redmi 6A, Redmi 6, and the Redmi 6 Pro in India

The Redmi 6 series offers considerable upgrades in key areas.

To call Xiaomi dominant in India would be an understatement. Four out of five best-selling phones in India are Redmi phones, and it’s clear that Xiaomi is the brand to beat in the entry-level segment.

Xiaomi is now looking to consolidate its position with the introduction of the Redmi 6 series. There are three models in the series — the Redmi 6A, Redmi 6, and the Redmi 6 Pro — with Xiaomi touting significant improvements in performance as well as imaging. Notably, all three phones in the series feature upgraded cameras at the back, and offer face unlock as well as AI-assisted portrait mode.

Also standard across all three models is Dual VoLTE, a dedicated MicroSD slot in addition to two SIM card slots, and EIS for video recording. The additions go a long way in making the new Redmi 6 phones a great option if you’re in the market for an entry-level phone.

Xiaomi sets the bar for aggressive pricing, and things aren’t any different with the Redmi 6 series. The Redmi 6A starts off at just ₹5,999, the Redmi 6 will be available for ₹7,999, and the Redmi 6 Pro costs ₹10,999.

Here’s what you need to know about the Redmi 6 series.

Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro: Familiar hardware with a new design

The Redmi 6 Pro is one of the most affordable devices yet to feature a notch. The device comes with a 5.84-inch FHD+ (2280 x 1080) panel, and is powered by the Snapdragon 625. The chipset is getting a bit long in the tooth, but it is still a decent option in this segment. Also, Xiaomi has released dozens of phones over the last two years powered by the chipset, so optimizing it for MIUI shouldn’t be an issue.

The dual cameras at the back are the same as that on the Redmi Note 5 Pro — there’s a primary 12MP IMX486 module backed by a 5MP secondary sensor. The Redmi 6 Pro will come with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and a model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

There’s also a 5MP shooter up front, and a 4000mAh battery. Essentially, the Redmi 6 Pro is the Redmi Note 5 with upgraded cameras and a cutout at the top of the display.

Xiaomi Redmi 6: Octa-core chipset backed by dual cameras

With the Redmi 6, the highlight is the dual cameras at the back. The 12MP + 5MP camera configuration at the back is a major step up in this category, and should make the Redmi 6 an enticing option if camera quality is a priority for you.

The phone is powered by a 12nm MediaTek Helio P22 chipset with eight Cortex A53 cores that go up to 2.0GHz. The Redmi 6 is available with either 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, or 3GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Xiaomi will sell the device in black, gold, blue, and rose gold color options.

Elsewhere, there’s a 5.45-inch 18:9 HD+ (1440 x 720) display, 5MP camera up front with face unlock, and a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Xiaomi Redmi 6A: Powerful 12nm chipset, 39% uptick in performance

The key change in the Redmi 6A from a design standpoint is the 5.45-inch 18:9 HD+ (1440 x 720) panel. Under the hood, the 28nm Snapdragon 425 has made way for a 12nm MediaTek Helio A22 chipset, resulting in significantly better performance as well as improved efficiency.

Xiaomi is touting a massive 39% uptick in performance from the 2.0GHz Cortex A53 cores, and an even more significant 48% increase in efficiency from the node shrink to 12nm FinFET. The phone is available in two variants: a base model with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, and a version with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

Other specs include a 13MP camera at the back, a 5MP front shooter with face unlock, Dual VoLTE, and a 3000mAh battery.

Going on sale starting September 10

It’s interesting to see Xiaomi opting to go with MediaTek for its entry-level phones instead of Qualcomm. There were rumors at the start of the year that Xiaomi would leverage its in-house Surge SoC in entry-level phones, but that hasn’t turned out to be the case. Thus far, we’ve only seen the Surge S1 in China-exclusive devices, like the Mi 5c.

I haven’t had a chance to use either the Redmi 6 or the Redmi 6A yet, but there should be a significant uptick in performance thanks to the 2.0GHz Cortex A53 cores. Furthermore, with mobile gaming gaining momentum in recent months, it’ll be interesting to find out if Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR GPU is up to the task.

All three phones come with MIUI 9.6 based on Android 8.1 Oreo, with an upgrade to MIUI 10 planned for later this year. It’s strange that the phones aren’t launching with MIUI 10 out of the box, considering the latest version of Xiaomi’s ROM released several months ago.

Redmi 6A will be available from Setember 19, with the Redmi 6 set to hit store shelves starting Setember 10. The Redmi 6 Pro, meanwhile, will go up for sale from Setember 11. Here’s the breakdown of pricing for all the models in the Redmi 6 series:

• Redmi 6A (2GB/16GB) – ₹5,999
• Redmi 6A (2GB/32GB) – ₹6,999
• Redmi 6 (3GB/32GB) – ₹7,999
• Redmi 6 (3GB/64GB) – ₹9,499
• Redmi 6 Pro (3GB/32GB) – ₹10,999
• Redmi 6 Pro (4GB/64GB) – ₹12,999

Interestingly, Xiaomi mentions that this is an introductory price that will be in place for the first two months, following which the prices will increase. We’ll have to wait to find out by how much, but for now, what are your thoughts on the Redmi 6 series?

Google Maps App Updated With New Events Section and Elevation Data for Walking and Cycling Routes

Google Maps received an update today that introduces a couple of potentially useful new features, including a new section that lists notable events happening nearby.

The new Events section lives at the bottom of the Explore tab, where users can find a variety of things listed depending on what’s going on in their location.

Google says Events that appear in the new section can include everything from late night comedy shows to movie screenings in the local park.

Also new in version 4.57, cycling and walking directions now feature a handy elevation chart, offering users an idea of how much physical effort they can expect to exert for the route in question.

Elevation information has been available for some time on the Google Maps website, so having the data in-app should come as a welcome addition.

Google Maps can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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6 amazing high-tech ways science could take care of the mosquito problem

Whether it’s because of their nasty habit of carrying diseases like Zika and malaria or just their penchant for being vacation-spoiling jerks, there’s plenty of reasons to hate mosquitos. Fortunately, some of the biggest mosquito haters out there turn out to be some pretty darn smart scientists and engineers.

Thanks to them, there are a whole lot of smart anti-mosquito deterrents on the way that go far beyond the usual bug sprays, rolled-up newspapers, and other off-the-shelf solutions. Read on for six of the amazing technologies that could soon bring us a utopian world free from needle-nosed vampire insects.

Malaria-resistant mosquitoes

Malaria can be treated with the right drugs. Unfortunately, in some poorer parts of the developing world, getting the right drugs to people isn’t always easy. As a result, scientists from Johns Hopkins University have investigated a way to make mosquitos — as opposed to people — resistant to the malaria parasite.

Using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, they have engineered malaria-resistant mosquitos by deleting a gene which helps malaria survive in the mosquito’s gut. In preliminary trials, the researchers have demonstrated that the malaria parasite is unable to survive long enough to mature to the point that it becomes dangerous to humans.

Photonic fence

Aside from beaming them straight to the Delta Quadrant, it’s hard to think of a more Star Trek-sounding solution to the mosquito problem than Nathan Myhrvold’s “photonic fence.” Described in a 2010 TED talk, the former Microsoft CTO suggested one way to deal with bloodsucking insects would be by shooting them down with deadly lasers.

His system locks onto mosquitos by detecting the sound of their wings flapping, and then zaps them in the air with a low-power laser — thereby killing them or severely disabling them. These devices could be erected like a fence around a settlement, and would theoretically kill around 99 percent of mosquitos who attempt to break the barrier.

Nearly a decade after the talk, we’re still not seeing photonic fences on the regular, although the technology has reportedly been licensed out to interested parties — and even the U.S. Commerce Department has shown some enthusiasm.

There’s an app for that

James Gathany / PHIL

Researchers from the University of Oxford are developing an app which uses machine learning to identify the acoustic signature of different mosquito species. This app can accurately identify the Anopheles species of mosquito — a.k.a. the one that’s responsible for spreading malaria — with around 72 percent accuracy.

To help expand the project, the team is now gathering more high-quality sound recordings that will allow the app to accurately identify all 3,600 different mosquito species. While this solution doesn’t eliminate disease-carrying mosquitoes, giving our smartphones the ability to quickly determine whether or not a mosquito is a potential disease carrier could be profoundly useful.

Drone dumping

If your goal is to get rid of mosquito-carried viruses, could the answer be… more mosquitoes? That’s the unorthodox approach being pioneered by the company WeRobotics, which plans to breed sterile mosquitoes in captivity, transport them in large numbers via drone, and then dump them in an area where they will massively outnumber (and thus outbreed) the quantity of wild males.

The hope is that this could reduce local mosquito populations by up to 90 percent.

Thunderstorm-simulating wearables

Mosquitoes may be capable of transmitting deadly viruses, but they’re still tiny, delicate insects. That means they don’t exactly love being out in storms, and feel compelled to temporarily quit the blood-drinking to seek shelter.

Taking advantage of this evolutionary quirk, the makers of the Nopixgo wristband have developed a wearable device which emits weak electromagnetic signals that convince mosquitoes that a storm is on the way.

“This is a revolutionary new way to approach mosquito bites,” Johan Niklasson, chief business development officer at NopixGlobal, told Digital Trends. “In a way, the mosquitoes’ own genetics is used against them; something they cannot adapt to and avoid. It goes deeper than just repelling with bad smells or irritating sounds. No one has ever tried this before, and the technology has not existed to make this possible until just recently.”

Genetically-engineered killer mosquitoes

When it comes to governmental missteps, releasing a bunch of genetically-engineered killer mosquitoes should probably rank fairly high. Except that, as it turns out, it might be a smart move. Developed by the Kentucky-based biotech company MosquitoMate, the project uses male mosquitoes (which are the non-biting ones) as vehicles for carrying a potent mosquito insecticide.

When the genetically-engineered mosquitoes mate with females, the resulting eggs don’t hatch. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officially signed off on the plan last year, and numerous field tests have already been carried out. Watch this space!

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CRISPR halts fatal genetic disease in dogs, could soon do the same in humans

CRISPR gene editing can be used for all manner of applications, from creating more efficient crops or heat-resistant cattle to coding GIFS into DNA. Now, scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern have showcased another potentially transformative use case for the technology: Using CRISPR to halt the progress of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in dogs. One day, it could potentially do the same in humans, too.

DMD is the most common fatal genetic disease in children. The result of a mutation that limits the production of muscle-function protein dystrophin, it affects roughly 1 in 3,500 male births worldwide. Children who suffer with DMD often die as a result of their hearts lacking enough strength to pump, or their diaphragm being too weak to breathe. Patients also wind up in wheelchairs as the result of muscular degeneration. No effective treatment currently exists for human patients.

In their demonstration, the UT Southwestern scientists were able to use a single-cut gene-editing technique to restore the dystrophin in muscle and heart tissue by a massive 92 percent. According to experts, a 15 percent threshold could be enough to significantly help patients.

Previously, the researchers showed that it was possible to correct DMD mutations in both mice and human cells. However, in this latest breakthrough, they demonstrated that it is possible to employ this strategy in dogs, by far the largest mammals this has been applied to. Four dogs were involved in the study, all of which shared the same genetic mutation seen in DMD patients. The CRISPR gene-editing components were delivered through a harmless virus, after which it proceeded to carry out the successful gene-editing work.

More work will need to be done before this technique can be carried over to human patients in the form of a clinical trial, but that is the eventual goal. To reach this objective, the UT Southwestern team behind the research — run by regenerative science expert Dr. Eric Olson — has licensed the technology to a biotechnology company called Exonics Therapeutics. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before this work is saving lives around the world.

A paper describing the research was recently published in the journal Science.

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Samsung is beefing up Bixby by opening it up to third-party apps

Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

In a crowded field of voice assistants dominated by Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Assistant, it’s easy to forget about Samsung’s Bixby. The South Korean manufacturer is ready to start playing catch-up, and its first step toward making up for the lost ground is to open Bixby up to third-party developers. Starting later this year, it will be possible for developers to integrate Bixby into other apps and services, according to CNBC.

Bixby, which is embedded in the latest line of Samsung smartphones and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker announced earlier this year, will get the ability to work with third-party programs before the end of the year. The update is expected at the Samsung Developer Conference, set to kick off in San Francisco on November 7. That release will include a software developer kit (SDK), as well as an application programming interface (API) for developers to make use of.

The move marks Samsung’s latest attempt to differentiate itself from its competition, which has left the company in the dust thus far. Bixby holds just 6.2 percent of the market when it comes to smart assistants, according to a report earlier this year from Business Insider. The same report shows Apple dominating with nearly 46 percent of the market, and Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa making up the majority of the remaining share.

By opening up Bixby to third-party developers, Samsung is borrowing a page from Amazon’s playbook. The company has allowed developers to create apps—called “skills“—for Alexa. The popular voice assistant now has more than 30,000 skills available — though the majority of them, 62 percent, have few installs and no reviews according to research conducted by voicebot.ai. There is limited third-party support for Apple’s Siri.

Samsung certainly has the install base to make up for lost ground if it can make Bixby a legitimate force in the voice assistant game. The company accounts for 20 percent of all smartphones sold worldwide, the largest share held by an individual vendor, according to Statista.com. However, the company has been losing ground as it falls behind in features and has an increasing number of competitors offering similar products at comparable prices. Boosting Bixby may be its best hope at winning back some of its lost customers and adding new ones as the use of smart assistants continues to grow.

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