Twitter gets ready for Wimbledon with a new set of emoji
Twitter has announced a new set of Wimbledon-themed emoji via the timeline of Serena Williams. The new characters are part of a broader push to get fans engaging on social media during the tournament.
Aside from #Wimbledon (which brings up a tennis racquet), the hashtags let you broadcast where you're watching from: #TheQueue, #TheHill (Henman Hill) or #TheWorld (anywhere outside SW19).
Twitter says it wants to create "a friendly battle of conversation" between fans no matter where they're watching, and there will be more emoji characters available as the tournament progresses.
Going live
Twitter knows that live sports (or live events of any description) are where it still has the edge over the likes of Facebook and Instagram. It's also trying to capitalise with special promotions on Periscope and Vine.To get people engaged, you can try and get your face on the big screen at Wimbledon by tweeting a selfie with the hashtag #TheHill. There's also a large topiary @Wimbledon sign to take photos next to.
It's not the first time that Twitter has introduced custom emoji either: you might remember a few new symbols popping up to promote the upcoming Star Wars film The Force Awakens.
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Apple starts production on its Force Touch iPhone 6S
A new report from Bloomberg backs up the rumours we've been hearing about Force Touch coming to the iPhone. "People with knowledge of the matter" say production has already started on this year's handsets.
For the Force Touch newbies, it's a pressure-sensing technology that reacts to the lightness (or otherwise) of a touch on a display. It can already be found on the Apple Watch and the new MacBook.
Bloomberg's sources say the new pair of phones are going to keep last year's designs as well as the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes. They might get a little bit thicker but that's about it as far as looks go.
By the numbers
It's by no means certain that the new iPhones will have the 6S moniker - Apple could jump up to the iPhone 7 with its naming system, but we are expecting minor upgrades for the 2015 refresh.Apple usually announces new iPhones in September and we're expect the same this year. As Bloomberg notes, handset availability will depend on how quickly Apple can churn out the new Force Touch screens.
It's one feature to look forward to when the iPhone 6S/7 rolls round later this year. We're anticipating a few bumps to the processor speed and memory capacity, and of course the arrival of iOS 9.
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Running Man of Tech: Would you want a personal trainer strapped to your head?
Strapping fitness
Has anyone noticed how the sun seems to be shining a little brighter these days? The air feel a little crisper, more satisfying? And how about them chirping birds, eh? Loads of them everywhere.It's possible that this is just my post-triathlon mind breaking free of the memory of being trapped in the Thames, the need to keep donning the sausage suit and throw myself in lakes no longer a part of my life.
Instead it's back to the wonderful simplicity of running, where the only criteria are a pair of trainers, my legs and ideally some clothing (otherwise people throw rubbish at me).
But that doesn't mean I won't have a challenge to be aiming for – and it's the same demon that's haunted me for nearly a year. After hitting my goal of breaking 45 minutes for the 10k before I turned 30 in 2013, I've been improving steadily until I was aiming for the 40 minute barrier last year.
I got close: 40.31 in May. Then 40.13 in August. Then in September I ran a near-perfect race in London's Regent's Park… in 40.02. I nearly tore a muscle sprinting for the finish in that one, and I swear I saw a unicorn running alongside me, such was the out of body experience.
But now I'm back. And gunning for that target.
The Coach you can't see
And what's the first thing I'm going to tell you about in this new 'all about running' world? A headset that helps you become a cross training master.OK, it's not running, but this is a new me, one who's been told by too many people that I need more strength to get faster. With that in mind I headed down to an overly fancy gym in London to attend a training session to check out the new Jabra Coach headset.
If you've heard of the Jabra Pulse headphones (obviously you read about them in my first column earlier this year, because you're loyal and I've always liked you) then you'll get a good flavour about what these are about.
Bluetooth headphones with inbuilt motion sensing technology, they're created to be your own personal 'do more get faster' trainer.
The idea is simple: pair them with your phone, choose one of the four pre-made cross training programs, and just do what the voices in your head tell you.
Each workout is pretty short, with nothing longer than six minutes, although they are slightly brutal, especially for a beginner.
Squats, planks, lunges, kettle-bell swings and more are all in the mix, and what sets the Jabra Coach headphones apart from the rest of the pack is the dedicated button in your left ear to press when you've completed each exercise, pushing you onto the next set.
The audio and build quality are also excellent, and help go a long way to justifying the slightly high £120 / $149 price – not too high when you consider the tech on offer, but a tough sell to someone new to fitness.
It's there where I find the biggest flaw in these headphones though – trying to explain why someone should buy them. The free app would work with a normal pair of wired or Bluetooth headphones (although you'd have to tap the screen to progress, which is less desirable), so it's not like the fitness structure isn't there.
And while the Coach headphones have oodles of technology packed in to track motion, that's only for letting you run without a phone strapped to your arm - which cheaper watches can already do.
It seems odd, given the motion tech inside, that these headphones can't track your repetitions of exercises, knowing when you've done the required amount of burpees, sit-ups or squats, giving you a time limit to do as many as possible and tracking your improvement over the following weeks.
I'm hopeful that this could possibly be added in at a later date, which would make these really awesome for someone looking to get in shape. I'm still definitely going to use them to help structure my strength sessions, but I'll use the 'create your own' workout feature as the onboard stuff is far too basic once you've used them two or three times.
It's a shame there's no progression with the plans either – if only the brand used the fitness test section of the app to assess a new user's abilities at cross training, then gave that person a structured, progressive plan to help build them up - increasing reps and sets as they went.
That would be something. Headphones that can monitor how well you do in your home fitness sessions and provide you with a path to get you into the shape you've always wanted – and there's no obvious reason it couldn't happen.
Here comes the Zoom
I'm going to try to do something I've not really managed before: review a pair of trainers. Like headphones, I've always struggled to tell the different beyond the obvious – option A is bigger than B, but B is sort of louder.It seems so subjective, and with trainers the amount of consternation about whether to get something that's a low-drop or high-drop or mesh or knitted or whatever makes me want to just tie ham sandwiches to my feet and hope for the best.
(By the way, I've finally worked out what people are talking about when they speak about the 'drop' in a shoe – it's the difference between the thickness of the heel and the toe sections, essentially, and helps promote different kind of foot striking in runners.
For a better, more intelligent explanation, read this.)
But screw all that – I'm going to try and tell you my experiences about wearing some shoes, and do it in a way that doesn't make you put your phone down and stare idly into space for something more entertaining to do.
What's on offer here? Well, it's only the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8 trainers! Getting past the 9 year old part of me that's screaming YES FINALLY SOME NIKE AIRS, let's get into what's on offer:
Firstly, these trainers weigh very little indeed while offering a plethora of features that promise to help you get faster, run better and generally have a better life.
Nike's big promise with the AZE8's is all about energy recovery, trying to nab back some of that effort you put into forcing your foot into the floor to push you forward. It's a lot like Adidas' Boost foam promise, where helping you run with less effort is the name of the game.
Nike's trying to do it with the construction of the trainer though, using FlyWire technology that springs back when compressed to add force to your stride. As someone who's practically lived in the comfy slipper-like experience of Adidas' Ultra Boost for the last two months, this was going to be a tough sell.
So, what's it's like to strap them on? In an effort to reduce weight, the tongue is pretty thin, which would normally bring up worries of laces digging into the top of the foot over longer runs. But the asymmetric design sees to it that this isn't the case, with the result being a comfortable fit.
After the pain of previous trainers rubbing so hard on my upper foot during a marathon earlier this year that I thought they'd exploded, I'm certainly glad of that – although I've not thrown these through any great distance to check whether they'll offer the same torture. I'm very hopefully they won't though (I still have the scars).
What I did find odd in this shoe, touted as lightweight and breathable, was the stiffness apparent throughout the chassis. The first few kilometres were rather clumpy, although after a while they seemed to loosen up somewhat.
I didn't notice a huge amount of springback when using them over a longer distance, but they weren't uncomfortable. They did promote a mid-foot strike (which is a good thing for most runners) but there also seemed to be a fair amount of movement inside, leading to a slightly sore foot.
They aren't as breathable as other trainers on the market either, despite being promised as such, with my feet getting a little toasty over time – which didn't help the soreness.
But I'm a long way from bedding these fancy trainers in – and for looks alone, they're definitely some of the better trainers I've strapped on.
I'll be giving them a speed test at the Parkrun on Saturday (and I can't tell you how happy I am to be getting back to being averagely stuck in the middle of the pack each weekend – beats being in a river) and the long run on Sunday, which I'm dreading thanks to not doing more than 10K for about two months.
- If you've got any tips, tech you want tested out or just want to mock me, I'm @superbeav on Twitter, and you can see my stumblings on Strava too.
- Read the rest of the Running Man of Tech story here
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Week in Gaming: Video games need fixing, but we must stop blaming the little guys
With the excitement of E3 behind us, the ever-present negativity in the games industry settles back down to its regular levels. At even the best of times, there's always this undercurrent of grumblings about frame rate, resolution and various other game-related things like DLC and exclusives and pre-order bonuses, and much of it is legitimate and worth pointing out.
Like most people, I don't really want to see things like Dead Island's pre-order bonus - a bloodied female torso - being pimped out as a "bonus", like having the opportunity to display nearly-naked body parts around my house is some kind of reward, and nor do I want to be charged extra to buy two new maps and a different coloured helmet for my character when that sort of stuff used to come in the base game.
While it seems like these are the sort of decisions a group of "lads" makes on a particularly heavy stag do rather than experienced and presumably well-intentioned business folk in a stuffy office somewhere, the latter is more often the case. Real people are making these design choices, so, of course, the blame has to fall somewhere. But more and more increasingly, the finger seems to point at whoever tries to deal with the problem first.
This week in particular, and especially in the aftermath of E3, people seem to be baying for blood. Luke Smith, director of recently-announced Destiny DLC, The Taken King, spoke to Eurogamer about the issue of asking players to pay £40 for the expansion, and then another £35 on top of that if they wanted the collector's edition, which includes three new emotes - but also requires players to re-purchase the base game.
He defended this decision by saying "you're feeling anxious because you want this exclusive content but you don't know yet how much you want it," following that up with "if I fired up a video right now and showed you the emotes you would throw money at the screen."
Is he detached from the reality of consumers who don't have much disposable income? Potentially. Is he being overly defensive and unsympathetic towards players who have so far been loyal to Destiny? Maybe. But is it his fault that the price tag was set at £40? Perhaps not. Pricing isn't the sort of choice made by developers - that's a business thing. If you've ever worked in any kind of bureaucratic job - an office of any kind, really - then you know that sometimes, higher-ups make decisions that you then have to defend, whether you believe in them or not.
Cranking cogs
Every big game has these sorts of cogs cranking behind the scenes, which is why the pre-order business is such a burden on the industry these days - it no longer reserves you a copy as much as it just keeps you on the hook, and on the books. It's much more helpful for a video game publisher as it is for you, the consumer, because all you want to do is register your interest out of excitement, or get some pre-order bonus, but when game copies are so plentiful, and pre-order bonuses so often useless (hats, figurines, keyrings, etc.), all you're really doing is assuring the company that you will pay money before you even know how good the game is.
The same goes for Batman: Arkham Knight, the release of which on PC was so disastrous that copies have been pulled from sale completely. With problems ranging from unplayable frame rates to incredible lag, combined with the fact that Nvidia released a "60 frames per second" video that was seemingly sped up to simulate 60fps, and that Warner Bros. were a little reticent to send out PC review copies, there was understandably a backlash. This was most prominently aimed at the QAs (Quality Analysts, who are hired to check for and report on bugs) - because if a game has bugs, some fault must lie with the people whose job it is to check for them.
But of course, the QAs on a game don't have the final say - even if they report a bug, it doesn't mean it'll get patched out. Maybe there's not enough time, or money, or people to do the job. Likewise, Bungie is not the publisher of their own game - that's Activision - so they might not have the final say on any of this kind of stuff, because they're not the ones taking their game to market. These are decisions made by a bunch of different people, at different times, and for different reasons.
But nevertheless, some people - mostly vocal ones, mostly on Twitter and in comment sections - have been blaming the most visible person involved in these situations, which is something that seems to happen time and time again in the gaming industry.
Sometimes an apology is issued - as with Assassin's Creed Unity's problems last year, which resulted in free DLC, or Halo: Master Chief Collection's online issues, for which Bonnie Ross, the head of 343 Industries, apologised and gave out various free extras. Other times, people's reputations and jobs are ruined because they become the public face of a PR disaster.
Sometimes mistakes happen, and often they tarnish the fun and our expectations for a game. It's a shame, and it's frustrating, but they still happen. There is a lot to be said for those who campaign for better work conditions for developers and coders, more transparency and better treatment of consumers, and all of this is important in an industry that's still finding its feet - but it's also our responsibility to avoid making one person a target when the bad decisions are often the result of many, many fingers in one pie.
There's plenty to learn, too: pre-ordering is no longer a wise choice; if you're going to blame someone, make sure it's the people who actually made the bad decisions; and if a company is withholding review copy, be wary.
But it's also important to remember that not everyone is the bad guy. The video game market is broken in many places and needs fixing - we just need to make sure we're fixing it by pointing the finger at the actual problems, not the little guys.
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5 things you should know about Windows as a Service
Introduction
Windows 10 isn't really the last version of Windows. It might be the last version number though, because new features and improvements will come out as part of Windows 10 rather than as new releases you have to upgrade to.
Some of those will be smaller fixes and updates; some will be larger upgrades, like the Redstone update expected in 2016. They'll be delivered through Windows Update and Windows Update for Business, something Microsoft refers to as Windows as a Service. But what does that actually mean?
In this slideshow, we will answer that central question, and other queries you may have about Windows 10 along these lines…
It's not really a service
The phrase 'as a Service' usually means that you're not getting software to run on your PC and instead use a cloud service (that may or may not have software for your devices to use with some of the features available).
Windows as a Service is the full version of Windows, in whatever SKU you use, running on your PCs as usual. Microsoft is using the name because 'servicing' is the way it refers to what most people call updating and patching. When you see the phrase 'always up to date with the latest features and security updates', that's Windows as a Service.
It's not called Windows 365
You might have heard that Microsoft registered a domain with the Windows 365 name – it's most likely they did that to stop anyone else using it and confusing users, because that's not what Microsoft calls Windows as a Service. And unlike Office 365, you don't pay a monthly fee to get new features (or even the right to keep using the software).
The confusion arises because the free upgrade to Windows 10 (Home and Pro editions) is only available to Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Windows 8.1 users for a year after Windows 10 comes out. If you wait longer than that and then you want to upgrade, Microsoft will charge you to get Windows 10 (that might be as much as the full Windows 10 licence, as previous upgrade prices have been available for limited periods of time). But once you get Windows 10, you'll get free security and feature updates, for "the supported lifetime of the device".
The phrase supported lifetime refers to the fact that OEMs don't support PC models forever – after a certain point, they stop releasing drivers for older PCs. If a new feature comes along in Windows that needs an updated driver and the PC vendor is no longer supporting the device and doesn't release a new driver, then that new feature isn't going to work for you.
Windows 10 Enterprise isn't a free upgrade at all, but if you have Software Assurance as part of your Windows Enterprise volume licence you'll have the right to upgrade. SA is a subscription, and that doesn't change.
It's only for Windows 10
Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 will carry on getting security updates for as long as they're supported by Microsoft, but the continuing new features are only for Windows 10. That's also true for the Windows Update for Business service, where businesses can choose to deliver fixes through their own version of the Windows Update system.
Consumers and businesses update differently
The Windows 10 Home edition comes with automatic system updates; you have to be using Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise to be able to delay or turn off feature updates. If you keep updates on, you'll always have the latest version of Windows, which Microsoft calls the 'current branch'. And if they want, Windows Insiders can stay in the Insider program (even if they're on Windows Pro or Enterprise as well as Home) and remain on what Microsoft calls the 'active branch' to get previews of new updates before everyone else.
For businesses, there are two things to think about with updates. One is that the branches are slightly different. The Current Branch for Business (which is available for both Windows Pro and Enteprise) gets security updates straight away, and feature updates regularly – but not until the current branch for consumers has had those features for several months (long enough to show that there aren't any problems with them).
Windows 10 Enterprise customers with Software Assurance who have PCs running critical systems where they can't risk changes and incompatibilities can also opt for the Long Term Servicing branch that gets security and critical updates (via Windows Update for Windows Server Update Services), but doesn't get feature updates for the five or ten years of mainstream and extended support.
New Long Term Servicing branches with some new features will come out (probably at the same two to three year interval that service packs used to arrive at) and you'll be able to upgrade to the next Long Term Servicing branch when it comes out. You can also switch PCs between current and Long Term Service branches.
The other option businesses have is the free Windows Update for Business option for Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. This gives you the same updates, but with more control over exactly when they roll out. You can put different PCs into different distribution rings, so enthusiastic users get new features more quickly and critical teams like the finance department get them more slowly.
You can also set maintenance windows – that could mean no PCs get rebooted for updates during business hours, or no-one in the finance department will have their PC rebooted for an update during the last week of the quarter when they're working on financial reports.
Feature creep
There are some Windows 10 features that won't be available straight away, including extensions support in the Edge browser and whatever Microsoft comes up with to replace the 'placeholder' feature in OneDrive (in Windows 8.1 that lets you save files into OneDrive folders that you don't sync, even when you're offline, and have them sync to the cloud later, but it's not in Windows 10).
Indeed, the unified OneDrive client that supports sync to both consumer OneDrive and OneDrive for Business probably won't come out until the autumn, along with Windows 10 Enterprise. If you're not allowing Windows Update to deliver features as well as security updates and you install Windows 10 before those features come along, you won't get them.
And if you're on the Long Term Servicing branch, you won't get the Edge browser at all. That's because Edge will get its own frequent updates, and if you're not going to allow updates, there's no point having Edge installed.
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UPDATED: See 7 tech companies support today's same-sex marriage ruling
This is how tech firms showed their Pride
As LGBT Pride Month comes to an end, a Supreme Court ruling today has legalized same-sex marriage across the US. That means it's time to break out the doodles.
To celebrate, a large number of tech companies today have changed their logos or posted to social media. Our newsfeeds have never been so colorful.
Here is a round-up of tech companies showing their support of marriage equality, featuring filters, hashtags and Easter eggs.
Uber
Uber keeps us moving from destination to destination, but the company proved to be emotionally moving today by tweeting an equality-celebrating GIF.
The ride hailing service is also adding little rainbows that trail its drivers within the app today. Maybe that'll brighten up the fact it's going to take 12 minutes for the driver to pick you up from the airport.
You can celebrate Pride on Facebook in your own colorful way, and it only takes a few clicks. The social network is allowing everyone to add colorful stripes to your profile pictures.
This auto-generating red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple rainbow overlay is joined by a Facebook Stories short film about an LGBT supporter who started Facebook group LGBTQ.
"Today is a historic day recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples across the US," the social media giant wrote today.
"In celebration of this and LGBT Pride Month, we're sharing the story of Justin Kamimoto, one of many individuals making a difference for this community."
The White House
Okay, it's not a tech company, but the state-of-the-art home of the first sitting US President to declare support for same-sex marriage is getting a Pride-supporting colorful makeover online and IRL.
The White House is being decked out with rainbow-colored flood lights to celebrate the Supreme Court ruling. It could be seen through a live White House video feed for a bit, too.
No stranger to doodles and Easter eggs, Google is celebrating Pride Month in a number of ways.
If you type "happy pride" Google Hangouts, you'll see one of three surprise animations (a rainbow, two emoji kissing and a parade of emojis with the Pride flag).
Meanwhile, typing keywords similar to "marriage equality" or "same-sex marriage" into Google Search today will show you this a rainbow-colored people paper chain, that art project I could never do in middle school.
Google also posted this video to YouTube:
Twitter has a colorful new avatar. It's not on every page as part of the official masthead logo, but the tech company is using it for the @Twitter profile.
Trending, you should see hashtags like #LoveWins and phrases like Supreme Court and White House. It's nice to see something not depressing trend for once this week/year/epoch.
Apple
Spotify
Spotify has set up a new #LoveWins playlist. Created by the team at the streaming music service, it includes 43 songs spanning 2 hours and 48 minutes.
Artists include Adele, Hozier, John Legend, Macklemore and Elton John. Mary Lambert kicks things off with the meaningful lyrics, "I can't try even if I wanted to" in the song She Keeps Me Warm.
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Updated: Samsung is patching its Windows Update blunder
Update: Nearly three days after Samsung laptop bloatware was discovered to be deactivating the automatic Windows Update, the Korean firm says it plans to send a patch soon to stop the software from performing the sketchy practice.
"Samsung has a commitment to security and we continue to value our partnership with Microsoft," a company spokesperson told VentureBeat. "We will be issuing a patch through the Samsung Software Update notification process to revert back to the recommended automatic Windows Update settings within a few days. Samsung remains committed to providing a trustworthy user experience and we encourage customers with product questions or concerns to contact us directly at 1-800-SAMSUNG."
Samsung has never said clearly why its SW Update was set up to block Windows Update from doing its job, though VentureBeat noted the company had implied Microsoft's default drivers were to blame for component issues in Samsung laptops. Apparently, Samsung's fix was to disable all Windows updates, though it's now reversing course on that strategy.
Original article below...
An active debugger in the Microsoft community has made a startling discovery: a program in Samsung's SW Update software, which can be downloaded on Samsung laptops, blocks Windows' own updating software, leaving users with a potential security flaw.
Windows Update is responsible for installing updates for the operating system, drivers and software, along with patches and security updates, so blocking it is obviously a bad idea.
Patrick Barker, the Microsoft "MVP" who made the discovery and who is not a Microsoft employee, explained the program responsible for disabling Windows Update was 'Disable_Windowsupdate.exe,' and was found to be a part of Samsung's SW Update software.
"SW Update is your typical OEM updating software that will update your Samsung drivers, the bloatware that came on your Samsung machine, etc," Barker wrote on his blog.
"The only difference between other OEM updating software is, Samsung's disables [Windows Update]."
Problems with bloatware
After discovering the issue, Barker got in touch with a Samsung customer support rep to ask why the program was disabling Windows Update. Barker posted the response on his blog:"When you enable Windows updates, it will install the Default Drivers for all the hardware no laptop which may or may not work. For example if there is USB 3.0 on laptop, the ports may not work with the installation of updates. So to prevent this, SW Update tool will prevent the Windows updates."
Since the issue came to light, Microsoft said in a statement that it's now in contact with Samsung to address the issue.
"Windows Update remains a critical component of our security commitment to our customers," Microsoft said. "We do not recommend disabling or modifying Windows Update in any way as this could expose a customer to increased security risks."
Samsung has also said in a statement it's investigating the claim and will be "working with Microsoft to address this matter".
Barker, on the other hand, recommends users uninstall the SW Update tool.
- Read up on the latest Windows 10 developments
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Didn't order the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy? We've got bad news for you
Fallout 4 pre-orders for the special edition Pip-Boy sold out almost immediately, and it looks like they're gone again the second time around, forever.
Specifically, Bethesda will no longer manufacture real life Pip-Boys for future retail. Bethesda's VP of Marketing and PR Pete Hines took to Twitter and briefly stated: "Each store is being given their final allotment. How and when they make the[sic] available is up to them. but no more are being made."
If you missed out on the first and second rounds of pre-orders, it seems like you're out of luck. Whatever's left in stock during launch day on November 10, 2015 will likely be the last batch of $120 (£99, about AU$155) special edition Pip-Boy bundles.
Don't care about the wearable and just want moar Fallout 4? That's still coming later this year on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
- We wish the Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus could play Fallout ...
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Mac Tips: How to delete podcasts in iTunes on Mac
Got an Apple, Mac or iOS tech question? We have the answer. This time we have a reader who wants to know how to delete podcasts from iTunes for Mac. It's usually easily dealt with, but we have both basic and advanced pointers for getting the job done.
Question
I have not been able to figure out how to erase podcasts from my iTunes library. I'm not referring to the individual podcasts themselves, but the original podcast reference in the library. For instance, I have stopped listening to this podcast "Book That Changed My Life" but I cannot remove it. I have several of them clogging up my list. Any ideas?Answer
With podcasts inside of iTunes, even if you unsubscribe from a podcast, the podcast episodes and entry in the sidebar will remain until you take steps to delete the podcast from iTunes on your Mac. Fortunately, this should be a very easy process.To delete your podcasts, perform these steps:
1. Open the Podcasts view inside of iTunes. (Press Command + 4 for quick access.)
2. Right-click (or control-click) on the podcast that you wish to delete in the sidebar.
3. Select the Delete option from the contextual menu.
4. In the window that appears, select "Delete."
After you perform these steps, you will be unsubscribed from the podcast, and any downloaded episodes will be completely removed from your computer. In addition, the podcast's entry in the sidebar of iTunes will be removed.
If this technique isn't working, however, it's likely you're experiencing some type of bug. In this case, there's no simple solution, but there are multiple things you can try, such as dragging the podcast from the sidebar directly into your trash can, deleting the podcast from the Episode List instead of the Podcasts list (switch between them in the upper-right corner), or checking your music library to see if the podcasts have been recategorized as music (in which case you'll have to manage them from the music section of iTunes). Also, don't be afraid to press that Refresh button in the lower-left - sometimes it can clean out podcasts or episodes that appear to be there but really aren't.
Got an Apple tech question? Email ask@maclife.com.
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Hands-on review: CE Week 2015: Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema LS10000
4K TV will, without a doubt, be the next revolution in television technology. Entering its sophomore years, the Ultra HD fad is finally hitting its stride with affordable sets that are more accessible to the everyman. At the same time, options targeted for home theater enthusiasts are in large supply with massive and even curved televisions. Now, we have a kickass 4K projector to gawk at.
At CE Week 2015 in New York CIty, Epson showcased its flagship 4K projector, the PowerLite Pro Cinema LS10000 (otherwise known as the EH-LS10000 in the UK). By far, the key takeaway from this projector is that it uses freaking lasers in place of traditional lamps to render an image.
Aside from the coolness factor, going with concentrated light rays also means this projector starts up dramatically faster. Plus you won't have to worry about burnt out lamps or it being excessively loud.
Now for the soul crusher – it'll run you $7,999 or £5,999 (about AU$10,458).
Design
The Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema LS10000 is massive and bulbous in proportion. Measuring 22-inches square and weighing 40 pounds, this projector looks almost like looks like an alien drone straight out of a sci-fi movie with its single lens and two large air intakes on the sides. It doesn't help the rest of the projector looks as if it was streamlined with rounded curves all around for flight.Around back, you'll find a removable rear cover with a radial-pattern grill, which you can pull off to reveal the ports. The projector has on tap a set of component ports, RGB PC input, two slots for HDMI cables, Ethernet, two remote triggers, a RS-232 serial remote port and lastly, a microUSB port for software upgrades only.
The real 4K deal
While 4K television is still a nascent media format that's barely hit homes worldwide, it's already set a new high bar for picture quality. Ultra HD TV sets have proven to not only look sharper, but also produce a more vivid and lifelike picture with improved color and contrast.To my pleasant surprise, the Pro Cinema LS10000 was able to produce an equally pleasing picture with perfect clarity despite having to beam the picture through the air for several feet. What's more, colors were bright and despite beaming light across the room. The contrast also looked great, with clearly defined grays fading into deep blacks.
The demo unit was setup in a fairly ideal situation with a dark room and a 65-inch silvered screen standing approximately a yard and a half away. An Epson representative also explained that the projector could also be positioned further back and potentially produce a picture that's 200-inches in size.
The projector is rated to produce 1,500 lumens of light, which should be plenty bright to play a movie even in a sunlit room. But in most cases you'll want to set it up in a theater room with blackout window curtains to get the best cinema experience.
Pew Pew!
Let's talk more about the best feature of the Pro Cinema LS10000: frickin' lasers, as Doctor Evil would say. The laser engine is one of the most unique characteristics of this projector, whereas most units use lamps that burn out after roughly 3,000 hours of usage.The LS1000 laser engine uses two blue lasers – one of which is split into a green and red light – to produce a full picture.
Epson claims the device will last well beyond the lifespan of a projector lamp, with between 17,000 and 30,000 hours of usage (depending on whether it's set to in High or ECO power consumption modes). Most lamp-powered projectors also have to heat up for up to two-minutes before you can start watching media. The Pro Cinema LS10000 will kick into gear in just 26 seconds.
Early verdict
The Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema LS10000 produces a stunning 4K image that rivals some of the best televisions I've ever set my eyes on, including LG's OLED 4K TV. But with a price tag of $7,999 or £5,999 (about AU$10,458), this is a home entertainment device you'll only find in the most outlandish home theater setups.
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Not a magical wand: Disney bans selfie sticks at its theme parks
Going to a Disney theme park this summer? Leave your selfie sticks at home, kids, because Disney is banning them at its parks around the globe.
All Disney parks in the US won't welcome the wands beginning June 30, while the ban will roll out to Disney parks in Hong Kong and Paris on July 1.
Disney will add the ban to the parks' rules post on its website, and visitors will be warned with announcements in public locations around the parks, such as parking lots and hotels.
Anyone found with a selfie stick during routine bag checks at park entrances will be told to turn it in for pick-up later, or told to return it to their car or hotel.
A danger stick?
Selfie sticks have so far been prohibited on certain rides across Disneyland and Disney World for safety reasons, with signs and employees warning visitors and rule breakers.According to news reports, a few days ago a Disneyland roller coaster was stopped for an hour and riders evacuated when someone pulled out a selfie-stick mid coaster.
The entertainment giant says the blanket ban is due to safety concerns, though it wasn't prompted by the recent Disneyland incident alone.
"We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family and, unfortunately, selfie sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our guests and cast (employees)," Disney spokeswoman Suzi Brown told The OC Register.
Disney joins a list of other companies, museums and organizations banning the selfie stick in public spaces and events. Earlier this year, Apple banned the selfie stick for its WWDC developer conference.
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In Depth: 5 ways YouTube Gaming can take down Twitch
A new challenger emerges
YouTube revealed earlier this month that it's jumping into the game-streaming arena with a new service called YouTube Gaming. Its opponent? The Amazon-owned Twitch, one of the most popular destinations on the internet.This 800-pound gorilla of the streaming world is where 100 million viewers go every month to catch their favorite personalities, watch live announcements and see the latest events from around the gaming industry streamed live.
Though other competitors have risen to take on Twitch, the most notable of which was the upstart Hitbox, YouTube might be the strongest yet. After all, it's got tech giant Google in its corner.
Even so, YouTube is still fighting an uphill battle.
What can YouTube do that Twitch doesn't already? I have a few ideas, but I also wanted to get a sense of what streamers - from small hobbyists to well-known personalities, all of whom focus on different kinds of content - think about YouTube's move into the field.
Specifically, I asked what they think YouTube could offer that would give it an edge against the well-entrenched Twitch. As some of them have Twitch partnerships, I opted to keep them anonymous. You'll find their thoughts below, along with my own take on how YouTube Gaming can take down Twitch.
1. Offer better archival and search tools
In August 2014, Twitch rolled out several changes to the way it stored old broadcasts. Among them was a limit to the amount of time video of a past broadcast would be stored on its servers, unless it was designated as a "highlight." While users can export video streams from Twitch to YouTube, doing so remains a cumbersome process.But since YouTube Gaming is, well, YouTube, archival has the potential to be much easier, simpler and faster, if not instantaneous.
Another difficulty Twitch faces is finding pre-recorded streams of specific games. It's easy to find someone who's currently online, but finding past streams of someone playing New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS, for example, remains a major problem.
YouTube, with Google's search engine backing, could make finding streams of your favorite gaming obscurities a cinch, and could possibly even appear in basic Google searches if the company decides to go down that route.
2. Get exclusive broadcast rights to big events
It might seem like a dirty move, but it's the truth: the easiest way to get an audience is to secure exclusive broadcast rights to an event that people want to see."I think Twitch doing that in 2012 or so helped fuel the migration of gaming streams to their service from Ustream's," one gaming marathon organizer told me. "So I could see it happening again if [YouTube] offered a better-enough service."
However, YouTube doesn't necessarily have to snag big-time eSports like EGL or EVO to grow an audience.
A lengthy event with multiple must-see sessions, like the week-long Games Done Quick charity showcases, draws a lot of viewers and participants over seven days. An event along those lines could bring in the viewers for the new service who would then hopefully stick around to watch other streams – and make their own.
To that point, YouTube Gaming had a major presence during the recent E3 2015 gaming expo in Los Angeles, complete with hosts who followed along with show happenings all day long. Twitch hosted several E3 press conferences, too, so the two may need to lay claim to other big gaming events - or duke it out over who owns E3.
3. More reliable servers and less stream delay
Anyone who has streamed on Twitch has likely encountered outages or other server hiccups from time to time. While these outages can be a hassle, the big issue is stream delay, which affects when viewers can see what a player is doing and when the streamer can see what's being said in the chat.Stream delay was first introduced in August 2014 as a compromise to try to improve the service's general performance and reduce server strain, it's still a topic of much consternation.
"[I'd like it] back to the levels it used to be at a 5-10 second delay," said a well-known stream personality.
Other streamers, however, didn't see the delay as too problematic. "Less stream delay isn't as big of a deal [for me]... It's nice, but frankly it's hard for me to read everything while playing," says a Twitch speedrunner.
For those bothered by lag times, a shorter delay between streamers and viewers could put an easy point in YouTube Gaming's win column.
Will game streamers make the switch?
4. Harness the power of HTML5
Twitch uses Adobe Flash, a program which can be volatile, to say the least. (I've lost track of how many times Twitch streams have crashed on my PC.) An up-and-coming streamer who uses Twitch to build an elaborate fictional universe for their viewers went into a bit more detail."Flash is a resource hog and Twitch reps have said they're working on moving to HTML5, but time will tell when it comes out," the streamer said.
YouTube Gaming already has a leg up in this regard. YouTube runs HTML5 by default in supported browsers, having dropped Flash in January this year. As we wrote at the time: "[HTML5] allows YouTube to dynamically alter video quality to suit the bandwidth available. And that means less time watching the buffering screen." It also means YouTube can "use the VP9 codec (which enables 4K video at 60fps), as well as [enable] faster video load times and WebRTV support for easy sharing of videos and video broadcasts."
If YouTube Gaming can fully harness the power of HTML5 for its new streaming endeavor, Twitch will have a difficult time keeping up.
5. Spread the wealth
A lot of people stream occasionally in their spare time, but there are very few folks who can make their hobby even slightly profitable. More money for streamers would mean more people streaming - and more viewers coming to watch.Many Twitch streamers offer paid channel subscriptions (the revenue of which is split with Twitch), and get a small take of ad revenue, but some feel the terms aren't the best.
"Twitch and Hitbox are both 50% on [subscription revenue splits], and it'd be nice if they pushed it to 70/30," says a hobbyist streamer I surveyed. "[That way] more people could do this as a thing … since [the streaming services] provide 99% of the service free/just on ad revenue, it always felt greedy on their part, [but] no one has really tried to up-heave that."
So is Twitch just being greedy, or does it need the money to run its business?
When asked to comment on whether it would ever consider changing its policy to better reward streamers and potentially attract even more on-screen talent, Twitch PR replied, "We don't share details about our revenue share with broadcasters. Since the success of Twitch is based on the success of our broadcasters, enabling them to generate more income is always top of mind."
"This is why we partnered with Teespring earlier this year," they continued. "Now all of our Partnered broadcasters can sell merchandise directly through their Twitch dashboard in a very turnkey fashion while receiving the majority of the profit from the sales."
If YouTube Gaming could negotiate a higher rate for its streamers and stick to that message over the next year, it's possible Twitch could start losing those streamers - and viewers - to the approaching challenger.
But will it be enough?
Despite the possibilities for the upstart YouTube Gaming, among almost everyone I surveyed, there was a general feeling that migrating from Twitch would be a major hassle."Twitch already has a lot of services that you don't see on other sites/see others mimicking like subs, IRC chat, emotes, etc.," notes a major streaming personality. "It's tricky, because I already feel like Twitch has what I need to do what I enjoy, and YouTube's service has a lot of catching up to do."
This apathy towards switching sides is understandable: When you're entrenched with thousands of followers and subscribers, you risk alienating your audience if you move.
"It would take quite a bit for me to seriously consider switching away from Twitch, since I have a pretty good-sized personal following there," says the marathon planner.
Ultimately, though, most feel that another player in the video game streaming arena is a good thing.
"I'm planning to wait and see - if nothing else I'd like to see Twitch face some real competition, since usually the consumer wins in the end," says the marathon organizer.
"Honestly, perhaps Google has something that I just don't know about," says the speedrunner. "If they have a surprise up their sleeves, [that's] awesome."
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Office 365 Store saves time with single sign-on to web apps
The Office 365 Store makes it easy for Office users to manage, launch and sign into their third-party web apps. These third-party apps extend the function of Office and brings Microsoft closer to turning its software into a service.
"Office 365 Store is accessible through an icon in the app launcher "waffle" in the top navigation bar," Microsoft said in a blog post.
Initially, Microsoft is working with a few select partners for the Single Sign-On experience, but the company is committed to extending the simplicity of this experience to more third-party apps in the future. Microsoft says that any third-party app with the Azure Active Directory, Open ID Connect and OAuth 2.0 support can be published to the Office 365 Store.
Adding Office 365 web apps to your launcher
You can add third-party apps from the Office 365 Store to your app launcher in just a few clicks. First, you'll need to access the Office 365 Store from your launcher. Once you're in, you can add the apps to your My Apps.In order to promote the apps to the launcher, you can click on the ellipses next to the app tile and pin the app.
"From there, you can launch any of these apps with no further sign in – existing Office 365 credentials do the job! You can also unpin or even remove apps you no longer need," Microsoft said in a blog post.
This feature is rolling out now to First Release customers and will be available to everyone in July.
Admin configuration is not needed, so hopefully the company has a process for approving safe apps into the Office 365 Store. The Office 365 Store only hosts free web apps, and Microsoft said it is considering paid apps for the future.
The Office 365 Store is separate from the Windows Store, which hosts full apps for Windows users.
Office 365 apps
Office 365 apps extend the functionality of Microsoft's suite by integrating services from third-party developers. For example, Salesforce, LinkedIn and DocuSign offer apps that extend the functionality of Microsoft Outlook.Using the Outlook APIs that were announced in late April, the LinkedIn and Salesforce integration could scan your inbox and retrieve information about the sender's name, LinkedIn profile and company information. This helps you keep up to date with your contacts and retrieve information at a glance without having to search.
Microsoft also demonstrated integration with Uber. With this integration, you can schedule your appointments inside Outlook as usual, and you can also add a reminder to call an Uber car. Once the reminder goes off on your phone, you'll swipe across, and you'll be taken into the Uber app. Inside the app, the relevant destination field for your appointment is automatically populated, saving you time.
- Read our Office 2016 review
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Interview: Cities: Skylines CEO: We're not changing traffic (but natural disasters would be cool)
Introduction
Everybody knows that a good mayor never sleeps, especially if they're in charge of a sprawling Cities: Skylines metropolis (fires don't put themselves out, you know). With an ever expanding library of mods to play with (and DLC on the horizon) Colossal Order's city builder lets you sink more hours into it than ever before.Smashing the 1 million sales mark one month after its release, Skylines has seen the Finland-based studio behind it grow from nine to fourteen people while doubling the number of programmers working on it - to a dizzying two.
After managing to pin down company CEO Mariina Hallikainen at Unity Unite 2015, TechRadar received some insight into the possibility of missions (including natural disasters and zombies), the future of its traffic system, and why those who torture their digital city dwellers are bad, bad people.
TechRadar: One million sales after three months. Did you expect that?
Mariina Hallikainen: To be honest I was very surprised because we're a very small company, and Paradox isn't a massive publisher. If you think about the budgets for marketing and the game itself, the ability we have is amazing. There's almost this blurred line between what is creating and what is playing - and people have been sharing their creations with the world.
Steam Workshop has over 45,000 items, which is mind-blowing. It's definitely something we didn't see happening so fast. I was hoping that Cities: Skylines might be the game that sells over a million copies in three years or something, and it happened in just over a month. It's very exciting.
TR: People tend to pit Skylines against SimCity 2013 - did you do any research into what gamers might want that was missing in SimCity?
MH: It's a funny story because we've been pitching a city builder for many years. It was impossible to make one at the beginning with only five people and no track record, so in 2009 we started to focus on creating a smaller-scope game which became Cities In Motion, followed by Cities In Motion 2 that came out in 2013. By the time we had the technology and a skilled team needed to create a city builder, SimCity 2013 was announced. We thought they were going to build this fantastic game and leave no room for competition!
TR: Did SimCity change how you approached making Cities: Skylines?
MH: We were quite devastated and wondered what type of sequel we were going to make to Cities In Motion 2, but that all changed after SimCity's launch. We began to notice that there might be room for another city builder, and our publisher was like "your idea's fantastic, let's do this!".
We had the vision for the game before SimCity, so we stuck with it and didn't research what they were doing too much. We wanted big maps and to fully focus on single player because we didn't have the resources to make big fancy features, so it was driven by what we always wanted to do but could also pull off.
TR: You guys must have been huge Theme Park, Roller Coaster: Tycoon, and SimCity fans back in the day...
MH: Yeah! It's funny because I personally have no industry background. I was a student who was asked to join the company to handle the business side, but I was really into simulation games. The first time I tried the Cities In Motion demo, I was like "thank God I like this game! It's going to be so much easier to sell because I enjoy it."
I used to play Theme Park back in the '90s when I was a small girl, so Cities In Motion brought back so many memories. I'd completely stopped playing games during high school and uni - I'm not really a gamer. But simulation games provided such a familiar and lovely feeling. The team have been playing Transport Tycoon, Traffic Giant, SimCity games and older ones - Ceasar, for example.
TR: What were the biggest lessons you learned creating the two Cities In Motion games that helped with Cities: Skylines?
MH: One was how to figure out performance and memory issues when having big maps because we already had them in Cities In Motion 2. And then there was modding, which didn't work in Cities In Motion 1 because we had no idea what we were doing in terms of making mods meaningful, which was the same for the second game.
We had to figure out how to make it so that people could mod Cities: Skylines, which was something people wanted to do from the beginning. Players are so skilled that they've actually disregarded the modding API to do super cool stuff we had no idea they could do.
TR: Are there any mods that stand out for you?
MH: The Borderlands one. A guy had plans to make the buildings graphics very specific with outlines, but Unity behaved in a weird way. He posted a screenshot that showed some pink glowing things where all the lines were electric and crazy! It looked super cool, and he eventually got it working the way he intended. Modders have also made helicopters that you can fly around the city.
TR: In what ways can somebody building a city in Skylines learn something about themselves?
MH: If they drown everybody in pools then they are terrible people!
TR: Traffic has been highlighted as one of the more problematic elements of the game, with cars getting stuck in single lanes and the whole thing really having a negative impact on cities. Are there any plans to change the way traffic works in the game?
MH: There's no way we're going to change it because the traffic behaves in that way due to computing power. If a car is going somewhere and there's a jam we can't recalculate the path for it to go a different way because it would cause massive performance issues, and we still need to have the big maps, so it basically comes down to choices.
It's something we're looking to improve and if we get the chance we'll try to give the player more control over it, but it's not going to be in the way that people have suggested where cars will change lanes. That wouldn't be difficult to program, but the effect of it would be devastating. I hope that people don't feel that traffic is so challenging that the game isn't fun anymore because that's the worst thing that could happen.
TR: Are there any tips you can give people to alleviate traffic issues - such as how they approach designing roads?
MH: You can create pretty cool systems that are likely to alleviate the traffic. First of all, don't place too many crossings down so that vehicles get stuck in traffic lights. Underpasses and overpasses are very clever ways of handling crossings, along with tunnels, which have now been implemented.
Also think the placing of zones; for example, trucks will need to go industrial areas so don't make them start in residential areas where there's already traffic. It's just a case of figuring out how the city will grow, and doing it in a way so that it won't cause massive lots of traffic.
TR: Missions and random events such as natural disasters would be a cool addition, are there any plans for that or will you leave it up to modders?
MH: We want to make things that are really grand and big, and we're not sure how easy natural disasters would be for modders to do. To have developers working on big features like that would be beneficial for all Skylines players because we need to remember that the majority of players don't use mods. We don't have plans to work on natural disasters yet, but it would be cool to have because we already have the water system in place.
TR: Will you be releasing DLC for the game any time soon?
MH: We'll have a big expansion and release both free and paid updates, all of which we'll be revealing at Gamescom.
TR: Some good ideas for DLC have been suggested in Reddit's Cities: Skylines subreddit. Would you mind giving your opinion on a few of them?
MH: Sure.
TR: A transportation pack: bikes, bike lanes, skaters, trams and above-ground metros.
MH: There are some very cool ideas in there! Above-ground metros is very unlikely to happen. I haven't been thinking about skate parks, but it sounds like fun. I wonder what our animator would come up with - probably something crazy.
TR: Advanced tourism: zoos, theatres and casinos.
MH: Excellent!
TR: Boadwalks, seaside attractions, ferries and higher land value for beachside properties.
MH: Also good ideas.
TR: Amusement parks.
MH: I'm a huge fan of Theme Park, but it would be difficult to make in the game. As a unique building then sure, but I think people would want to actually build them, so it's very unlikely to happen unfortunately.
TR: Zombies. They're cool, right?
MH: Yes! We need zombies. Yes to those.
TR: How long do you plan to keep adding to Skylines before you make a sequel?
MH: As long as we possibly and technically can while people enjoy playing the game. I think the point where we have to move on to a sequel is when the technology is in such a state that it doesn't make any sense to continue working on Cities: Skylines. I'm hoping that will be some years in the future because there's so many ideas we want to add to the game before going there.
TR: Augmented reality could be a good fit for Cities: Skylines - beaming your city onto a table in your front room, for example.
MH: We're super excited about future technologies so we'll be looking at what possibilities are there. It's difficult though - having a small team is always my excuse. In the future we're hoping to grow the company in such a way that we have Cities: Skylines track, with a team working on that, and then have a new team working on some new IPs or different kinds of games.
TR: What's next for Cities: Skylines?
MH: We're going to be focusing on some great expansions and getting free updates out to generally improve the game. We're also very focused on improving the modding tools to allow them to do even cooler stuff.
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Review: Philips Moda 2
Introduction and design
There are only so many ways to differentiate your product in the monitor space, and rather than compete on panel resolution, screen size or price, Philips opted to go a unique route and pair better audio quality to its display. The Moda 2 ($220, £140, AU$285), also known as the 245C5, integrates a Bluetooth speaker into the base of the monitor stand, giving users an upgraded display experience with a 24-inch screen and an enhanced sound experience for multimedia consumption.In the compact monitor space, the Moda 2 competes against displays in the 21- to 24-inch range. In this space, the 21.5-inch Acer UT220HQL ($199, £125, AU$255) differentiates itself by adding a touchscreen panel, the BenQ EW2440 ($220, £140, AU$285) brings a stylish design and integrates a smartphone dock to highlight its MHL connectivity and the 21.5-inch Samsung SD300 series ($149, £93, AU$191) offers a great panel at a significantly more affordable price.
At the suggested retail cost of $300, users can even find higher resolution panels, such as QHD and UHD 4K screens. Dell's 28-inch P2815Q display bumps up the resolution to 4K for $299 (£188, AU$386).
Design
Considering that most PC users buy a good display and fail to purchase good speakers for their computer, the entertainment experience can be hampered by poor sound quality. Philips chose to target these users with its C245C5 Moda 2 display by bundling better quality speakers with a great monitor design.
Cloaked in glossy black plastic, the Philips C245C5 looks like a product with a premium price tag. If Philips had used aluminum instead of plastic for the construction, the Moda 2 could be mistaken for a Bang & Olufsen Beovision product, given its unique, minimalist design.
One of the highlights of the Philips 245C5 is the base of the display, with a circular mesh pillow that houses the dual 7W speakers. The design is both functional and aesthetically pleasing, which should add to the Moda 2's desk appeal.
The Moda 2 measures 21.3 x 1.5 x 13.1 inches (54.1 x 3.8 x 33.3cm) and weighs 9.94 pounds (4.5kg), making it sturdy enough on a desk, but light enough for business users to carry to trade show booths for use as a digital display.
The roomy 24-inch IPS screen on the front spans to the edges of the display with a bezel-less look. The monitor floats above the circular, upward-firing speakers on the bottom thanks to an angular stand.
On the rear of the panel, Philips employs a textured wavy pattern to the glossy black finish, which keeps things interesting. I personally don't care for the pattern. The glossy black material attracts fingerprint and dust easily, which may be a problem if you're using the monitor in an open front office setting.
The back also houses a thin cut out where the connectivity ports are located. The Moda 2 accommodates three HDMI, single VGA and audio input and output ports. Philips also included a small clip-on cable management ring in the box, which plugs into a small hole in the lower portion of the rear of the stand to keep wire clutter to a minimum.
Build quality for the display is solid, except for a small lip on the bottom center of the screen. Presumably, this lip is to aid users when adjusting the tilt angle of the display, but when pressure is applied to the lip, it feels like the bottom plastic strip of the display is about to come undone.
Specifications and performance
Even though the Moda 2 has a matte panel, which helps to reduce glare and reflectivity under ambient office lighting, the matte surface is actually a thin film and not a sprayed on coating. Out of the box, there is a small sticker warning users to not rip off the panel film.At this point, it's unclear if this matte film will come off over time, and if it does come off, if there will be any perceivable performance degradation to the quality of the display.
Specs
- Panel: WLED Backlit - IPS LCD Panel
- Viewable Image Size: 23.8"
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Brightness: 250 cd/m2
- SmartContrast: 20,000,000:1
- SmartResponse Time: 5ms (Gray to Gray)
- Viewable Angle: 178 degrees horizontal, 178 degrees vertical
- Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
- Display Colors: 16.7 Million
- Connectivity: VGA, HDMI (2x), MHL-HDMI (digital, HDCP)
- Tilt: -5 to 20 degrees
- Audio In/Out: PC audio-in, Headphone out
- Built-in Speakers: 7-watt (2x), Bluetooth Speaker
- Weight: 9.94 pounds (4.5kg)
- Dimensions: 21.3 x 1.5 x 13.1 inches (54.1 x 3.8 x 33.3cm)
Ergonomics
Unfortunately, as this is a consumer-centric display, the display has limited capabilities for adjustments, which may affect its use in office settings given ergonomic constraints. For instance, even though the display can tilt, the Moda 2 cannot swivel horizontally or be lifted or lowered vertically. Additionally, as the speaker wires run through the display stand, the base and stand portions cannot be removed for wall mounting.
For users who are more concerned with eye fatigue than the positioning of their displays, the Moda 2 offers various viewing modes along with a flicker-free screen. The modes are accessible through the display's menus, and I found that they help to reduce eye strain when using the display for extended durations.
Performance
According to data obtained from the display analysis tool taken from the Spyder5 Elite colorimeter, the Moda 2 achieves 98% of the sRGB color space and 76% of the AdobeRGB range. This means that the display could display colors accurately when working with the web and internet applications, but users working with Adobe's suite of creative tools, including Creative Cloud, should probably look at pricier studio displays.
The display analysis results show that the Moda 2 has excellent color uniformity and accuracy, good luminance uniformity across the display, and mediocre contrast and tone response.
For a consumer device, an average delta-E score of roughly 2 is generally considered excellent. The color gradient on the Moda 2 shifts from the bottom left corner to the upper right corner, according to the Datacolor test, but is generally imperceptible to the naked eye.
Menu and navigation
Including the power button, there are six capacitive buttons on the front of the display that lets users adjust various settings on the monitor. Tapping on the buttons brings additional commands, and you'll have to use the left and right arrows to navigate between menus and submenus.
Even though I appreciated that the buttons are clearly labeled and marked, navigating the menus can be a bit of a chore. The menus and the navigation aren't always intuitive, and sometimes there is a lag or delay so it feels like I haven't pressed a button.
Audio
Philips included plenty of audio control so that you can tune the speakers to your liking. There are controls within the monitor's menu to toggle the treble and bass, enable SRS WOW HD tuning and gain surround sound 5.1 output with an option called Incredible Sound.Unfortunately, you can't have all the tuning going at the same time, so if you've enabled SRS WOW HD, for example, you cannot enable Incredible Surround nor treble and bass controls.
In my testing, audio quality sounds richer and louder than competing displays with built-in 1W or 2W speakers. However, given that there isn't much space in base of the display to house the speakers, the output lacks bass and audio fidelity, and isn't as clean as on portable Bluetooth speakers, like the Jambox, Bose SoundLink or Samsung Level Box.
For audiophiles, the built-in Bluetooth connectivity of the Moda 2 will be great. Even though the display doesn't have picture-in-picture or picture-by-picture modes for multitasking, you can still be productive and entertained at the same time. You can work on spreadsheets and documents while streaming music on your phone to the monitor.
When working with multiple sources, the Moda 2 can only recognize one input source to play audio. When I had my phone paired over Bluetooth and my PC connected via HDMI, the Moda 2 could only play sound out from one source and not both. It'd be nice, for example, if I could have streamed music from my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge while also hearing my system notifications and calendar alerts from my Dell Latitude 12 7000 notebook.
Additionally, Bluetooth streaming will only work when the display is on. Given the multimedia focus of the Moda 2, Philips could have added a webcam and integrated microphones to the package to further set this display apart from the competition. This would allow the Moda 2 to be used for video conferencing, and the microphones could be used in conjunction with a smartphone for speakerphone calls.
Verdict
Philips has created a balanced display for productivity and multimedia consumption with a great screen panel and loud audio. Bluetooth audio and MHL connectivity makes this a great display for businesses, as this setup allows road warriors the flexibility of connecting their laptops or smartphones to do work, stay entertained or give presentations.We liked
The design with the integration of good speakers means that the Moda 2 is capable of delivering a great audio and visual multimedia experience, even in tight spaces, such as small offices, cramped dorm rooms and even on trade shows to loop promotional videos or to give an impromptu presentation with a connected smartphone.There are also plenty of options to connect your devices with three HDMI ports, MHL support and Bluetooth connectivity for audio. For college students or business professionals working with both a laptop and a desktop, this means you won't run out of HDMI ports or have to disconnect one device in order to connect another.
We disliked
Even though the Moda 2 comes with upgraded dual 7W stereo speakers and audio tuning enhancements, audio fidelity is still lacking. You'll get louder, amped up audio output, but you won't get smoky vocals or punchy bass in jazz performances.Additionally, some of the speaker's tuning, like the mode that emulates a surround sound 5.1 experience, seems gimmicky.
Final verdict
By combining sophisticated styling and an upgraded audio experience, Philips is hoping that users won't mind paying the price premium for the Moda 2. If you like the compact package that Philips delivers, the Moda 2 will reward you with a great IPS panel, flicker-free screen and connectivity options to connect your smartphone.For the price, users would be wise in looking at options with a touchscreen, like the Acer UT220HQL, or a higher resolution display, like the 4K Dell P2815Q. After all, you can't upgrade your existing monitor to include touch or a 4K panel after the point of purchase, but you can always add better sounding speakers later.
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You can buy yourself a personal jetpack next year
Do you have a spare $150,000 laying around? The first commercial jetpack is set to go on sale next year, and that's how much it'll cost.
The Martin Jetpack, on show at the Paris Airshow this week where hoverbikes were also demoe, will be available for commercial purchase starting late 2016.
The brain child of Glenn Martin, the Martin Jetpack has been in development for over 35 years.
The New Zealand-based company already has a refundable deposit system set up for anyone (including individuals or organizations) wanting to get on a waiting list for a Martin Jetpack, but the release date has moved up from 2017 (according to the site) to late 2016.
Aimed for emergencies
The latest P12 model Martin Jetpack can carry up to 120 kilograms (264.5 pounds) and fly for more than 30 minutes at up to 74 kilometers per hour (almost 46 mph). It runs on a V4 200 horsepower petrol engine, which drives two ducted fans, with the ability to reach altitudes of up to 1000 meters (3,280 feet).Talking to Reuters, Martin Jetpack's Chief Executive Peter Coker said that the jetpack was built with safety in mind from the start, with a composite structure designed to protect the pilot and a ballistic parachute system that can be deployed at even very low altitudes.
Coker also explained the jetpack is aimed towards emergency services like ambulances or the fire services.
"So, for example, in the fire services going around to look at the situational awareness of what's going on, perhaps through water security or even search and rescue on beach patrol, something along those lines," he said.
Though, that doesn't mean you can get yourself one because, well, jetpack!
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Review: Bose SoundTrue
Having a set of over-ear headphones on your head should be a comfortable experience. It should also be a fun one, complete with the sound isolation and strong performance you expect to be put forward by a set of cans in 2015.
For $179 (£149, AU$179), the Bose SoundTrue over-ear headphones hit nearly all the marks of what makes a set of headphones good. It's even got some extra goodies included that I'm smitten to see in a set of wired headphones.
Even so, the sound quality just isn't quite up to par compared to what other headphones in its price range can handle. But boy, are these stylish.
Design
The design of the SoundTrue helps to round out the Bose headphone offering as a sleek, sporty look for on-the-go listeners. These over-ear cans borrow much in the way of looks from their bigger and more expensive sibling, the Bose QuietComfort 25. But the SoundTrue knows when to split off to forge its own path, rocking some moves of its own that I prefer to its noise-cancelling kin.
The thin, lightweight metal frame of the headband is padded to make the SoundTrue comfortable. On its top, a leatherette material makes for a stunning first impression and is smooth to the touch. A softer felt material coats its underside to make for a soft pillow against your head.
Moving down toward the sidearms, the plushy touches make way for plastic, making it easier to grip – in case you want to increase or decrease the size adjusting mechanism. There are several notches built into the SoundTrue, so even those with heads on the larger side (much like myself) will still be comfy.
Arriving at the sidearms, Bose stamps a 'R' and a 'L' facing outward, which makes putting them on your head the right way easy – much easier to see here than on the QC25 headphones. The sidearms are comprised of a few pieces of matte-textured, curved plastic that stretch down to the ear cup hinge.
Speaking of the hinge, mobility of the ear cups is one key area where design influence from the Bose QC25 was lost in translation. The cups on the SoundTrue can only twist 90 degrees, which unfortunately nixes laying them flat out on your chest. It's a minor gripe, but their stiffness made me opt to take them off completely when not in use instead of looping them around my neck. That said, the cups have enough flexibility to wiggle around, helping most to find the right fit.
The ear cups rock a look that is both flashy and minimalistic, with more of Bose's favorite material for the SoundTrue: matte-textured plastic. On the outermost section of each cup, Bose planted its logo front and center.
And on their insides, the cups boast a hearty helping of leatherette-coated padding that yields that same comfort benefits of the headband. The cushions against your head also provide isolation, keeping your music in and sound out. If you take a look inside the cup, each color variation of the SoundTrue offered by Bose has a different design.
Lastly, stretching down from the left ear cup is the 5.5-foot 3.5mm cable. Most of the time, the more cable, the better. But I found myself routinely holding this one up while I walked upstairs so that it wouldn't catch on my knee. It's too long.
On the plus side, it features a set of inline controls and microphone to make skipping songs, taking calls and adjusting volume easy without having to touch your phone. Also in the box is a carrying case for the SoundTrue. It's nothing too tough (just more of the leatherette material), but it's an appreciated perk.
Performance
It's difficult not to mention the SoundTrue and Bose's QuietComfort 25 noise-cancelling headphones in the same sentence. They look very similar, but it goes deeper than that. The two sets of headphones sound just about the same, and that's both a good and a bad thing for listeners.
Regarding comfort, the SoundTrue takes the cake as probably the lightest over-ear headphones that I've ever worn. This makes wearing them for extended periods of time all too easy. And despite being closed-back cups, my ears weren't suffocated in heat.
In terms of features, I was also pleased, as the SoundTrue are more capable than your average wired headphone. The inline controls and microphone work flawlessly for making on-the-fly adjustments to music or phone calls. But unfortunately, the volume functionality is limited to iOS devices exclusively. It's a darn shame.
The sound performance though, where it counts the most for some, is hit or miss. It feels strange typing those words regarding a Bose product, which I've had mostly positive experiences with.
I'm the same person who said that Bose's QuietComfort 25 offered "unparalleled audio performance" when I reviewed them months ago. So what's my deal with the SoundTrue?
Like the QC25, they offer a sweet spot of comfort, performance and features that can be hard to find. Yet, when you begin to hone in on sound performance, the SoundTrue gets outclassed by a few of its competitors.
Opting to go wireless with the $199 (about £176, AU$256) Koss BT540i will get you a warmer, full-bodied sound. The $150 (£129) Sony MDR-ZX770BT are also wireless and give the SoundTrue a run for its money with a comfortable build and balanced audio presentation.
By no means do these Bose cans sound bad. They sound quite good, with accurate bass response backing music of any genre. Highs are crisp and well-defined.
It's the mids that can't hold it together and sound muddled at times. When put against some competition in the price range, like the $229 (£179, about AU$299) Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro Plus, the Bose SoundTrue just can't play ball.
Verdict
Bose has created a worthy addition to its line of well-constructed headphones, balancing comfort, features and performance well. My biggest problem with the SoundTrue isn't the sound performance, it's the price, which places it within a bracket of competition it simply can't hold its own against.However, if style is your biggest concern, there's a lot to enjoy here. You'll also be buying into a set of headphones that's ultra-light and knows a thing or two about pumping out some sufficient sound.
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Keitai: How to transfer SIM contacts to Google from your iPhone
Your weekly smartphone fun
Following hot on the heels of last week, this week's instalment of Keitai continues the contact management theme, specifically look at those of you rocking iPhones.How to transfer contacts to Google on iOS
Last week we showed you how to back up your Android contacts to your Google account, but what about if you use an iPhone?Perhaps unsurprisingly it's not quite as simple, but it's worth doing for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's never a bad idea to have your contacts backed up to the internet in case you lose your phone.
It also means that if you make the jump from iPhone to Android (yes, it does happen), then you'll have all of your contacts ready and waiting for you on your new device.
1. Get a Gmail account
If you don't already have a Gmail account, you can quickly set one up before you begin. Even if you're drowning in email addresses you never use, having a Gmail account is handy if you use a lot of Google's services and apps, such as Chrome.
It's also pretty essential if you are changing from iOS to Android.
2. Load up iTunes
Once you've sorted a Gmail account, plug in your iPhone and launch iTunes. With your iPhone plugged in, an iPhone icon will appear towards the top of the screen, just below the playback buttons.
Click this, then click "Info". Under "Sync Contacts" it might say "Your contacts are being synced with your iPhone over the air from iCloud". If so, on your iPhone go to Settings then select "iCloud" and click the icon next to "Contacts" to stop it syncing.
3. Sync with Google
Now go back to iTunes and where it says "Sync Contacts with" you'll see a drop down box. Click this, select Google Contacts and use your Gmail log in details to sign in. Finally click "Apply" and your contacts will now be saved to Google.
If you're switching to a new Android phone, turn it on and sign in to your Google account and your contacts will be downloaded onto your new handset.
4. Synchronise your contacts to Google on your iPhone or iPad
If you're not near your computer don't worry, as you don't need to use iTunes to sync your contacts to Google – instead you can just use your iPhone or iPad (if you're running iOS 7 or later).
To do this tap on Settings then go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Tap "Add Account", then select Google.
Enter in your Gmail account and password and make sure that the "Contacts" setting is turned on.
You can now open your Contacts app on the iPhone or iPad and contacts will begin synching automatically.
It's happened again
Winston blinked again, vaguely aware that him waking up at the start of a scene was quickly becoming an overused narrative device.He jolted awake as he remembered what had happened to him: a large vacuum sucking him in the forest, his body falling apart, an operation, monochrome monitors, a slightly disconcerting encounter with an old school teacher… wait, no, that last part was probably a dream.
But there was something very different, he could feel it. He felt more connected to the earth, like being transported from a bustling, steely metropolis to a peaceful forest cabin.
His vision still blinked with information, but it was minimal. There was a freedom to his movement that felt oddly light and airy - and he gasped when he looked down.
His body was back! The metallic legs and dangling wires were gone, and in their place were shiny white stallion's legs, rippling with muscle.
He gingerly tried to clamber to his feet, and found instead of a wobbly mess they were instantly strong and firm. Winston began to canter around the room, but within a few seconds had crashed into a desk and knocked over a number of monitors.
He skidded to a halt, hoping nobody would have noticed. But the door crashed open and the panther, giraffe and a studious-looking penguin came running in - staring open-mouthed at the carnage.
"Yeah, sorry about that," said Winston.
The panther waved a paw rather close to his face. "It matters not. It is just good to see you standing up. The operation was, clearly, a complete success."
"What did you do to me?" said Winston, twisting his head around to look at his body to try and discern more clues.
"Come, friend, it is better we sit and talk about that," said the panther, motioning for him to follow before slinking out the door. Winston trotted out behind, joining the powerful cat in what looked like a breakout room, complete with multi-coloured beanbags.
The panther curled up on a blue spotty number, motioning Winston to sit. "Can I offer you a smoothie?" he purred. "Please," said Winston, gratefully accepting the green concoction instantly offered to him.
The panther shifted in his seat, looking like he was trying to dredge up the courage to say something uncomfortable. "I know you must have many questions - not least about this story, which seems to be constantly shifting with no definite plot arc."
He waved a paw airily. "There is no time to talk about that now. We must discuss what happened to you - and what we were forced to do to save your life."
Now it was Winston's turn to shift uncomfortably. "That doesn't sound good...am I OK?" he asked, voice slightly quivering.
"Well…" said the panther, the pause not putting Winston at ease. "The good news is you're actually more powerful, more strong and faster than you've ever been before.
"The bad news is you're dying. Swings and roundabouts, eh?"
Does my phone look big in this?
A little treat here for you all, and a trip down memory lane for UK readers, as the infamous Dom Joly takes his oversized mobile phone out and about, reminding us just what it's like to be stuck next to that person on the train.
Simply put, this video is the definition of the worst people in the world. You know who you are.
Scary press shot of the week
Rest easy America, the Moto X is assembled in your fair land - meaning that's it's as pure an American as you, your father, and your father's father.
Trouble is, 'Made in America' may give you a boost of patriotic self confidence, but as this warning shot clearly depicts it'll be about as useful as a sinking car.
Retro video of the week
There's nothing people love more than comedy ringtones, especially when they're in a confined space and said tone is mimicking fart noises.
That is, if all those people are six years old. However, as full grown adults, anyone who laughs at this needs to be locked up.
*Stifles giggle*.
Proper stuff from the site
- The iPhone might lose its home button
- Amazon has a new Kindle Paperwhite
- BlackBerry is making a bacteria-free phone
- Apple wants to replace your passport with an iPhone
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Wall-E: This robot can build a house in just two days
Despite years of advances in automation of the production of bricks, turning them into a structure is still a tedious, manual process. That's why an Australian engineer's latest project could revolutionise the construction industry.
Mark Pivac has built a fully-automated bricklaying robot, which he claims is a world first. "We're at a technological nexus where a few different technologies have got to the level where it's now possible to do it, and that's what we've done," he told PerthNow.
The robot, whose name is Hadrian, can lay 1000 bricks an hour, 24 hours a day. From the schematics of the structure, it calculates the location of every brick and creates a custom program used to cut and lay each one in sequence.
'We have absolutely nothing against bricklayers'
Then it uses a 28-metre articulated arm, complete with a tube that mortar is delivered through, to lay each brick - scanning afterwards to make sure each is correctly installed. It even leaves gaps for electrical wiring and other infrastructure."We have absolutely nothing against bricklayers," said Pivac, whose company has now been acquired by an investment firm. "The problem is the average age of bricklayers is going up and it's difficult to attract new young people to the trade.
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