Star Trek in real life: Best Starfleet gadgets and toys you can buy
Trekkies have a lot to be excited about right now.
A new film, Star Trek Beyond, just opened in cinemas across the world, and CBS recently announced at San Diego Comic-Con the name of its upcoming TV series based on the Star Wars franchise, along with giving us a first look at the new Discovery starship that will grace the show. Star Trek: Discovery is the name of the 2017 CBS All Access series, and it is set to debut in January.
As for Star Trek Beyond, it premiered on 22 July in the US and was directed by Justin Lin and written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung. It is the thirteenth Star Trek film and the third installment in the reboot series, following Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto reprised their roles as Captain Kirk and Commander Spock, respectively.
- Watch the first trailer for Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond here
- Google only went and made a Star Trek communicator
- Incredible Trekkie flat goes on sale, you can boldly go buy it
For hardcore Trekkies, the new film, TV show, and starship are a dream come true. So, to help them savour the moment (and possibly go where no man has gone before), Pocket-lint has compiled a gallery full of Star Trek-themed gadgets and toys, including everything from cosplay-worthy TNG pajama sets to a Bluetooth-enabled Original Series communicator.
That’s right – say it with us: shut up and take my money!
Click here to browse the gallery.
PlayStation’s Adam Boyes now runs the ‘Killer Instinct’ studio
Key PlayStation exec Adam Boyes already said he was leaving Sony to return to game development, but it’s now clear that he’s making this switch in style. Iron Galaxy Studios has confirmed that Boyes will become its CEO as of August 8th. That’s right — one of the PlayStation world’s best-known figures is now working for a developer whose best-known work involves the Microsoft-exclusive Killer Instinct reboot. It also created Wreckateer, an early showcase for Kinect, and played a big role in producing the hilariously simple fighting game Divekick.
As to why Boyes is coming aboard? Iron Galaxy founder Dave Lang says it’s all about helping the company spread its wings. Boyes can “expand and evolve” the studio’s publishing work, freeing Lang and new Chief Product Officer Chelsea Blasko (an Iron Galaxy veteran) to focus on in-house game creation. You might just see the company become a bigger player in the game business.
Source: Iron Galaxy Studios (PDF)
Electro-Harmonix brings ’80s synth sounds to your iPad
The likes of Korg and Moog have their own synthesizer apps for iOS devices, and now there’s a new option for loading up a virtual instrument on those mobile devices. Electro-Harmonix has released a version of its Mini-Synthesizer EH-1600 for iPad and iPhone that delivers a digital re-creation of the ’80s analog gear. The original had pretty basic controls, but it was responsible for some fairly iconic synthesizer sounds like you’ve heard from Rush, Van Halen and more.
The app comes with 22 presets and offers users the ability to store any custom settings as well. While the original Mini-Synthesizer was a monophonic instrument, this digital version is a polyphonic synth, meaning that you can play four notes at the same time rather than just one. There’s a switch to toggle between modes though, so you can still get the classic tones alongside the new functionality. The company also expanded the keyboard to a full 88 keys, too. In total, there are 12 sliders and 9 switches for tweaking pitch, filters, delay, reverb and more inside the app that has a look that closely resembles the physical instrument. And yes, you can use the mobile software with connected MIDI devices.
If you’re looking to give it a shot, the app will set you back $2.99 for the iPhone version and $4.99 if you’re looking to use in on an iPad. Don’t worry Android users, the synth will arrive for Google’s OS in late September. For now, you can hear what the app is capable of in the video below.
Via: Fact Magazine
Source: App Store
Milky Way’s spinning ‘halo’ helps reveal how galaxy formed
Out beyond our solar system are billions of other planets, starts, moon rocks and solar systems. Beyond that, however is an enormous, hot, gaseous halo of matter. It stretches for hundreds of thousands of light years, and could be the key to sorting out why there’s not as much matter in the Milky Way as scientists estimate there should be. Now, scientists have learned something new about this layer of gas: It’s spinning at almost the same rate as the rest of our galaxy.
The halo is typically thought of as stationary, researchers at the University of Michigan were able to record it in motion by measuring changes in light wavelengths. Contrary to common belief, they found the halo was spinning in the same direction as the galaxy’s stellar disc and, at 400,000 mph, almost as fast.
“This flies in the face of expectations,” Edmund Hodges-Kluck, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan, explains. “People just assumed that the disk of the Milky Way spins while this enormous reservoir of hot gas is stationary — but that is wrong.” It’s more than an interesting footnote, too. Hodges-Kluck says the rotation serves as a clue to how the galaxy was formed in the first place. “It tells us that this hot atmosphere is the original source of a lot of the matter in the disk.”
Armed with this new information, researchers will be able to learn how that matter got from the outer halo to the core of the galaxy. The same data may also be able to help predict the future of the Milky Way. That, however, will take years of further research — not that the team is scared of that. “We can use this discovery to learn so much more,” says University of Michigan professor Joel Bergman. “The rotation of this hot halo will be a big topic of future X-ray spectrographs.”
Source: NASA
Tesla parts ways with chipmaker behind its Autopilot system
In the wake of a fatal Tesla Model S Autopilot accident in Florida, the all-electric automaker has announced it is parting ways with Mobileye, the company behind the image recognition hardware that powers the semi-autonomous system. As Recode reports today, Tesla will most likely be moving forward by building its own computer vision chips in-house.
In a quarterly earnings call, Mobileye CTO Ammon Sashua explained his company will continue to support Tesla’s current products, including “a significant upgrade of several functions that affect both the ability to respond to crash avoidance and to optimize auto-steering in the near term.” In the future, however, Mobileye will be working directly with manufacturers rather than providing an OEM solution.
At a Gigafactory event, when asked about the companies parting ways, CEO Elon Musk said, “Us parting ways was somewhat inevitable. There was nothing unexpected from our standpoint.”
Earlier, DIY self-driving expert George Hotz also told Recode the Mobileye system “is so easy to reproduce” that Elon Musk and company shouldn’t have trouble building their own version. And it’s likely that the right talent is already there at Tesla’s headquarters in Palo Alto — in January, the company hired former AMD chip engineer Jim Keller to lead Autopilot’s hardware engineering team. In the meantime, the company is continuing to educate drivers about the current limitations of the Autopilot system.
This post has been updated with comment from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
‘Second Life’ removes support for Oculus Rift
When Second Life patched in support for the Oculus Rift, Linden Lab was cautious to pitch its online world as a haven for virtual reality. “We’re trying not to make too big of a deal out of it,” Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg said in 2014. “It’s still early.” That beta support went through several iterations over the years — but now it’s gone. Earlier this month, Linden Labs removed VR support from Second Life, and the company can’t say when or if it will be back. The problem? It just wasn’t good enough.
According to a Linden Lab community manager, the virtual reality ‘project viewer’ was always an experimental feature. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t living up to the company’s standards. “Due to some of the inhernet limitations with [Second Life],” the company explained, “it may well not be possible to achieve the performance needed for a good VR experience.” Fair enough — Linden Lab’s virtual world is over 13 years old. Making it play nice with new technology can’t be easy.
That doesn’t mean the company is giving up on virtual reality, though. Back in 2014, Ebbe told us that Linden Lab was hard at work developing a VR-focused spiritual successor to Second Life — something he hoped would serve as a creative playground for virtual reality enthusiasts. Today, that exists as Project Sansar, and while it’s still only just taking applications for its beta, it’s clear this is where the company’s VR ambitions currently lie.
Via: UploadVR
Source: Second Life
Apple’s Services Revenue Up 19% on App Store, Apple Music Growth
During today’s third quarter earnings call, Apple announced its second consecutive year-over-year revenue drop, but amid the decline, the company’s services category saw significant growth based on strong App Store performance.
Services revenue was up 19 percent year over year, and according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple saw its highest App Store revenue ever, setting a new all time high. Compared to the year-ago quarter, App Store growth was up an impressive 27 percent, with iCloud, AppleCare, and Apple Music also seeing notable growth.
Over the course of the last 12 months, Apple’s services revenue is up $23.1 billion, and next year, the company expects revenue from services to “be the size of a Fortune 100 company.”
Growth was fueled by Apple’s active install base, which brought in $10.3 billion dollars during the quarter, marking 29 percent growth year-over-year. Apple CFO Luca Maestri said the company set a new record for customers making purchases through the iTunes and App Store, and the average amount spent per customer was the highest Apple has ever measured.
App Store revenue has climbed consistently over the last four consecutive quarters and Cook said he expects the services category to continue to grow “very briskly.”
Tag: App Store
Discuss this article in our forums
Tim Cook ‘Optimistic’ About iPhone 7 Sales, Sees ‘Signs That are Positive’
During today’s third quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors that he’s “very optimistic” about prospective iPhone sales this fall, despite rumors suggesting the device will introduce only minor changes.
In response to a question about speculation that iPhone upgrade rates will be low in 2016 based on circulating rumors that the iPhone 7 will mark only a modest update to the iPhone 6s, Cook said he sees “so many signs that are positive” that point towards solid sales numbers.
A mockup of the iPhone 7
I don’t want to talk about new phones that aren’t announced. That aside, what we have seen — in past tense or in current tense — on the upgrade rate is that the iPhone upgrade rate for the iPhone 6s is similar to the iPhone 5s. […]
The iPhone 6 was significantly higher than that and it likely accelerated upgrades that would have been in the current year ahead of those. So what the future holds, we’ll see, but I’m very optimistic about the future because I see so many signs that are positive.
As for the signs in question, Cook pointed towards an install base that has gotten “incredibly large,” a switcher rate that continues to grow, a smartphone penetration rate that’s only at 42 percent, changes coming in iOS 10, and the growing importance of the smartphone itself as it becomes “even more instrumental and important to people’s lives.”
On that last point, Cook said he expects AI to play a major role in turning the iPhone into an essential device that people can’t live without. “As the iPhone becomes more and more your assistant, you’re not going to leave without it,” he said. “I see all of those things as vectors that are incredibly positive,” he continued.
According to Cook, Apple will excel at AI because of the company’s focus on user experience, which will drive people to adopt Apple devices. Apple is continually working to improve its virtual assistant Siri, and Cooks comments hint at Apple’s continued focus on the service.
As the smartphone itself becomes more essential to customers’ day-to-day lives, we think people will put more and more focus on what they’re buying. The thing Apple does best is providing a killer user experience that’s integrated across the entire product line, and that becomes more important and really plays to our advantage.
I think the deployment of AI technology is something we will excel at because of our focus on user experience. So I like that.
Apple will unveil its next-generation iPhone 7 this fall, likely in September. While the device is expected to have a design similar to the design of the iPhone 6s, it will feature camera improvements, a better processor, improved water resistance, no headphone jack, and more.
Related Roundup: iPhone 7
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple CEO Tim Cook on Augmented Reality: ‘We Continue to Invest a Lot in This’
Apple CEO Tim Cook today told investors that Apple is continuing to invest in augmented reality, and that the company is “high on AR in the long run.” Cook’s comments came after he was questioned about Pokémon Go, the hit augmented reality game developed by Niantic Labs, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company.
Cook, who continually referred to “Pokémon” as “Pokemans,” said Pokémon Go is a “testament to what happens to innovative apps,” giving the App Store credit for empowering developers to “press a button” and “offer a product around the world.” He went on to say that augmented reality offers a great commercial opportunity and great opportunities for consumers.
AR can be really great. We have been and continue to invest a lot in this. We’re high on AR in the long run and we think there are great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity. The number one thing is to make sure that our products work well with other developer’s products like Pokémon, and that’s why you see so many iPhones in the wild chasing Pokemans.
Cook went on to say that he believes augmented reality “can be huge.” “We’ll see whether it’s the next platform,” he said. “Regardless, it will be huge.”
In the past, rumors have suggested Apple has a secret research team working on augmented reality and virtual reality, exploring the AR/VR field and investigating how the company could embrace augmented or virtual reality in the future.
Apple has also made a number of augmented reality acquisitions, purchasing companies like Metaio, Faceshift, and Flyby Media. How Apple might incorporate augmented reality into its products remains a mystery, but there are applications related to Maps and Photos that could be on the horizon.
Earlier this year, Cook made similar comments about virtual reality, calling it more than just a niche product. “It’s really cool and it has some interesting applications,” he said.
Related Roundup: Apple VR Project
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple Pencil might one day work with Mac trackpads and more
Apple sees a lot of potential in its Pencil stylus.
The Apple Pencil is a stylus pen that debuted alongside the iPad Pro last November. It’s a basic input device, even though it can detect angles, pressure sensitivity, and force, allowing you to apply dark or light strokes depending on how hard you press. While using Apple Pencil with the iPad Pro, you can simultaneously use your fingers. It basically makes electronic drawing on the iPad Pro more feasible.
But there’s only so many ways you can use the stylus in its current form. Luckily for us, Apple has plenty more grand ideas for the gadget. The company has been granted a patent that allows Apple Pencil to work with the Magic Trackpad, which means you could use your Pencil to draw on a Mac. In other words, if this functionality comes to fruition, Wacom’s days are numbered, as you’d no longer need tablet peripherals.
USPTO
Apple applied for the patent in 2014. It describes other powerful features, too, including in-air gestures so that you can change between slides in Keynote or pages in Pages, for instance. You could even use Pencil as a joystick for games. Just keep in mind none of this may ever come to Apple Pencil, but it’s still cool to see what the Cupertino company is considering behind the scenes.
Also, this isn’t the only Apple Pencil patent we’ve seen granted recently. Another one detailed a stylus that uses swappable tips. These tips can be standard ones like a felt-tip pen, or they can be fancy ones such as a force-sensing bristle brush tip, motion-tracking camera, and a flashlight. Fingerprint recognition – similar to Touch ID – is further mentioned for authentication.
We’re hoping all these features make it to Apple Pencil, but only time will tell.
