Claridge Hotel Reveals Festive Installation by Apple’s Jony Ive

Apple design chief Jony Ive and longtime collaborator Marc Newson’s take on the London hotel Claridge Christmas tree has been revealed – and perhaps not surprisingly, there’s not a bauble in sight.

Mayfair’s landmark festive tree has been drawing crowds since 2009, when notable designers began creating the seasonal decoration each year. But Ive and Newson’s interpretation takes the tradition to another level – albeit a minimalist one – by transforming the hotel’s lobby into a natural grove of unadorned birch trees as part of a cycling light and sound installation. The designers had this to say:

Our aim was to create an all-enveloping magical experience that celebrates our enormous respect for tradition while recognising our excitement about the future and things to come. There are few things more pure and beautiful than nature, so that was our starting point, layering various iterations of organic forms with technology.

Design and style magazine Wallpaper described a scene in which a series of vast four meter-high light boxes line the walls, illuminating black-and-white images of snow-capped silver birch trees, against which “towering cast models of Scots pine rise to a canopy of natural green pine”.

The accompanying forest soundscape begins with a dawn chorus and features owls, nightingales, sparrows, and foxes. Synced to the audio is specially choreographed lighting that cycles from sunrise to nighttime, creating a dappled effect in the installation space. At the center of the grove, a smaller sapling tree appears to grow in the transitions of light, which the designers describe as a symbol of the future.

The installation is open to the public and free to enter, and will remain in London’s Claridge hotel throughout the festive season.

Tags: Marc Newson, Jony Ive
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NASA seeks public input on how to cut SLS and Orion costs

NASA has admitted in its latest Request for Information (RFI) that it’s spending a bit too much money on the Space Launch System’s and the Orion capsule’s development. The agency is asking for public input on how to minimize the “production, operations and maintenance costs” of the rocket-and-spacecraft system — an issue it needs to address soon since it will be under a new administration within a couple of months.

While President-Elect Trump once said he wants NASA to concentrate on exploring Mars and beyond, which is what the SLS is for in the first place, a budget cut would be devastating. It apparently costs the agency $3 billion a year to develop SLS and Orion. Seeing as NASA had a $19 billion budget for the fiscal year of 2016, it’s safe to assume the project eats up a huge chunk of the agency’s money.

The RFI confirms what Bill Hill, the engineer who oversees the project, told Ars Technica earlier this year. “We’re just way too expensive today,” he said during the interview. “It’s going to take some different thinking and maybe a little bit more risk taking than what we’re wanting to do today.”

As Ars notes, it sounds like NASA is also opening its doors to competing technologies designed to do what the powerful rocket and the capsule are meant to accomplish. In one part of the RFI, the agency wrote that it’s also on the lookout for “Competing exploration services in the mid-2020s timeframe and beyond if the market demonstrates such services are available, reliable, and consistent with NASA architectural needs.”

It could mean that the agency is willing to use rockets and spacecraft developed by private space corporations instead of the SLS and Orion if they will be cheaper to maintain and operate. SpaceX is already working on reusable Falcon Heavy rockets designed for deep space exploration like the SLS. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance have contenders of their own, as well. But if the new administration doesn’t scrap the project, NASA hopes to send SLS and Orion to space once a year by 2023.

NASA will accept kinds of suggestions to lower the project’s costs, including new construction methods and the bulk purchase of materials. If you want the agency to consider your input, though, you’ll have to send it in on or before December 23rd.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: FedBizOpps

Uber starts selling digital gift cards online

Uber has made it much easier to buy gift cards for friends, family and anyone else who paid for your fare in the past. You can now get digital gift cards straight from Uber’s website and send them straight to someone else’s email address. The company started selling physical gift cards through retailers back in September, but now you only have to click a few buttons to get one.
If you’ve ever bought e-gift cards from websites that use CashStar’s program, such as Sephora, the process will look very familiar. You can choose the digital card’s design, write a note to go with it and choose the amount you want to give. The ride-sharing company says your recipients can use what they get to pay for either a ride or an UberEATS purchase if the latter’s available where they live.

Source: Uber

US government releases official guidelines for smart guns

Back in June, the US Department of Justice proposed a list of specifications for manufactures of smart guns: a preliminary outline of the baseline features law enforcement agencies wanted to see in the future of pistol safety technology. This included a slew of safety features, failsafe countermeasures and requirements for rechargeable and replaceable batteries. Now, the government has made that draft official.

The final version of the guidelines look a lot like the draft — pistols with security devices must be able to disable the weapon’s firing mechanism when not in the control of an authorized individual. The security features of smart guns need to be a permanent part of the weapon too, though they are allowed to incorporate external verification accessories like rings, tokens or wristbands.

Also like the draft, most of the guidelines are about what smart gun security features can’t do — impair operation or increase time needed to draw, holster or fire the weapon. If a firearm’s security features are malfunctioning, they also need to default to unlocking the weapon. If that sounds pretty lax, it’s supposed to be: the department says the project is designed to spur the growth of gun safety technology without limiting innovation by choosing a standard too soon.

As nice as it is to see these guidelines developed, it’s important to remember that they’re optional: this is a voluntary list of specifications. Even so, there’s a good chance the industry will adopt it all the same — these aren’t just the standards the Department of Justice wants to see in the future of smart guns, it’s the baseline requirement government buyers will look for when they purchase firearms for law enforcement agencies, too.

Source: DoJ, NIJ

Six innovative solar systems that go beyond standard arrays

By Cat DiStasio

Solar technology has skyrocketed in recent years, as new innovations pave the way for more affordable designs that generate clean energy in unique ways. We’ve branched far beyond the familiar solar panel, with new developments that experiment with different shapes and materials to maximize the clean energy potential of the sun. Engineers have been working to create flexible solar cells that can adhere to nearly any type of surface. Innovations centered around concentrating and multiplying the sun’s energy have also increased in recent years, as more industry leaders look to ways to get a big bang from solar power without requiring huge swaths of land, which aren’t always readily available.

Sphelar spherical solar cells

Developed by the Japanese company Kyosemi in 2012, these spherical solar cells look more like disco balls than any renewable energy generator you’ve seen before. The spherical cells were created to capture sunlight from any direction, thereby maximizing energy production in places where full, direct sun is not the norm. The company’s Sphelar cells eliminate the need for complicated, motorized solar tracking systems, which reposition solar cells to face the sun as the position shifts throughout the day. With a dome-like face that points in many directions at the same time, Kyosemi created a solar cell that doesn’t need costly motors in order to make the most of a sunny day.

V3Solar’s Spin Cell

Another curious take on the shape of future solar technology is found in the spinning cone known as V3Solar’s Spin Cell. Its maker claims the rotating blue prism can generate over 20 times more electricity than a stationary flat panel with the same surface area of solar cells. The design initially launched last year and V3Solar is testing prototypes that exceed not only the energy generation of traditional solar panels, but also the durability, since the spinning action protects the Spin Cell from overheating — a common pitfall of conventional panels.

Sunflare CIGS solar cells on a roll

Perhaps one of the most useful innovations in solar cell technology is the emergence of flexible solar generating materials.Los Angeles-based startup Sunflare’s CIGS solar cells are a stellar example, because they are supplied in a roll not too unlike wallpaper. Upon reaching their destination, the solar material can be rolled out and mounted to nearly any surface — sometimes with little more hardware than some double-sided tape. The ultra-lightweight solar cells weigh 65 percent less than traditional solar panels and are also 10 percent more efficient, generating more energy in areas that need it most. The panels’ flexible delivery make them a perfect solar solution in rural areas and for portable projects, with an affordable price as well. Sunflare estimates the energy produced by their rolled up solar cells costs as little as $1.07 per watt.

IBM’s solar sunflowers

IBM is well known as a leader in all sorts of technology fields, but most people probably don’t realize they are working on more efficient solar power generation as well. Enter the High Concentration PhotoVoltaic Thermal (HCPVT) system, which concentrates the sun’s radiation 2,000 times and is capable converting 80 percent of it into useful energy. IBM’s solar concentrator looks like a sunflower, with reflective surfaces lining a dish-like structure. All told, the system can generate up to 12 kilowatts of electrical power and 20 kilowatts of heat on a sunny day, which is the equivalent of the electricity it takes to power several average US homes.

Tesla’s integrated solar roof system

Rooftop solar arrays are not new, but Tesla and SolarCity recently unveiled a revolutionary product that fuses the solar power generation with roof coverings in a variety of styles for an integrated clean energy solution. Tesla’s “solar roof” is nothing like the eyesore solar arrays of yore: It will be sold in four different styles, allowing homeowners to improve the overall aesthetic of their residence while simultaneously generating clean energy they can store in the integrated Powerwall 2.0 battery system. Because Tesla is still interested in selling its electric luxury cars, a Tesla charger is also included, making it easy for people to power their homes and their cars with the sun’s energy.

SolarWindow transparent solar coating

Maryland-based startup SolarWindow Technologies promises its transparent solar cell technology can produce 50 times more energy than conventional solar panels — a claim that is far and above what other recent innovations have achieved. Framing their creation as a “power-generating window,” SolarWindow is actually a coating that can be applied to an existing glass or plastic surface, which generates electricity without obstructing the view or shutting out daylight. Because of its lofty energy conversion claims, the inventors also say their system will pay for itself much earlier than traditional solar panels — translating into a net-zero cost savings in just one year, as opposed to as many as 11 with conventional solar arrays.



Pixel Plus: How to make your phone look like a Pixel (and better)

There’s a lot of beauty in Google’s shiny new Pixel, and that extends to the Pixel Launcher.

The clean lines of the redesigned Google widget atop the screen, the whimsical portholes for folder icons, the faint white bar behind the dock … Google did a lot of interesting things with its new launcher layout, and while I’m all for the Pixel look, let’s face it: not all of us have 800 bucks for a Pixel. And even those with a Pixel can get fed up with the launcher’s limitations when it comes to desktop grid size and icon packs. Don’t worry! You don’t have to give up your sweet Pixely theme just because you’re giving up the Pixel Launcher.

Luckily for us, two of the most popular replacement launchers on the market have already done most of the work for us; all we have to do is turn the proper settings on. We’ll show you how to bring out the Pixel in Nova Launcher and Action Launcher, and how to put it all together.

Google Wallpapers

I’ve said before in themes like these that stock wallpapers are boring as hell, make me sad and shouldn’t be used. Thankfully, I don’t have to say that this time because the Wallpapers app that ships on the Pixel and is available on Google Play has dozens and dozens of beautiful and diverse wallpapers ranging from Google Earth and Landscapes to Life and Textures. They even have daily wallpaper settings so that your wallpaper can’t get stale and sad, because you can wake up every morning to a new one! Yay!

See our review of Google Wallpapers

Icons

The Pixel uses round icons. Woo. Hoo. There are a lot (by which I mean a metric crapton) of round icon packs out there, but we’ve come to the two we prefer over all others, and indeed over the mismatched stock icons on the Pixel.

Pixel UI Icon Pack, left, and Dives – Icon Pack, right

• Pixel Icon Pack (Free) is a free icon pack with the Pixel icons we’ve come to love (or not), along with a decent amount of themed third-party icons and a masking tool for icons that don’t have an icon in the pack yet. There aren’t a lot of alternate icons, but it looks decent in the app drawer and on the home screen, is easy to apply and easy to navigate if you’re looking for a specific icon or alternate.
• Dives – Icon Pack ($0.99) is by Vertumus, a developers with some very robust and beautiful packs, and while you can find the standard Pixel icons here for stock apps along with round icons for thousands of apps, what we also have here are alternate icons for apps like Google Play Music that look SO MUCH BETTER than the one Google is using. In fact use the alt_3 icon for all the Google Play apps. Oh, and the icon pack is on sale for a dollar right now, half off its usual $2 price tag.

Pixel via Action Launcher (aka the easy way)

Action Launcher recognizes that changing settings across an entire launcher takes a while, which is why they were gracious enough to provide a shortcut. Here’s how to find it again if you didn’t use it the first time it popped up:

Open Action 3 Settings.
Swipe up to scroll down to the bottom of the settings menu.

Tap Help.

Tap Looking for Pixel Launcher features.
Action Launcher will then list and explain all of the Pixel features and styles it has. It’ll tell you where you can activate each individual one.

Tap Apply All.

Action Launcher will tell you what all it is about to change and ask you if that’s what you wanted. Tap OK.
Tap the back button to get back into the main menu of Action 3 Settings.

Scroll up and tap Display.

Tap Icon pack.
Select Dives or Pixel Icon Pack. Action Launcher has some of the default Pixel icon built in, but you’ll want a real icon pack to put some consistency on your launcher.

This will get you everything for the Pixel theme except the Google search bar, which isn’t available in Quickbar but instead as a standalone widget at the top of the widget drawer. While this does mean that you can put that little pill wherever you want on the screen and that you don’t look the entire top bar of your screen like you do on other launchers, you can’t customize the color like Action Launcher’s signature Quickbars, nor can you get the date or weather. Shame.

Pixel via Nova Launcher (aka the hard way)

Nova Launcher is the Old Faithful of third-party launchers: it is beautiful, it is dependable, and it’s the best quarter I ever spent in Google Play back in the day. While you can get most of the way to Pixel with the free version of Nova Launcher, you need Nova Launcher Prime for the gesture actions we’re going to be using for the app drawer. The Pill search bar is still in beta for Nova Launcher, which you can opt into here.

If you didn’t already use Nova Launcher, you can import your current layout to Nova upon installing it by going into Nova Settings. In the Backup & import settings, tap Import and select your launcher. You’ll have to click through a few warnings about deleting your current Nova layout, but if you just installed the launcher, you’re just losing the default layout

Open Nova Settings.
Tap Desktop.

Tap Desktop grid.

Set the desktop grid to 4 rows by 5 columns. Tap Done to return to Desktop settings.
Tap Width Padding and select Medium.

Tap Height padding and select Medium.

Tap Persistent search bar to turn it on.
Tap Search bar style.

Tap the pill-shaped Pixel Bar style.

Tap Bar color
Set it to white.

Scroll down to Logo style and select the colorful G.

Scroll down and tap Weather to turn on weather content in the search bar.
Tap the back button twice to return to the main menu in Nova Settings.

Tap App & widget drawers.

Tap Drawer App Grid.
Set to 6 rows by 5 columns.

Tap Done to return to App & widget drawer settings.

Tap Frequently used apps to turn it on.
Tap App drawer style.

Tap to select Vertical.

Make sure Card background is turned off.
Tap Swipe to open to turn it on.

Tap Background.

Select White and set Transparency to 0%.
Tap Enable fast scrollbar to turn it on.

Tap Scroll accent color

Select Teal (fourth row, first column).
Tap Search bar to turn it on.

Tap the back button to return to the main menu in Nova Settings.

Tap Dock.
Tap Dock Background

Select Rectangle.

Tap Color.
Select White.

Drag Transparency to 70%

Tap Draw behind navigation bar to turn it on if you have on-screen navigation buttons.
Tap the back button to return to Dock settings.

Tap Dock icons.

Set to 5. Tap Done to return to Dock settings.
Tap Width padding and select Medium.

Tap Height padding and select Large.

Tap the back button to return to the main menu in Nova Settings.
Tap Folders.

Tap Folder Preview.

Select Grid.
Tap Folder Background.

Select N Preview.

Tap Background.
Select White and set Transparency to 0%.

Tap the back button to return to the main menu in Nova Settings.

Tap Look & feel.
Tap Icon theme.

Select Dives or *Pixel Icon Pack**.

If you want an extra way to swipe open your app drawer, tap Gestures & inputs.
Tap Swipe up.
Tap app drawer.

Going beyond the Pixel

The stock Pixel theme we’ve described up above brings a nice, clean, bright look to our launchers, but there’s no saying we have to follow the Pixel theme to the letter. Here are a few ways to make your Pixel theme a little more flexible, fun, and fitting:

• Folder Fun: By changing the color of your folder Background in Nova or Folder icon background away from white, you can make your folders pop with a colored ring on that porthole preview. It can be a challenge to pick a hue that looks good on your theme as both a preview and folder background color, but when pulled off properly it can be quite stunning.
• Pretty Pill: While you can’t customize the color of your Pixel search widget in Action Launcher, Nova will let you customize the color of the search bar to better match your wallpaper or theme colors. I don’t know about you, but white widgets hurt my soul.
• Shapely Icons: If circular icons aren’t your cup of tea, you can fall back on some of our favorite icon packs: the Material icon pack Glim or the monochromatic Whicons and Zwart packs go with almost any theme, Pixel included.

So, how Pixely do you like your launcher? Have any circular icon packs that we may have overlooked? Chime in below in the comments, and if you have any themes you’d like me to tackle, sing out!

Google Pixel + Pixel XL

• Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
• Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
• Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
• Pixel + Pixel XL specs
• Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
• Join the discussion in the forums!

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