Intel’s budget Apollo Lake CPUs make a low-key debut
On top of its fast, 4K-hungry seventh generation Core CPUs, Intel has also unveiled its next batch of chips meant for low-end hardware — though, for some reason, it did so very quietly. Anandtech has the details on the new “Apollo Lake” CPUs, which are built on a 14 nanometer process and will replace the last batch of Celeron and Pentium processors. While you’ll typically find Intel’s Core CPUs in mid-range and high-end devices, the Apollo Lake chips show up in budget notebooks, desktops and other devices that don’t demand much computing performance.
The new family includes three desktop and three mobile CPUs, all of which are based on the new Goldmont architecture and Intel’s ninth generation GPU technology. Here’s the new lineup, with the desktop chips listed on the top.
| CPU frequency | Cores/threads | Price | |
| Pentium J4205 | 1.5 GHz – 2.6 GHz | 4/4 | $161 |
| Celeron J3455 | 1.5 GHz – 2.3 GHz | 4/4 | $107 |
| Celeron J3355 | 2 GHz – 2.5 GHz | 2/2 | $107 |
| Pentium N4200 | 1.1 GHz – 2.5 GHz | 4/4 | $161 |
| Celeron 3450 | 1.1 GHz – 2.2 GHz | 4/4 | $107 |
| Celeron 3350 | 1.1 GHz – 2.4 GHz | 2/2 | $107 |
Just like before, the Pentium chips are the more powerful of the bunch, with slightly faster clock speeds and Intel’s HD 505 graphics (the others use HD 500). As Ars Technica points out, the new chips’ TDP (thermal design power) sits between 6 watts and 10 watts, which is surprising since the seventh-gen Core Y-series processors come in lower at 4.5 watts. The new Apollo Lake desktop lineup also draws 10 watts of power across the board, higher than the previous chip’s 6.5 watt TDP.
We’re not sure why Intel had to raise the thermal profiles for its new low-end chips, but it might have to do with the shift towards a more powerful GPU. Since the company killed off its mobile-focused SoFIA and Broxton chips, I wouldn’t expect to see any of the new Apollo Lake offerings in tablets. They might make their way into very cheap convertible PCs, though.
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Anandtech
Verizon finally adds free unlimited slow data to all its plans
When Verizon first unveiled its revamped prices in July, several new features seemed really lame. The most egregious was the company’s “Safety Mode,” which was included only on its XL and XXL plans for free. Customers on other packages had to opt in and pay an extra $5 a month for the service, which gave you unlimited data at slower-than-LTE speeds after you exceeded your limit. But it looks like Verizon has wised up. A spokesperson for the carrier confirmed to us that, starting Sept 6, Safety Mode will be included for free on all sizes of the new Verizon Plan.
The company is also introducing a new limited-time 12GB plan for $80, which sits between its existing 8GB and 16GB tiers that cost $70 and $90 respectively. In comparison, AT&T offers 10GB for $90 a month, and both providers impose an additional access charge of $20 per month. T-Mobile now only offers unlimited data for $70, while Sprint charges $60 a month for 12GB (with a $20-$45 access fee).
In response to our article in July questioning the Safety Mode fee for plans under XL, Verizon’s director of communications Kelly Crummey told us that those on bigger data plans got the feature for free because they need it more than those on smaller allowances. “Customers on our larger plans (who typically have multiple lines and share data) exceed their data allowances more than people on smaller plans,” she wrote.
Big Red has clearly changed tack since then. It’s not a completely new move in the industry. T-Mobile, Sprint and low-cost carriers such as Cricket Wireless also provide an always-available data connection at a slower 128kbps speed.
That’s not ideal for impatient users, but it at least means you won’t be completely disconnected from the Internet when you run over your allowance. Safety Mode will still require an opt-in, though, so those who just signed up for the new Verizon plan should check the My Verizon app to make sure it’s activated if they wish to avoid overages.
Via: The Verge
Samsung reportedly gearing up to announce a Galaxy Note 7 recall
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 debuted to almost surprising critical acclaim earlier this month, but since launch we’ve seen occasional reports of devices exploding while being charged. The company said yesterday that it delayed Note 7 shipments while it looked into the situation, but a report from Korea’s Yonhap News Agency suggests Samsung knows what’s going on and is prepared to announce a widespread recall.
Yonhap spoke to an anonymous Samsung official, who claimed the cause of the explosions stemmed from the Galaxy Note 7’s battery. While the exact cause of these battery explosions has yet to be disclosed, Yonhap’s source went on to say “less than 0.1 percent” of devices sold are affected. When asked for comment, a Samsung spokesperson provided the following statement:
“In response to questions on Galaxy Note7, we are conducting a thorough inspection. We will share the findings as soon as possible. Samsung is fully committed to providing the highest quality products to our consumers.”
If the report holds true, the company doesn’t plan to announce the results of its investigation until either this weekend or early next week. That delay is said to be a result of discussions Samsung is having with its global carrier partners — Verizon is said to be one such company Samsung is discussing the matter with, which suggests that the upcoming recall could be a global one. The cynics in us also can’t help but note that if Samsung waits to announce the results of its investigation until next week, it might be able to dodge a certain degree of press scrutiny at the IFA tradeshow currently running in Berlin.
To date, the Note 7 has been launched in ten countries, and Samsung has said demand has exceeded its own expectations. The sales situation has grown so strained, in fact, that Samsung told CNBC it had to adjust the device’s launch in some markets. That people want Galaxy Note 7s isn’t a surprise; reviewers (myself included) seemed to love the device. More importantly, after the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge helped the company rebound from a rough financial start to 2016, Samsung looked to the Note 7 as one of its financial pillars for the latter half of this year. If a recall — global or otherwise — is in the works, Samsung’s near future won’t be as rosy as it hoped.
Source: Yonhap
Uber wants to be New York’s L train shutdown savior
New York commuters are bracing for the 18 month closure of the L train that will disrupt the daily commute of 225,000 people. Scheduled to shut down in 2019, the artery between Manhattan and Brooklyn will be undergoing repairs for damage done by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Yeah, it’s going to suck.
In a Newsweek op-ed Uber’s General Manager of NYC, Josh Mohrer proposed temporarily lifting a ban on unregulated drivers to help ferry commuters across the Williamsburg Bridge to reduce some of the expected congestion brought on by the L train shutdown. The ride-sharing company would use its new Commuting Together service to help people already driving into the Manhattan find passengers going along the same route.
Mohrer says that in addition to the running Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) shuttles across the bridge, a pilot program of its Commuting Together system could potentially remove 11,000 vehicles from the road.
This would require the city of New York to temporarily lift its ban on unregistered taxi drivers. Currently Uber drivers have to get a license from the Taxi and Limousine Commission and complete training. Just like folks that drive cabs.
The Commuting Together system would circumvent all that training to make it more appealing to commuters hoping to make a few bucks while driving across the bridge. They wouldn’t be regular Uber drivers. However, it’s unlikely that New York mayor, Bill De Blasio is a fan of ride-hailing company’s “generosity.” He recently tried and failed to curb the amount of new Uber drivers in the city.
During his call to restrict new drivers, Uber added a fake “De Blasio” feature to its app in New York to show what the city would be like if the proposal passed.
If the city does temporarily lift its driver restrictions, after the L train repairs have been completed, it’s going to be a lot tougher for New York to shut down the pilot program once commuters become accustomed to it. Plus, it won’t just be commuters coming from Brooklyn that will be using the service.
Of course, in the next two years Uber could see an uptick in new, regulated drivers using Uber Pool to help commuters get from Brooklyn from Manhattan.
Via: The Verge
Source: Newsweek
Apple is hunting down unused, dysfunctional apps
Apple has vowed to remove from the App Store any programs that no longer work, don’t follow current review guidelines or are simply outdated. Starting September 7th, Apple will review and remove apps that crash on launch, and the company will contact developers whose apps don’t meet the new guidelines. Developers then have 30 days to submit an update; otherwise, their programs are gone for good.
Even if they’re removed, apps will continue to work for anyone who has already downloaded them (and that includes in-app purchases). Plus, new developers won’t be able to steal the names of deleted apps — those remain tied to the original developer’s account.
Apple also plans to fight spammy and long names in the App Store, TechCrunch reports. After September 7th, all app and update names will have a maximum length of 50 characters. This gets rid of apps that attempt to capture extra search relevance with names that read like a list of Tumblr tags.
These moves are aimed at cleaning up search results in the App Store, which hosts more than 2 million games, tools and time-wasters. September 7th also happens to be the day of Apple’s big iPhone event, where we expect to see the so-called iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.
Source: Apple, TechCrunch
Wirecutter’s best deals: Save $50 on a Verilux sunshine simulator
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a buyer’s guide to the best technology. Read their continuously updated list of deals atTheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends atThe Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
Verilux HappyLight Deluxe 10,000 LUX sunshine simulator
Street price: $130; MSRP: $190; Deal price: $80
Only the second time we’ve posted a deal on this lamp, and it’s a huge drop below the last price we posted, which was $108. This blows past that, dropping all the way down to $80, though you’ve got to be a Prime member to get this discount.
The Verilux HappyLight Deluxe is our runner-up pick for the best light therapy lamp. Kit Dillon said, “It has many of the same features as the Day-Light Classic Plus, including UV-free, 10,000-lux light and a large 200-square-inch face. Unlike the Day-Light Classic Plus, the HappyLight is not adjustable by height and angle, though that makes it a less cumbersome light overall. In fact, upright designs like this one will project light further than adjustable units; the HappyLight promises a 10,000-lux intensity up to 14 inches away from its surface—that’s two inches further than our top pick provides.”
Samsung SmartThings Hub
Street price: $100; MSRP: $100; Deal price: $79
We’ve only posted this price once in the past, though it did drop this low one other time that we missed. This is part of a larger Samsung SmartThings sale that’s available until the 10th, so if you’re considering upgrading multiple devices, it’s a great time to buy.
The Samsung SmartThings Hub is our pick for the best smart hub. Jon Chase wrote, “The Samsung SmartThings Hub is a polished, powerful option for tech-savvy DIYers who have a desire for an integrated smart home but lack the budget for or interest in a professionally installed system. It’s easy to set up on your home network, and pairing it with other smart devices is largely seamless.”
He went on to say, “We did extensive research on hubs in general and the SmartThings hub in particular, and believe our experience is consistent with the reviews and findings of most other outlets: Namely, of all the hubs on the market, the Samsung SmartThings Hub is the most powerful and promising, but is best suited to devout tinkerers and those willing to spend a fair amount of time tweaking and refining their smart-home system.”
Philips Hue white and color Ambiance A19 bulbs
Street price: $60; MSRP: $60; Deal price: $50
This is a nice $10 drop from the usual $60 price on this LED bulb. It rarely drops in price at all, and if you’re planning to buy multiple bulbs for your house, the savings add up.
The Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 is our pick from the LED smart bulb starter kit we recommend in the best smart LED light bulbs guide. Grant Clauser wrote, “The Philips Hue A19 color-changing smart LEDs are the all-around best smart bulbs you can buy. The Hue does everything its competitors do, but a wider product and app ecosystem allows for more flexibility and creativity than any other smart bulb. It costs a bit more than the average smart bulb, but wide compatibility with other products and systems, such as Apple’s HomeKit, Samsung’s SmartThings hub, and Amazon’s Alexa, mean you’ll be able to do more with them than other bulbs; this makes them a more practical long-term investment.”
Refurbished Motorola SB6183 SURFboard cable modem
Street price: $84 (new); MSRP: $100 (new); Deal price: $55
We haven’t posted too many deals on the SB6183 since the SB6141 is usually a much better value, but at $55 for a refurbished model, we think this is worth it That puts it only $15 above the best price we’ve ever seen on refurbished models of the SB6141, and for those of you with faster internet plans, that’s likely worth the upgrade. This comes with a 90 day warranty.
The Motorola SB6183 SURFboard is the upgrade pick in our guide on the best cable modem. David Murphy said, “It supports double the download speeds of the SB6141, but few Internet plans offer that much speed. You’ll need it only if you subscribe to a plan like Time Warner’s 300Mbps Ultimate tier, found in locations like Los Angeles, New York City, and Austin.”
He added, “If you’re not paying a ton of money for these super-fast plans, our upgrade pick is overkill. Our primary pick, an 8×4 cable modem, gives you plenty of overhead for your service.”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.
Recently patched iOS security flaw also affects OS X
Last week Apple rolled out a patch for iOS that closed a security flaw that could give attackers control over a device by having a user click a single link. Now, Apple is patching the same hole in the Safari web browser on the desktop, with new updates for the browser as well as OS X Yosemite and El Capitan. Lookout Security and Citizenlab identified the flaw based on a link sent to a human rights activist, and believe the “cyber war” organization NSO Group was selling the exploit to governments like the UAE.
You may or may not be a target of government surveillance, but now that the vulnerability is widely known others could try to use it. That means it’s probably a good idea to make sure you have the latest updates installed right now before you click another shady web link.
Kurdos #Apple for quickly patching Safari & OS X for Webkit and Kernel vulns identified by @citizenlab and @lookout https://t.co/G3SwH72xln
— citizen lab (@citizenlab) September 1, 2016
Via: Motherboard
Source: Apple – OS X Update info, Apple Safari update info
Tech’s biggest names are working to regulate AI research
Artificial intelligence is hitting its stride, already giving us machines that can drive themselves, talk to us, fight in our wars, perform our surgeries and beat humanity’s best in a game of Go or Jeopardy. Five companies at the forefront of the technology industry have been meeting to discuss these advancements in AI and figure out how to regulate even more powerful systems in the future, The New York Times reports.
Researchers from Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are looking at the practical consequences of AI, such as how it will impact transportation, jobs and welfare. The group doesn’t have a name or an official credo, but its general goal is to ensure AI research focuses on benefiting people, not harming them, the NYT says.
This isn’t a new battle cry for many AI scientists. In 2015, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, the founders of Google DeepMind and dozens of other researchers signed an open letter calling for robust investigations into the impact of AI and ways to ensure it remains a benign tool at humanity’s disposal. The industry partnership is notable because it represents a renewed, active effort among disparate tech companies to address these same issues.
The companies are expected to announce the group in mid-September, though it could grow in the meantime: Google DeepMind has asked to participate separately from Alphabet, its parent company, the NYT reports.
One of the people involved in the industry partnership, Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz, funded a paper issued by Stanford University on Thursday called the One Hundred Year Study, which discusses the realities of AI and the importance of investigating its impact now. It also calls for increased AI education at all levels of government and outlines how to publish a report on the state of the industry every five years for the next 100 years.
The NYT notes that people in the technology field are worried about regulators jumping in to police their work on AI.
“We’re not saying that there should be no regulation,” University of Texas at Austin computer scientist Peter Stone tells the NYT. “We’re saying that there is a right way and a wrong way.”
This summer, Engadget dove into the ways AI is poised to change jobs, war, criminal justice, history and our everyday lives. AI is the focus of much deserved attention in the technology industry because it is infinitely promising — even if we won’t be uploading our consciousness to the cloud any time soon.
Source: New York Times
YouTubers call out ad guidelines as a form of censorship
According to YouTube, the platform’s Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines are intended to protect brands and their advertisements from appearing alongside content those advertisers might find questionable. And for many of the platform’s creators, monetizing videos with advertisements can be a lucrative business. In the past 24 hours or so, however, an update to the way YouTube notifies creators that their videos have been stripped of ads has caused an uproar on social media, with some of the most popular names on the site claiming the removal of advertising is a form of censorship.
Leading the charge is 10-year veteran YouTuber Phillip DeFranco, whose channel has over 4.5 million subscribers alone. On Wednesday, DeFranco posted a video titled “YouTube Is Shutting Down My Channel and I’m Not Sure What To Do” claiming he’d received notifications that his most recent video was “Not advertiser-friendly.” According to DeFranco, about a dozen of his videos had their ads stripped away, followed by a few dozen more less than a day later. What alarmed DeFranco the most, however, was how the most recently stripped video didn’t appear to contain objectionable content at all — only a discussion of a potentially sensitive topic. DeFranco covered Chris Brown’s standoff with the police, among other topics, but he also believes his long-running tagline “‘sup you beautiful bastards?” may have gotten him flagged.
Other creators have chimed in on the #YouTubeIsOverParty hashtag, as well. Beauty vlogger Melanie Murphy noted one of her biggest-earning videos was stripped of its advertisements despite not having any offensive language or content. “I’m left with the assumption that the fact that acne is visible in the thumbnails…is off-putting to potential advertisers,” she explained to CNET. “If that’s the case, it’s very upsetting.”
Other YouTubers like MrRepzion and Luke Cutforth claim their videos have been stripped of advertisements because of their frank discussion of difficult mental health topics like suicide and depression, and that the “de-monetization” therefore stigmatizes such issues.
YouTube disabled ads on my DEPRESSION video cus advisers dont like it. Sorry depression isn’t fucking pretty enough… pic.twitter.com/YXs0YFGVAb
— luke cutforth✨ (@LukeIsNotSexy) August 31, 2016
While it is YouTube’s prerogative to run their platform however they wish (and for advertisers to have a say in where they do and do not want their ads to appear), DeFranco argues that preventing creators from monetizing their work is a form of censorship. By removing a creator’s revenue stream, his argument goes, YouTube has rendered that person’s business unsustainable and is essentially silencing their voice.
For its part, YouTube has issued a statement saying the policy is not new at all, only the notification system has changed. Whereas in the past a user would have to go into the individual video analytics to see whether a video had been de-monetized, users are now receiving notifications via email. Still, it is unclear if the de-monetization process happens via algorithm, like the platform’s copyright flagging system does, or whether there are humans reviewing the videos and removing the ads. There is, however, an appeals process by which users can have their videos reviewed and possibly get their revenue stream reinstated.
Via: CNET, Gizmodo
Source: CNET, Gizmodo
Fitbit Adventures lets you run the New York City marathon virtually
Fitbit’s app rolled out with several new updates today, squarely focused on offering ways to experience virtual outings in the form of Fitbit Adventures.
Utilizing a series of non-competitive micro challenges, Fitbit Adventures will task you with running the New York City Marathon or hiking the trails of Yosemite from the comfort of the gym or your own home. Instead of trudging away on the treadmill, you can pretend you’re experiencing something much more majestic.
Each program will allow you to splice it up into multiple day plans or tackle them in one day, offering photographs and other interactive experiences that correlate with where you’re currently at in the trail. Moving your phone around will alter what you’re currently looking at, as if you were actually hiking each trail, much like apps do in VR space.
If you’re looking for a way to spice up your fitness routine, you could do way worse than this. The update’s available now if you want to give it a go.
Via: Fast Company
