function – Page 68 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Phones4u confirms all iPhone 6 pre-orders will be cancelled

Now that news of the Phones4u collapse has begun to settle, details are starting to emerge about how customers will be affected. The good news is that the company has said it will honour existing contracts, but it has also confirmed that people who pre-ordered the new iPhone 6 or 6 Plus last week will miss out on getting their new smartphones, at least from them. In a statement shared with the Huffington Post UK , Phones4u noted that “any orders that have not already been dispatched will be cancelled and any payments refunded to customers.” Phones4u has yet to ship any devices to customers and its store has already been replaced with a sad-looking page full of support line phone numbers . Customers who ordered last Friday will now need to place their order again with a different retailer, but they’ll be placed at the back of the queue as Apple’s official delivery times begin to slip. [Image credit: kake_pugh, Flickr ] Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile Comments Source: Huffington Post

See more here:
Phones4u confirms all iPhone 6 pre-orders will be cancelled

Sega’s created the projection-mapped kids’ sandbox of the future

If grown-ups can have flashier, fancier toys as the years go by, so can kids. Sega’s latest games machine is set to appear in arcades as well as in the waiting rooms of car dealerships and real estate offices. It’s not any kind of video game, though — it’s an interactive sandbox that projects images based on what players are building with its non-sticky sand. Sega calls it “Eederu Sunaba” or Picture Appears! Sandbox (a loose translation, but hey), and it’s equipped with sensors that can determine the height differences on the surface of the sand, along with a projector to make the magic happen. If a kid (or an adult — no judgment here) piles up sand to make a hill, the projector beams an image that makes it look like it’s covered in grass, or even in snow if the hill’s tall enough to be a mountain. Trenches, on the other hand, are filled with digital water, complete with swimming schools of fish, though the system can also project insects like ladybugs and butterflies instead. These virtual organisms can even detect if you’re trying to touch (or squish) them. Definitely beats trying to craft a sandcastle in the playground and coming up with something that looks like a mound of dirt, doesn’t it? If you don’t live in Japan, you can ask those University of West Bohemia students how they created their Kinect sandbox (that’s very similar to this one) back in 2011. Or, you can just watch the video below and live vicariously through those happy Japanese kids. [Image credit: Nikkei Technology/Sega ] Filed under: Misc Comments Via: Nikkei Technology , Japan Trends Source: Sega

Facebook test lets users schedule when a post will be deleted

It’s certainly nothing new for Facebook to test new features amongst a limited number of users before a widespread rollout, or killing them entirely (it did ask for willing participants , after all). With its latest trial, the social network is trying out an option in its iOS app that allows you to schedule when a post will delete. Taking a cue from its own ephemeral offering Slingshot , the feature will sort the erasing after a period ranging from one hour up to a week. As The Next Web points out, it’s likely that deleted posts will remain on Facebook servers rather than being permanently deleted, but that’s a point we’ll be looking to clarify if the tool gets officially added in the future. Filed under: Internet , Software , Facebook Comments Source: The Next Web

Apple reveals new iCloud pricing, but you still only get 5GB of space for free

It used to be that if you compared iCloud pricing to other online storage services, Apple didn’t look so hot. (Twenty bucks a year for 10GB?! Bye, Felicia .) Now, in a bid to better compete with bigwigs like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, Apple is revising its iCloud plans so that they’re a little more affordable. Now, 20GB costs 99 cents a month; 200GB costs $4; 500GB is $10; and 1TB is $20 a month. All told, that’s an improvement — at least compared to the Apple of years past. It must be noted, though, that the free storage plan still only includes 5GB of space — a bit stingy considering Google and Microsoft both offer 15GB gratis. Also, as low as Apple’s prices are compared to the olden days, Google’s are still better: Google charges $10 a month for 1TB, not $20, and it also offers a more inexpensive 100GB option, which Apple doesn’t do. Filed under: Internet , Apple Comments Via: 9to5Mac

Excerpt from:
Apple reveals new iCloud pricing, but you still only get 5GB of space for free

Visa’s Token Service generates fake CC numbers to keep your real ones safe

If you haven’t heard yet, Cupertino just launched a digital wallet called Apple Pay that randomizes your credit cards’ numbers. The one responsible for generating those fake numbers for Visa cards in particular, is Visa itself, through its new Token service , which the world’s largest credit and debit card company has announced right after Apple’s big reveal. These “tokens” are random numbers not associated with your name or real card numbers. You can use them to purchase anything online or by using mobile to pay via contactless payment systems in brick-and-mortar stores. Visa’s system can even generate different tokens for each merchant, device or type of purchase, if you want to be even more secure. The great thing about using tokens is that you won’t have to scramble to cancel and replace your card with a new one in case a retailer or a website suffers a security breach, because they never had your real CC details in the first place. As you’ve probably guessed, Apple Pay users will get the first crack at using Visa’s Token Service, starting in October for folks in the US and in 2015 for the rest of the world. The technology was designed to work with all major platforms, though, so it’ll eventually be available to its other customers (read: those using other devices through other digital wallets) in the future. [Image credit: Alamy] Comments Via: Reuters Source: Visa (1) , (2)

More:
Visa’s Token Service generates fake CC numbers to keep your real ones safe

Robocouch takes students to class without all of that exercise nonsense

There’s a different kind of two-seater roaming the sidewalks of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia: a motorized couch. Thanks to the efforts of a few engineering students, what started as a joke amongst friends is now a Xbox gamepad-controlled robotic sofa. Under the cushions, there’s an electric scooter motor and an armrest-mounted Raspberry Pi to wrangle the vehicle’s four independent wheels. All told, it took a group of nine students a year to get the kinks worked out of the mechanical, software and assembly systems. “We were thinking about making a fridge robotic, too, so you could call it over, ” said co-creator Will Andrew. One thing’s for sure: they’d certainly improve gameday lounging . Filed under: Misc , Transportation Comments Source: UNSW Australia

Excerpt from:
Robocouch takes students to class without all of that exercise nonsense

Google’s latest object recognition tech can spot everything in your living room

Automatic object recognition in images is currently tricky. Even if a computer has the help of smart algorithms and human assistants , it may not catch everything in a given scene. Google might change that soon, though; it just detailed a new detection system that can easily spot lots of objects in a scene, even if they’re partly obscured. The key is a neural network that can rapidly refine the criteria it’s looking for without requiring a lot of extra computing power. The result is a far deeper scanning system that can both identify more objects and make better guesses — it can spot tons of items in a living room, including (according to Google’s odd example) a flying cat. The technology is still young, but the internet giant sees its recognition breakthrough helping everything from image searches through to self-driving cars . Don’t be surprised if it gets much easier to look for things online using only vaguest of terms. Filed under: Internet , Google Comments Via: GigaOM Source: Google Research Blog

Taken from:
Google’s latest object recognition tech can spot everything in your living room

TiVo proves that ‘size matters’ with absurd 26,000 hour DVR

TiVo has taken the TV-watching to a new, insane dimension with the Mega , a rack-mountable, 24TB DVR that will cost around $5, 000. That trumps its current flagship Roamio Pro ‘s 4TB storage by sixfold and makes it look quaint in comparison. Like that box, the Mega supports six channels of simultaneous recording, built-in transcoding, multi-room capability and live streaming to smartphones or tablets. In addition, it uses RAID 5 and hot-swappable drives, so that you won’t lose your Shark Week marathon in case of a hard disk failure. While the Mega seems like overkill in nearly every way, TiVo explained that “size matters — people hate being forced to delete cool stuff from their DVR.” That shouldn’t be a problem, since the new system brings 4, 000 hours of HD recording, or nearly 26, 000 hours at regular SD resolution. However, with the five grand price tag, you’ll need to both be rich and have a lot of time to watch TV, a market segment we doubt is all that large. However, with a full keyboard, ethernet and a recording scheduler, it could also appeal to video producers or broadcasters who need to track and store a lot of content. The Mega will arrive early next year along with final pricing, but if you’re interested, beware — it’s not likely to fit under your TV stand. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Storage Comments Via: The Verge Source: TiVo

Follow this link:
TiVo proves that ‘size matters’ with absurd 26,000 hour DVR

How Verizon lets its copper network decay to force phone customers onto fiber

Aurich Lawson The shift from copper landlines to fiber-based voice networks is continuing apace, and no one wants it to happen faster than Verizon. Internet users nationwide are clamoring for fiber, as well, hoping it can free them from slower DSL service or the dreaded cable companies. But not everyone wants fiber, because, when it comes to voice calls, the newer technology doesn’t have all the benefits of the old copper phone network. In particular, fiber doesn’t conduct electricity, where copper does. That means when your power goes out, copper landlines might keep working for days or weeks by drawing electricity over the lines, while a phone that relies on fiber will only last as long as its battery. That’s up to eight hours for Verizon’s most widely available backup system. Thus, while many customers practically beg for fiber, others—particularly those who have suffered through long power outages—want Verizon to keep maintaining the old copper lines. But Verizon continues pressuring customers to switch, and it’s getting harder to say no. Read 89 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Excerpt from:
How Verizon lets its copper network decay to force phone customers onto fiber

Tiny, reversible USB Type-C connector finalized

The USB Type-C cable and its various connector designs. USB-IF The USB Promoter Group announced today that it has finalized the design of the USB Type-C plug , a new type of USB plug that’s designed to completely replace every size of all current USB connectors. Like Apple’s Lightning cables, the new connector is reversible so that it can be used in any orientation. According to the USB-IF’s press release ( PDF ), the new connector is “similar in size” to current micro USB 2.0 Type-B connectors (the ones you use for most non-Apple phones and tablets). It is designed to be “robust enough for laptops and tablets” and “slim enough for mobile phones.” The openings for the connector measure roughly 8.4mm by 2.6mm. As we’ve reported previously , cables and adapters for connecting Type-C devices into older Type-A and Type-B ports will be readily available—the prevalence of these older ports will make any industry-wide shift to USB Type-C an arduous, years-long process. Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

See the original post:
Tiny, reversible USB Type-C connector finalized