The 2016 Pebble Beach Concept Lawn was nuts as always
Walk along the priciest mini car show in the world. The Concept Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is like the smallest, most expensive car show you can imagine. A bunch of unobtanium concepts and almost-production models line an irregularly shaped putting green for people to stare at while on their way to see other, older insane cars. This year’s crop was a particularly good one.
We’ll walk through the gallery above in order:
- That’s a new Ford GT. Not quite a concept, but it’s not in production yet, so we’ll let it slide.
- Then there’s the one-of-a-kind Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo that was recently bought by a Saudi Prince along with a matching Chiron.
- Next up is the Lamborghini Centenario Roadster, which was unveiled last week and is already sold out.
- This orange automobile is BMW’s 2002 Hommage with its latest livery, a Jägermeister-themed affair called Turbomeister.
- This silver Infiniti, the Q80 Inspiration Concept, is an oldie but a goodie. It first appeared in Paris in 2014.
- The extremely long automobile after that is the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, which was unveiled in Monterey this year. The 6 in the name is because it’s 6 meters, or about 18 feet, long. Most of that’s the hood.
- Next we have the one-of-99 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato coupe, which continues to be beautiful.
- After that is a Fisker Karma with a V8, the VLF Destino. Thank you, Bob Lutz.
- The black sedan you see after that is the Cadillac Escala Concept, which also made its debut in Monterey this year.
- Then we have a Rolls-Royce Wraith Black Badge. Not a concept, but exclusive enough to join the others.
- Next is the McLaren 570GT customized by MSO that arrived for Pebble 2016. It has special design touches plus an electrochromic panel to replace the normal glass roof.
- The light blue car is the Genesis New York concept. The name didn’t change even though it was in Monterey.
- Then we have the large and in charge Lincoln Navigator concept, taking up two regulation concept spots.
- The red car with suicide doors is Acura’s Precision Concept, which we first saw at the Detroit show this year.
- Another non-concept, the Lexus LC 500h at least looks futuristic enough to be a show-specific car.
- And here’s a 2017 Maserati Quattroporte, which is definitely not a concept.
- A Bentley Mulsanne EWB, because why not? It’s not available in the US, so that almost qualifies for concept status.
- Then there’s a reproduction Lister Knobbly, which we could stare at all day.
- And last but not least, the electric Corvette Z06 that holds the street-legal EV speed record.
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Microsoft app helps you coordinate with fellow shift workers
Sure, the office crowd has chat apps like Slack and HipChat to coordinate what they’re doing, but what if you’re a shift worker who needs to swap hours? Microsoft (which already has GroupMe and Skype for Business, we’d add) might help. It’s testing Project Sonoma, a currently closed-access app for Android and iOS that helps shift workers keep track of the daily grind. You can see shifts, request swaps and chat with teammates either one-on-one or in groups. If you’ve ever wanted someone to cover your stint while you’re out at the dentist’s, this could be your app of choice.
Microsoft hasn’t said if or when it plans to release Project Sonoma to everyone. You can sign up for a waiting list if you want to get in. We’ve asked it about what’s happening and will let you know what it says. With that said, it won’t be surprising if you can try it soon. Our friends at TechCrunch suspect that Microsoft bought the developers of a very similar app, Shiftr — while Microsoft has plenty of experiments (such as its Garage projects), it likely wants to translate an acquisition to a widely available product.
Via: TechCrunch, MSPowerUser
Source: App Store, Google Play, Project Sonoma
Chinese scientists study usefulness of manned lunar radar station
China is currently investigating how feasible it would be to build a special manned radar station on the moon due to pricing constraints and how useful such a base would actually be.
While the project, funded by the government to the tune of 16 million yuan, launched earlier this year, would be used for scientific research and defense monitoring, it could also monitor areas on land as well as undersea and underground areas. It would feature a radar antenna 50 meters high and special astronauts’ quarters as well.
The radar itself would be capable of generating 1.4 gigabytes of data per second, which outclasses the bandwidth available from long-distance space communications tech, but it would require on-site astronauts to aid in processing the data there. It would be an extremely pricey endeavor, which is what lead researchers to call it a “lunatic idea” or denounce it entirely, suggesting spy satellites could perform the same tasks at a fraction of the cost.
The Chinese goverment is supposedly looking for a “significant breakthrough” in the plan when 2020 arrives, as will the deadline for the responsible team’s final report.
Via: South China Morning Post
Weeklong Twitch marathon showcases streamers with disabilities
The AbleGamers Charity has been campaigning for greater accessibility in games for over a decade now, applauding games that do inclusivity right and raising money for grants and fellowships. Today they’re kicking off a different awareness project: A Twitch marathon. Six different streamers will broadcast over the next five days, each showcasing how they play to accommodate their disabilities.
Each featured broadcaster is streaming from their individual account. Here’s who to watch and when from Monday, August 22nd until Friday, August 26th:
- HalfCoordinated today at 6 AM PT followed by ThumblessGaming at 4:30 PM PT
- Blindgamer102 at 4 PM PT on Tuesday
- CombodudeTheGamer at 12 PM PT on Wednesday
- DeafGamersTV at 3 PM PT on Thursday
- CrippledKenny at 6 PM PT on Friday
Source: AbleGamers
FBI finds 14,900 more files from Hillary Clinton’s email server
Just because the US Attorney General isn’t bringing charges over Hillary Clinton’s private email server doesn’t mean that it’s all over — far from it. FBI investigators have unearthed 14,900 more files (email and documents) on the server, or almost 50 percent more than Clinton’s lawyers originally turned over to the State Department. Just what’s in those documents isn’t clear, although they come from a disc the FBI obtained that includes email and attachments sent directly to or from the former Secretary of State. Clinton’s attorneys had initially turned over ‘just’ 30,000 messages that they considered work-related, although the FBI didn’t find signs that she or her staff had deleted anything in a bid to hide it.
Whatever the contents, Clinton will face added pressure. A judge in a lawsuit over public records has tossed the State Department’s proposed plans to release documents starting October 14th, and is pushing for an earlier release. That won’t happen too much sooner if the judge is successful (the Department will only have to present a revised plan on September 22nd), but it’ll be enough to shake up the government’s disclosure strategy.
Source: Washington Post
Japan may forge Olympic medals from recycled smartphones
If you caught Japan’s teaser for the 2020 Summer games in Tokyo, you know the nation is planning to lean hard on its pop-culture icons — but Tokyo may also use the Olympics to make a statement about sustainability. According to a report from Nikkei, the organizers of the 2020 games are thinking about using recycled electronics to forge the next summer games’ Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals.
The idea is simple: rather than asking mining corporations to donate precious metal for the Tokyo Olympics, organizers think they can source enough gold, silver and copper from Japan’s “urban mine.” Unfortunately, collecting enough material might be a problem. While Japan’s electronic recycling produces more than enough precious medal each year to forge the Olympic prizes, most of that material is already being used to create yet more electronics.
To that end, the Olympic planning committee is asking companies to pitch ideas for electronic recycling collection programs. The country hopes that framing electronics recycling as a means of letting everyday citizens participate in the games will help to establish a better collection system and help reduce electronic waste.
Source: Nikkei
Apple Seeds Seventh Beta of macOS Sierra to Developers and Public Beta Testers
Apple today released the seventh beta of macOS Sierra, the newest operating system designed for the Mac, to developers and public beta testers. macOS Sierra beta 7 comes one week after the release of the sixth beta and two months after the software was first unveiled at Apple’s 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference.
Developers and public beta testers can download today’s update through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store. Developers can also download the beta from the Apple Developer Center.
macOS Sierra is a major update that brings Siri to the Mac for the first time, allowing users to conduct voice searches to quickly find files, look up information, and more. New Continuity features offer an “Auto Unlock” option for unlocking a Mac with an Apple Watch and a “Universal Clipboard” for copying text on one Apple device and pasting it on another.
Deeper iCloud integration allows files stored on the desktop or the Documents folder of a Mac to be accessed on all of a user’s devices, and Photos features deep learning algorithms for improved facial, object, and scene recognition. There’s also a Memories feature for displaying photo collections, and Messages has rich links, bigger emoji, and “Tapback” response options.
Apple Pay is coming to the web in macOS Sierra, with payments authenticated through an iPhone or Apple Watch, and new features like multiple tabs, Picture in Picture multitasking, optimized storage, and revamped emoji are also available.
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macOS Sierra is currently available to developers and public beta testers, and it will see a wider public release this fall. For full details on all of the new features included in macOS Sierra, make sure to check out our macOS Sierra roundup.
Related Roundup: macOS Sierra
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Microsoft Security Update Brings 64-Bit Support to All Mac Office Apps
Microsoft today release a new update for its Office 2016 for Mac apps, introducing small performance improvements, bug fixes, and 64-bit support across the Office lineup.
Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote have all adopted the 64-bit runtime environment to enable better performance and “new innovative features.” 64-bit support has previously been available to Microsoft’s “Office Insider” beta testers but is rolling out to all users today.
Microsoft Office users who do not use add-ins will be unaffected by the change, while those who do will need to update their add-ins to 64-bit versions as add-in developers release the necessary updates. All add-in developers have had several months to make the updates thanks to the beta testing period, so the transition should be seamless for most end users.
Apple’s Mac operating system has supported 64-bit applications for many years, but prior to 2016, Microsoft continued to offer 32-bit Office for Mac apps.
Microsoft Office for Mac is available through an Office 365 subscription or as a standalone purchase from the Microsoft website. Office 365 costs a minimum of $69.99 per year while the standalone version of Office 2016 for Mac is priced at $149.99.
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Samsung Shuttering its Milk Music Service in the United States
Over the weekend, Samsung announced plans to shut down its Milk music streaming service in the United States, more than two years after it first launched. Milk Music, powered by Slacker Radio, was never able to compete with more popular music streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, and Apple Music.
As of September 22nd 2016, Milk Music will no longer be available. Samsung is encouraging current Milk Music users who want to continue to use the service to sign up for Slacker Radio, and listening history will be able to be transferred over.
Rather than pushing its own music service, Samsung says it plans to pursue a “partner model” that will allow Samsung devices to seamlessly integrate with third-party music services. Samsung also says it plans to “invest and refine” its strategy for delivering “new and engaging connected experiences” to its users.
Samsung is sun setting its Samsung Milk Music service in the United States on September 22, 2016.
We have made the strategic decision to invest in a partner model focused on seamlessly integrating the best music services available today into our family of Galaxy devices. We believe that working with partners will accelerate innovation, enhance device sales and provide amazing new experiences for our customers.
We have no additional details to share at this time.
Positioned as a freemium radio-style app that required users to pay $3.99 per month to remove ads, Milk Music was originally designed to compete with Pandora, but it never gained steam as a Pandora alternative. It was initially launched beside “Milk Video,” a video aggregation app, but that was shuttered in 2015, and earlier this year, many Milk Music employees left the company.
Milk Music will continue to operate in South Korea, Malaysia, and China. It was also discontinued in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.
Tag: Samsung
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Android 7.0 Nougat available today for Nexus devices
Launch day for the next version of Android!
After a five-month developer preview program, the next version of Android is finally upon us! Google has announced that Android 7.0 Nougat is complete, and Nexus devices will begin receiving the update from today.
Nougat brings a host of new features, including split-screen multi-window, improved notifications and longer battery life through the improved Doze feature.
We’re not expecting the final version of Android 7.0 to feature any significant changes compared to the last developer preview build, which arrived a month ago. (With the natural exception that Nougat is now considered final and stable, and ready for everyone to use.)
The final code lands today — but no new Nexus devices yet.
Google says the over-the-air update to Android Nougat will go out to the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G (Android One) as part of a staged rollout over the coming weeks. (Only a few Nexus owners will receive the OTA today, Google tells us, and some carriers will get it later than others.) Of course if you don’t want to wait, you’ll be able to manually update by flashing a system image from today.
Nougat is the first named Android version to arrive without an accompanying Nexus device since the program started back in late 2009. And while we’re not getting new Google-branded phones today, we’re expecting to see new HTC-built handsets later in the year, likely with extra Google software goodies atop Nougat. On Sept. 6, LG will unveil the first new phone with Nougat, the V20.
Android 7.0 Nougat
Android Nougat is the 12th nicknamed version of Android and was released to the public in August 2016. Here’s everything you need to know so far!
- Android 7.0 Nougat: Everything you need to know
- Will my phone get Android Nougat?
- All Android Nougat news
- How to manually update your Nexus
- Join the Discussion
