Shrimp eyes inspire new camera focused on helping self-driving cars see better

Have you ever looked into an animal’s eyes and thought, ‘I wonder how they see the world?’ We have. We do it all the time. We wonder, for example, what our cat sees as she’s stalking through the woods and how the colorful world appears to a colorblind dog. And when a cockroach scurries across the kitchen counter late at night, we wonder if it can sense the disgust in our hazy gaze.

We know we’re not the only ones that think these things. Viktor Gruev, an electrical and computer engineer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, shares our intrigue — albeit, from a more technical standpoint.

Gruev and his colleagues recently developed a camera prototype inspired by the mantis shrimp, which have one of the most complex visual systems in the animal kingdom. By mimicking the marine crustacean’s vision, the researchers were able to make significant improvement on today’s commercial cameras and may help mitigate accidents by letting self-driving vehicles see more clearly.

“We have demonstrated a new camera prototype inspired by the visual system of the mantis shrimp, which has enabled us to capture polarization information under high dynamic range,” Gruev told Digital Trends. “This is important because polarization of light is a fundamental property of light that we [as humans] are blind to. It provides key information about the imaged environment, such as material properties of the objects and their geometric shape. It is also useful to capture this information when driving through hazy or foggy conditions, where polarization information can improve detection visibility of objects on the road.”

As for dynamic range, this is a measurement of the brightest and darkest regions that a camera can capture in a given instant. Imagine driving through a dark tunnel and exiting into a bright and sunny day. For a few seconds, that sunlight is practically blinding. An increased dynamic range allows cameras to adjust to that transition more smoothly.

Inspired by recent self-driving car crashes, Gruev decided to address the problem of pedestrian detection through biomimicry. He and his team adopted traits from the mantis shrimp, which are capable of seeing bright and dark images simultaneously.

“There are two innovations in this work,” Gruev said. “The pixel and nanomaterials that we use for polarization sensing. The pixel is novel because it operates very differently than regular cameras, which enables a logarithmic response to the light intensity. This change enabled us to extend the dynamic range of the camera from around 60 dB, which is typical for regular cameras, to around 140 dB. … Then we added aluminum nanowires on each pixel in the imager to be able to sense polarization properties of light.”

Gruev envisions his camera being used to support self-driving cars and underwater GPS. He said they’re currently working with car manufacturers to commercialize the technology.

A paper detailing the research was recently published in the journal Optica.

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Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen Passes Away at 65 Following Battle With Cancer

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen passed away today at age 65 following complications from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Allen earlier this month announced that he was again undergoing treatment for the cancer, which he was first treated for in 2009.

A childhood friend of Bill Gates, Allen co-founded Microsoft with Gates in 1975. He worked at Microsoft until 1983 when he faced his first fight with cancer after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

After his time at Microsoft, Allen used his wealth to invest in real estate, aerospace, sports teams, and filmmaking. Allen was the owner of the Portland Trailblazers and the Seattle Seahawks, as well as part owner of the Seattle Sounders FC. He operated Vulcan Real Estate, funded multiple sports venues, and owned Vulcan Productions, a television and film production company.

Following his death, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that Allen’s contributions to Microsoft and the tech industry were “indispensable.”

Paul Allen’s contributions to our company, our industry, and to our community are indispensable. As co-founder of Microsoft, in his own quiet and persistent way, he created magical products, experiences and institutions, and in doing so, he changed the world. I have learned so much from him – his inquisitiveness, curiosity and push for high standards is something that will continue to inspire me and all of us at Microsoft. Our hearts are with Paul’s family and loved ones. Rest in peace.

Bill Gates said that Allen wasn’t content with starting one company, and instead channeled his intellect and compassion “into a second act.”

“I am heartbroken by the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends, Paul Allen. From our early days together at Lakeside School, through our partnership in the creation of Microsoft, to some of our joint philanthropic projects over the years, Paul was a true partner and dear friend. Personal computing would not have existed without him.

But Paul wasn’t content with starting one company. He channeled his intellect and compassion into a second act focused on improving people’s lives and strengthening communities in Seattle and around the world. He was fond of saying, “If it has the potential to do good, then we should do it.” That’s the kind of person he was.

Paul loved life and those around him, and we all cherished him in return. He deserved much more time, but his contributions to the world of technology and philanthropy will live on for generations to come. I will miss him tremendously.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and others also shared memories and kind words for Allen.

Our industry has lost a pioneer and our world has lost a force for good. We send our deepest condolences to Paul’s friends, the Allen family and everyone at Microsoft.

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 15, 2018

We lost a great technology pioneer today – thank you Paul Allen for your immense contributions to the world through your work and your philanthropy. Thoughts are with his family and the entire Microsoft community.

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) October 15, 2018

Very sad to hear of Paul Allen’s passing. His passion for invention and pushing forward inspired so many. He was relentless to the end. My heart goes out to Paul’s family and friends.

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) October 15, 2018

On behalf of Allen’s family, his sister Jody Allen also shared a statement:

“My brother was a remarkable individual on every level. While most knew Paul Allen as a technologist and philanthropist, for us he was a much loved brother and uncle, and an exceptional friend.

Paul’s family and friends were blessed to experience his wit, warmth, his generosity and deep concern. For all the demands on his schedule, there was always time for family and friends. At this time of loss and grief for us – and so many others – we are profoundly grateful for the care and concern he demonstrated every day.”

Over his lifetime, Paul Allen gave away more than $2 billion through the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and other charitable efforts, funding scientific research focused on the brain, multiple wildlife conservation projects, ebola research, the arts, and education.

Tag: Microsoft
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Here’s how Microsoft’s Hololens is helping NASA build the new Orion spacecraft

Lockheed Martin

As a global aerospace, defense, and security giant, it’s no great surprise to hear that Lockheed Martin has some pretty advanced technologies at its disposal. For its current project building NASA’s Orion spacecraft, however, Lockheed is turning to some smart tech that’s actually available to regular consumers: Microsoft’s mixed reality Hololens smartglasses.

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is an American-European interplanetary spacecraft that may eventually carry a crew of four astronauts as far afield as Mars. Announced in May 2011, the Orion MPCV is currently being constructed by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. According to a report by the MIT Technology Review, the Lockheed team working on it is doing so using the Hololens to replace a 1,500-page binder of written work instructions. This enables the technicians to learn tasks or check directions in a way that overlays the information on top of the real world, therefore being less likely to disrupt their work.

Using the headset, the works on the Orion project see holograms displaying models created using engineering design software made by Scope AR. These models display the necessary parts and labels, complete with information such as correct torquing techniques and more. Parts are color-coded according to the role of the person wearing the headset. The Hololens also allows the technicians to see what the project will look like when it is fully completed.

So as to not have to wear the Hololens glasses the whole time, the users supposedly use it to check information in 15-minute increments, as opposed to receiving a constant stream of instructions throughout the day.

Lockheed Martin is not the only aerospace organization to investigate augmented reality to replace the enormous paper manuals they otherwise rely on. Other large firms including Boeing and Airbus have also experimented with the technology. However, neither has reportedly taken the plunge by embracing the technology beyond the simple testing phases. Does that give Lockheed the edge? We’ll get a better idea when we see the quality of the finished Orion MPCV — and then observe how many other firms are keen to follow its example.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme vs. MacBook Pro 15

Rich Shibley/Digital Trends

Whether it’s for gaming, productivity, or media viewing, 15-inch laptops are some of our favorite laptops of all. They can be quite different from one another in design and platform though.

Taking a look at two of the top contenders in this class, we’re pitted the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme against the MacBook Pro 15-inch to see which notebook comes out on top.

Design

Rich Shibley/Digital Trends

At first glance, it’s easy to see that the MacBook Pro has more of a pedigree for aesthetics, with the new 15-inch versions extolling all of the style virtues of its predecessors. The silver paint job and lid-logo have become commonplace in a number of laptop designs in recent years, but the MacBook Pro still retains that original flair. While the X1 Extreme certainly has trimmer bezels and a less-professional feel than some of its ThinkPad contemporaries, it’s still arguably the less stylish of the two.

It’s a little thicker in most dimensions too, though it does weigh about the same. It also comes with a broader selection of ports, with a pair of USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 ports, two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, a 4-in-1 SD card reader, an HDMI 2.0 output, headphone jack, and “Network extension” port, which can be used for Ethernet connectivity with an adapter. The MacBook Pro continues Apple’s focus on USB-C, by offering just four USB-C Thunderbolt 3 connectors and a headphone jack. Connecting anything else requires an adapter.

The Lenovo’s touchpad is a little smaller than the MacBook Pro’s, but its keyboard is one of the best we’ve used in some time, with long key travel and a crisp feel to key presses. The MacBook Pro’s keyboard is said to be improved over previous versions when it comes to dust and debris, but we’re keen to see more evidence of its long-term reliability before giving it much approval.

Nestled above the keyboard on the MacBook Pro 15 is the Touch Bar. We still haven’t found much of an everyday use for it, even if there are some fun ways to manipulate it.

Alongside different hardware designs, these notebooks do run completely different operating systems. The MacBook Pro makes use of Apple’s own MacOS platform with its collection of supported apps and programs. The ThinkPad X1 Extreme runs Microsoft’s Windows 10 with its own apps and programs. Each has their advantage, but apps that are unique to each could be a major factor in which is best for you.

Performance

The base model 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $2,400 and comes with a six-core, eighth-generation Intel Core i7-8750H CPU clocked at 4.1GHz. That’s partnered with 16GB of DDR4 memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and an AMD Radeon Pro 555X graphics chip with 4GB of GDDR5 of its own. The $2,800 model comes with a slightly faster Core i7-8850H CPU and an AMD Radeon Pro 560X GPU. Both configurations can be upgraded to a Core i9-8950HK CPU clocked at 4.9GHz — don’t worry, that throttling issue has mostly been resolved. There are also options for 32GB of memory for up to $3,500. If you add on as much as 4TB of SSD storage the price rises to $6,700.

Every MacBook Pro 15 configuration comes with the same 15.4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800. It can reach a brightness of 500 nits and supports Apple’s True Tone technology which allows it to customize the coloring of the display on the fly to match the palette of the room it’s in. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme starts at $1,859, but it does sport only a 1080p display and is powered by an Intel Core i5-8400H CPU. It’s joined by 8GB of GDDR4 memory, 256GB of SSD storage, and a GTX 1050 Ti.

Raising the bar to $2,510 guarantees the Core i7-8850H CPU, as well as upgrading the memory to 16GB, and the storage to 512GB of PCIexpress SSD space. It also means getting a 4K display with touch functionality, which is more detailed and brighter than the 1080p alternative at 400 nits. The most expensive option is priced at $2,834 increases storage to 1TB and memory to 32GB, with an option to double the storage if needed.

The Core i9 MacBook Pro gives it an advantage over the Lenovo laptop, but the GTX 1050 Ti in the latter is a much more capable chip for gaming and 3D rendering — albeit still relatively entry-level in its own right. As much as the MacBook Pro offers more expansive hardware options, especially when it comes to storage, it is vastly more expensive, especially when you move the storage options beyond default configurations.

Portability

The 15-inch MacBook Pro borrows much of the sleek portability of its 13-inch counterpart. It measures 13.75 x 9.48 x 0.61-inches and weighs just over four pounds. That makes it trimmer than the ThinkPad X1 Extreme by a small but noticeable margin. That Lenovo notebook measures 14.24 x 9.67 x 0.72-inches, but weighs effectively the same when equipped with the 4K screen. If you opt for the non-touch, 1080p version, however, the weight dips to 3.76 pounds, making the ThinkPad the slightly lighter option.

The four-cell, 80 watt-hour battery in the Lenovo laptop gives it up to 15-hours of life on the spec sheet and we managed to pull around five and a half hours out of it in our video loop test. The MacBook Pro 15’s 83.6 watt-hour battery is rated for up to 10 hours of movie playback. We don’t have any hands-on battery life testing for this particular MacBook model, but the 13-inch variant is rated for 10 hours as well, and those claims held up in our testing.

It could be that the ThinkPad lasts longer in ideal scenarios, but in heavier usage settings the MacBook’s larger battery may give it a longer use time between charges.

Price is still a problem for the MacBook Pro

Rich Shibley/Digital Trends

There’s no doubt that Apple products demand a premium in almost all of the markets they compete in and to some extent, it’s worth it, but that price is a high one in this head to head.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme offers comparable or better hardware at a lower cost than the Apple alternative. It offers a broader selection of ports, and it’s not exactly ugly in comparison. It’s not quite as portable and its hardware options aren’t as expansive, but you get a fantastic keyboard and don’t have to pay for a gimmicky Touch Bar to go along with it.

Don’t get us wrong. The MacBook Pro 15 is a great laptop and offers much more bang for your buck than the MacBook Pro 13 with a Touch Bar, but it’s still not enough of a killer machine that we can recommend it over a solid workhorse like the Lenovo option.

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Jaybird X4 Review: Has the king of Bluetooth headphones returned?

Whenever you think about wireless Bluetooth headphones, chances are that Jaybird is one company that comes to mind. Jaybird has been in the game for quite some time and is back with one of its more popular products, the Jaybird X4.

Read More: Jaybird Run Review

These are the true successor to the Jaybird X3 that were launched back in 2016. Since then, we have seen the Jaybird Freedom and Jaybird Run headphones launched, but nothing beats the fan favorite, right?

What’s in the Box?

Before jumping into all of the fun stuff, let’s take a look at what you get for the $130 price tag. Jaybird sure knows how to take care of its consumers, as it includes an assortment of ear and wing tips.

Doing so ensures that you will be able to use the Jaybird X4 regardless of how big or small your ears are. Already installer is a set of medium, plastic, ear-tips, but you’ll want to change these out for the included Comply Foam tips.

Additionally, Jaybird included a carrying pouch, so that your brand new headphones won’t get tangled up with anything else in your pocket or bag. Finally, there is a proprietary charging cable that can be used with any USB wall-plug in your home. You can even use your computer in a pinch.

The problem with this charger is that Jaybird continues to opt for its own proprietary charging method. Why we can’t get USB-C or even micro-USB is still a mystery that has yet to be solved.

Design

When you look at the Jaybird X3’s and the Jaybird X4’s there’s really not much difference here. You have the two earbuds with a cable connecting them, and in-line controls on the right side of the cable.

This hub also provides the housing for the included battery and is what you use to connect the charger too. There are three buttons for Volume Up, Volume Down, and Play/Pause.

Moving back to the cable for a bit, there is a new clip that helps you control how much spare cable you have. Obviously, this is a great addition for those who don’t want a cable flopping around and getting caught on something while you’re working out.

If you’re someone who frequents the gym, then you’ll be happy to learn about the sweat rating. The Jaybird X4 includes an IPX7 rating which means that they can be submerged in up to 3-feet of water for 30 minutes.

Obviously, you won’t really want to go swimming with these. However, the IPX7 rating ensures that the X4’s will continue pumping out the music even if you’re caught in a rainstorm.

Usability

As is the case with just about every set of Jaybird headphones, there is an accompanying app for iOS and Android that helps get things set up. Simply install the app, turn on your new Jaybird X4 headphones, and follow the prompts on your device.

In order to put your device in pairing mode, you’ll need to press the middle button on the in-line controls. The charging light will begin blinking between Red and Green, and a voice will say “Ready to Pair”.

From there, just follow the instructions in the Jaybird app and you will be on your way. After the pairing process has been completed, then you can begin listening to your favorite content.

Sound

Now that we got the pairing process out of the way, you’re likely wondering just how well the X4’s sound. Well, if you are a fan of Jaybird then you will feel right at home.

As expected, these won’t really replace your favorite over-the-ear cans, but they are perfect for when you’re on the go. The bass is heavy enough that it won’t blow your eardrums out, while the high’s are just good enough.

The best part about the entire Jaybird experience is the aforementioned MySound application. This allows you to fine-tune the EQ to your taste and updates in real-time to help you decide what is the best fit for your music.

Jaybird has really figured out how to create a set of great-sounding headphones. And that trend continues with the X4’s.

Battery Life

Other than sound and sweat-resistance, the next biggest question behind Bluetooth headphones is battery life. Jaybird claims that the X4’s will provide up to 8 hours before needing a recharge.

In our testing, we never really hit that 8-hour mark. Instead, we consistently saw between 6 to 7 hours of usage before needing to recharge.

What makes this even better is that Jaybird has finally hopped on the quick-charge train. The X4’s are capable of getting about an hour of listening time with just a 10 to 15-minute charge. If you are charging them after being drained to 0%, you can recharge back to 100% in just about an hour.

For this reason alone, the Jaybird X4’s are a must have for anyone looking for a solid set of Bluetooth headphones.

Conclusion

Jaybird has become one of the most reliable brands in Bluetooth headphones. The Jaybird X series is extremely popular and for good reason.

While we have some quirks about the X4 headphones, primarily around the proprietary charging, these are still great. The Jaybird MySound app makes it extremely easy to tune these to your personal listening habits.

All-in-all, the Jaybird X4 is a great buy for anyone looking for a solid set of Bluetooth headphones. Even the $129.99 price tag won’t scare anyone away from at least considering these.

Be sure to sound off in the comments below to let us know what you think about the Jaybird X4. Are you going to pick a set up for yourself? Or is there another set of headphones that has your attention.

Google Pixel Stand review: The best accessory Google has ever made

What is a Google Home, really?

If you think about it, the Google Home is just a way for Google’s virtual assistant to express itself. Assistant can live in speakers and headphones, smart displays and smartwatches, but the core function of the Google Assistant is to always be there when you need it. That’s why the Google Home was made to blend into your home decor and that’s also why it looks like an air freshener.

A few days ago, Google introduced the Pixel Stand. While it might look like any other wireless charging stand from the outside, Google has cooked up some fresh ideas that lets its Assistant exist in a new way, on a device it already inhabited.

So how does it work, and what’s so special about it, anyway? Read our full Google Pixel Stand review to find out.

A quick note: As Kris already mentioned, we are holding off on our Pixel 3 review for a few days. Stay tuned for the full review in a few days!

The basics, but better

Related

Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL hands-on (Updated with video!)

After days weeks months of rumors, leaks, and a whole lot of hype, the Pixel 3 is finally here. It’s hard to believe we’re already at the third anniversary of Google’s emergence as a true …

Google’s new Pixel Stand is definitively Google. That’s to say, it’s an object that blends into your home almost seamlessly, with a stark white silicone body and colorful base. Unfortunately, this might not work as well in more mixed decor. The Pixel Stand works best when you forget it’s there, just like a Google Home. In Google’s vision of the world, that would be a bright white room with color only being introduced from accent pieces like paintings and trinkets. Google designs their products for idealistic scenarios, and I wish they would have offered the Stand in more than its one color — white.

The Pixel Stand uses Google’s new fast wireless charging tech. That’s 10 watts of power being pumped into your Pixel through the air, and it also works with cases — even the relatively thick Moment case I’ve been rocking since launch. While it isn’t quite as fast as USB Type-C quick charging through its included 18-watt fast charger, Google has pulled some compelling tricks to keep your Pixel on its stand longer than usual. More on that later.

Charge whatever you like, but the Pixel 3 will charge smarter.

This Stand uses the Qi charging standard, so any device with Qi wireless charging capabilities will work just fine with the charger, but the special features are reserved for the Pixel 3. Because the Pixel Stand has two separate charging coils, you’re able to set your device on it in either a portrait or landscape orientation and still get a jump. Pretty nifty.

More than just charging

Google is charging $79 for the Pixel stand, and that’s kind of a lot of money. You can get hundreds of wireless chargers for far cheaper than this first-party option, so Google had to add something that made the Pixel Stand in particular worth your money. In the end, Google did exactly what it did for image processing on the Pixel 2 XL — it shifted some smarts onto a separate microprocessor.

Obviously, this microprocessor isn’t as complex as the Pixel Visual Core. Instead of performing image recognition through machine learning, the Pixel Stand’s microprocessor checks to see that your phone is actually a Pixel 3, then stores a unique ID to pair it so it can recognize it again later. It does this because the Stand can host multiple Pixels and perform different actions based on how the user set it up to work on that particular Stand. This is useful if you have multiple Pixel Stands, like one at your bedside you use like a digital photo frame in Do Not Disturb mode and one at your work desk you use as a clock. Unique identifiers for each phone-stand combination are also useful if other people in your home own a Pixel 3 as well.

The actions your phone can trigger could be as simple as putting your phone into Do Not Disturb mode while on the Pixel stand, or even telling your device to turn the screen off if it detects darkness. Many of the actions the Pixel Stand enables play into Google’s Digital Wellbeing initiative, and I think it’s a brilliant use of a wireless charger. The Stand encourages you to leave your phone on the Stand while still remaining useful.

In its default state, the Pixel Stand will show the time alongside your notifications and a new interface for Google Assistant. You can press the Assistant button to trigger voice actions, but Google would prefer that you use the “Hey Google” hotword to start talking instead. There’s a reason the Pixel 3 has front-facing speakers — it transforms into a Google Home.

You can ask the Assistant to tell you about your day, which will do things like read the news and let you know when you should leave for work. You can also take advantage of the Assistant’s Routines feature to trigger other aspects of your smart home like starting up a smart coffee maker or turning on your lights. Routines is an extremely powerful feature, and it’s nice being able to automate things from the comfort of your bed.

Another action Google has introduced with the Pixel Stand is Photo Frame. This action uses your Pixel 3 as a digital frame of sorts, parsing through your Google Photos albums much like the Chromecast can do. It can also use some AI smarts to automatically select the best images from your library, and it works shockingly well. I don’t have my Photos library sorted at all, and it’s filled with random device photos and screenshots from benchmarking phones. To my surprise, Photo Frame mostly picked the photos I shot with my actual mirrorless camera, as well as the best images I’ve shot with phones, and primarily showed me images of people smiling.

Google is also introducing a new feature called Sunrise Alarm. This uses the OLED display on your Pixel 3 to slowly raise the brightness of the screen with a solid color, ambiently waking your body even if it doesn’t jolt you awake. The process starts 15 minutes before your actual alarm is set to go off, and if you’re lucky, it might help you wake up without the need for a loud and annoying alarm clock. If you do reach the point where your actual alarm goes off, you should be more prepared to wake up and feel better during the morning — at least in theory. This feature hasn’t launched yet, but we’re excited to test it out as soon as it hits devices later this month.

Why it’s amazing

From the outside, the Pixel Stand looks like a wireless charger with a few extra features. When you combine those features with the power of Google’s Assistant, you start to see where this accessory brings a massive amount of value.

See also

After this week, Google looks more like Amazon and Apple

I’ve been mulling over the Google Pixel 3 launch these past few days and one thing struck me more than anything else. Google looks less like the Google of old (who made Nexus phones, for example) …

Google doesn’t care about its hardware as much as it cares about making the Assistant a part of your life. The more vessels the Assistant can live in the better, and Google is developing more innovative ways to get the Assistant into the products we use on a daily basis.

The whole point of the Assistant is to exist all around you. Whether that’s through a Google Home, Google Assistant-enabled headphones, a Smart Display, or even your phone, Google wants you to have access to the Assistant wherever you are. Why are Google Home Mini and Google Home Hub so affordable? Google wants the Assistant to be in every room of your home.

For better or worse, your phone is now a Google Home.

In this vein, the Pixel Stand transforms your phone into a Google Home. Sure, you can technically call on the Assistant from your phone wherever you are, but Google wants to encourage you to use the Assistant instead of your screen. It does this with the promise of rapid charging your phone for when you need to leave the house, and the extra functionalities like Photo Frame encourage you to leave your phone on your stand and rely on your voice to make searches. Google is pushing us into a voice-first world.

The Pixel Stand is also an enormous push in Google’s Digital Wellbeing feature. With the functionality the Pixel Stand promises, users are encouraged to dock their device on the stand when they get home and leave it there until it helps them wake up more naturally in the morning. Instead of stressful messages and notifications, you’re greeted by memories which are automatically chosen from your messy Google Photos library. Google wants us to live in a world where we don’t use our phone at all while we’re at home, and that’s a reality I would be incredibly excited to live in. Of course, in this idealistic worldview it’s only Google services that deserve a pass.

In the end, it comes down to thinking of our phones as utilities. Sure, they can be sources of entertainment when we’re not doing much else, but apps have shifted from mindless games to being primarily used for work. Slack alone is installed on over 10 million devices worldwide, and hearing that hair-raising ping just as you’re settling down to relax is something we could all live without.

Google’s best accessory ever… if you’re willing to pay for it

The Pixel Stand may not seem like much, but I think it’s the best accessory Google has ever made (I consider the Chromecast a full product, not so much an accessory). In classic Google fashion, its core purpose is a symbiotic relationship, drastically increasing the number of voice queries while at the same time helping you remove yourself from the screen you’re glued to 50 percent of the day. Google knows ad revenue won’t last forever, and it has been rapidly trying to get users onboarded to using voice as their primary method of interacting with computers.

$79 is a bit of a hefty price to pay, and I am honestly a little surprised that Google didn’t price this more aggressively. There’s no way the hardware costs anywhere close to $79 to produce, and the value of onboarding a customer onto Google Assistant is a big win for Google. I’d like to see Google sell bundle deals that reduce the price of the Pixel Stand when ordering a Pixel 3, but we’ve yet to see any such bundle hit the Google store. Carriers do bundles like this fairly regularly though, and it’s possible we’ll see something concrete as we approach the holiday season.

If you don’t mind the $79 price tag, the Pixel Stand is one of the coolest accessories you can buy for your new Google Pixel 3. I want one for the sole reason that it removes me from my phone while I’m at home, and I think anyone could benefit from that in 2018.

Check it out now from Google

Memory is still expensive, but Intel’s 9th-gen CPU lets you have 128GB of it

Intel’s ninth-generation CPUs like the powerful — but not as much as we thought — 9900K and its more affordable siblings the 9700K, and 9600K, can be paired with an enormous amount of memory. If you can afford it, you’ll be able to pack your 9-series PC with as much as 128GB of DDR4, whether you build it yourself, or buy it from a system builder.

There have been far better times to upgrade the memory in your system than today. At the start of 2016, less than two years after the first DDR4-supporting Haswell-E processors were released, a 16GB kit of DDR4, 2,400MHz memory would have cost you $80. Today, such a kit might cost you upwards of $130 and if you want higher frequencies, tighter timings, or RGB lighting, you might spend close to $200 on a kit of the same size. If you were to build a system with 128GB of matching sticks though, you’re looking at prices between $1,100 and $1,500.

But prices be damned, the steady march toward bigger numbers in the PC hardware industry continues on. As Anandtech explains, Intel’s new ninth-generation CPUs come with an upgraded memory controller that can support the new 16Gb die density sticks of RAM which brings the total supporting capacity to 128GB. That will likely mean that prices will be even higher, as there’s no guarantee on the kind of pricing we’ll see for the double height modules that may be required to make Intel’s memory dreams a reality.

Considering the niche use for such large amounts of system memory, the most likely outcome is that the double height sticks will not be used to kit out systems with 128GB, but will instead allow for 64GB PCs that are built in a small form-factor chassis. Neither are likely to be common sightings for years to come considering the astronomical costs involved and the lack of any real performance gains in most everyday applications from so much memory, but the top-tier system builders will be able to take advantage in any case.

If you’re thinking about splashing out for an upgrade yourself, here is how much RAM you really need.

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Your ‘Do Not Track’ tool might be helping websites track you, study says

Millions of people are using “Do Not Track” tools which do nothing, according to a recent study done by Forrester Research. The “Do Not Track” features embedded in popular browsers are being ignored, opening up the possibility of consumers having their browsing information picked up by specific ads on the web.

In the research, picked up by Gizmodo, it was revealed that a quarter of American adults browsing the internet use “Do Not Track” tools to try and safeguard their privacy online. Unfortunately, the research shows that popular websites like Google don’t honor requests set up by these tools. Currently, only certain websites like Reddit, Pinterest, and Medium respect “Do Not Track” settings, and Yahoo and Twitter backed off initial claims of respecting “Do Not Track” results.

Unlike with the national Do Not Call Registry for telephones, there is no penalty if a website ignores a “Do Not Track” claim. Tracking options are rather independently handled, with very little outside control. In fact, Mozilla showed disappointment in this, announcing plans for removing cross-site tracking, and mitigating harmful practices by default in upcoming versions of Firefox.

“In the physical world, users wouldn’t expect hundreds of vendors to follow them from store to store, spying on the products they look at or purchase. Users have the same expectations of privacy on the web, and yet, in reality, they are tracked wherever they go. Most web browsers fail to help users get the level of privacy they expect and deserve,” Mozilla’s Nick Nguyen wrote in the August 30 post.

In 2010, the United States government and the W3C web technical standards organization crafted the DNT:1 signal for web pages to try and address privacy and tracking concerns. However, after issues posed by online advertisers, privacy advocates, and the way in which websites should handle the track requests, it never fully phased out or became an industry-wide adopted standard.

That all leads to today, where some websites can track, and others can not. To try and avoid tracking, you can check out opt-out websites, but these only will stop data collection based on what they already know about you. For true resistance to tracking, you also can clear your cookies and your cache to purge your information from advertisers.

Companies like Google and Microsoft have been pushing “Do Not Track” features in web browsers for quite some time, but this latest research theoretically renders that useless. Tracking still remains a big concern for consumers on mobile too, especially on Android phones. There is hope, though, as an international working group is attempting to create a consensus interpretation that will have most websites accept all “Do Not Track” websites.

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Apple Design Chief Jony Ive Talks Secrecy, His Future, and More at WIRED Anniversary Event

Apple design chief Jony Ive sat down with Vogue’s Anna Wintour this morning for an interview at WIRED’s 25th anniversary event, where he talked about secrecy at Apple, his future with the company, and more.

WIRED didn’t stream the event, but CNET’s Shara Tibken and Washington Post’s Geoffrey Fowler were on hand and shared details on what Ive had to say on Twitter.

Image via Shara Tibken
On the topic of iPhone addiction, Ive said that it’s good to be connected, but the “real issue” is what’s done with that connection. According to Ive, when it comes to innovating, it’s impossible to predict all of the consequences. “In my experience, there have been surprising consequences,” he said. “Some fabulous and some less so.”

Apple introduces new features like Screen Time because the company doesn’t believe that its responsibility for a product ends when the product is shipped. Apple, says Ive, wants to design its technology to be more human to “restore some humanity” in the way people connect with one another.

When questioned about why Apple is so secretive and keeps its projects under wraps as much as possible, Ive said that not being secretive would be “bizarre.” Not many creators would want to talk about what they’re doing “when they’re halfway through it,” he said.

I’ve been doing this for long enough where I actually feel a responsibility to not confuse or add more noise about what’s being worked on because I know that it sometimes does not work out.

According to Ive, he’s at Apple for the long haul. He continues to see a lot to do with Apple, and is happy with the team that he works with. The “energy and vitality” at Apple is “extraordinary” and “very exciting” Ive said.

Ive: “If you lose that childlike excitement, I think then it’s probably time to do something else.

Wintour: “Are you at that point?”

Ive: “Oh goodness, no.”

Ive is still learning at Apple with each new project, and when asked about the last thing he learned, he said that it was a detail on how you can connect glass to a structural frame. “We’re still surprised and learning so much,” he said.

It’s not yet clear if WIRED plans to share the full interview Anna Wintour conducted with Jony Ive, but should a video or additional details be published, we’ll update this post.

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Apple’s Phil Schiller Talks About Upcoming Photoshop for iPad App at Adobe MAX

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller today made a surprise appearance at Adobe’s MAX conference, which saw Adobe previewing a full version of Photoshop on the iPad, set to be released in 2019.

Adobe’s upcoming version of Photoshop is “not watered down” and is version of Photoshop with all of the assets and tools needed to create the same projects you can make on the desktop on the iPad. According to Adobe, Photoshop for iPad would not have been possible without the company’s close work by Apple and the power of the iPad Pro.

According to Phil Schiller, Adobe is excited about the upcoming version of Photoshop for iPad and can’t wait for everyone to get it. Adobe, says Apple, has understood its vision for the iPad since the beginning. Apple “cares deeply” about the evolution of the iPad into a tool essential for creative workflows.

At Apple, we care deeply about the evolution of the iPad into increasingly a tool that is essential to a creative workflow. That’s why over the last few years we’ve been creating the iPad Pro line and we’ve been building unique technologies like our A-Series chips, special versions of that with the CPU and GPU performance for professionals.

We’ve been building in displays unique for professionals like our 12.9-inch Retina display with ProMotion technology and really fun tools like Apple Pencil, which is perhaps one of our most advanced technologies, but it’s so fun and accessible to use. And Adobe has recognized that from the beginning.

Adobe has understood the potential of the iPad Pro and our teams have been working together on some really amazing technology.

Schiller went on to say that Adobe’s announcements today are “the beginnings of the world” seeing the kind of work that Apple and Adobe are able to do together. The new version of Photoshop for iPad will appeal to current Photoshop users, but also to a new generation of creators “looking for an entirely mobile workflow” that’s more accessible, more intuitive, and simpler to use.

Along with Photoshop for iPad, Adobe today also unveiled Project Aero for creating AR experiences, and Schiller reiterated that AR is “hugely important” to Apple. “We have a vision where we think that will impact all of our lives,” he said.

When questioned about the role of the creative professional at Apple today, Schiller said that creativity has been a part of the foundation of Apple from the beginning, both internally and externally.

As I think back on it, I know Steve showed us all the idea that people with passion can change the world. Those words mean a lot to us. We think long and hard about what Apple’s role should be supporting Adobe and all of our other users out there.

It is that old line that Steve said: ‘We exist at the intersection of technology and lieral arts’ and that focus on creativity and the arts to unleash that passion, unleash that vision is just as important to us today as it was from the very, very beginning. None of that has changed.

What has changed is the technology. When we talked about that we never envisioned a world where we would be running Photoshop on an iPad Pro wherever you are. I mean, that’s just mindblowing.

Following Phil’s discussion of Photoshop in iPad, the Photoshop team gifted him with a jacket that references a new feature in the Photoshop updates announced today — Content Aware Fill powered by Adobe Sensei. The jacket gifted to Schiller plays on that with the phrase “Content Aware Phil.”

Adobe plans to release Photoshop for iPad in 2019, but has not yet provided a more specific launch date.

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