Author: kenmay

Many Lexus Navigation Systems Bricked By Over-The-Air Software Update

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: An unknown number of Lexus automobiles have seen their infotainment and navigation head units broken by a bug in an over-the-air software update from Lexus. The glitch, which was confirmed by a Lexus spokesperson, was delivered in a routine software update. In affected cars, it can cause the dashboard screen to spontaneously reset itself and, as a result, both the radio and navigation system can be unusable. It affects cars equipped with Lexus’ Enform system with navigation. Lexus social media channels have been flooded by frustrated owners, but the company has been unable to give any estimates for when the problem will be resolved. The company also couldn’t say whether customers will see the problem fix itself with another software update or if they will need to head into dealers to get it fixed. Some users on Twitter have reported success with disconnecting their battery for a few moments to force a reset of the system. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Many Lexus Navigation Systems Bricked By Over-The-Air Software Update

Adidas will release shoes made from ocean plastic this year

Adidas is committing to integrating recycled ocean waste into a general-release shoe this year. The sportswear company showed off a shoe with a 3D-printed midsole made from up-cycled ocean plastic late last year , as part of a collaboration with Parley, an anti-ocean-pollution organization. That was a one-off concept shoe, but off the back of that the company is now showing off a product titled Adidas x Parley. The new limited-edition shoe’s upper is made from Parley Ocean Plastic and illegal deep-sea gillnets retrieved by the non-profit Sea Shepherd during a mission to protect sea life in the Southern Ocean. Announced to coincide with World Oceans Day, only fifty pairs will be made available, and they’ll be given away through an Instagram contest. A video posted by Parley for the Oceans (@parley.tv) on Jun 7, 2016 at 7:30am PDT More exciting than the limited-edition shoe is the promise of a bonafide commercial product coming soon. Adidas says it’ll be a world’s first, integrating Parley Ocean Plastic into one of its “top footwear franchises” in the second half of this year. That release is apparently possible due to the inroads Adidas and Parley have made in turning ocean plastics into “technical yarn fibres” that can easily be integrated into products. The new shoe will be one of an ongoing series of changes Adidas has made in an attempt to be friendlier to the environment. It’s already announced it’ll stop handing out plastic bags in its stores and end the use of microbeads in products like shower gels. If you’re interested in trying to snag a pair of Adidas x Parleys, the competition will run through to July 31st on Parley and Adidas’ various social media channels, where the rules will be shared in due course. Via: The Verge Source: Adidas

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Adidas will release shoes made from ocean plastic this year

A Brief History of iOS

Apple launched iOS—then called iPhone OS—on June 29, 2007 , with the very first iPhone. Since then, the mobile operating system has gone through some major upgrades. But it didn’t happen overnight. Ever year in the summer, Apple has reinvented the OS, adding new features and redefining what’s possible on all its iDevices. Read more…

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A Brief History of iOS

Firefox 47 Arrives With Synced Tabs Sidebar, Better YouTube Playback

An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Mozilla today launched Firefox 47 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. The browser has gained a sidebar for synced tabs from other devices, improvements to YouTube playback and HTML5 support, and is seeing the end of support for Android Gingerbread. [If you’re logged in with your Firefox Account, the sidebar will show all your open tabs from your smartphone and other computers. The sidebar even lets you search for specific tabs. Next, Firefox 47 supports the open source VP9 video codec on machines with powerful multiprocessors. VP9 is the successor to VP8, both of which fall under Google’s WebM project of freeing web codecs from royalty constraints.] Firefox 47 is available for download on Firefox.com, and will be slowly released on Google Play. You can view the full Firefox 47 changelog here. If you’re a developer, Firefox 47 for developers offers more details for you. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Firefox 47 Arrives With Synced Tabs Sidebar, Better YouTube Playback

Marshmallow is now on 10 percent of Android devices

The latest version of Android just hit a big, big milestone. Google’s early June developer stats have revealed that Marshmallow is now on just over 10 percent of Android devices, representing a huge jump from just 2.3 percent in March . Notably, only some of that surge can be credited to people upgrading from Lollipop. While the not-quite-current version’s adoption did go down (to 35.4 percent), the biggest declines in usage were for Jelly Bean and KitKat. In essence: many of those moving to Marshmallow may well have been replacing devices that were 3 or more years old. The timing isn’t coincidental, as you might have gathered. In the three months since we last looked back, numerous smartphone makers have delivered Marshmallow phones in force. The Galaxy S7 is the big kahuna, but you can also point to phones like the HTC 10 , LG G5 and Sony’s newer Xperias as factors. If you bought a brand new device this spring, especially if it was reasonably high-end, it might have been hard to avoid Marshmallow. To us, the big unknown is how well Marshmallow will fare by the time its successor rolls around in a few months, around Marshmallow’s first anniversary. Lollipop took a year and a half to become the dominant Android flavor. Although Marshmallow isn’t necessarily going to repeat history, its year-one figures should give you a good idea as to whether or not it’s doing as well as its predecessor. Source: Android Developers

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Marshmallow is now on 10 percent of Android devices

Microsoft now offering Surface Membership Plans

Microsoft has quietly introduced a Surface Membership Plan that allows small businesses to keep up with the latest Surface hardware and buy the devices on a monthly payment plan. Starting at $32.99 per month, business users get “the latest Surface devices, accessories, support, and training.” The membership plan includes the current generation Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, and Surface 3, but it also comes with free upgrades when newer models become available. As Thurrott.com points out , the membership program follows the iPhone Upgrade program that Apple introduced last year . The Surface memberships also include setup, personal training, in-store tech support, an extended service plan and Accidental Damage Protection. The monthly costs vary, depending on the model and whether you stretch out the payments over 18, 24 or 30 months, but the cheapest is a basic Surface Pro 3 for $33 per month over 30 months. The most expensive will run you about $221 per month for a tricked-out Surface Book with a 1TB hard drive, 16 GB RAM, Intel i7 processor and dual GPUs. That also means, at the end of the installments, you’ll have shelled out about $3, 978 for that Surface Book, versus $3, 448 for the same machine with just a two-year service plan and no other bundled deals (or $3, 199 if you live on the edge and skip the service plan). For the budget Surface 3, the membership plan works out to $990 total over two and a half years, versus $600 for the device with no extras. One other thing to note here: the plans are meant for business customers and not individuals, although you can still sign up to order only a single device, rather than a whole fleet. Also, in order to be approved for the membership plan, you’ll have to go through Microsoft’s financing partner LiftForward to handle all the monthly payments and credit applications.

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Microsoft now offering Surface Membership Plans

The US Army Is Rolling Out Superhuman Hearing to Soldiers

An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. Army has developed an all-in-one hearing system that not only boosts the hearing of troops in the field, it also acts to cut down the noise of battle. The system, known as Tactical Communication and Protective System (TCAPS), is currently rolling out to units in the field. TCAPS is $2, 000 pair of earbuds designed to limit battlefield noise exposure, cutting off noise that reaches a set decibel threshold. The wearer can still hear gunshots and estimate their direction, but the noise is dampened to a non-damaging level thanks to microphones that detect the noise, and internals that use sound canceling technology to modify it for a wearer’s ears. At the same time, the decibel cap allows TCAPS-equipped soldiers to hear the voices of others around him, including through radios and other communications equipment. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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The US Army Is Rolling Out Superhuman Hearing to Soldiers

Finnish Mail System Abandons Tuesday Delivery

Reader jones_supa writes: In a world moving to electronic communications, the snail mail traffic has seen a huge drop. Because of this, Posti, the mail delivery organization of Finland will not be delivering letters and magazines on Tuesdays anymore. Tuesday was selected because it generally has the lowest volume of mail. For example, magazines and advertisements are targeted to the end of the week, so that people have more time for shopping dreams in the weekend. Another reason is that Posti recently launched a lawn mowing service which operates on Tuesdays. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Finnish Mail System Abandons Tuesday Delivery

Microsoft Could Turn Every PC Into an Xbox

For the past few years, Microsoft has been trying to mold Xbox One system’s user interface and functionalities to resemble that of Windows 8 and Windows 10’s Modern UI. But the company has also hinted that we will be seeing a closer integration in the coming months. It is expected to unveil some of that at E3 tradeshow next week. Long-time Microsoft watcher Tom Warren reports for The Verge: Microsoft is currently working on a secret project internally, codenamed Helix. Kotaku originally reported on the Project Helix name, and the work is designed to more closely combine Xbox and Windows 10. Some of that work has started, but more of it is due later this year and next year with future upgrades to Windows 10. Microsoft wants to enable features like streaming PC games to the Xbox One, but sources familiar with the company’s plans also tell us there are greater ambitions to make Xbox One games playable on a PC without needing a console for streaming. Part of this could involve bringing the full Xbox One UI and system directly into desktop versions of Windows 10. The latest Xbox One dashboards are built on top of Windows 10, so most of the work involved would be customizing the interface towards keyboard and mouse. Bringing the Xbox One UI over to Windows 10 machines would effectively turn every PC into an Xbox One, especially if they’re also capable of running the latest console games. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Microsoft Could Turn Every PC Into an Xbox

Verizon could rule the ’90s cyberscape as owner of both AOL and Yahoo

Yahoo’s once-iconic San Francisco billboard, pictured here in 2011. (credit: Scott Schiller ) Verizon is submitting a $3 billion (£2 billion) bid to purchase Yahoo’s core Internet business, according to   The Wall Street Journal , which cites an anonymous source. Though at least one more round of bidding is expected, Verizon is reportedly the leading contender. A Verizon spokesperson declined comment when contacted by Ars this morning. Yahoo has been shopping itself around for months  in an attempt to sell off just about everything except its valuable stake in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba. Yahoo is also looking to sell other assets including real estate and patents, but Verizon reportedly isn’t interested in buying those. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Verizon could rule the ’90s cyberscape as owner of both AOL and Yahoo