Rockefellers give Exxon Mobil lashing over the environment

Earlier this year, the Rockefeller Brothers foundation divested its holding in Exxon Mobil, the company created* by John D. Rockefeller. Now, the descendants of the world’s richest oil baron are launching a public broadside against the company that made their fortune. In an editorial for the New York Review of Books, fifth-generation Rockefeller David Kaiser talks about Exxon’s complicity in our looming ecological catastrophe.

Kaiser’s narrative paints a picture similar to that of big tobacco after it had discovered the link between smoking and cancer. He quotes internal Exxon research from as early as 1977 attributing fossil fuel consumption to climate change. By 1980, one company scientist said that by 2030, if left unchecked, CO2 emissions would cause a global catastrophe. By 1988, Exxon had decided to go on the offensive in anticipation of regulation, muddying the waters with paid scientists to dispute the scientific consensus.

The piece, the first of two to be published, also explains how the Rockefeller family has made an enemy of those in government. Texas Republican Lamar Smith has accused the family of launching a “coordinated effort to deprive companies” of their right to conduct “scientific research free from intimidation.” The New York Times quotes Exxon spokesperson Alan Jeffers who believes that the company is the victim of a “conspiracy” led by the Rockefellers. Given how favorably the incoming leadership looks upon oil companies, it’s likely that Smith, Jeffers and others will be able to silence the dissenters.

*Rockefeller founded Standard Oil, of which various components were merged to form Exxon.

Via: New York Times

Source: New York Review of Books

Astronomers have found the roundest object in the universe

The sun may look round from our viewing angle but it — like most stars — aren’t as spherical as they seem. It’s actually 10 kilometers wider at its equator than it is at its poles. This is due to stars’ rate of spin and variances within their magnetic fields. Kepler 11145123, a burning orb just 5,000 light years from Earth, is an extraordinary exception to that rule.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and the University of Göttingen continually measured the routine expansions and contractions of the star for four years (which is done by tracking its relative brightness). They found that 11145123 is a mere 3 kilometers wider at its equator than its poles, making it the roundest natural object observed to date.

This is unexpected because 11145123’s super-slow rotation — once every 100 days or three times slower than our Sun — should make it an oblate spheriod according to Clairaut’s theorem. That is, it should be shaped like an M&M, not a nearly perfect sphere. The team believes that this is caused by an exceptionally weak magnetic field within the star:

Guided by the well-established results of helioseismology, we suggest that a weak surface magnetic field (much weaker than the Sun’s surface magnetic field at solar maximum) is a possible explanation for the reduced oblateness of KIC 11145123: Waves propagate faster in magnetized regions, so surface magnetic fields at low latitudes will make a star appear less oblate to acoustic waves.

The research team hopes to apply this method of measurement to other slowly rotating celestial objects, which have not been studied to nearly the same degree as their faster-spinning cousins.

Via: CNet

Source: Science Advances

BeatsX Release Rumors Point to December Launch Date

Similar to the current confusion regarding the release date of Apple’s AirPods, a couple of differing launch days for the new wireless BeatsX earphones have begun sprouting up online, leading to uncertainty over when exactly Apple will begin selling the new Beats-branded earphones.

In line with some AirPods rumors, most retailers are placing order dates in December for BeatsX. The new rumors would mean BeatsX will miss the retail rush of Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up this week, but would place the earphones as potentially available for last-minute holiday shopping later in December.

Fry’s Electronics has the earphones listed as estimated to ship on December 5, 2016. Users can add the BeatsX to their cart, but pre-orders aren’t available yet as checkout can’t be completed at the time of writing. The date was originally spotted by a user on Reddit.

Photo, video, and audio electronics retailer B&H also has a date listed for BeatsX, with expected availability of the earphones on December 16. Users can pre-order BeatsX at B&H, although detailed shipping estimates for them are not yet available. At both Fry’s and B&H, the BeatsX earphones are listed at the expected price of $149.95.

On Apple’s website, the earphones are still simply “coming this fall.” As was the case with the AirPods, it’s likely that most retailers are using placeholder dates for BeatsX until they receive word on the official launch. Still, since November is nearly over and there’s been no word from Apple yet, there is a growing possibility that both AirPods and BeatsX will launch sometime in December, in time for holiday shopping.

The BeatsX earphones were announced during Apple’s September 7 iPhone event, along with the Beats Solo3 and Powerbeats3 devices. The new line of Beats headphones have Apple’s W1 chip — also found in the AirPods — that lets them pair easily with an iPhone. The Powerbeats3 wireless earphones launched in October.

Tag: Beats
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T-Mobile Offers Free iPhone 7 or 7 Plus With Eligible Device Trade-In for Black Friday

T-Mobile today announced its Black Friday deals, bringing back a popular trade-in offer that will allow customers to get a free or discounted iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus when trading in an older device.

When trading in an iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, or iPhone 7 Plus, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, or Note 5, customers can get a 32GB iPhone 7 for free. With the trade-in of the above listed phones, a 32GB iPhone 7 Plus costs $100, with the exception of a Galaxy S7 Edge or an iPhone 7 Plus trade-in, which drops the price to $0.

With older smartphones, including the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE, Note 4, Galaxy S5, LG G4, LG, and V10, customers can get an iPhone 7 for $100 or an iPhone 7 Plus for $200. There’s also an option to trade in the iPhone 5, 5c, and 5s, which drops the price on a new iPhone 7 to $350 and a new iPhone 7 Plus to $450. Customers can get more storage space at an additional fee.

“This year, the holidays are on us!” said John Legere, president and CEO of T-Mobile. “2016 has been a looong year. And now it’s time for family and holidays and giving! So we’re going to start giving like only the Un-carrier can. We’re covering the cost of your holiday shopping and giving you the most popular superphones for the holidays. Call me crazy, but it feels good to give!”

T-Mobile is also offering customers $200 for every line that’s switched to T-Mobile with an eligible device payment plan and a T-Mobile ONE service plan. Customers can receive up to $2,400 based on the number of lines switched to T-Mobile from another carrier, with T-Mobile providing the payment in the form of a prepaid MasterCard.

For everyone, including AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint customers, T-Mobile is offering a free hour of Wi-Fi on all Gogo-equipped domestic flights. The free Wi-Fi will be available from Tuesday, November 22 to Saturday, November 26.

Other T-Mobile deals:

• $70 off UE Boom 2 Wireless Speaker
• $30 off LG Tone Pro 760 Bluetooth headset
• $50 off mophie Powerstation Mini

T-Mobile’s Black Friday deals will be available starting on November 24 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time and will run through Sunday, November 27 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

For tons more Black Friday deals and discounts, make sure to check out our Black Friday roundup. It lists deals from every store discounting Apple products, plus it has dozens of discounts on Apple-related software and accessories.

Related Roundup: Black Friday
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Project Tango is a portal to another world

The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is the size of a basketball shoe, it has rough software, and it’s going on sale at a hardware store. That’s a strange mixed bag for Lenovo’s first US smartphone offering, but still in all, I couldn’t wait to try it out.

That’s because the Phab 2 Pro is more than just a weirdo phablet: it’s the first commercially-available smartphone with Tango, Google’s augmented reality platform. In the couple days I’ve had with the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, I’ve put raptors on my breakfast table, test-fit expensive couches in my living room and remotely measured the dimensions of everything in sight. Are these glimpses of the future of augmented reality worth the $499 price tag (and the bevy of bugs that Lenovo’s software packs along with it)? Find out in MrMobile’s hands-on with the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and Project Tango!

Got any further questions? Check out the ongoing Q and A thread in the VRHeads forums with our very own Russell Holly.

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OnePlus 3 owners shouldn’t fret about software updates

The OnePlus 3 will get updates at the same time as the OnePlus 3T, until the end.

If you’re a newly-minted OnePlus 3 owner ticked off at the sudden appearance of the better, more powerful OnePlus 3T, here’s one piece of solace: the two phones will be updated at the same time (which we already knew), and the original will receive updates for as long as its newer kin.

In a statement issued to Android Authority, OnePlus confirmed that “the OnePlus 3 will continue to receive updates alongside the OnePlus 3T until the newer device reaches the end of its update life cycle.” The life cycle is not clear right now, but OnePlus has committed to keeping its newer-generation phones updated for longer than its 2014 and 2015 counterparts. Indeed, the OnePlus One received Marshmallow through its now-defunct partnership with Cyanogen, while its successor, the OnePlus 2, will get Nougat at some point, but likely not much beyond it.

So that’s good news for OnePlus 3 owners, at least those looking beyond the immediate release of Nougat to the next version of Android, and perhaps the one after that.

OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T

• OnePlus 3 review: Finally, all grown up
• The OnePlus 3T is official
• OnePlus 3 specs
• OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: What’s the difference?
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3 in the forums

OnePlus

Xiaomi is making a ‘global’ announcement at CES

A big announcement from a growing player in the global tech game.

Xiaomi has been making waves in the U.S. in recent months despite having never officially launched a phone in the region. Between the impressive Mi Note 2 and the innovative Mi Mix concept phone, an increasing number of people are able to identify the Chinese company’s brand and ambition without ever interacting with one of its products.

That may change — and the little-known Mi Box doesn’t count — starting in early 2017 as Xiaomi plans to unveil a “global” product at CES in January, the first time in its short history it has done so.

Hey Vegas! Will be at @CES for the first time launching an all-new product globally. Guesses? Place your bets now! https://t.co/kjAzE0hPO1 pic.twitter.com/NWx802raKJ

— Mi (@xiaomi) November 22, 2016

While there is no indication a phone is part of that strategy — Xiaomi likely can’t, or doesn’t want to, get over the regulatory and licensing roadblocks necessary to enter the U.S. market — the product is likely mobile-adjacent, perhaps a Daydream headset or a smartwatch.

We won’t have to wait much longer to see — CES is just over a month away.

What is LeEco’s EcoPass actually worth?

As of now, the Le Pro3’s content offerings aren’t enticing. Not even a little bit.

Last month, Chinese smartphone maker, LeEco, announced the Le Pro3, an Android device that promises to be thinner, faster, and more powerful than the competition. For $400, you get the phone, which features top-of-the-line specifications, in addition to three months of LeEco’s EcoPass, which is what ostensibly unlocks a subscription to LeEco’s video content services.

There’s a catch, however. Since it’s all still in “beta,” there is no word on how much the EcoPass will cost to continue reaping the benefits of its content library. And that got me thinking: How much is LeEco’s content library even worth in the first place? As a dedicated subscriber to a number of free and premium on-demand entertainment services, I decided to venture in and gauge it myself.

LeWhat?

There are two ways to play LeEco’s content. The first is to launch the Le app, which showcases all the content you can watch on demand. Then there’s Le Live, which aggregates all that watchable content into channels that are easy to peruse.

Remember when Netflix first started offering streaming video and a majority of the available titles were mostly low-budget horror movies and arty indie flicks? LeEco’s offerings are a little like that. To dig out gems like Chris Rock’s Good Hair and Benny & Joon, you’ll have to sift through some slightly jarring movie titles and hokey web series.

It took a long time for me to find anything worth watching.

It took a long time for me to find anything worth watching. I was surprised at how little “on demand” content is actually offered and then subsequently annoyed that it was outdated. The Vice channel on Le, for instance, lets you watch episodes from series like Munchies and Noisey, but most of the episodes are already available on YouTube. Where’s the exclusivity?

Here’s another bold move on LeEco’s part: Charging for channels with content that’s free somewhere else. If you want a children-only entertainment channel, for instance, you’ll have to fork over $3.99 a month, or 399 EcoPass tokens. This unlocks shows like Sonic the Hedgehog — yes, that one — Sabrina The Animated Series, The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3, and Inspector Gadget. These shows are already free to watch on Pluto.TV, another live mobile TV app. Granted, you won’t get them on-demand like you do with a subscription on a LeEco smartphone, but it’s still free somewhere else! The kid’s channel offers other content, too, and some shows I’ve never heard of, but I’d much rather pull from the free YouTube Kids app if I were a parent than pay another monthly subscription price.

What is worth paying for?

Have you heard of Seeso? It’s a curated comedy channel. On its own, it costs $4 a month for a subscription. You can watch a library of Saturday Night Live” and *Monty Python clips, in addition to seasons of shows like Parks and Recreation and original content from both indie and mainstream comedians. It’s available as an app on every major set-top box and streaming device.

Now, you can already subscribe to this channel on your own time, without the help of LeEco. It’s even included in your package if you’re an Amazon Prime subscriber. So why, then, is LeEco attempting to advertise Seeso as exclusive content, especially when it’s already offered as a standalone app? It’s not even a part of the EcoPass subscription — You have to pay the extra $4 a month on top of what you’d already be paying monthly. That’s not exactly a deal.

And then there’s Tastemade, which is basically the web’s Food Network. It’s cute, it’s kooky, and most of the content is already shown for free on Pluto TV. The only benefit of paying the $3.50 monthly subscription price is to get access to Tastemade Plus, and that’s if you find a personal benefit from this Internet food channel. Still, it’s not inspiring me to buy into LeEco’s content ecosystem, especially when I can already purchase this on my own.

Is the EcoPass even worth it?

There’s a reason LeEco didn’t announce its monthly subscription prices for the EcoPass at its big event back in October: It’s not worth much. What you’d be paying for is scrap content from the Internet. You could very well curate your own YouTube playlist with more interesting clips and clandestinely uploaded television shows if you wanted. (Let’s be honest: We all scour for those from time to time.) And here’s the worst part: You can’t even cast the shows from a LeEco smartphone to your television unless you’ve got a LeTV in the house.

What you’d be paying for is scrap content from the Internet.

In all fairness, I pay monthly for content on Hulu and Netflix that I will never watch, but the difference is that both of those services offer something else that I find worth the value. I watch so much of ABC and NBC’s content on Hulu, for instance, and I like that I can do so on demand. I can also watch it on any TV set I want, or my tablet, or my computer.

LeEco’s offerings don’t entice me to buy its products. All I see are libraries of movies I’ve never heard of before, and web content I’ve already seen. It’s possible that once LeEco’s partnerships with Lionsgate and MGM come to fruition, that the EcoPass will be more worth the money. But don’t bank on that as a reason to buy into LeEco’s ecosystem.

More: LeEco LePro 3 and Le S3 Hands-on: Welcome to the U.S.

How to fix apps stuck in Daydream Mode

How do I stop apps from launching in VR mode?

Google’s Daydream does something unique in the world of smartphone-based VR platforms. When you install an app, you get both the standard Android version of the app and the Daydream version of that app at the same time. This is super convenient for apps like Hulu, which ask you to log in to view videos. Typing in VR is less convenient, and this all-in-one solution not only works well but is much more respectful of the storage users have on their phones.

Occasionally, you may find yourself trying to access a standard app on your phone, and instead of getting the normal interface you get the split-screen VR mode meant for when your phone is in the Daydream headset. Here’s how to keep yourself from being stuck in Daydream mode!

Read more at VR Heads!

Alexa, clean my house: Neato Botvac adds Echo integration

Neato Robotics has announced support for Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, enabling users to control their Botvac Connected robot vacuum with their voice through Alexa.

The partnership will launch with four supported commands to begin with, comprising start, stop, pause and resume. “Alexa, ask Neato to start cleaning” will see the robot vacuum begin its cleaning duties around your home, while “Alexa, ask Neato to stop cleaning” will see it return to its charging base.

The company is working on introducing other commands in the future, such as scheduling and specific cleaning modes and it is also planning on introducing the Alexa skill to its other connected models.

Neato offers three connected robot cleaners within its range, including the D3 and D5 Connected that launched at IFA earlier this year, but only the flagship Botvac Connected model offers Alexa support for now.

• Amazon Echo: What can Alexa do and what services are compatible?

In order to take advantage of the Amazon Alexa feature, both Amazon Echo, or Echo Dot, and the Neato Botvac Connected robot cleaner will be required, naturally. Users will then need to search for Neato within the Smart Home Skills section of the Alexa app and add it.

The Alexa Skill will be available to UK and US customers from 22 November. The Neato Botvac Connected costs £549.99. Amazon’s Echo costs £149.99 and the Echo Dot costs £49.99.

• Neato Botvac Connected review
• Amazon Echo review