Live from Microsoft’s Surface 2016 event!
After surprising us with the Surface Book last year, what could Microsoft have in store next for its flagship PC lineup? We’ll find out today during its Surface media event in NYC. As we explained in our preview, rumors currently point to an all-in-one PC that can be converted into a large tablet. It could be something like a cross between the iMac and the Surface Hub. We might also catch a glimpse at Microsoft’s Amazon Echo and Google Home competitor, the “Home Hub,” and hear more about how Windows 10 will evolve.
Microsoft’s Surface event will kick off at 10 am Eastern. Check back here for our live coverage as things kick off.
ICYMI: Channel your inner magician with IoT controllers
Today on In Case You Missed It: If you’ve gotten chicken juice on your smartphone one too many times while trying to whip up a masterpiece in the kitchen, you may be interested in a motion sensor that you can control with a wave of your hand. There’s the practical option, or the adorable. Do you.
Meanwhile, an MIT study aims to understand urban decay and will next automate the process of scoring city photos to help with urban planning. The parody video your shortcut-obsessed friend needs to see is here, while the Silicon Valley Fashion Show story is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Audi drops Le Mans in favor of Formula E
Here’s an unusual turn of events: Audi is dropping its best-known presence in motorsports. The car maker is terminating its FIA World Endurance Championship commitment, which includes 24-hour Le Mans races, in favor of a Formula E factory-backed team. If you ask executives, it’s about reflecting long-term goals. Audi’s regular cars are going electric in ever-larger numbers — when its race cars are “technological spearheads,” they have to go electric as well. The company already has a partnership in the league, but it’ll have technical involvement from 2017 onward.
The brand isn’t completely abandoning fossil-fueled motorsport, at least not yet. It’s still competing in Germany’s DTM series, and it has yet to decide on World Rallycross. If the rallying world moves to electric power, that will make Audi’s decision easier.
This isn’t a trivial choice for a company that’s practically synonymous with Le Mans, and still puts in a good showing (its drivers placed 3rd and 4th in the latest 24-hour race). However, it’s easy to see why Audi would make the jump. It’s not just that developments in EV racing are likely to filter down to production cars. Its rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz are also getting involved in Formula E, so there’s pressure to join — especially when parent company Volkswagen is determined to improve its image in the wake of its emissions cheating scandal. When you also consider that Audi drivers have already won Formula E races, it only makes sense to deepen the firm’s involvement.
Source: Audi MediaCenter
Windows 10 ‘Creator’s Update’ coming for free next spring
Even though the Surface line of convertible PCs has made Microsoft a hardware contender, its world still revolves around Windows 10. At today’s event, the company has revealed a lot of details about the next Windows 10 release, dubbed the “Creator’s Update.” That all starts with the 3D version of Paint it previewed earlier this month that’s far from version you may have created a pixelated doodle with. Instead, it allows you to scan objects from the real world and bring them into a 3D environment.
“If we want to make 3D creation for everyone. It has to be as easy as taking a photo,” Saunders says. The new app lets you scan real objects and get them into Paint as a full 3D object. She showed off the new Capture 3D tool, by walking slowly around a sand castle model with a smartphone and capturing it in full 3D.
There’s also a new Community pane that allows you to find and pull in creations from other users. During the demo, Saunders pulled in a 3D cloud from Community and used it in montage featuring her daughters. She was able to then transform that into a complete 3D object and, naturally, share the whole thing on Facebook. The creations can also be viewed in 360 degrees from Microsoft’s Hololens AR headset, as this is Microsoft, can also be used in PowerPoint.
Talking about the Hololens, Microsoft also showed off a new app called HoloTour, an app that lets you explore and interact with places and cities around the world. Though built for the Hololens, it also works with regular VR headsets.
For gamers, Microsoft has launched a new Twitch-like feature for Windows 10. It lets you broadcast your Xbox games, complete with comments, just by hitting the Windows button and hitting “G” to broadcast. Xbox Live will automatically let your friends know you’re streaming, and allow them to comment in real time. It looks like Microsoft is using technology from Beam, which it acquired in August, so that’s a pretty quick turnaround time.
The new Microsoft Paint lets you share terrible 3D doodles
As rumored, part of the new WIndows 10 Creators update is a brand new version of Paint. In 3D. Microsoft general manager Megan Saunders showed it off onstage using a 3D scan of a sandcastle from the stage, positioned into a scene with her daughters, over a beach background. The good news is that you can export your final creations, render in 3D and post to Facebook and even make custom emojis using the new functionality. You can even jump into Pinterest-alike boards from the community and grab bits and bobs to throw into your masterpiece. Same goes for exporting and printing Minecraft creations you’ve made. It looks gimmicky and schlocky, sure, but it’s not like you could replicate a Jackson Pollock in Microsoft’s simple toolset before.
Click here to catch all the latest news from Microsoft’s big Surface event.
Lenovo, HP and Dell are all working on $300 Windows VR headsets
Microsoft’s holographic computing platform will crossover to the world of virtual reality. It was first announced at Computex earlier this year and today at the company’s Surface event in New York City that vision came to life on stage. The new Windows Creators update will fire up VR headsets from companies like HP, ASUS, Lenovo, Dell and Acer. Modeled after Microsoft’s HoloLens, these new headsets will carry an internal tracking system and will also be untethered. The devices will work with Windows PCs and will start at $299.
Developing…
Click here to catch all the latest news from Microsoft’s big Surface event.
Elgato Launches First HomeKit-Enabled Light Switch
Elgato today launched the Eve Light Switch, the first available light switch to support Apple’s HomeKit platform.
Eve Light Switch replaces a standard light switch to transform any single or multi-bulb setup into an intelligent lighting system controllable via Siri voice commands or the Elgato Eve app. The switch connects directly to an iPhone or iPad using Bluetooth LE, without the need for a hub, gateway bridge, or Wi-Fi configuration.
The switch has a clean, white modern design with a capacitive touch sensor to manually turn a light on or off with the tap of a finger. The switch requires a neutral wire and replaces a single pole switch. It is not intended for use in a 3-way installation where lights are controlled by more than one switch.
Homeowners can create HomeKit scenes to control Eve Light Switch and other HomeKit-enabled accessories with a single command. The light switch can also be controlled away from home with a third-generation Apple TV running software version 7.2.1 or later or a fourth-generation Apple TV with tvOS 9.2 or later set up as a Home Hub.
iDevices introduced a similar HomeKit-enabled wall switch at CES 2016 earlier this year, and had aimed for second quarter availability, but it has since delayed the product’s launch until the fourth quarter. The switch will connect over Wi-Fi and features a customizable LED night light and support for 3-way installations.
Eve Light Switch is available starting today for $49.95 on Amazon and Elgato’s website. The companion Eve app is a free download from the App Store [Direct Link] for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models running iOS 9.3 or later.
Tags: HomeKit, Elgato
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Apple to Announce New App Focused on TV Show Discovery at Tomorrow’s Event
Apple plans to announce a new app that will help viewers discover TV shows at its “Hello Again” media event tomorrow, according to Dawn Chmielewski for USA Today.
The app, dubbed “The Watch List” internally but expected to have a different name, will reportedly recommend TV shows based on the content users access through their Apple TVs.
For example, an FX Networks subscriber might receive a recommendation to watch the new dramatic series Atlanta, the report said.
For network programmers, it provides a central hub for promoting new shows — a helpful tool at a time when old programming tricks for launching a new series, such as wedging a freshman show next to a hit program, don’t work in the digital world.
The report suggests an Apple TV focus, but it does not specifically mention if the app will be for iOS, tvOS, or both platforms.
Apple’s “Hello Again” event kicks off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time on Thursday at its Cupertino, California headquarters.
Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 10
Tag: usatoday.com
Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Caution)
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OnePlus 3T: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
The OnePlus 3 is a fantastic smartphone and although the company ditched the “flagship killer” branding, it is probably this generation that would have been most-worthy of the tagline.
Unfortunately for all those who thought the same us and now own the OnePlus 3, your device might be about to go out of date. No the OnePlus 4 isn’t coming just yet, but there has been talk of a faster OnePlus 3 going by the name OnePlus 3T.
Here is everything we know so far.
OnePlus 3T: Release date
A OnePlus device with the model number A3010 recently passed through China’s version of the FCC – the China Compulsory Certification. A OnePlus designer is then claimed to have confirmed a new device from his Weibo account, referring to the device as the OnePlus 3T.
Neither confirms a release date or price, but the approval from the Chinese Compulsory Certification suggests the device will appear sooner rather than later. There has been talk of a December release, which would make the OnePlus 3T available just in time for Christmas.
OnePlus 3T: Design
The OnePlus 3 features an all-metal, beautiful design and the OnePlus 3T is rumoured to feature the same. Chances are, it will be no different to its slightly older brother.
If this is the case, the OnePlus 3T will be made from anodised aluminium, measure 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm and weigh 158g. The OnePlus 3 is available in Graphite and Soft Gold colour options so we’d expect the same for the OnePlus 3T.
A physical button with a fingerprint sensor built-in will be found on the front of the OnePlus 3T if follows the same design path, while the rear will see a small centralised OnePlus logo, with a larger camera sensor above it towards the top.
OnePlus 3T: Display
Like the design, the display of the OnePlus 3T is expected to remain the same as the OnePlus 3. This means a 5.5-inch Full HD panel for a pixel resolution of 401ppi, putting it slightly lower than the recently launched Google Pixel and Pixel XL.
Google opted for Quad HD on its larger device, which is the same size as the OnePlus 3 and expected OnePlus 3T, but we can’t see OnePlus moving to a higher resolution screen on what is seemingly an incremental upgrade device rather than a new “flagship killer”.
- Google Pixel XL review: Android’s new heavyweight champion
OnePlus 3T: Hardware
According to the rumours, the OnePlus 3T will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, which is a slightly enhanced version of the Snapdragon 820 found in the OnePlus 3. This is the only area where the new device is rumoured to differ.
Launching a OnePlus 3 upgrade with the new processor not only puts it in line with the latest Google flagships terms of speed, but it will also make the OnePlus 3T more VR-friendly given the SD821 has been specifically associated with virtual reality.
All the other hardware is expected to remain the same as the OnePlus 3, meaning 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a 3000mAh battery. Dash Charge will of course be supported again no doubt and USB Type-C will also be present.
- Google Pixel review: Pure, wonderful, enhanced Android
OnePlus 3T: Camera
As you might have guessed by now, the camera combination on the OnePlus 3T is rumoured to be the same as the OnePlus 3.
That means you can expect a 16-megapixel Sony sensor on the rear featuring 1.12µm pixels, an aperture of f/2.0 and 4K video recording capability. It will also likely come with optical image stabilisation, something the Google Pixel devices don’t offer, and phase detetion autofocus.
On the front, the OnePlus 3T should come with an 8-megapixel snapper, offering fixed focus, an aperture of f/2.0 and 1080p video recording capability.
- OnePlus 3 review: The flagship killer we’ve been waiting for
OnePlus 3T: Software
The OnePlus 3T should arrive on Android Nougat with the Oxygen OS overlay. Whether the new device will feature the 7.1 software build is not yet known, but this would make the most sense.
OnePlus weren’t the quickest to update its devices to Marshmallow after the final build was announced in October 2015, with users having to wait over six months, so it would be great to see the OnePlus 3T arrive on the latest software straight from the box.
OnePlus 3T: Conclusion
Based on the rumours, the OnePlus 3T will be the OnePlus 3 but with the latest Snapdragon 821 processor and it will arrive before the end of 2016.
Whether OnePlus will announce a couple of extra surprises for the OnePlus 3T remains to be seen and we are still waiting on a concrete release date, but if you’re considering buying a OnePlus 3, you might want to hold off for a few weeks.
Rumours should of course all be taken with a pinch of salt, but is it worth the risk of seeing your brand-new device potentially replaced with a faster model almost immediately?
AT&T reportedly spies on its customers for government cash
AT&T controls a big chunk of America’s cellular infrastructure, and it turns out that it’s been using that power for super-creepy purposes. The Daily Beast is reporting that the telco has essentially turned itself into a spy-for-hire in the pay of the government. According to the piece, the company’s Project Hemisphere is providing warrantless surveillance, thanks to some legal gray areas, that score it millions of dollars from taxpayers.
The existence of Project Hemisphere has been known since the New York Times reported on it way back in 2013. Back then, it was presented as a minor tool that was only employed in a handful of states for specialized anti-drug operations. If these new revelations are accurate, then Hemisphere’s being used for a wide variety of crimes all across the country ranging from murder all the way through to Medicaid fraud. AT&T’s information is good enough that it can tell investigators where someone was when they made a call, who they were speaking to and, as we know from the EFF, it’s easy to divine intention just from those two pieces of information.
AT&T owns a massive proportion of America’s landline switches and cell towers and stores phone metadata for years, possibly decades. Ordinarily, this bulk collection is mandated by law and the data should be made available upon request with a warrant. AT&T, however, has decided that there’s money in this particular banana stand, and is going above and beyond the call of duty to data mine our personal data, turn it into a product and sell it off.
The company has already responded to the allegations, telling the Beast that there is “no special database.” Which is odd, because the site sources leaked documents where AT&T specifically requests that its name isn’t used in judicial proceedings. After all, if it has nothing to hide and isn’t doing anything dodgy, then why would it need to make outsized requests to protect its privacy? A cynic would say that AT&T values nobody’s privacy but its own, but that’d just be the cynic talking.
Source: The Daily Beast
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