Chrome OS is getting a much-needed storage manager
With Android tablet apps coming to Chromebooks, the very basic storage management in Chrome OS is going to be an issue. You can get your total free space via the Files App, but that doesn’t give you any info about how it’s being used. It can also break things down file-by-file, but that can be too much info for many folks. Luckily, Google is about to unveil a storage manager for Chromebooks that gives you just the right amount of info at a glance, according to insider François Beaufort.
As shown above, you can see your total capacity and space used, broken down into downloads and offline files, with the remainder being your available space. That gives you a pretty good idea as to what’s taken up by the system and apps, and what you’ve downloaded personally. If you then need further info, you can check the files app (or abstruse chrome://quota-internals command).
Google Play has only arrived on a few Chrome OS models, including the ASUS Chromebook Flip (above), but when it’s released in force, folks will get Android tablet apps numbering in the tens of thousands. Since those will take up space and generate their own files, storage info will become critical. If you want to test it yourself, you can download the latest dev update, then enable a flag.
Source: François Beaufort (G+)
NASA is making a robotic spacecraft that can refuel satellites
NASA has not only given the Restore-L mission its seal of approval, it has also zeroed in on its first potential client: government-owned satellite Landsat 7. The mission’s goal is to develop and launch a robotic spacecraft, which can refuel and do maintenance work on satellites already in orbit, by 2020. As you can see in the image above, it will be equipped with robotic arms to catch its client’s orbiters and a propellant transfer system to deliver measured quantities of fuel at the proper temperature and pressure.
The Restore-L mission could change the way the government and private space corporations build and operate satellites. It has the potential to extend the lifespan of spacefaring vehicles and could prevent their untimely death. Further, once the project is operational, companies could choose to deploy spacecraft with half-empty fuel tanks so that they could fit more instruments on board.
Benjamin Reed, deputy project manager for the NASA office that came up with the project, explained:
“With robotic servicing on the table, satellite owners can extend the lifespan of satellites that are running low on fuel, reaping additional years of service – and revenue – from their initial investment. If a solar array or a communications antenna fails to deploy, a servicer with inspection cameras and the right repair tools could help recover the asset that otherwise would have been lost. The loss of an anticipated revenue or data stream can be devastating.”
Besides servicing other spacecraft, NASA is also using Restore-L to test various technologies for future missions to Mars and farther locations. These include its navigation system, robotic arm, software and orbital debris management. In fact, if everything goes according to plan, the agency is taking some technologies straight from the Restore-L spacecraft and using them on the Asteroid Redirect Mission that’s slated to launch in mid-2020s.
Source: NASA
Xiaomi is finally launching the Mi 5 in black and gold in India
Xiaomi is finally making the black and gold color options of the Mi 5 available in India. The black variant will be up for sale starting later today, and will no longer be limited to Xiaomi’s own website as retailers Amazon and Flipkart are set to start selling the handset.
❤️ if black is your fav, RT if gold is best. YES, this means you’ll soon be able to get #Mi5 in both these colours! pic.twitter.com/rFYImn85HM
— Mi India (@XiaomiIndia) June 23, 2016
The gold option doesn’t have a specific launch date yet, with Xiaomi only saying that it’ll be available shortly. While the Mi 5 offers a lot of value for ₹25,000, more recent launches like the OnePlus 3 have raised the bar in the mid-range segment.
If you’re interested in buying either handset, be sure to check out our extended coverage:
- OnePlus 3 vs. Xiaomi Mi 5
- Xiaomi Mi 5 review
Should autonomous vehicles save passengers or pedestrians?
Oh, humanity. New research published in Science shows that we, as a race, want to have our cake and eat it too when it comes to autonomous vehicles. Specifically, we’re totally okay with self-driving cars that will sacrifice their passengers in favor of not harming pedestrians — so long as we aren’t the passengers when that happens. What’s more, those surveyed would like other people to buy those self-sacrificing rides, but don’t want to buy one themselves, and don’t agree with the idea of enforcing regulations for them. Sure; this makes perfect sense.
The tough part here is designing the algorithms that will control these self-driving rides, and how to teach the artificial intelligence deal with unavoidable harm. Successfully doing so relies on a trio of what Science calls “incompatible objectives.” Meaning, the algorithms must be consistent, not cause public outrage and not discourage buyers. It’s tricky and raises the question of which lives are more important, those outside the vehicle or its passengers? When humans make split-second decisions, it’s out of instinct and self-preservation — not programming.
But if someone knowingly bought an autonomous vehicle that favored passengers over pedestrians, would they be held liable if a loss of public life occurred?
“I do not think concerns about very rare ethical issues of this sort […] should paralyze the really groundbreaking leaps that e are making in this particular domain of technology, policy and conversations in liability, insurance and legal sectors, and consumer acceptance,” assistant research scientist Anuj. K Pradhan, of UMTRI’s Human Factors Group, tells The Verge.
Again, this is all extremely early, but it’s for the best that the conversation is starting now, rather than, say, when we have a whole fleet of self-driving cars on the road. For more troubling morality questions, be sure to hit the source links below.
Via: The Verge
Source: Science
‘Banner Saga 2’ gets bigger and badder with Survival Mode
The Banner Saga 2 builds upon Stoic’s brilliant Viking-fantasy universe, and it’s about to get a little bit bigger. Survival Mode is available today as a free update to Banner Saga 2, allowing players to assemble teams from a large swath of existing heroes and then pit them against enemies in 40 back-to-back, turn-based strategy matches. Once a hero dies, he or she is gone for good, but each victory grants players a form of in-game currency called Renown, allowing them to add fresh fighters to their teams. Items drop during combat and there’s a 30-second timer keeping the matches moving quickly.
Banner Saga 2’s Survival Mode features the game’s three difficulty levels and it supports leaderboards.
“Survival Mode is something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for a while now,” Stoic technical director John Watson said in a press release. “This is an entirely new experience within Banner Saga 2. Our goal was to create a fun, tactical game mode where fans can play from a different perspective which focuses on strategy and the hard cost of death in combat. We modified how the combat worked from the core game based on feedback from our community and put it through a closed beta to make sure that it was fun.”
Banner Saga 2 hit PC and Mac on April 19th, and it’s scheduled to land on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on July 26th. It’s due to hit mobile this summer, as well. The original Banner Saga landed in 2014 and it was a breath of fresh Nordic air.
Hubble discovers a new ‘dark vortex’ on Neptune
Researchers gazing through NASA’s hardworking, time-bending Hubble space telescope spotted a new storm brewing on Neptune last month. As the space agency confirmed today, research astronomers analyzing telescope data at the University of California at Berkeley discovered a new “dark spot” on the planet — only the third since Voyager 2 first spotted one in during its 1989 flyby.
The dark spots or vortices are actually high-pressure weather systems and they accompanied by bright companion clouds, presumed to be methane crystals formed when the surrounding air is pushed up over the vortex. In this case, it was the companion clouds that were spotted first and pointed researchers towards the dark spot itself.
“Dark vortices coast through the atmosphere like huge, lens-shaped gaseous mountains,” UC Berkeley researcher Mike Wong said. “And the companion clouds are similar to so-called orographic clouds that appear as pancake-shaped features lingering over mountains on Earth.”
Also like Earth’s weather systems, the dark spots are constantly changing in terms of size, shape and stability. Unlike those on Earth, however, they can last for years and the vortex spotted by Voyager 2 was actually about the same size as the Earth itself.
Finally, in other Hubble news today, NASA announced they’ll be extending the contract for science operations on the space telescope. With the extension, Hubble will continue to be in service through at least June 30, 2021, although NASA believes it will continue to be “an outstanding general purpose observatory” well into the 2020s thanks to some upgrades performed by shuttle astronauts back in 2009. In 2018, Hubble will be joined in orbit the James Webb Space Telescope, which will become our new flagship observatory in space.
YouTube announces mobile live broadcasting coming ‘soon’ for everyone
Though the likes of Periscope and Facebook Live are the talk of the town right now in mobile live video broadcasting, YouTube is now ready to get into the game. Taking to the YouTube Creator blog, Google has announced that live broadcasts will be coming to the YouTube app “soon” and that it’ll be “more reliable than anything else out there.”
Though YouTube makes the point that its service offered live streaming for events since 2011, it has sorely lacked the latest hot feature of direct broadcast from your phone — the only way to go live to YouTube from your phone directly was to have one of the few that supported the feature, namely recent Sony and Samsung phones.
With this change, everyone with the YouTube app will be able to start broadcasting live to millions of people (well, at least potentially) with no extra strings attached. The thought of “better late than never” certainly applies here, but with Facebook Live already showing huge growth in such a short period, you have to wonder how YouTube will catch back up and win over users.
American Express teams up with Facebook to offer Amex Bot
If you’re an avid Facebook user and American Express customer, you might want to pay attention. American Express has announced Amex Bot, the product of a collaboration with Facebook to offer its card members special ways to keep up with their finances and purchases.
The Amex Bot, as it’s called, will allow American Express cardholders to receive real-time notifications about their balances, card benefits and services related to recent purchases and more. All of these notifications will come down via Facebook Messenger, allowing for real-time information to pass through with helpful information.
These messages could include special restaurant recommendations paired with a hotel reservation, how to access special Centurion Lounge privileges or a number of various other bits of information to ensure customers get the most they can out of being American Express cardholders.
The Amex Bot is expected to launch in the next few months for eligible U.S. Consumer and OPEN customers who opt-in to give it a try.
Source: American Express
Steam summer sale is poised to make a dent in your wallet
Are you ready to snap up a ton of PC games to add to your ever-growing backlog? Steam’s summer sale has begun, and as always, it offers big discounts — some bigger than others — on over 12,000 titles. They include everything from popular franchises, such as Assassin’s Creed and GTA, to new virtual reality experiences. And in case you want everyone to know you’re a sucker for Steam sales, you’ll get a “Summer Picnic Sale” trading card for every $10 you spend that you can display on your profile. The event will go on for 11 days until 1PM Eastern on July 4th. Since Steam won’t be holding flash sales or adding any more titles to the list, you can start scouring all the available deals right now.
Source: Steam
YouTube for iOS Will Soon Be Able to Live Stream Video
Today at its VidCon keynote address, YouTube announced that its mobile app will be getting updated with a brand new live streaming option, allowing users to easily stream video from their iPhones directly from the YouTube app.
YouTube mobile live streaming will be baked right into the core YouTube mobile app. You won’t need to open anything else, just hit the big red capture button right there in the corner, take or select a photo to use as a thumbnail, and you can broadcast live to your fans and chat in near real time.
The feature will work similar to Facebook Live and Periscope, with streamers having the ability to see live comments from viewers. However, YouTube’s live streaming will take advantage of the company’s live streaming infrastructure, which it has been enhancing since its debut in 2011. Mobile live streaming has become increasingly popular since Meerkat launched in 2015, and has been used to document a variety of events, from NBA Final press conferences to the sit-in at the House of Representatives.
YouTube opened up live streaming in 2013, after two years of testing the service with big events like the Royal Wedding and Felix Baumgartner’s leap from space. The video platform then began expanding it to verified accounts and creators with at least 1,000 subscribers.
Live streaming will launch today for select YouTube creators The Young Turks, AIB, Platica Polinesia, SacconeJolys, and Alex Wasabi, and will be rolling out to all users in the near future.
YouTube for iOS is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Tag: YouTube
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