Posts with «author_name|mariella moon» label

Xiaomi launches its own smart glasses

Xiaomi is challenging Facebook in the wearables arena by launching its own smart glasses. The device will be capable of displaying messages and notifications, making calls, providing navigation, capturing photos and translating text right in real time in front of your eyes.

Developing...

Xiaomi launches its own smart glasses

Xiaomi is challenging Facebook in the wearables arena by launching its own smart glasses. The device will be capable of displaying messages and notifications, making calls, providing navigation, capturing photos and translating text right in real time in front of your eyes.

Developing...

Apple Watch now syncs with Tempo's AI-powered home gym

Tempo has rolled out Apple Watch integration for its AI-powered home gym, giving users an easy way to track their heart rate during workouts without the need for a dedicated HR monitor. Upon syncing the wearable, users can also view other data on it, including how many calories they burned during studio classes, the total volume of weights they lifted and their ranking on the leaderboard.

The company says 70 percent of its users own an iPhone, and 35 percent from that group has an Apple Watch. With that in mind, rolling out Apple integration for its product is a no-brainer. In addition to being able to view stats and data, syncing their Watch will also give users the capability to pause and resume classes, as well as to manage their workouts, without having to walk up to the smart home gym's touchscreen panel. 

Tempo launched its Studio home gym cabinet, which includes a touchscreen panel, a 3D camera track workouts, weights and other equipment, in early 2020. The pandemic brought about a need for home workout solutions as gyms around the world closed down, and Tempo was one of the companies that experienced a surge in demand. In April, the company raised $220 million in funding to be able to keep up with an increasing number of orders and give its research and development efforts a boost.

Those who already have a Tempo Studio and want to sync it with an Apple Watch will have to make sure both devices, along with their iPhone, are connected to the same WiFi network. All three have to be near each other, as well. After they've logged into their profile on the Tempo Studio and download the app for the Watch, they only need to follow the steps laid out on their iPhone.

Apple says motorcycle vibrations can damage iPhone cameras

Hold off on purchasing that iPhone mount for your motorbike. In a new Apple Support post first seen by MacRumors, the tech giant has warned that high amplitude vibrations, "specifically those generated by high-power motorcycle engines" transmitted through handlebars, can damage its phones' cameras. As the publication notes, that damage can be permanent. A simple Google search will surface posts over the past few years by users whose cameras were ruined after they mounted their iPhone on their bike, mostly so they can use it for navigation. 

While Apple didn't say why it's issuing a warning now, it did explain the reason why attaching the iPhone to a motorcycle can destroy its camera. The company said that the camera's optical image stabilization (OIS) and closed-loop autofocus (AF) features can be damaged by long-term exposure to high-amplitude vibrations. A camera's OIS makes it possible for a device's gyroscope to sense movement. In turn, the gyroscope changes its angle and the lens moves accordingly to prevent blur when you accidentally move while taking a photo. 

Meanwhile with closed-loop AF, a phone's onboard magnetic sensors measure vibrations to compensate for the movement, so the lens can be positioned accurately. As MacRumor notes, all models since the iPhone 7 come with both features.

Thus, Apple says it's not recommended to attach iPhones to motorcycles with high-power or high-volume engines. For mopeds and scooters, you may want to buy a vibration-dampening mount to lessen the risk of damage — or simply just use another GPS device to make sure you don't ruin a device that costs hundreds to over a thousand dollars.

Facebook has been giving misinformation researchers incomplete data

Misinformation researchers who've been relying on the data Facebook provides them may have lost months or even years of work. That's because the social network has been giving them flawed and incomplete information on how users interact with posts and links on the website, according to The New York Times

Facebook has been giving academics access to its data over the past couple of years to track the spread of misinformation on its platform. It promised researchers transparency and access to all user interaction, but the data the company has been giving them reportedly only includes interactions for about half of its users in the US. Further, most of the users whose interactions were included in the reports are the ones who engage with political posts enough to make their leanings clear.

In an email to researchers The Times saw, Facebook apologized for the "inconvenience [it] may have caused." The company also told them that it's fixing the issue, but that it could take weeks due to the sheer volume of data it has to process. Facebook told the researchers, though, that the data they received for users outside the US isn't inaccurate.

Facebook spokesperson Mavis Jones blamed the data inaccuracy to a "technical error," which the company is apparently "working swiftly to resolve." As The Times notes, it was University of Urbino associate professor Fabio Giglietto who first discovered the inaccuracy. Giglietto compared the data handed over to researchers with the "Widely Viewed Content Report" the social network published publicly in August and found that the results didn't match. 

Other researchers raised concerns after that report was published. Alice Marwick, a researcher from the University of North Carolina, told Engadget that they couldn't verify those results, because they had no access to the data Facebook used. The company reportedly held a call with researchers on Friday to apologize. Megan Squire, one of those researchers, told The Times: "From a human point of view, there were 47 people on that call today and every single one of those projects is at risk, and some are completely destroyed."

Some researchers have been using their own tools to gather information for their research, but in at least one instance, Facebook cut off their access. In August, Facebook disabled the accounts associated with the NYU Ad Observatory project. The team used a browser extension to collect information on political ads, but the social network said it was "unauthorized scraping." At the time, Laura Edelson, the project's lead researcher, told Engadget that Facebook is silencing the team because its "work often calls attention to problems on its platform." Edelson added: "If this episode demonstrates anything it is that Facebook should not have veto power over who is allowed to study them."

Google and Jio's low-cost 'made for India' phone delayed due to chip shortage

Google and Jio, India's largest mobile network, were supposed to launch their first joint product today. It's a low-cost 4G smartphone called JioPhone Next that's designed to give more people in the mobile-first country access to the carrier's high-speed network. The companies have just announced, however, that they're pushing back the smartphone's launch by a couple of months. 

According to the announcement, they've made "considerable progress" with the phone and are currently testing it with a limited number of users. They'll make "further refinement[s]" as needed based on testers' feedback and are working towards launching it in time for the Diwali festival scheduled for early November this year. 

While the companies didn't talk about the reason behind the delay at length, they did say that the additional time will "help mitigate the current industry-wide, global semiconductor shortages." The global chip shortage caused mainly by factories closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected tech and auto companies around the world. Automakers such as Ford, BMW, Honda and GM had to cut and suspend production due to the crisis. It's also the reason why Sony still can't manufacture the PS5 in bigger quantities and why iPhone 12 shipments were delayed by a few weeks. 

When Google purchased a $4.5 billion stake in Jio last year in hopes of expanding its presence in India, the companies revealed that they're planning to develop low-cost phones together. The JioPhone Next will have the capability to automatically read aloud and translate any onscreen text, such as text from messages, web pages, apps and photos. It'll also apparently feature a better camera than other similar low-cost phones, one with HDR support and with the capability to capture low-light images. Further, Snapchat augmented reality lenses, including India-centric filters, will be integrated into the camera. Finally, users will be able to ask Google Assistant to play music via Jio's streaming service Saavn or to check their balance on Jio's payments app. 

Here's your first look at 'Alan Wake' in 4K for the PS5

Alan Wake is coming back on October 5th, and you'll be able to help him find his wife in 4K. Remedy Entertainment first announced that it's releasing a remastered version of its beloved story-driven horror title a few days ago. Now, it has published the first trailer for the 4K version of the game with enhanced character models and richer environmental details. It shows Wake writing a warning to not go out in the dark and to stay in the light, waking up in a nightmare and looking for his wife in a town where strange things are happening... like locals are being possessed by something supernatural.

The PS5 version of the game runs at 4K at 60fps. On the PS 4 Pro, it can run on either of two modes: Performance at 60fps or Quality at 30fps 4K. Meanwhile, the PS4 version is capped at 30fps. Each weapon in the game has different feedback for the DualSense controller's adaptive trigger, and there are Activity cards for each episode and mission. 

In his post on the PlayStation blog, Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake said the team retouched a ton of individual items and not just the cut scenes and the biggest things you can see in the environment. They touched up the props, textures, sound effect files and the art for the game's user interface. 

The remastered version of Alan Wake includes the base game and The Signal and The Writer, which were expansions that were originally released as DLCs. This is the first time it will be released on the PlayStation, though it's also coming to the Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One. 

Epic is hoping to re-release 'Fortnite' on iOS in South Korea

Epic has asked Apple to restore its access to its developer tools so it can make Fortnite available on iOS again — in South Korea, at least. The developer has revealed asking Apple to reinstate its App Store account on the official Fortnite Twitter, where it also said that it intends to offer "both Epic payment and Apple payment side-by-side in compliance with the new Korean law." 

Epic has asked Apple to restore our Fortnite developer account. Epic intends to re-release Fortnite on iOS in Korea offering both Epic payment and Apple payment side-by-side in compliance with the new Korean law.

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) September 9, 2021

Apple terminated Epic's App Store account back in August 2020 shortly after the developer offered discounts on Fortnite's V-bucks currency and other cash purchases if players bypassed the App Store. The tech giant quickly removed the battle royale game from its store after that update went up, and Epic responded by suing Apple over its policies. Epic also tried to get the court to stop Apple from pulling its developer tools to no avail, and Fortnite hasn't been available to download on iOS ever since.

By the end of August this year, though, South Korea passed a bill requiring major app stores to allow alternative payment methods other than their own. As TechCrunch notes, the legislation is not yet in effect, but even if it already is, Korean authorities can't force Apple to reinstate or approve developer accounts under the law. The tech giant told the publication in a statement:

"As we've said all along, we would welcome Epic’s return to the App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else. Epic has admitted to breach of contract and as of now, there’s no legitimate basis for the reinstatement of their developer account."

Apple recently changed its App Store policies to allow some developers to add external links to their applications for payments. The change only covers apps for digital magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music and video, though, such as Spotify and Netflix.

Apple fires Ashley Gjøvik, senior employee who alleged sexism at work

Apple has fired Ashley Gjøvik, a senior engineering program manager who's been outspoken about her experiences working for the tech giant. Gjøvik said she has experienced sexism and a hostile work environment while working for Apple and spent months talking to the company about it. According to tweets from Gizmodo's Dell Cameron, Apple asked Gjøvik for a talk this afternoon. When she asked for the conversation to take place via email so there would be a written record, though, Apple replied that she had "chosen not to participate in the discussion." She was then fired hours later.

Emails shared w/ @Gizmodo show Apple asking to speak w/ Gjøvik this afternoon. Gjøvik agreed but asked the convo take place via email so there'd be a written record. Apple then replied saying Gjøvik had "chosen not to participate in the discussion." Within hours she was fired.

— Dell Cameron (@dellcam) September 10, 2021

Developing...

One-day Anker sale knocks up to 40 percent off charging accessories

You can get a bunch of Anker charging products for up to 40 percent off on Amazon for today only. The e-commerce website has added several Anker-branded devices to its deal of the day offerings, including a wireless power bank, a charging station, wall chargers, a car adapter and a power cord. If you're looking for a portable wireless charger, Anker's PowerCore 10,000mAh is now available for $25.19, down almost $11 from its usual price of $36. It's compatible with Qi-certified devices — simply place them on the center of the pad to get a 5W wireless charge. You can also use the powerbank for wired charging through its USB ports if you need more power in a short span of time.

Buy Anker charging products at Amazon - 40 percent off

If you don't need wireless charging, you can also get Anker's PowerCore Slim 10000mAh Portable Charger in green for $20. It has a USB-C port capable of 18W in output and a USB-A port, giving it the capability to charge two devices simultaneously. The sale also includes a GaN wall charger with a 30W output that can be used with all USB-C devices, including the now-defunct 12-inch MacBook. It's powered by GaN, which it means it uses gallium nitride instead of silicon. Anker says that made it possible to make the device so small, since GaN enabled it to create a higher efficiency charger that generates less heat. The product is now on sale for $21, down from its usual price of $30.

The other products in the list include a 36W USB Type C car adapter that you can use for in-vehicle charging. It comes with Anker's PowerIQ 3.0 technology to make it capable of speedy charging and will set you back $24, or $14 less its usual price. There's also a 3-in-1 Multi-Device Wireless Charging Station, which you can use to charge a phone wirelessly while also charging two other devices via its USB ports. It will set you back $30, down from $43. You can grab a couple of cables and an extension cord from the sale, as well — just take note that the promo ends in 18 hours or so, as of this writing.

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