Nano-scale mirror could be a breakthrough for optical computing
Using a mere 2,000 atoms of cesium, Professor Julien Laurat and his team at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris have created the world’s smallest mirror. According to postdoctoral fellow Neil Corzo, who is also lead author on the team’s research paper published in the Physical Review Letters journal this week, the nano-mirror has the same level of reflectance as materials that require tens of millions of atoms and could one day lead to new advances in optical computing.
The mirror uses a nanoscale optical fiber only 400 nm in diameter to place the chain of cesium atoms in just the right alignment to reflect the light. (For reference, a human hair is roughly 80,000-100,000 nm thick.) Because of the extremely tiny scale, the atom chains had to be precisely spaced at half the wavelength of the light beam — which also means the color of light had to be specifically chosen.
As Popular Mechanics notes, the team was able to use the mirror to temporarily trap the light beam, essentially creating a sort of optical diode that can store and retrieve light pulses. As Corzo concludes in the paper, this may eventually prove useful in building light-based photonic circuits that will vastly increase computing speeds.
Via: Popular Mechanics
Source: Physical Review Letters, Science News Journal
Daily brief: LG ramps up, BlackBerry shuts down, and Samsung is on fire
Over the hills and far away.
This morning, as BlackBerry announced the shuttering of its hardware division, which will lead to around 100 job losses at the company, LG began to ramp up the V20 sales machine in its home country of Korea.
Frankly, it’s no surprise that BlackBerry has taken this road given its difficulty selling hardware since the introduction of BlackBerry 10 in 2013. And while the Priv, its first Android phone, was pretty well-received, it’s safe to say it didn’t break sales records. But while it was marketing the Priv and working with TCL on releasing its follow-up, the $299 DTEK50, it was quietly improving its Android software suite with the intention of releasing it widely across the Android ecosystem. The reality is that BlackBerry has always been pretty good at software, and despite its struggles to build a viable app store within BlackBerry 10, its iOS and Android alternative, it was a pretty good OS.
At the same time, after using the V20 in a pre-production state, it’s clear that LG, like many other Android OEMs, still struggles to temper its tendency to overthink Android software. It may launch with Android 7.0 Nougat, but it doesn’t really resemble what you’d find on the Nexus 6P or 5X.
Companies like LG, Huawei, and even Samsung, could learn a thing or two from BlackBerry by focusing on providing an Android experience as well-considered and mature as their hardware.
And if you’re still interested in BlackBerry as a company, and BB10 as an OS, CrackBerry isn’t going anywhere. Go pay them a visit, and tell them Daniel sent you.
Huawei Mate 9 leaks: six colors, up to 6GB RAM and 256GB storage
Looks like Huawei’s upcoming Nougat-powered slab will have three price tiers between $480 and $700, with the top-level Mate 9 being available in six colors, with 6GB of RAM and an enormous quarter-terabyte of internal storage. Look for a mid-November launch with the new EMUI 5 interface. More
BlackBerry is out of the phone business
While not entirely surprising, BlackBerry has confirmed that its future is entirely in the software space. After years of waffling around it, CEO John Chen said during its Q2 2017 earnings that the company would stop designing and building its own phones, choosing to rely on third parties like Foxconn and TCL. More
OnePlus continues move towards creating water
The OnePlus 3 is getting another community build. OxygenOS 3.5.3 adds a few tweaks, including scrolling screenshots and a new default clock widget for the home screen. It’s unclear when OxygenOS 3.5 will move to production, but it shouldn’t be too long now before the merger of OxygenOS and HydrogenOS is complete.
In other OnePlus news, the end-of-the-line OnePlus X is finally getting its Marshmallow update with OxygenOS 3.1.2.
MasterCard offering Brits free London travel and coffee with Android Pay
Each Monday in October, the card provider will cover the cost of travel on TfL, including the tube, London bus services and Emirates Air Line (up to £30.50), as well as offering free hot drinks at Caffe Nero when you use Android Pay. Check out the full details.
Samsung faces new Note 7 battery fire claim in China
A Guangzhou man claims his Note 7 exploded less than day after delivery, but he’s reportedly not handing it over for inspection by Samsung because he doesn’t trust the company. Two similar reports have been explained away by Samsung as being caused by external heat sources. More
LG V20 lands in Korea this week
Other regions (with the exception of Europe) should be getting the phone in the coming weeks. More
Google Play Music now available in India
At long last, it appears Google’s entire music catalog is available to Indian consumers. Singles cost ₹15, with albums between ₹70 and ₹210 (more than Apple Music). Play Music also has most Bollywood albums released in the last 20 years. More
Alcatel brings the Idol 4 to Canada for free on contract
Alcatel told Canadians that the Idol 4 would be coming to Quebec-only Videotron on September 30, and now the company is also bringing the phone, minus the cool VR headset, to Bell and Virgin Mobile. Available for $0 on a 2-year plan, or $299.99 outright, the Idol 4 doesn’t have the greatest spec sheet, but it is a pretty decent little phone for the price. There’s also a new Pop 7 LTE tablet available at both carriers for $150.
Anyone can now create a Twitter Moment
Do you use Twitter Moments? You know that middle tab that gets in the way of your horizontal scrolling between Timeline and Direct Message. I kid, but not really. Now, Twitter is rolling out Moments creation to anyone, allowing users to compile Tweets into a cohesive narrative in order to tell a story. Yay?
That’s a mighty big smartphone
Huh.
Nissan made self-driving chairs so you won’t have to stand in line
Nissan, the Japanese carmaker, is now making autonomous chairs.
Most people are familiar with waiting in line. In the UK, you do it at the bank. In the US, you do it at the DMV or post office. Queues are a thing everywhere in the world, and almost everyone has a day when they hate standing in them. Well, Nissan has come up with a solution to the problem.
It has introduced a fleet of ProPilot Chairs. A ProPilot Chair is a self-driving seat, and it’s equipped with sensors that allow the chair to detect and follow the another ProPilot Chair in front of it, and any empty chairs in the line will automatically glide to the back. The chairs won’t take you down the road to the cinema, but if you’re lazy and fed up with standing in lines, they will alleviate some of your woes when it comes to queuing.
Nissan said the chairs’ technology is based on the same system that’s currently available in the Serena minivan, which isn’t completely autonomous, but its forward-facing cameras and on-board sensors allow it to drive around corners, slow down, etc. Keep in mind Nissan is one of several companies planning to make its autonomous vehicles ready for crowded city centers by 2020.
The ProPilot Chairs are currently on display at Nissan’s public gallery in Japan, and they will be trialled at restaurants in the country from 2017.
Amazon’s new Fire TV stick is faster and has an Alexa remote (but no 4K)
Amazon is giving its streaming media stick an update.
The company has announced a new Amazon Fire TV streaming media stick with a quad-core processor, rather than the dual-core processor found the last stick, and support for faster Wi-Fi (802.11ac MIMO). But the most interesting upgrade is the new “Alexa” remote that comes bundled with it, as it lets you use your voice to find content to watch from over 7,000 HD channels.
Unfortunately, the new stick still can’t handle 4K streams. If you want a media player that stream 4K video, check out Amazon’s full-fledged Fire TV box. The updated stick costs $40, so it’s priced the same as the previous model, and it includes the remote, which used to cost an extra $10. Amazon will start shipping its new Amazon Fire TV stick in October.
ACTIVATE BY 31 OCT AND GET $65 IN CONTENT
To encourage you to pick the new Amazon Fire TV stick up sooner rather than later, Amazon said customers who activate it by 31 October will get “up to $65 in free content from Sling TV, Hulu, and Amazon Video”. Keep in mind Roku recently just launched a new line of streaming media players, including a $30 Roku Express. It also offers a 4K-capable box.
Also, Google might release a new Chromecast Ultra with support for 4K.
- Chromecast Ultra: Everything you need to know
‘No Man’s Sky’ is being investigated for false advertising
After No Man’s Sky hit shelves in early August, complaints arose around bugs and oversights made by its small studio Hello Games. But as the weeks wore on, a new uproar struck out at the differences between concept videos and the released game, which some players and press believe lacked many features promised in its early promotional material. Now the UK-based Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is launching an investigation into those disparities.
The inquiry specifically regards material appearing on the No Man’s Sky’s Steam store page. But the ASA’s decision would be applicable to all advertising that similarly doesn’t reflect the final game, a spokesman told Reddit user AzzerUK, who posted a list of the main claims being investigated.
By their descriptions, the ASA is assumedly comparing the final game to its E3 2014 demo, which is also the first one that appears front and center on the game’s Steam page. Among those are disparities, like UI design, flowing water and aiming systems, that are the kinds of things that change during a game’s development. But others are more severe: It’s clear that the released version lacks several features displayed in the press video, like animals interacting and crashing through environmental underbrush or large-scale space battles.
If the ASA does declare that the game was falsely advertised, it’s unclear what kind of repercussions Hello Games would face: The UK regulator’s page indicates that, in most cases, the offending companies simply agree to remove the ad. In that case, they’d just strip the videos and claims on No Man’s Sky’s Steam page to comply.
Despite all the outrage and supposed flood of refunds at the end of August, the game still sold ridiculously well in its first week. SteamSpy indicates over 750,000 units sold on the platform to date, all presumably at the $60 sticker price. Further bad press from a false advertising declaration won’t ruin the game’s already controversial reputation, which has a “Mostly Negative” rating (only 34% positive) on Steam. Hello Games would probably just cry all the way to the bank.
Engadget has reached out to Steam and Hello Games, neither of which responded at press time.
Source: Polygon
FDA approves first automated insulin system for type 1 diabetes
For diabetes patients, managing blood sugar levels through insulin pens, needles or pumps is a necessary hassle — but it might be far easier to handle going forward. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first automated insulated delivery device for type 1 diabetes, Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G. The gadget uses a sensor to detect glucose levels under your skin every 5 minutes, and supplies just enough insulin to keep your blood sugar stable. While you do have to trigger a manual insulin dose after meals, you generally won’t have to be as involved in the process as before.
The technology isn’t flawless. A trial only showed that the 670G works for 14-year-olds and older, so you’ll have to wait for subsequent tests to see if it’s safe for children aged 7 and up. It’s demonstrably more effective at maintaining safe blood sugar levels, but it’s not so effective that you’ll always be in your target range. And of course, this doesn’t help with type 2 diabetes, which is far more common — you’re stuck with conventional solutions in that case. Nonetheless, this is a big step toward a day when diabetes is more of a minor nuisance in daily life than a constant presence.
Via: JDRF, ASweetLife
Source: FDA, Medtronic
WhatsApp won’t comply with India’s order to delete user data
WhatsApp’s decision to share user data with Facebook has provoked the ire of yet another foreign government. Last week, India’s Delhi High Court ordered WhatsApp to delete any data collected from users who opted out of the company’s new privacy policy before September 25th. According to Mashable, however, WhatsApp has no plan to comply with the court order and it will have “no impact on the planned policy and terms of service updates.”
In August, privacy groups in the US spoke out against the change, which allows WhatsApp to pass account information like mobile phone number, contacts, profile pictures and status messages to its parent company. Facebook claims that sharing information between the two will help it to improve the experience and fight abuse across both platforms, while WhatsApp defended the change by saying that all messages on the service will remain encrypted. The case before the Delhi High Court was brought by two Indian students who alleged the new terms of service will jeopardize the privacy and “severely compromises” the rights of over 100 million active WhatsApp users in their country.
The change took effect earlier this week, but yesterday the German government also ordered Facebook to stop collecting user data from WhatsApp and to delete any information it had already gathered. In that case, Facebook has said it will appeal the court order.
Source: Mashable
‘Here They Lie’ trailer is a frightening glimpse at PlayStation VR
Here They Lie wowed us back at E3 with its virtual reality spin on existential horror. Now its latest trailer offers up plenty more reasons to get excited (or preemptively terrified) ahead of its October 13th release (right alongside PlayStation VR’s debut). Developed by the team at Tangentleman, it puts you in the shoes of a man experiencing a smorgasbord of horrific imagery while pursuing a mysterious woman. And being a VR joint, you’ll get to suffer right alongside him.
We don’t know much else about Here They Lie’s story yet, but the trailer makes its influences clear. There’s plenty of Kubrickian imagery from The Shining, as well as nods to Jacob’s Ladder (which the developers say directly inspired the game). On the whole, there’s a pervading sense of dread, which is exactly how I like my horror served up. And yes, you can also play it on on the PS4 normally without the VR headset.
Source: PlayStation
App Store Search Ads Go Live October 5, Developers Now Able to Purchase Ad Spots
Back in June, Apple announced some major changes to the App Store, including the addition of ads to App Store search results. App Store Search Ads have gone live as of today, and Apple is allowing developers to purchase ad spots. Ads from developers will be displayed starting on October 5.
Search Ads have been in beta testing since the feature was announced, and developers were previously able to participate in a beta testing program to provide ads that were visible to App Store users.
With Search Ads, developers can bid to have their app listed as the top result when certain keywords are used, improving app discoverability. Ads are available through an auction system, with one ad displayed to customers on each search result page. Ads are clearly marked and ad content is the same content that’s available on the App Store app description pages as it uses App Store metadata and imagery.
According to Apple’s Phil Schiller, Apple “thought about how to carefully” do search ads in a way that “customers will be happy with.” Apple also believes the ad auction system is fair to developers, including indie developers.
Developers do not need to pay a minimum amount to use Search Ads, so it’s possible to buy ads for a small sum of money. Apple prices Search Ads based on a cost-per-tap model, so developers only pay when a user taps on an ad. Apple displays ads based on a combination of bid amount and an app’s relevance to the search query, with ad matching done automatically.
Developers who sign up to offer Search Ads are being given a free $100 credit to get started with the program.
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Skype for iOS Devices Updated With Siri and CallKit Support
Skype today updated its iOS app to version 6.25, adding support for new features that were introduced with iOS 10. Skype now integrates with Siri, allowing users to ask Siri to make a call using Skype for a hands-free way to keep in touch with friends and family.
With iOS 10 and SiriKit, calling someone on Skype is as simple as using the same voice commands you’re already using. Let’s say you’re trying to call Lucy Archer on Skype. If you have her Skype contact information saved in your iOS device, simply say “Call Lucy Archer.” Siri may ask for you to confirm it has the right contact–one click later and your Skype call is initiated!
In iOS 10, contact details for Skype users can be added directly to the Contacts app, which makes it easier to initiate Skype calls and messages through Siri without the need to open the Skype app. You can also invite friends to join Skype from the Contacts list.
Today’s update also introduces support for CallKit, allowing incoming Skype calls to be displayed on the iPhone just like a regular phone call. Skype calls can be answered like traditional phone calls using the built-in iOS functionality, which means they’re answerable from the lock screen.
Skype can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link: iPhone/iPad]
Tag: Skype
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