Kindle Fire tablets are some of the best, cheapest Android tablets around, but they’re limited to Amazon’s app store, which is more than lacking compared to the thousands of apps available on the Google Play Store. With a little tweaking, though, you can run any Android app on them. You can even get the entire Google Play Store on some devices. Read more…
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How to Get Google Play on a Kindle Fire and Install Any Android App you Want
We talk about storing data in the cloud, but Amazon is looking into storing physical goods up there. The company has filed a patent for an ” Airborne fulfillment center utilizing unmanned aerial vehicles for item delivery:” In essence, the scheme is to have warehouses suspended from blimps, floating at 45, 000 feet (which is higher than/out of the way of commercial flight paths) over metropolitan areas and loaded up with delivery drones. When a customer orders something, it’s attached to a drone, then dropped out of the sky. The UAV may be deployed from the AFC and descend under the forces of gravity toward a delivery location using little to no power. Only as the UAV approaches earth does it need to fully engage the UAV motors to maintain flight and complete delivery of the item. After dropping off the package, the drone doesn’t fight its way back up to 45, 000 feet; Amazon reckons this would not be “an efficient use of power, ” so instead the drone flies off to a “replenishment shuttle.” This would be a smaller airship “that is configured to transport inbound items (e.g., UAVs, inventory, workers, supplies, fuel) to the AFC and retrieve outbound items (e.g., overstock inventory, transshipments, workers, waste) from the AFC.” As crazy as this plan sounds, the patent filing makes a lot of good points as to why it should be implemented. The airship isn’t tethered to a fixed location so can float around as needed or to avoid inclement weather. The company also envisions stocking them up over “temporal events” like football games, where they’d be loaded up with relevant product (sports paraphernalia, food products). And with the airship system, “items may be delivered within minutes of a user placing an order.” Ironic things I’d like to order from an AFC: Led Zeppelin’s eponymous first album, a book on the Hindenburg disaster and of course, a drone.
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Holy Cow: Amazon’s Plan for Flying Warehouses
You knew Acer’s wonderfully overdone Predator 21X gaming laptop was going to cost a pretty penny, but probably not this much. The PC maker has revealed launch details for its 21-inch desktop replacement, and the system will cost a mind-numbing $8, 999 when it ships in February — you may have to choose between this and a nice used car. There are plenty of reasons for the over-the-top price tag, at least. In addition to the signature 21-inch curved 1080p display and mechanical keyboard, you’re getting an overclockable 7th-generation Core i7-7820HK processor, 64GB (!) of RAM, dual GTX 1080 graphics chips, Tobii eye tracking , as many as four 512GB solid-state drives in a RAID stripe and a 2TB hard drive. You probably won’t need to consider a replacement for a long, long while. And don’t worry if this is absolute overkill, as there’s a vaguely affordable model in the mix. Acer is updating the Predator 17X (below) at the same time, and it arguably delivers more than enough power for most laptop gamers. The 17.3-inch rig doesn’t have a ship date yet, but it will sell for $2, 599 with the same Core i7 processor as its larger sibling, 64GB of RAM, a single GTX 1080 graphics chip and either super-fast NVMe or RAID-striped SATA solid-state drives. Unless you absolutely crave the perks of the 21X, you’ll probably be fine with this model. To cap things off, the company is also introducing a slew of Predator-badged displays, highlighted by the Z301CT. The ultra-wide HD curved screen boasts Tobii eye tracking and an extra-fast 200Hz refresh rate. It’s not a throwaway purchase at $899, but there’s enough here that it might be worth checking out when it arrives in February. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017. Source: Acer
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Acer’s 21-inch gaming laptop will cost you a staggering $8,999
Intel hasn’t forgotten about desktop aficionados. Only a few months after debuting its seventh-generation CPUs for ultraportables , the chip giant is rounding things out with new processors for more powerful machines. There’s the “H-series, ” targeted at “performance laptops and mobile workstations, ” and the “S-series, ” which are meant for more traditional desktops. They’ll complement the two other lines of seventh-generation CPUs, which cover ultra-thin designs (the “Y-series”) and faster ultraportables (the “U-series”). Naturally, you can expect the new desktop chips to perform better than their predecessors. Intel claims the S-series i7-7700K CPU is 25 percent faster than the i7-4770K (which, it’s worth noting, is three generations older). There’s likely a much smaller performance gap when comparing it to Intel’s fifth and sixth-generation CPUs. The company also claims the i7-7700K can “create, share and stitch” 4K 360-degree videos 35 percent faster than the 4770K. That’s a particularly niche use case to call out right now, but it might become more important as 360-degree video takes off. When it comes to the H-series chips, Intel says they’ll perform about 20 percent faster than a comparable fourth-gen chip (the i7-4700HQ) and handle 4K 360-degree videos 65 percent faster. You’ll see the H-series in bulkier gaming and desktop-replacement laptops, and it sounds like they’ll pair pretty well with modern mobile GPUs like NVIDIA’s 10-series and AMD’s Polaris lineup (which recently made an appearance in Dell’s latest Alienware laptops ). The highest-end S-series CPU, the $339 i7-7700K, will feature a base clock speed of 4.2GHz with boost speeds up to 4.5GHz. In comparison, the 6700K was clocked between 4GHz and 4.2GHz. The new chip still packs in four cores and eight threads (thanks to Hyperthreading) and it includes Intel HD 630 graphics. For the first time, Intel is also offering an unlocked Core i3 model, the $168 7350K, a dual-core CPU with four threads running at 4.2GHz. It’s something overclockers will appreciate, since they can tweak its speed settings to their heart’s content. And beyond that model, Intel claims all of its new seventh-gen chips will overclock better than previous models, thanks to several features that will stabilize the chips when pushing them beyond their listed speeds. The CPUs will also run on the company’s new 200-series chipset, which will support up to 24 PCI Express 3.0 chipset lanes and 10 USB 3.0 ports (along with a wealth of other technical upgrades). Together with the new CPUs, Intel is also debuting an intriguing new technology called Optane Memory, which plugs into M.2 connections on motherboards to speed up systems. It’s not clear, exactly, how it all comes together, but Intel claims it’ll deliver SSD-like system speeds when used with a traditional hard drive. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s actually a better option than using an M.2 SSD with a hard drive, though — especially as SSD prices have fallen considerably over the years. Just like with the earlier seventh-gen CPUs, you can expect Intel’s new desktop chips to handle 4K video pretty efficiently. That won’t mean as much for battery life savings, but it could make them much more useful for playing 4K on home theater PCs. Basically, there’s a lot to look forward to if you’re buying a new desktop this year. But the new chips are more compelling if you’re upgrading from a system that’s a few years old, rather than something from last year. That’s a tad disappointing, but at the very least it’ll lead to some good deals on last year’s high-end CPUs. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017.
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Intel unveils its 7th-gen CPUs for desktops and high-power laptops
The eggs of some dinosaurs took much, much longer to hatch than the eggs of their avian relatives and descendants — and it could have contributed to their demise. A team of researchers from various institutions examined the embryonic tooth from a soccer-ball-sized egg. It was laid by a 30-foot-long duck-billed non-avian dinosaur called Hypacrosaurus that’s closely related to reptiles like crocodiles. By calculating the daily growth markers in the teeth, they discovered that the animal’s eggs take around six months to hatch. It’s also likely that the bigger the egg, the longer the incubation time. In comparison, ostrich chicks burst out of their shells after only 42 days, and smaller birds have even shorter incubation periods. A longer incubation time means non-avian dinosaurs were definitely at a disadvantage when an asteroid or a comet slammed into our planet 65 million years ago. Since it took much longer for them to reproduce and to replace the population that perished in the impact, their incubation period could be one of the factors that led to their extinction. Meanwhile, the birds that already existed in that era that didn’t need the same amount of time to hatch thrived and led to the birds we know today. That said, their long incubation period is only one of the factors why they died out. Lead researcher Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University said: “These animals were profligate wasters of energy. They were big and warmblooded and even the smallest dinosaurs took over a year to mature. The dinosaurs found themselves holding some bad cards. They had a dead man’s hand.” Source: The New York Times
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Dinosaur eggs reveal one possible reason why they went extinct
If you’re heading out to the coast or the lake for a spot of fishing, you can have the best gear and the perfect bait but you won’t land anything if you’re set up in the wrong spot. Experience can only guide so you so much, so PowerVision — the company behind the incredible PowerEgg drone we saw last year — has built an underwater robot called the PowerRay to help find and lure in your next catch. The PowerRay can dive down to 30 meters (98 feet) underwater, where it can use an optional “Fishfinder” sonar component to detect fish another 40 meters below it. The drone’s WiFi system beams video and images captured by its integrated 4K camera and additional data on the underwater landscape and temperature up to the surface, which can then be viewed via the dedicated iOS or Android app. It also features an “internal fish luring light” that will apparently attract fish with a welcoming “hue of blue” and an optional remote-controlled bait drop that can place tasty snares in your desired location. If that’s not immersive enough, PowerVision wants to add a touch of virtual reality to proceedings. The PowerRay comes with an option to be controlled by a wearable device or via its own VR goggles. The PowerVision VR Goggles recognize both “gravity and gestures, ” allowing you to control the robot by simply moving your head. If you’re looking to be the envy of all your fishermen and women friends, the PowerRay will be available for pre-order from February 27th. PowerVision hasn’t yet announced a price, but judging from the company’s other robots, expect it to be on the high side. Click here to catch up on the latest news from CES 2017. Via: PowerVision (PRNewsWire) Source: PowerRay
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The PowerRay underwater drone finds fish and films them in 4K
It may not cost much to mail a letter in the US, but that price is about to go up a tiny bit. The US Post Office is set to raise the price of its Forever Stamps from $0.47 to $0.49, so it’s a good time to get yours while you can. Read more…
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Buy Forever Stamps Now Before They Get More Expensive On January 22nd
When you drive the $134, 000 Tesla Model S P100D you want to tell the world that it goes from zero to 60 in 2.5 seconds. You’re like a child excited about a new toy, stopping strangers on the streets to regale them with your tales of wonder. But to many that staggeringly quick acceleration has little to no meaning. They have no personal barometer to judge it against. They really have to experience it. They have to sit in the car and feel their internal organs and eyes warp as the car leaps forward. And when they do, there’s nervous laughter, swearing and sometimes pleas to never do it again. Seriously, if you’re rich and own one of these, give all your friends a ride. The fact is, you don’t have to push your passengers into their seats time and time again to realize how wonderful the P100D actually is. That thrill of going extremely fast in a very short period of time (while exciting) is only a small portion of the P100D’s charm. In a dense urban environment like San Francisco there aren’t a lot of opportunities to live out your Top Gear dreams. Instead I spent most of the week with the car commuting, meeting with family (holidays!) and heading to Costco. The Model S is a glorious luxury car with the amenities you’d expect to find in fine German sedans, and it has enough room to cram your brood and their presents into the cabin and trunk. It’s also on the cutting edge of semi-autonomous and EV tech that’s working its way into less-expensive vehicles. Whether on surface streets, hitting the freeway or navigating the hellscape that is a box-store parking lot, the car performed admirably. On the highway is where you’ll find the true Tesla experience thanks to Autopilot. We’ve talked before about how it lowers the stress of commuting and can help reduce the chances of a collision. It still does all that, but an update that reins in one of the core features is a welcome addition. Now Autopilot limits drivers to the posted speed limit on undivided roadways. So, if you’re on a small four lane highway without a median, you can’t make Autopilot grow a lead foot. It’s a small thing that’ll probably produce some grumblings on Tesla message boards, but it’s good to see the automaker thinking more and more about safety while pushing the boundaries of auto tech. Other than the updated Autopilot, the rest of the technology in the Model S is pretty much what we found in the Model X . The enormous 17-inch touchscreen that controls everything from the car’s ride height (from very low for that sport look to high enough to get over the tallest speed bumps) to music is still, for the most part, easy to use. Although, I would prefer that climate controls be physical buttons. A few times I reached over to peck at something on the display and missed. Fortunately, some of the features like music and voice commands can be controlled from the buttons and turn knobs on the steering wheel. Tesla is known for innovation and speed, but people overlook the Model S’ luxury. The vehicle sits five, no problem, as long as the rear passengers are shorter than six feet tall. The leather seats were cozy and the wood and suede trim in the cabin add a dash of class without being ostentatious. If you need to do more than drive folks around, the trunk is huge. During a Costco run, I was able to fit a microwave, space heater, random food and enough toilet paper to survive the zombie apocalypse in it with no problem. That’s without using the hidden space below the trunk floor. With seating and cargo space a plenty, the interior feels almost cavernous. That probably has something to do with the lack of an internal combustion engine, but really, it’s the size of the car itself. It’s a huge sedan. Pulling into compact parking spaces meant riding the edge of the painted lines and hoping no one parked next to me. Fortunately, thanks to its low center of gravity and stiff chassis, it doesn’t feel like you’re driving a boat. The steering and handling are crisp and trick you into thinking you’re driving a smaller car. In fact, the Model S P100D is three cars. It’s a technological marvel capable of driving 315 miles between a charge (I got about 305 miles) and will take care of the heavy driving in stop and go traffic. It’s a supercar that will silently launch you down the road so quickly you’ll find yourself doing 90 in the blink of an eye. And it’s a luxury sedan that smoothes out the road, makes you feel comfortable and cements the idea that you’ve made all the right decisions in life. Oh, and it’s good for a Costco run. Cramming three spectacular cars into one isn’t cheap. Starting at $134, 000, the P100D is out of reach for most of us. It’s definitely out of my reach. But Tesla says this car will help fund the building of the Model 3. Of course the 373, 000 presales, at $1, 000 a pop, for the low-cost Tesla are also probably helping get the $35, 000 automobile on the road. So the P100D is for the rich; the folks that can afford to enjoy mind-blowing speeds one minute and a trip to a five star restaurant with their friends the next. Supercars and luxury sedans are for people that vacation on yachts and have very strong opinions about estate taxes and Bordeaux. Fortunately that third car, filled with technology, is coming for the rest of us. It will be either the Model 3 , Chevy Bolt or some other vehicle that changes the way we get from point a to point b. The P100D is an outstanding car. But more importantly, it’s part of a process to get us all into long-range EVs with autonomous features. It’s like Usain Bolt reminding us to go out and run. Sure we’ll never be as fast as the olympian, but he’s getting us to treat our bodies better. So let the wealthy enjoy their speed and luxury so we can eventually treat the roads and earth just a little bit better. Source: Tesla
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Tesla’s super fast P100D offers tech-heavy luxury for the rich