Fast-charging batteries will power your gadgets for 20 years

Fast-charging batteries will power your gadgets for 20 years

Jon Fingas

Engadget

Fast-charging batteries are all nice and good, but the lifespan matters, too -- why should you have to replace power packs (or entire devices) every couple of years ? You may not have to give up performance or longevity if researchers at Nanyang Technology University have their way. They've developed new lithium ion batteries that can reach a 70 percent charge in two minutes, but should also last for over 20 years -- several times longer than the cells in your current laptop or smartphone. The trick is using titanium dioxide nanotubes for the anode (the negative pole) instead of graphite; they both speed up the battery's chemical reactions while offering 10,000 charging cycles instead of the usual 500.
There's no definite timetable for when upgraded batteries could reach shipping products, but the mini titanium tubes are both easy to make and relatively inexpensive. They could make a big impact on the technology world when they arrive, though. On a basic level, they could eliminate forced obsolescence for some devices -- you might only replace them when they no longer meet your needs, not because they can't hold a charge. They could have a particularly large impact on electric cars -- you could top up your battery in minutes, not hours, and avoid replacing a very expensive component before you're ready to replace the vehicle itself.

Source: Nanyang Technological University

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New iPhones to be available in more than 115 countries by year-end

New iPhones to be available in more than 115 countries by year-end

Reuters

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said that its recently released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus phones will be available in more than 115 countries by the end of the year.
The iPhones will arrive in 36 additional countries and territories across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa by the end of this month, Apple said.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be made available in China, the world's biggest smartphone market, and India from Oct. 17.
Other countries where the phones will be launched include Israel, Czech Republic, Greenland, Poland, South Africa, Bahrain and Kuwait, making this the fastest rollout of iPhones, the company said.
Reuters had earlier reported that the iPhone 6 will be sold in China from Oct 17, after rigorous regulator scrutiny led to Apple reassuring the Chinese government that the smartphones did not have security "backdoors" through which U.S. agencies can access users' data.
(Reporting By Sai Sachin R in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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Xiaomi signs former Google executive as India lead products manager

Xiaomi signs former Google executive as India lead products manager

Reuters

Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi has named a new lead products manager for its India unit as the company ramps up its team in the world's third biggest smartphone market.
Xiaomi has recruited former Google executive Jai Mani to be in charge of products, Hugo Barra, Xiaomi's vice president of international operations, said in his Facebook and Google Plus posts.
"Android fans: you'll remember Jai from his memorable on-stage demo performances at Google I/O and Nexus launches," Barra, himself an ex-Google employee, wrote. Mani has moved to Bangalore from San Francisco, he said.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mani had been a Google Play Strategy and Analytics associate before be co-founded a startup.
Xiaomi, which sells its phones exclusively through e-commerce website Flipkart.com in India, is looking to find a foothold in a market that has at least 80 different phone companies fighting it out for market share.
Barra told Reuters in July that the company is looking to invest heavily in India, including building a team that can cater to localization needs.
(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Mumbai; Editing by Sunil Nair)

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How to Avoid Accidentally Buying a Stolen Phone

How to Avoid Accidentally Buying a Stolen Phone

Christina Bonnington

Wired

Buying a used phone is a great idea. It’s economical, it’s good for the environment, and if you don’t need or want the latest Big New Thing (and they’re all big these days), used or refurbished is the way to go.
But there can be a lot of uncertainty when purchasing a used device—particularly around whether it’s being sold legitimately. Last year alone thieves stole a record 3.1 million smartphones , and you can bet they wouldn’t keep stealing them if they weren’t pretty easy to sell later. With that in mind, here’s how to make sure the used handset you buy is on the up and up.

Select a seller carefully
First, you want to buy from a reputable venue or seller. Carriers offer used and refurbished phones on their websites. For better deals though, Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist are typical go-to online venues. But while they may have some great prices, they can be lacking in the reputation department. Amazon and eBay at least have a safeguard of profiles and seller reviews that make them more trustworthy than Craigslist. Swappa and Glyde , other online destinations for buying used phones, also have policies and safeguards in place for buyers.

Check the numbers
Listings, no matter the site, should feature some basic stats about the device being sold. Color, correct model number, and storage capacity are must-haves in the device description, as is a description of the overall quality (things like “good as new” or “a few scratches on the back”). It’s best if the listing shows a photo of the actual smartphone, rather than an official product shot of that phone model. If you can contact the owner directly, ask for additional photos of the phone to make sure it matches the product description. You’ll also want to ask for the IMEI (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) or serial number of the device. If the seller is unwilling to share this info, that’s a big red flag.

For potential iDevice owners, Apple has a new service on iCloud.com called Check Activation Lock Status that lets you quickly see if a device was procured illegally. By entering the IMEI or serial number of the device you plan to purchase, you can tell if someone used Find My iPhone to switch on Activation Lock. Activation Lock, introduced in iOS 7, locks down the device, making it unusable until the correct Apple ID and password have been entered. Thus, if you make the mistake of purchasing an iOS device that was stolen, you won’t be able to use it. You can also check how much warranty is left on the device using the serial number, too.

Carriers and Swappa should also let you check the IMEI of a device before purchase (especially if you’re willing to make a phone call). Glyde, which doesn’t currently give you the option to check ESN beforehand, holds the seller’s payment in escrow until the buyer has checked the device and confirmed that it’s clean and has a full refund policy. You can enter the serial number in here or here to check if a phone, regardless of make or model, has been reported stolen.

Know your return policies
Once you’ve determined your phone of choice is legit, it’s time to pony up. This is straightforward on most platforms with the exception of Craigslist (but be sure to read up on return policies first, just in case). If you’ve decided to buy a phone off Craigslist, it’s a good idea to meet in a public location like a carrier store so you can activate it following your purchase, with the seller there. If they already gave you an IMEI or ESN, you’ll want to double check that it matches up before handing over any cash. And if they didn’t give you that information before, you can check the serial number with one of the sites we mentioned above once you have it in hand.
Now all you have to do is decide what to do with your old phone .

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Carl Zeiss' VR One is a $99 answer to the Samsung Gear VR

Carl Zeiss' VR One is a $99 answer to the Samsung Gear VR

Sean Buckley

Engadget

 

Virtual Reality isn't quite here yet, but it's starting to look like consumers will have plenty of options when it arrives: Gear VR caters to Samsung smartphone users, the consumer Oculus Rift is currently under development and Google has even fashioned a bottom-dollar solution that's compatible with almost any smartphone.

That said, cardboard is a bit flimsy -- maybe you'd like something fancier, but not locked into Samsung's product line? Take a look at Carl Zeiss' VR One: a $99 smartphone VR headset for the rest of us.

The VR One is based on the same idea as the Samsung Gear VR, but with less specific hardware requirements. Carl Zeiss says the googles should work with any smartphone between 4.7 and 5.2-inches (sorry OnePlus One users).

It's not completely universal though -- users will have to order different "drawers" to hold different sized devices, which cost an additional $9.90 on top of the base device. The VR One isn't due out until next year, but with Zeiss optics onboard, it's bound to be a better experience than Google's cardboard.
Source: One VR (1), (2)

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Microsoft app gives you more control over the Surface Pro 3's pen

Microsoft app gives you more control over the Surface Pro 3's pen

Jon Fingas

Engadget

The Surface Pro 3's pen is arguably a defining feature, but you haven't had official control over it so far. As of now, though, you finally get some say over the stylus' behavior. Microsoft has posted a Surface Hub app that lets you customize both the pen's pressure sensitivity and its top button. Right now, the software isn't likely to please demanding artists and note-takers -- you don't have fine-grained sensitivity tuning, you can't launch any app you like and the side buttons are strictly off-limits. The crew in Redmond is willing to add features based on feedback, so don't be afraid to pipe up if you have dreams of launching Photoshop with a single thumb press.

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Samsung Electronics says it's developed faster Wi-Fi technology

Samsung Electronics says it's developed faster Wi-Fi technology

Jiyeun Lee

Bloomberg 

Samsung Electronics Co said it has developed a Wi-Fi technology that can increase data transmission speeds by five times the maximum rate possible with existing consumer electronics devices.

The 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology will enable a 1 gigabyte movie to be transferred between devices in less than three seconds while allowing uncompressed high-definition videos to be streamed in real time, the Suwon, South Korea-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

The technology removes the gap between theoretical and actual speeds, and exhibits actual speeds more than 10 times faster than with existing Wi-Fi technologies, it said.

“Samsung has successfully overcome the barriers to the commercialization” of the 60 GHz Wi-Fi technology, Kim Chang Yong, head of a Samsung research-and-development centre, said in the statement. “New and innovative changes await Samsung’s next-generation devices, while new possibilities have been opened up for the future development of Wi-Fi technology.”

The announcement came as the world’s largest smartphone maker rolls out new products amid growing competition from Apple Inc and Chinese companies.

Samsung last week said its quarterly operating profit plunged 60 per cent because of stagnating smartphone sales and has announced a 15.6 trillion won ($14.5 billion) investment to build a plant in South Korea to meet demand for semiconductor chips.

Samsung said commercialization of the 60 GHz Wi-fi technology is expected as early as next year. It plans to apply its new Wi-Fi technology to a wide range of products, including audio-visual and medical devices, and telecommunication equipment.

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Soldiers will soon steer iRobot's machines with an Android tablet

Soldiers will soon steer iRobot's machines with an Android tablet

Mariella Moon

Engadget

While iRobot's most famous for creating the Roomba, the robotic vacuum is far from being its only product: the company actually supplies defense, reconnaissance and first response machines to authorities, as well. In an effort to make these robots a lot easier to control in high-stress environments, iRobot has developed the uPoint Multi-Robot Control (MRC) system, which lets human operators navigate their machines using only an Android tablet. At the moment, these robots (all 6,000 of them deployed worldwide) are controlled using an old-school joystick and a separate monitor powered by a Linux-based OS. When uPoint launches, all the soldier/cop handlers need to do is fire up the app and steer their machines by tapping on the screen, effectively nixing the need to train them on the procedure for a few days.
In addition, operators can switch between robots just by switching tabs, share data to team members, as well as capture videos through a robot's camera and upload the clips to the cloud. The app, by the way, communicates with the machines through the company's new uPoint Robot Radio network, since Bluetooth might not be secure enough for sensitive situations. The system's slated to come out by the second quarter of 2015, though we doubt you'd get to use it unless you control a fleet of ground robots for the government.

Source: iRobot, The Wall Street Journal

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US: Teenage Girl Dies In 'Haunted Hayride' Crash

US: Teenage Girl Dies In 'Haunted Hayride' Crash

Sky News 

The Gauntlet Haunted Night Ride on a farm in Mechanic Falls, Maine, veered off a steep dirt road and struck a tree.

Those most seriously hurt on the Halloween-themed attraction, including the young girl who died of her injuries, were taken to hospital by air ambulance. A teenage boy, as well as the Jeep's driver, remain in a critical condition.

Concerned relatives of those on the ride began posting on the farm's Facebook page shortly after the accident.

Deb Wiles wrote: "There has just been a terrible accident here, involving a tractor pulling a wagon with people on board. Tractor tipped over. Ten ambulances. Life Flight, too."
Guy Desjardins, the sheriff of Androscoggin County, told reporters: "The trailer jack-knifed and the jeep went off the road. We're talking about a very narrow dirt road, but extremely steep.
"I've never witnessed a single incident that resulted in so many injuries."

In a separate accident in Idaho, also on Saturday night, a teenager playing a zombie was run over and killed at a haunted hayride.

The 18-year-old employee was entertaining passengers on the Zombie Slayer Bus Ride, who were using paintball guns to shoot live actors along the route.

But he fell over as he ran towards the vehicle, and is thought to have died instantly after being crushed by one of its rear wheels.

In a statement, officials said: "Many of the patrons believed it was just part of the ride.
"It was not until the bus had travelled away from the victim's location, and the role players began to reset for the next bus to come along, that anyone realised something was wrong."

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10 Best Places to Visit in Italy

10 Best Places to Visit in Italy

Located in Southern Europe, this boot-shaped country is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations for a number of reasons that include art treasures, trendy fashion, stunning landscapes, passionate people and top-class cuisine. Italy offers so much to see and do that it would take a lifetime to explore. An overview of the best places to visit in Italy:

• Naples

One of the busiest metropolitan cities in the country, Naples is the capital of the Campania region in Southern Italy. The city of Naples offers a treasure trove of art works and historic sites as well as a vibrant atmosphere of shops, restaurants and nightlife venues. Many favorite Italian foods originated from here such as pizza, spaghetti and parmigiana. These dishes are taken seriously in Naples and usually feature fresh, locally grown ingredients.

• Italian Lake District

The Italian Lake District stretches across Northern Italy. The southern ends of most of the lakes are relatively flat but the northern ends are mountainous as the lakes reach deep into the Alps. Popular with tourists for over 100 years, the Italian Lakes combine good weather with attractive scenery. Garda is the largest lake, and offers stunning scenery, especially in its mountainous northern stretches. Como is equally stunning, with forested slopes rising directly from the water’s edge. Further west, Maggiore is less popular yet just as beautiful, with several popular family resorts.

• Sicily

The largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy that also includes several smaller isles. It is separated from the mainland region of Calabria by the 5 km (2 miles) Straits of Messina. Home to every great Mediterranean civilization, Sicily is rich in art and history; from Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples to Palermo’s Baroque churches. The island’s most striking geological feature is Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest active volcano.

• Cinque Terre 

Meaning “Five Lands,” Cinque Terre comprises the five villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, Monterosso and Corniglia. Located in Italy’s northwestern coastal region of Liguria, the villages of Cinque Terre feature some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes that include steep cliff sides and wine terraces dating back to hundreds of years.

• Milan

Nearly destroyed from heavy bombing during WWII, Milan has since reconstructed and now shines as one of the wealthiest cities in Europe. Widely regarded as a mega fashion center teeming in designer shops, Milan also attracts many to its surviving world famous treasures like Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, The Last Supper, the La Scala Opera House, the Castello Sforzesco and one of the world’s largest Gothic cathedral.

• Amalfi Coast

Situated in Italy’s southwestern region of Campania, the Amalfi Coast is known for its extraordinary beauty that makes it one of Italy’s top tourist destinations. Stretching 30 miles along the southern side of the Sorrento Peninsula, the Amalfi Coast is prized for its picturesque coastline that features shimmering bays, craggy cliffs, lemon tree gardens, multicolored villas and ritzy resorts

• Pompeii

One of Italy’s most visited tourist destinations, Pompeii is a famous Roman city which was buried under several feet of volcanic ash for nearly 1,700 years after the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The site is located near the modern city of Naples. A tour of Pompeii offers a fascinating insight into the everyday life of the ancient Roman world. Visitors can walk along the ancient streets to see the remains of bakeries, brothels and baths.

• Venice

One of the best places to visit in Italy, Venice is a unique city in that is built upon a lagoon surrounded by the Adriatic Sea. Located in northeastern Italy, Venice is an archipelago of 118 islands all connected by hundreds of beautiful bridges and scenic canals. Of the canals, the Grand Canal is most famous and divides the city into two sections. Picturesque waterways and historic architecture make Venice one of the most romantic cities in the world.

• Tuscany

Italy’s most famous region, Tuscany conjures images of beautiful rolling hills, olive groves, vineyards and cypress trees. The many pleasures of Tuscany include tasting wine in Chianti, simply relaxing in hill towns such as San Gimignano or exploring Renaissance art in Florence. The medieval city of Siena also holds excellent works of art while its historic center is one of the most popular places to visit in Italy. Elba, the largest of several Tuscan islands, offers great beaches while Pisa is world-famous for its Leaning Tower.

•  Rome

Formerly the capital of the Roman Empire, Rome today is the government seat and capital city of Italy. Located in the country’s central region of Lazio, Rome is a vast and complex city that is both historic and modern at the same time. Best known for housing ancient Roman structures and the Vatican City, Rome has endured for more than 2,500 years as an important center for culture, power and religion.

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Netflix Raises The Price For Those Who Want Ultra HD Video

Netflix Raises The Price For Those Who Want Ultra HD Video

Greg Kumparak

TechCrunch 

Are you thinking about buying a TV that can handle the absurdly high-def resolution that is 4K? The good news: Netflix is slowly but surely getting more 4K videos! They’ve got Breaking Bad in 4K! House of Cards in 4K! And…er… The Smurfs!
The not-so-good news: if you want 4K content, you’re going to have to cough up some more cash for your subscription.
Here’s how it works, according to the guys at HDGuru who first noticed the price hike:

• If you’ve already managed to sign up for a 4K-enabled account, your price won’t change until August 12th, 2016
• If you’re a new subscriber or a current subscriber who hasn’t already enabled 4K content, your monthly price will be $11.99 (vs the standard $8.99 that most new subscribers pay — which, itself, went up from $7.99 back in May). Thats a hike of about 33%.

“But wait!” you say. “I have a 4K tv and I’ve never even seen the option for 4K content on Netflix!”
Even if you have a 4K tv, it has to be one that Netflix supports. Ultra-early adopters got a bit screwed, there.
To oversimplify the whole thing: getting 4K tv content, even through Netflix, is still a bit limited/wonky right now. If you’re not already in the market for a TV upgrade, there’s no reason to rush out and get a 4K tv right now — you’d just be paying a premium (on both the TV and the subscription cost) for something you’ll hardly use right now. Wait a while.

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Lego Batman to Get His Own Movie

Lego Batman to Get His Own Movie

Dave McNary

Variety

The Dark Knight is rising at Warner Bros, this time as his own Lego movie.

Chris McKay, who supervised animation on “The Lego Movie,” is directing the script from Seth Grahame-Smith. Roy Lee and Dan Lin are returning as producers along with “Lego” directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

Will Arnett will again voice the Caped Crusader, who mimicked Christian Bale’s Batman basso profundo voice in “The Lego Movie” and filled the film with quips such as “I only work in black and sometimes very, very dark grey.”

The Lego Batman project will apparently go before Warner’s Lego sequel. In February, after “The Lego Movie” opened, the studio announced that it had set the sequel to open on May 26, 2017 and that screenwriters Jared Stern and Michelle Morgan had been hired to write the script.

The studio had no comment Friday about the fate of the sequel or when the Batman Lego movie will open.

“The Lego Movie” was the first project to emerge from Warne’s animation the consortium. Most of the animation was produced by Australia-based Animal Logic.

Warner Bros. is also releasing “Ninjago,” based on the Lego characters, in 2016. Lin, Lee, Miller and Lord are producing “Ninjago” with Charlie Bean directing.

News about Lego Batman was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

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