Google Slides now auto-transcribes verbal presentations for real-time captions

A recent internal hackathon at Google has resulted in a new captioning feature for its G Suite presentation app, Slides.

The creation of Google software engineers Laura D’Aquila and Abigail Klein, the feature uses a computer’s built-in microphone to transcribe the words of a speaker in real-time, displaying them for everyone to see.

While especially useful for the deaf or hard of hearing, the feature should also work well for some audience members whose first language is different to that of the speaker, or when the speaker isn’t projecting their voice sufficiently.

Using the Chrome browser on desktop or laptop, the automated closed captions can be enabled simply by clicking on the CC button in the navigation box in Slides. As you begin to speak, your words will then appear at the bottom of the display for all of the audience members to see.

Automated closed captions for Slides is being rolled out gradually this week, though at the current time it only works with U.S. English. The team is hoping to expand the feature to more countries and languages over time.

In a post on Monday announcing the new feature, D’Aquila and Klein point out that the captions are powered by machine learning and “heavily influenced by the speaker’s accent, voice modulation, and intonation,” adding that work is ongoing to improve the quality of the captions.

D’Aquila, herself hard of hearing, and Klein said work on the feature “has moved from a passion project to our full-time job,”

“The fact that the feature was built primarily for accessibility purposes but is also helpful to all users shows the overall value for everyone of incorporating accessibility into product design,” Google’s software engineers said in the post.

They continued: “We really got into this work for its potential to improve the lives of people with disabilities, for the interesting technologies and design constraints, and because of our desire to use our skills to make the world a better place. We’re excited to contribute to that effort with closed captions in Google Slides, and we’re eager to share it with you.”

The feature is certainly a great addition to Slides, though its accuracy and ability to understand a range of accents will of course be key to its success.

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• Alexa can now have a conversation with members of the deaf community

Google withdraws its bid for Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud contract

Google says the project doesn’t align with its AI principles.

The Pentagon is currently soliciting bids for a $10 billion cloud computing contract that will involve shifting vast troves of data from the Department of Defense to a commercial cloud. Google was one of the tech giants angling for the project, along with Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, and others, but today the company announced that it is withdrawing its bid.

Without going into details, Google said that the contract doesn’t “align” with the company’s AI principles. This isn’t the first time Google pulled out of a government contract; earlier this year, the company ceased its role in the Pentagon’s Project Maven AI drone project after continued backlash from its employees.

Shortly thereafter, Google published a set of AI principles that guide how the company uses its AI tools. In a statement to Bloomberg, a Google spokesman said:

We are not bidding on the JEDI contract because first, we couldn’t be assured that it would align with our AI Principles. And second, we determined that there were portions of the contract that were out of scope with our current government certifications.

Google said that it would have competed for “portions” of the contract, but with the Pentagon seeking a single vendor, the company had no option but to withdraw its bid:

Had the JEDI contract been open to multiple vendors, we would have submitted a compelling solution for portions of it. Google Cloud believes that a multi-cloud approach is in the best interest of government agencies, because it allows them to choose the right cloud for the right workload.

Apple lost oplaadproblemen iPhone XS op met iOS 12.0.1

Apple heeft een update van iOS uitgebracht waarmee de problemen waar sommige gebruikers van een iPhone XS mee te kampen hadden opgelost zijn. Zij konden alleen opladen wanneer het scherm actief was. iOS 12.0.1 is nu te downloaden en lost deze en andere problemen op.

Naast het vervelende oplaadprobleem voor sommige exemplaren van de iPhone XS en XS Max lost Apple ook nog tal van andere problemen op met iOS 12.0.1. In de beschrijving die Apple meelevert sommen ze de volgende zaken op;

• Oplossing voor een probleem waarbij iPhone XS-apparaten opnieuw verbinding maakten met een wifinetwerk van 2,4 GHz in plaats van 5 GHz.
• De oorspronkelijke positie van de ‘.?123’-toets op het iPad-toetsenbord is hersteld.
• Oplossing voor een probleem waarbij er in sommige video-apps geen ondertiteling werd weergegeven.
• Oplossing voor een probleem waarbij Bluetooth soms niet beschikbaar was.

Enkele nieuwe functies van iOS 12

Apple’s iOS 12.0.1 rolt voor wie automatische updates aan heeft staan vanzelf binnen en anders is hij handmatig te downloaden via de app Instellingen onder Algemeen > Software-update. iOS 12 zelf verscheen 17 september en bevat gegroepeerde notificaties, meer snelheid, Siri shortcuts en digitale bewustwording. Onlangs nog werd bekend dat iOS 12 al na 12 dagen op de helft van alle actieve iOS-apparaten geïnstalleerd staat. Daarmee verslaat het iOS 11 die er nog een maand over deed om dit percentage te halen. Toch leken gebruikers na het uitkomen eerst de kat uit boom te kijken; het aantal updaters bleef vooral de eerste dagen sterk achter bij wat we van iOS gewend zijn.

Lenovo Legion Y730 vs. Dell G3 Gaming Laptop

Unless you are opting for a truly high-end gaming laptop, you should at least consider the most popular hardware configuration for mid-range solutions. An eighth-generation Intel CPU paired up with a GTX 1050 Ti graphics chip.

It’s not going to play AAA games at 4K, but it will have enough oomph for just about anything if you’re kind on the settings scale. Lenovo and Dell both make some great laptops that use just that hardware, so we pitted the Lenovo Legion Y730 versus the Dell G3 Gaming Laptop to find out which is best.

Design

Riley Young/Digital Trends

Mid-range laptops around this sort of price point can look fantastic, like our favorite laptop of current years, the Dell XPS 13. But it’s rare to get something with that premium feel and have premium hardware under the hood for the same sort of money. That’s something that’s certainly the case with the Dell G3 Gaming Laptop, which at our $850 review unit price point, looks rather dated. It has a dull color scheme and thick bezels, which do play a part in its overall solid, and durable feel, but it’s not a laptop that’s going to turn any heads.

In comparison, the Lenovo Legion does look quite a bit better, but our review unit cost nearly double the price at $1,550. It has an understated look, which you might call drab, but we love the Legion logo on its lid, and its thin bezels and chassis make it feel sleek. At almost a pound lighter than the Dell alternative, it’s a whole lot easier to carry around too.

Although we’d typically suggest a decent gaming mouse when playing on any kind of PC, be it a desktop or laptop, that goes doubly so for the G3, which has a touchpad that feels underwhelming and inaccurate. Its keyboard is a little better, but the fixed-color back-lighting is far from our favorite shade of blue. The Legion, on the other hand, has a passable touchpad and a pretty great keyboard. Its layout is a little odd and took us a couple of days to get used to it, but it looks great thanks to fantastic per-key backlighting that’s fully customizable using Corsair’s iCUE app.

Performance

Riley Young/Digital Trends

Considering their pricing disparity, you might be surprised to learn that the hardware configurations under the hood of these laptops are pretty comparable. The entry-level Dell G3 is priced at $750 and comes with a 15-inch 1080p display, an eighth-generation Intel Core i5-8300H paired up with 8GB of RAM, a GTX 1050 graphics chip, and a terabyte of HDD storage space that’s augmented with an 8GB caching drive. $1,000 gets you a Core i7-8750H CPU, a GTX 1050 Ti, and a 128GB SSD, and there are options for a 17-inch screen model up to $1,150, which has a GTX 1060 Max Q design.

Our review configuration with its i5-8300H and GTX 1050 Ti delivered decent frame rates in most of our gaming tests, managing a solid 60 FPS at 1080P, Ultra settings in Battlefield 1, and over 50 FPS in Civilization VI’s benchmark at 1080P Ultra too. It only really fell down in the famously-taxing, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, but it still managed 34 FPS at 1080P on High settings.

Configuration options for the Legion Y730 are much more restrictive and expensive. The entry-level version costs $1,200, but the only difference between it and our $1,550 review system was the size of the hard drive and the amount of RAM. Our system came with a 256GB SSD and a 2TB mechanical hard drive, with 16GB of RAM. Whichever configuration you opt for though, you get a 15-inch 1080P display, an eighth-generation Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, and a GTX 1050 Ti graphics chip.

Despite its heftier processor, the Y730 actually fell behind the Dell laptop in our gaming tests. It managed just 51 FPS in Battlefield 1 at 1080P Ultra settings, and 45 FPS in Civilization VI at the same settings. It fared much the same in Deus Ex. Its visuals were better, though, due to its far superior display. The Dell G3 looking dull and its colors inaccurate, with woeful support of the sRGB and Adobe RGB color gamuts.

The cost difference between the two systems is impossible to ignore too. With comparable hardware and better frame rate results, the Dell G3 is less expensive by as much as a third.

Portability

Riley Young/Digital Trends

As gaming laptops, neither the Dell or Lenovo solutions are super portable, but they’re not going to put your back out either. The G3 Gaming Laptop weighs 5.57 pounds for the 15-inch version and measures 14.96 x 10.16 x 0.89-inches. The Legion Y730 is a little lighter at 4.9 pounds and a little trimmer, measuring 14.25 x 10.52 x 0.79-inches.

While size and shape are close between these two though, battery life is not. The G3 managed nearly six hours in our video loop test and just shy of three hours in our Basemark test. The Legion Y730 on the other hand, didn’t even manage three hours in the video loop test, nor make it past two hours in Basemark.

Even for a gaming laptop, that’s exceedingly poor, and surprising considering the hardware it sports isn’t that intense. It’s not a system you can use away from a power socket for any real length of time.

Better battery for much, much less

Riley Young/Digital Trends

Although these laptops are very similar, there are some significant differences. Where the Lenovo Legion Y730 looks better — albeit rather boring — has more memory and storage, a high-refresh rate display, and is lighter and leaner, none of that is worth the far greater price you pay for it. At almost double the price of the Dell G3 Gaming Laptop, it somehow comes with worse gaming frame rates and battery life that is almost half that of its competition.

The Dell laptop isn’t a fantastic gaming machine. It looks dated, its display is poor, its hardware isn’t class leading — but in this head to head, it offers far more bang for your buck. You can get its best configuration for under $1,00, and its battery lasts for hours longer than the Legion alternative.

At this price point there just aren’t better alternatives. Sub-$1,500 gaming laptops make sacrifices. In this case, the G3 sacrifices less and delivers more for your money.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Lenovo Legion Y730 15-inch Review
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OnePlus 6T will come with a 3700mAh battery, pre-bookings now live in India

OnePlus is going to end 2018 with a bang.

Ever since it was released this past May, the OnePlus 6 has been one of the absolute best values in smartphones we’ve seen in 2018. The phone’s only gotten better thanks to striking new colors and fast software updates, and right around the corner is its incremental successor — the OnePlus 6T.

The 6T likely won’t shake up the OnePlus 6’s formula too much, but even so, it’s already shaping up to be one of the year’s most interesting smartphones.

Without further ado, here’s everything we know about the OnePlus 6T!

The latest OnePlus 6T news

October 9, 2018 — OnePlus 6T will feature a 3700mAh battery, pre-bookings now live on Amazon India

OnePlus has confirmed that the 6T will feature a 3700mAh battery, 10% larger than the one in the OnePlus 6. The increased battery capacity was leaked a few weeks ago, and OnePlus is now confirming the same. The phone will also offer the company’s Dash Charge fast charging tech.

OnePlus has also opened up pre-bookings for the OnePlus 6T on Amazon India. Customers pre-booking the device will get a pair of OnePlus’ Type-C Bullets earphones for free, along with a ₹500 ($6.75) Amazon gift card. The phone itself will be going up for sale in India on November 2.

See at Amazon India

October 8, 2018 — The OnePlus 6T is launching on October 30

The #OnePlus6T is coming. Unlock The Speed on October 30. https://t.co/LuPoTr8ZyF pic.twitter.com/s8OfmZuXdX

— OnePlus (@oneplus) October 8, 2018

OnePlus has confirmed that it will unveil the OnePlus 6T on October 30. The phone will be making its debut at an event in New York, and OnePlus is set to kick off pre-orders on the same day.

The company will also hold a satellite event in India — its largest market — on October 30, and fans will be able to purchase tickets for the same starting 10:00am IST on October 17.

October 7, 2018 — OnePlus teases Monday announcement on Twitter

Check back in 24 hours for an exciting announcement. #OnePlus6T pic.twitter.com/mIeveZ0n6H

— OnePlus (@oneplus) October 7, 2018

The OnePlus 6T is expected to be announced to the world any time now, but we might not have to wait much longer — at least, for an event date. OnePlus tweeted out a tease for fans, telling them to come back in 24 hours for an “exciting announcement”.

While we expect said announcement to be an event date for the official unveiling of the OnePlus 6T, there is also a chance that the official announcement of the device. OnePlus has had a busy week of teases, leaks, and the official confirmation that the 6T will lack both a headphone jack and wireless charging, and OnePlus might be ready to show the world one of the most anticipated phones of the year.

Tomorrow is also the day before the Google Pixel 3 event — and the beginning of Pixel 3 pre-orders — so whatever OnePlus announces tomorrow may very well end up being an appetizer before the October 9 feast of new Google products.

October 2, 2018 — OnePlus 6T confirmed to not have wireless charging, better water-resistance

CNET recently sat down for an exclusive interview with OnePlus CEO Pete Lau, and during it, a few interesting tidbits were revealed.

Perhaps most importantly, the interview confirms that the OnePlus 6T will not support wireless charging. According to Lau:

We’re working hard on this. When we get to the day that the wireless charging can get up to speed of [Dash Charge] without the implication of heat that we expect, then I believe we can integrate the technology.

Lau also commented on the 6T’s water resistance, saying that it’s the most water-resistant phone the company’s made yet. However, in an attempt to save money, you won’t find an official IP rating.

Last but not least, Lau confirmed that one of the main reasons the 3.5mm headphone jack was removed was to make room for the in-display fingerprint sensor. He also said that it was “one of the most difficult decisions for us [OnePlus] to make.”

Read the full interview here

October 1, 2018 — Here are renders of the OnePlus 6T in Midnight Black and Mirror Black

Midnight Black

Need more OnePlus 6T renders in your life? Lucky for you, WinFuture recently got their hands on just that.

A few new images of the phone show its front and back in both Midnight Black and Mirror Black finishes — two colors that are also available for the OnePlus 6.

Mirror Black

Although the 6T’s design has already been confirmed in other leaks, these renderes once again show off the waterdrop style notch, the absence of the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and dual rear cameras.

September 28, 2018 — OnePlus begins teasing the 6T

We already know that the OnePlus 6T is coming, but now thanks to a teaser clip on its official Twitter page, OnePlus is ready to start hyping up the phone ahead of its announcement.

OnePlus 6T. It’s coming. pic.twitter.com/Wrdt9sCdIs

— OnePlus (@oneplus) September 28, 2018

The short clip is just 5 seconds long and features the tagline “Unlock the Future” along with the OnePlus 6T logo.

There’s not much else to see, but with the hype train starting, an official reveal should be coming soon.

September 26, 2018 — OnePlus 6T appears in a bunch of new renders

Earlier this month, we got our first render of the OnePlus 6T showing off the top rear portion of the phone. Now, thanks to @OnLeaks and MySmartPrice, we have full device renders of the 6T that shows what it’ll look like from every angle imaginable.

As expected, the 6T’s body shares a lot of similarities with the Oppo R17. There’s a large 6.4-inch display around front with a tiny waterdrop style notch at the very top. Around back is a dual camera system, glass construction, and no fingerprint sensor. This time around, OnePlus is hiding it underneath the display.

The 6T is said to be a bit thicker and wider than the 6, coming in at 157.5 x 75.7 x 8.2mm compared to 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.8mm.

Are you liking what you’re seeing?

September 19, 2018 — OnePlus 6T teaser video airs in India, shows off dual rear cameras

OnePlus has started airing a OnePlus 6T teaser video in India that shows off the back of the upcoming phone. A render from earlier today revealed that the device will have dual rear cameras — and not three like previously rumored — and the video further reinforces that. The commercial features OnePlus’ India ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, and also references the in-display fingerprint sensor.

Amazon India is also building up interest for the device by opening up a “Notify Me” page for the OnePlus 6T ahead of the rumored October 17 launch.

September 19, 2018 — OnePlus 6T render confirms dual rear cameras, logo also teased

Thanks to the folks over at WinFuture, we now have our very first render of the upcoming OnePlus 6T. The render admittedly doesn’t reveal a lot of the phone, but even so, it does manage to confirm a couple of key details.

First of all, it would appear that OnePlus will be sticking with two rear cameras on the back. On that same note, the cameras are also in the exact same position as they are on the OnePlus 6.

Along with this, we can also see that there’s no longer a fingerprint sensor below the camera lens. OnePlus already confirmed that the 6T will be its first phone to use an in-display sensor, so we’re now seeing how all of that will come together.

Last but not least, WinFuture also shared the 6T’s official logo. There’s nothing particularly exciting about it, but here it is for your vieiwng pleasure.

September 13, 2018 — The OnePlus 6T will not have a headphone jack

Yep, you read that correctly. As confirmed by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei in an interview with TechRadar, the 6T will not have a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Having a headphone jack on its phones is something OnePlus has adamantly bragged about for the last few years, so why is the company now deciding to remove it? First of all, Pei notes that by removing the headphone jack, more features can be crammed into the 6T.

Some of that space is likely going to the in-display fingerprint sensor that was already confirmed by the company, and along with that, Pei says battery life is being improved, too. We don’t have raw numbers, but it’s said that the improvement will be “substantial enough for users to realize.”

Another reason for the jack’s removal is timing. Per a survey that OnePlus conducted earlier this year, 59% of its users already have some sort of wireless earbuds. Furthermore, Pei expects that number to now be higher following the release of the Bullets Wireless.

OnePlus expects some backlash from its community, and like we’ve seen from Apple, Google, and others, a 3.5mm-to-USB-C dongle will be included in the box so you can continue to use your old wired headphones.

What do you think about the 6T not having a headphone jack?

September 10, 2018 — OnePlus confirms in-display fingerprint sensor for OnePlus 6T

Less than a week since the OnePlus 6T retail box leaked, OnePlus has confirmed to CNET that one of the main features shown there — specifically the in-display fingerprint sensor — will be present on the phone at launch.

In an email sent to the publication, OnePlus said:

We unlock our phones multiple times a day, and Screen Unlock reduces the number of steps to complete the action. By adding this feature as an addition to other display unlocking options such as Face Unlock, users will have options to unlock the display in a way that is most efficient for them.

OnePlus also shared a screenshot of the 6T’s lock screen, and as you can see, an icon near the bottom of the display will show users where to put their finger to unlock the phone. Similar to devices like the Vivo X20 Plus UD and Vivo Nex, the 6T uses an optical scanner under its screen that views your print, matches it with one that’s been set up, and unlocks your phone.

In-display sensors have typically been slower than traditional ones on the front or back of a device, and if that’s the case with the 6T, at least we’ll also have Face Unlock as an unlocking option, too.

September 4, 2018 — Retail box reveals an in-display fingerprint sensor and “waterdrop” notch

Our first big OnePlus 6T leak has finally arrived!

A retail box for the phone recently appeared in a few photos online, and while the phone itself isn’t anywhere to be seen, the packaging actually confirms a couple key details about it.

Thanks to an outline of the 6T inside the box, we can see that it adopts a very similar design compared to the Oppo R17 that was announced in mid-August. As such, we’ve got a phone with very slim bezels, a tiny chin at the bottom, and a waterdrop style notch at the top.

This outline also shows a fingerprint near the bottom center of the display — suggesting that the 6T will be the first OnePlus phone to adopt an in-display fingerprint sensor.

August 17, 2018 — OnePlus 6T to launch on T-Mobile in the U.S. in October

A new report from CNET surfaced today, and if you’ve been waiting for more juicy details on the OnePlus 6T, there’s plenty for you here.

OnePlus phones in the U.S. have always been sold exclusively as unlocked handsets through OnePlus’s website, but with the 6T, OnePlus will be launching the phone on its first carrier partner in the States — T-Mobile. The T-Mobile version of the OnePlus 6T is said to be “optimized for T-Mobile’s network” and will work beautifully with the Un-Carrier’s 600Mhz band.

Pricing for the OnePlus 6T is said to be about $550 (a slight increase from the $529 OnePlus 6) and it’ll launch at some point in October.

August 14, 2018 — The new Oppo R17 is likely the phone the OnePlus 6T will be modeled after

If you’ve been following OnePlus for a while, chances are you know that its parent company is Oppo. OnePlus typically uses Oppo phones as references for its own hardware, and this year, the reference device for the OnePlus 6T will likely be the all-new Oppo R17.

While the 6T won’t be identical to the R17, the phone’s biggest features will likely carry over — including the waterdrop notch at the top of the display and all-glass back.

The R17’s notch is one of the smallest we’ve ever seen, and should this make its way to the 6T, it’ll be a big win for the phone’s design. The display below that measures in at 6.4-inches, and to not much surprise, retains a resolution of 1080 x 2280 Full HD.

Where will I be able to buy the OnePlus 6T?

Like previous OnePlus phones, we’re certain that the OnePlus 6T will be sold unlocked on OnePlus’s website.

However, new this year in the U.S., OnePlus has apparently secured its first carrier partner.

In addition to selling the phone unlocked, OnePlus will also sell the 6T via T-Mobile. The unlocked variant will work just fine on TMO, but by having the phone sold directly through the carrier and available to purchase via monthly financing, this should hopefully get the 6T in more people’s hands than previous OnePlus devices.

When will the phone be released?

According to a report from CNET, the OnePlus 6T will launch this fall — sometime in October, to be exact.

Seeing as how the OnePlus 5T went on sale November 21 and sales for the 3T opened up November 28, we have no reason not to believe OnePlus will shoot for an October launch. It’s not uncommon for OEMs to move up launch dates by a month or so compared to previous releases, and seeing as how the next-gen iPhones will be announced on September 12 and the Pixel 3 will be unveiled on October 9, OnePlus appears to be slotting itself in nicely with those big-name launches.

How much will the 6T cost?

Per that same report, the OnePlus 6T will cost $550.

In typical OnePlus fashion, that’s a minor price hike compared to its past releases. Here’s how the $550 OnePlus 6T will compare to previous OnePlus phones:

• OnePlus 6 — $529
• OnePlus 5T — $499
• OnePlus 5 — $479
• OnePlus 3T — $439
• OnePlus 3 — $399

OnePlus 6 review: The matter is settled

OnePlus 6

• OnePlus 6 review
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5T: How much changes in six months?
• OnePlus 6 vs. OnePlus 5: Should you upgrade?
• These are the official OnePlus 6 cases
• The OnePlus 6 doesn’t work on Verizon or Sprint
• Join the discussion in the forums

Here’s why the spectacular SpaceX rocket launch in California looked so incredible

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David McNew/Stringer/Getty Images

David McNew/Stringer/Getty Images

The combination of Elon Musk and social media haven’t exactly been a winning recipe for most of 2018. Last night’s SpaceX satellite launch took steps to help rectify that, however — as Twitter users who lived in the vicinity of the launch posted jaw-dropping photos and video of the spectacular event and the amazing sky-illuminating effects that resulted from it.

The rocket launch took place from Vandenberg Air Force Base, 158 miles north of Los Angeles. It took off at 19.21 PST and touched back down eight minutes later, having delivered the SAOCOM-1A Earth-observation radar satellite into orbit as part of Argentina’s national space program. this is the first time SpaceX has landed one of its booster rockets on the West Coast. Overall, this is the 30th landing of a booster, with the rest of them taking place in Florida.

@elonmusk @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket taking off above Downtown Los Angeles in timelapse #SpaceX #Falcon9 pic.twitter.com/FzXuf9Coky

— Emeric Le Bars (@EmericTimelapse) October 8, 2018

What’s really got people talking, though, is the awesome light show that the launch created in the sky over Los Angeles. Like some cross between the Northern Lights and the scene from Independence Day where the aliens arrive, it was utterly mesmerizing on every level. As the rocket shot through the sky, people from as far away from Arizona were treated to a display of blue and white clouds across the sky.

The otherworldly display was caused by the rocket’s exhaust vapor, which condensed to form ice crystals in the frigid upper reaches of earth’s atmosphere. These crystals were then lit up by the setting Sun, creating a glittering burst of colors that lit up the darkening California sky. The explanation might be simple, but the spectacle’s impact on people watching below was anything but.

“THAT WAS AMAZING!” tweeted feature animator Joaquin Baldwin. “The @SpaceX launch from Vandenberg was incredible! I took one long photo, 9 minutes long, the stage 2 cloud was spiraling out of control, what a show!”

Nope, definitely not aliens.

What you’re looking at is the first launch and landing of the @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the West Coast. The rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 7:21 p.m. and landed safely back on Earth. ???? pic.twitter.com/8AKjGptpps

— Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) October 8, 2018

“Tonight’s #spacex launch was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” rocket photographer and high-speed videographer Ryan Chylinski tweeted. “Inconceivable image from my camera and in my brain.”

Others, who hadn’t been keeping up with the news, reacted in bafflement at the sight — although that did little to stop them sharing their reaction on social media.

Seth MacFarlane, the creator of cartoon series Family Guy, probably had the best, most succinct reaction to the astonishing showcase. “Science!” he tweeted, next to an image snapped from his smartphone. Yep, that about sums it up!

Editors’ Recommendations

• SpaceX just landed another of its reusable Block 5 rockets
• NASA’s planet-hunting TESS satellite: What you need to know
• SpaceX Starlink: Here’s everything you need to know
• Prepare for liftoff: Here are all the important upcoming SpaceX rocket launches
• What is the Hyperloop? Here’s everything you need to know

Acer brings Intel’s 8-core, 9th-gen processor to its Predator Orion desktops

Electronics company Acer says it will bring Intel’s 8-core, 9th-generation processor to its Predator Orion 9000 and 6000 desktops, putting them on par with Dell’s Alienware Aurora desktops. The new choice in processor puts more power in the hands of gamers and should make for seamless gameplay in the most demanding situations.

According to Jeff Lee, general manager of stationary computing, IT products business for Acer, Intel’s latest processors arm gamers with “an arsenal of PCs that can withstand the most demanding gaming scenarios today.”

“The refreshes are in line with Acer’s long-standing commitment to empower users with the latest technological breakthroughs, and provide them with best-in-class user experiences,” Lee said.

Acer promises that the top-of the-line Predator Orion 9000 with updated Intel processors will be a “dream machine” for the hardcore gamer. The desktop comes with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GPUs, and support for 8K UHD graphics. Other cool features include a black-and-silver chassis, lighting bars and RBG LED fans, and a side window to showcase the internals of the desktop.

Acer’s Orion 6000 Series gaming desktop is being marketed more for those who want an exceptional gaming rig. It features NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 GPUs and the same signature transparent side panel. Info on pricing has not been made available.

The Intel 8-core 9th-gen processor powering these devices comes packed with plenty of oomph for gaming. It was tested with 19 of the most popular games today, across genres like shooters and RPGs. Intel says to expect up to 10 to 11 percent more performance over the previous generation on popular games like Hitman 2 and World of Tanks.

CES 2019 and IFA 2019 are both on the horizon, so 0ther leading desktop makers are likely to get on board with the new gaming- and performance-focused chipset in the not-too-distant future. Intel also showcased its new gaming desktop models during the keynote.

This yearly refresh is not uncommon for Intel and its partners, who are looking to take back gamers from rival AMD. Based on recent hires and all the talk in gaming today, the Intel Core i9-7980XE is Intel’s response to AMD’s new eight-core Threadripper chips.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs are coming to Alienware and Predator gaming desktops
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Mobile sighting hints at more powerful gaming laptops
• Nvidia’s Turing chip reinvents computer graphics (but not for gaming)
• Nvidia teases new GeForce RTX 2080 launch at Gamescom next week
• Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 20 Series starts at $500 and features real-time ray tracing

Withings Steel HR Sport Review

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Withings Steel HR Sport

Withings shook up the fitness watch market in 2015 when it introduced the Activité Pop, one of the first smartwatches to blend the classic analog wristwatch with a cutting edge fitness tracker and a sub-$200 price tag. The company found its niche with these hybrid watches, and it caught the attention of Nokia Technologies, which acquired it in 2016. Perhaps it was too small a niche, because Nokia sold Withings back to its co-founder earlier this year.

Withings is powering on with its first post-Nokia product, the Steel HR Sport. It maintains all the same tenets as other WIthings watches — it looks as good as ever, it now has more advanced fitness-tracking features like VO2 max and connected GPS, and it still has an affordable price tag.

Classic aesthetics, comfortable design

Ever since the Activité Pop, Withings has been making some of the best-looking wearables on the market. The new Steel HR Sport continues this tradition with a classic analog watchface and subtle smartwatch integration. The watch measures 40mm wide and 13mm thick, and weighs a mere 49 grams. It has a matte black stainless steel casing that is paired with your choice of either a white or black watch face. The side button sits close to the casing so it doesn’t snag on clothing. The button is very responsive and pushes with a firm, reassuring click.

Withings upgraded the band in the Steel HR Sport using a soft silicone material with holes for breathability. It’s super soft and comfortable on the wrist, but if you don’t like the supplied band you can purchase an optional leather or colored silicone band from Withings, or choose any third-party 20mm band.

The watch face uses a standard analog hands with tick marks for minutes and five minute increments engraved on the casing. Withings adds smartwatch features and fitness tracking to the Steel HR Sport in a way that doesn’t detract from the watch’s overall good looks. At the top of the watch face is a small LCD that displays health metrics and incoming notifications. You can press the side button to scroll through data screens to view your current heart rate, step count, calories burned and more. We had no problems viewing the screen in daylight or under interior lighting. At the bottom of the watch face is a sub-dial that shows the progress towards your current step count goal.

Multi-sports activity tracking

Withings knows people like to do more than just run or bike and has included 30 different sport modes into the Steel HR Sport. Five of these sports modes can be added to the watch at a time. You can start an activity by pressing and holding the side button to open the activity menu. You then can use the button to scroll through 5 different activities that you have added to this menu.

It’s difficult to read these metrics on the small display while exercising.

Once an activity starts, all the metrics can be viewed within the Health Mate app on your phone. You also can press the side button to scroll through the available data screens on the watch such as distance, time and heart rate. Unfortunately, it is difficult to read these metrics on the small display while exercising. We either had to stop running or pull our phone out of our pocket to gauge performance.

You can stop an activity using the watch or the phone, and when you are done, the activity is stored on the phone for review.

New VO2 Max and connected GPS tracking

One of the new showcase features of the Steel HR Sport is VO2 max, an estimation of the amount of oxygen you utilize during exercise and a common metric used to gauge a person’s fitness level. Withings, like other fitness manufactures, estimates this value using a combination of your pace, distance, heart rate and other recorded metrics. The higher the number, the more fit you are.

After an exercise, Withings will assign a fitness level score between 17 and 60 that reflects your relative fitness level during that activity.  It takes a few exercise sessions before the value is set, and it will change as your fitness level improves or declines. You can scroll through the individual fitness level scores for past exercises, but the app oddly does not track how this score has changed over time.

We compared the Health Mate track to one recorded by the Suunto 9, a dedicated GPS sports watch, and it was spot on.

Connected GPS is another new feature in the Withings Steel series of watches. The company saves weight and lowers battery consumption by offloading the work of GPS tracking to your phone. Using connected GPS is simple. Just fire up the Health Mate app on your phone when you start exercising, and it will do all the recording for you. You can even view performance stats like pace during the activity just by glancing at your phone. The tracking, though, is only as good as the GPS in your phone. We used an iPhone 8, and the GPS recording was impressive. We compared the Health Mate track to one recorded by the Suunto 9, a dedicated GPS sports watch, and it was spot on.

Basic fitness analysis

Withings’ Health Mate app is the central hub for all your fitness data. It pulls the data via Bluetooth from the Steel HR Sport and any other compatible devices, like the Withings scale. First and foremost is a timeline feature with all the various metrics presented in daily blurbs. You can scroll through this timeline and view your daily summary from weeks and even months ago.

Next to the timeline is a dashboard view that summarizes your steps, sleep, weight, and average heart rate for the current day. Tapping on one of these metrics lets you view both week-by-week and month-by-month averages. There’s also a wellness program built into the app that helps you set goals and stick to them. You can sign-up for programs to help you lose weight, improve your sleep and more. The rest of the app is used to customize your profile and manage your devices.

Health Mate sticks to basics when it comes to analyzing your fitness data and is targeted towards the casual user. The daily step counts, sleep time, and similar stats are presented as daily, weekly and monthly averages. They are broken down by the weekday and weekend, but that is about it for advanced analysis. One feature we really miss is trend analysis — there is no way to view trends so you cannot easily determine if your step count or fitness level is going up or down over the year.

Activity details are equally sparse. You can see the basics like pace, splits, and calories burned, but there are no advanced metrics like cadence or speed. Also missing is a comparison feature that tells you whether you are trending faster or slower on a particular run or bike ride. Data can be shared to other services such as MyFitnessPal or Runtastic, but Strava unfortunately is not included at this time.

Withings Steel HR Sport Compared To

Garmin Fenix 5X Plus

Fossil Q Venture HR

Apple Watch Series 4

Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30

Alpina AlpinerX

Fossil Q Venture

Garmin Vivoactive 3

Emporio Armani Connected touchscreen…

Apple Watch Series 3

Diesel On Full Guard Smartwatch

Huawei Fit

Garmin Vivoactive HR

Apple Watch Series 2

Asus ZenWatch 2

Garmin fenix 2

The Withings Steel HR Sport is geared towards getting you off the couch and on the move so you can hit your fitness goals.  The Health Mate app lets you set your own daily step goal and rewards you with achievements and daily encouragements when you reach or exceed your goals.  A leaderboard option encourages you to connect with friends and compete to get the most steps each week — you only need to have the Health Mate app on their phone to participate.

Sleep tracking

The Steel HR Sport also can track your sleep. Like most fitness trackers, it detects automatically when you go to bed, and provides detailed analysis of your sleep pattern. The watch was accurate in detecting when I went to sleep and woke up with only a few exceptions mostly when I tossing and turning in bed before I woke up. The Health Mate app breaks your sleep down into stages so you can see when you are awake, in light sleep or in deep sleep. It also records your heart rate through the night and provides your resting heart rate.

Our favorite feature was the sleep score, a numerical rating assigned each day to your sleep based upon the duration and the quality of your nightly rest. For folks dealing with sleep issues, it’s an easy way to compare your sleep on different days.

Smartwatch notifications

Smart notifications on the Steel HR Sport are not as elegant as compared to other smartwatches and fitness trackers. You can control the notifications that reach the watch using the Health Mate app, but the delivery of these notifications is hindered by the small circular display. Each notification scrolls across the display and only shows a small portion of the overall information. You can see who the email is from and the first few words of the message, for example. The scrolling text is awkward to read and you have to wait for all the text to scroll by. If you miss some of it, you have to wait for the notification to stop scrolling before it will scroll a second time. It scrolls three times and then disappears.

Withings does the best it can with the small LCD on the watch, but this is one of the tradeoffs you get with a hybrid watch.

Battery life

Withings advertises 25 days of battery life and actual performance is not far off. In three weeks of testing, we only charged the watch once and that was only because we had 30% battery left and wanted more than enough juice to make it through a long run. We haven’t had to charge the watch a second time yet.

Price, availability, and warranty information

The $200 Steel HR Sport is available now from Withing’s website and both online and in-store retailers such as Amazon.

Withings offers a limited warranty that covers defects in materials or workmanship on the device for one year from the date of purchase.

Our Take

Withings managed to build a beautiful timepiece and embed a very capable fitness tracker inside. We appreciate the simplicity, with the analog watch at the forefront and fitness tracking in the background. The Steel HR Sport also is among one of the most comfortable fitness trackers we have worn. You can sleep with it, swim with it, run with it, and you don’t even know it’s there. If you are looking for a hybrid watch, then the Withings Steel HR Sport should be at the top of your list.

Is there a better alternative?

Withings is at the top of the hybrid market with the Steel HR Sport, but it is followed closely by the Garmin Vivomove HR. Both watches share a classic design, but Garmin has the leg up on the Withings in the fitness tracking area thanks to deeper metrics, and large user base with the Garmin Connect app.

How long will it last?

The Withings Steel HR Sport’s construction is solid, but elegant. We had zero problems with watch during testing and expect this to continue. The glass display is the biggest potential vulnerability.  It’s not sapphire crystal, so it may scratch and scuff with rough usage. Thankfully, it is water resistant up to 50 meters. We expect the Withings Steel HR sport to provide up to three years of tracking as long as you are not too hard on the physical exterior.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you want a fitness tracker, but hate the boxy designs and digital displays of the current crop of fitness trackers, then the Withings Steel HR Sport is for you. The companion Health Mate has a clean interface and provides just the right balance of encouragement and analysis for fitness buffs who don’t need to dig deep into their data.

Does the new Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) have audio out for speakers?

Best answer: The 3rd generation of the Amazon Echo Dot can output audio to other speakers via a 3.5mm auxiliary cord or wirelessly via Bluetooth.

• Amazon: Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen) ($50)
• Bet Buy: UE BOOM 3 ($150)

Two speakers are better than one

The speaker on the 3rd generation Amazon Echo Dot is bigger and better than the 2nd generation — a 1.6-inch speaker instead of a 0.6-inch speaker — but why listen on such a small speaker when you have bigger speakers all over your house? You can plug your Amazon Echo into bigger speakers thanks to the 3.5mm audio output port, but Amazon does not include a cable to do so.

Many of us already have a 3.5mm aux cable sitting around our house somewhere to use with the new Amazon Echo Dot, or a 3.5mm to RCA adapter to hook the Echo Dot up to an audio video receiver, but if you do not, these old-school cables are easy to find in as sort or long a cable length as you could ever want.

What about digital output?

The audio output from the new Amazon Echo Dot is analog only; it does not offer digital audio output from its 3.5mm audio output port like a Chromecast Audio does. While you could use an analog to digital converter to connect an all-new Echo Dot to a digital audio system, you might be better off using Bluetooth instead.

What speaker should I use?

Well, between Bluetooth and aux out, you could use just about any speaker with the Echo Dot you want, but if you’re looking to pump up the party, consider checking out the UE BOOM 3, which can connect to your new Echo Dot with a 3.5mm aux cable or wirelessly with Bluetooth. It’s a portable speaker, so you can bring the party around the house while your Echo Dot stays tethered to its outlet in one room, and you can take it on trips to use with your phone or computer.

If you’re going to leave the UE BOOM 3 plugged into the Amazon Echo Dot via aux cable, I would suggest grabbing a UE POWER UP charging station so that you’re leaving the waterproof flap open all the time.

Our pick

Amazon Echo Dot (3rd gen)

$50 at Amazon

Bigger and better in every way

The latest Echo Dot has a vastly improved speaker that’s 70% louder and offers a more clear sound for Alexa’s responses and streaming music. A new soft-fabric siding gives the all-new Echo Dot a cozier feel and comes in three colors so that the Echo Dot can blend in or stand out among your home decor as you wish.

Bigger, booming sound

UE BOOM 3

$150 at Best Buy

Bring the party from one room to the whole house

This is one of the best Bluetooth speakers on the market. It’s got a bold, booming 360-degree sound, great battery life, IP67 dust and water resistance, and easy device — and multi-device — management through UE’s BOOM app. The BOOM 3 also sports a beautifully durable look that will fit in just fine alongside your Echo Dot.

How to stream The Weather Channel once you’ve cut the cord

The Weather Channel, as seen on DirecTV Now.

Fun fact: There’s a good chance you can’t. Which is crazy.

One of the most obvious things you’ll miss after you cut the cord is The Weather Channel. Seems crazy, right? Almost like it’s a public utility or something. But the simple fact is that The Weather Channel isn’t anywhere near as ubiquitous as you might have though.

You can watch The Weather Channel on DirecTV Now, Fubo, or HDHomerun Premium.

Without getting too into the weeds about why things are the way they are, know this: You can watch The Weather Channel on DirecTV Now, and you can watch it on Fubo.

OK, you can maybe watch The Weather Channel on DirecTV Now. As we check our list of DirecTV Now plans and pricing, we find that it’s available on the three highest plans — starting with the $50-a-month “Just Right” plan. If you’re on the $35 “Live a Little” plan, no Weather Channel for you.

The Weather Channel also is available on Fubo. It’s another streaming option that has a couple of main plans — $44.99 a month for 70-plus channels, and $49.99 for 85-plus channels, plus available add-ons. TWC is available on either of those plans.

And as of late-August 2018, you’re able to get The Weather Channel on HDHomerun Premium, a $35-a-month service.

From a traditional streaming standpoint, that’s the only real option you have. It’s DirecTV Now, Fubo, HDHomerun Premium, or nothing.

Get a free DirecTV Now trial Get a free Fubo TV trialGet HDHomerun Premium

Watch The Weather Channel with Chromecast or AirPlay

This is one of those gray areas (OK, it’s not really a gray area), and maybe it’s a little more work than it should be. But whatever.

You can stream a live feed of The Weather Channel’s website in a desktop browser, and then use Apple’s AirPlay or Google’s Chromecast to send that tab over to a TV.

Oh, and a catch — you’ll need to have a cable login (from anyone other than Comcast) to sign in first. Maybe you tripped and landed on one and lo and behold, it works. Whatever. We’re not going to judge too much.

Streaming alternatives to The Weather Channel

Yeah, it’s ridiculous that The Weather Channel isn’t everywhere, because it really should be. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t alternatives.

One such option is Local Now. (For which TWC is a weather provider.) It’s not as slick as TWC proper, but it does have the same sort of “Locals on the 8s” thing.

Where to get Local Now? Sling TV has it in both its Orange and Blue plans. There’s also an app for Amazon Fire TV. And there’s also a Local Now channel on Roku, it’s available on Fubo, and it’s coming to YouTube TV at some point. And there are apps for Android and for iOS.

Updated Aug. 18, 2018: Added HDHomerun Premium as a carrier of The Weather Channel.