Posts Tagged: look

Here’s A Look At Lenovo’s Upcoming Tab P12 “Matte Display”

Lenovo’s releasing a reconfigured version of last year’s Tab P12, called the Tab P12 Matte Display. As you’ve guessed, it comes with a matte, paper-like LCD as the major change.
TalkAndroid

This is your best look yet at the Samsung Galaxy S24 series

The Samsung Galaxy S24 just had another big leak — this time giving us official-looking images of all three phones.
Digital Trends

This is our first official look at the OnePlus 12

The OnePlus 12, launching in China on December 4th, refines the OnePlus 11’s aesthetic and improves antenna signal performance and gaming latency.

Come comment on this article: This is our first official look at the OnePlus 12

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Here’s our first look at OnePlus’ next Apple Watch killer

OnePlus’ next smartwatch has just popped up in an apparent design leak, but more than the standout looks, it’s the promise of a Wear OS shift that’s excites us.
Digital Trends

This is our best look yet at Nothing’s Phone 2

We may only have a week of so to go until next weeks launch but Nothing is still feeding the Phone 2 hype machine with little factoids that aim to whet the appetite. Much like it did with the Phone 1 last year, Nothing has allowed MKBHD to show off the exterior of the Phone […]

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’33 Immortals’ first look: Defying a god is more fun with friends

Have you ever struggled to bring together four folks for an Overwatch team? Tried to figure out how you and your friends can play Destiny 2 simultaneously? 

Can you imagine assembling 33 players for a 25-minute raid? 33 Immortals plans to do exactly that.

Channeling the animation style of retro cartoons (and a little Banner Saga), 33 Immortals is a massively substantially multiplayer roguelike top-down action game, from the creators of Spiritfarer. At a session following this week’s Xbox Showcase at Summer Game Fest, five fellow spirits and I tried to escape hell. 

In this early build of the game, there were two character types in play: a swordsman who could deal heavy close-range damage and an archer who could send up to three arrows toward enemies before having to reload. I got to play as the latter. Alongside the standard attacks, I could hold the action button to charge up a heavier piercing shot. The archer, when he reloads, recalls his fired arrows back to him, meaning strategic placement can effectively double the damage dealt.

All the characters also have a dash move, while trigger buttons open your world map, emote wheel and co-op powers. These co-op powers will vary depending on your character type and often demand careful planning to pull them off. Pressing the RB trigger displays a trio of circles on the ground; two of your fellow immortals need to activate the empty circles in order to trigger the attack. For me, this rained arrows on a wide area of the map, but for the swordsman, it launched a wide-ranged healing spell.

33 Immortals§
Thunder Lotus

With plenty of enemies on-screen, especially in the more challenging portal dungeons, it’s a lot of fun just chaotically spamming attacks, helping the rest of your team finish off mid-bosses, or picking off easier foes at a distance before they coordinate their attacks.

If the sword and bow options sound a little limiting, don’t worry: 33 Immortals will offer up plenty of different character types to play with. With seven deadly sins and seven heavenly virtues, we’ll likely get to play around with seven different warriors. Outside of co-op powers and quirks, the button layouts don’t change among characters, making it easier to try out every option. To add a little more complexity, you can gather up in-game currency from monsters you kill, exchanging them for healing or trinkets to boost attack speed, defense and more.

And you’ll likely have to try, try and try again. Each raid is built to be around 25 minutes long, and you'll want to keep as many players alive (and online) as possible so you'll be able to fell the boss at the end. More players will mean it’ll take less time to shave the health bar of bigger enemies, as the game apparently isn’t built to scale with how many characters are playing. More immortals is always better.

By the way, you’re not quite immortal as a fighter, either. After taking too much damage, you’ll fall and reappear as an ethereal spirit, not able to do anything but float around until another raider can resurrect you – something that proved to be particularly frustrating in the middle of difficult fights. Naturally, it’s just better if you fight more cautiously, heal your allies and… don’t die.

33 Immortals is inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy. You're rebelling against God’s final judgment that your soul is damned, and there's a fun twist in the way God delivers his anger when you beat one of his dungeons. As you step out of the portal, the ground around you will get immolated in holy fire, and you’ll have to dodge this and spawning enemies until God chills a little.

While this was an early demo, latency was a struggle for my machine, but the team has plenty of time to stabilize – and offer demos that are not in the middle of a hectic Xbox showcase. I’m excited to play a roguelike as part of a mob, and I'm curious to see what the other character types will be.

33 Immortals is coming to Xbox Series X/S and PC in 2024.

Catch up on all of the news from Summer Game Fest right here!

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/33-immortals-first-look-defying-a-god-is-more-fun-with-friends-190037208.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Apple Vision Pro first look: A glimpse at the spatial computing future

Apple isn't letting us try on its Vision Pro mixed reality headset just yet, but I was able to briefly glimpse the hardware after fighting through the crowds at WWDC. And, well, it looks like yet another headset — almost like a souped up version of the Meta Quest Pro. But even with just a short glance, it's clear that the Vision Pro is pure Apple: It's like seeing the iPod compared to the clunky MP3 players of its era, or the iPhone next to a BlackBerry. 

The Vision Pro is Apple's bold entry into the world of spatial computing, and it seems like the company has learned a lot from the VR and AR headsets before it. The front of the device features an OLED screen that can display your eyes, making you more connected to the people in the real world. Its springy side bands and ribbed rear headband look like suitably high-end. And, simply put, it has the wow factor you'd expect from a prestige Apple product. 

Still, there's some reason for concern. The required battery pack is a bit un-Apple, since you'll have to stuff it into your pocket or find somewhere to store it. And we've yet to see someone wearing this headset in the real world. Apple's event staff stressed that we couldn't touch the Vision Pro or lean too close. We won't see if Apple's spatial computing vision lives up to its slick promotional videos until we can actually wear this thing.      

Follow all of the news from Apple's WWDC 2023 right here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-vision-pro-first-look-spatial-computing-future-201844231.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Latest Webb Telescope images gives a look at stars being born in the Virgo constellation

It seems like every few weeks, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) drop an impressive image from the James Webb Space Telescope that is both stunning to behold and advances our knowledge of the universe. The latest is of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068, called a "barred" galaxy because of the bright central bar you can see in the upper left of the above image. It's a combination image consisting of infrared shots taken from the telescope's MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) sensors. 

What those sensors captured is a galaxy in the Virgo constellation about 20 million light-years from Earth, and because the JWST can see through the dust and gas that surrounds stars as they're born, the instrument is particularly suited to producing images that show the process of star formation.

Looking at the two individual images that make up the composite reveals different layers of the galaxy. As Gizmodo notes, the image produced by the MIRI sensor provides a view of the galaxy's structure and the glowing gas bubbles that represent newly formed stars.

A delicate tracery of dust and bright star clusters threads across this image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. In this image, from Webb’s MIRI instrument, the dusty structure of the spiral galaxy and glowing bubbles of gas containing newly-formed star clusters are particularly prominent. These bright tendrils of gas belong to the barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068, located around 17 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. This portrait of NGC 5068 is part of a campaign to create an astronomical treasure trove, a repository of observations of star formation in nearby galaxies. Previous gems from this collection can be seen here and here. These observations are particularly valuable to astronomers for two reasons. The first is because star formation underpins so many fields in astronomy, from the physics of the tenuous plasma that lies between stars to the evolution of entire galaxies. By observing the formation of stars in nearby galaxies, astronomers hope to kick-start major scientific advances with some of the first available data from Webb. The second reason is that Webb’s observations build on other studies using telescopes including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and some of the world’s most capable ground-based observatories. Webb collected images of 19 nearby star-forming galaxies which astronomers could then combine with catalogues from Hubble of 10 000 star clusters, spectroscopic mapping of 20 000 star-forming emission nebulae from the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and observations of 12 000 dark, dense molecular clouds identified by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). These observations span the electromagnetic spectrum and give astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to piece together the minutiae of star formation. Three asteroid trails intrude into this image, visible as tiny blue-green-red dots. Asteroids appear in astronomical images such as these because they are much closer to the telescope than the distant target. As Webb captures several images of the astronomical object, the asteroid moves, so it shows up in a slightly different place in each frame. They are a little more noticeable in images such as this one from MIRI, because many stars are not as bright in mid-infrared wavelengths as they are in near-infrared or visible light, so asteroids are easier to see next to the stars. One trail lies just below the galaxy’s bar, and two more in the bottom-left corner - can you spot them? [Image description: A close-in image of a spiral galaxy, showing its core and part of a spiral arm. A few bright stars are visible throughout it, concentrated in the barred core. Clumps and filaments of dust thread through it, forming an almost skeletal structure that follows the twist of the galaxy and its spiral arm. Large, glowing bubbles of red gas are hidden in the dust.] Links  NGC 5068 (MIRI+NIRCam image) NGC 5068 (NIRCam image) Slider Tool (MIRI and NIRCam images) Video: Pan of NGC 5068 Video: Webb's views of NGC 5068 (MIRI and NIRCam images) Video: Zoom into NGC 5068
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and

The second image, taken from the NIRCam, put the focus on a huge swath of stars in the foreground. The composite, meanwhile, shows both the enormous amount of stars in the region as well as the highlights of the stars that have just been "born."

A delicate tracery of dust and bright star clusters threads across this image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This view from Webb’s NIRCam instrument is studded by the galaxy’s massive population of stars, most dense along its bright central bar, along with burning red clouds of gas illuminated by young stars within. These glittering stars belong to the barred spiral galaxy NGC 5068, located around 17 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. This portrait of NGC 5068 is part of a campaign to create an astronomical treasure trove, a repository of observations of star formation in nearby galaxies. Previous gems from this collection can be seen here and here. These observations are particularly valuable to astronomers for two reasons. The first is because star formation underpins so many fields in astronomy, from the physics of the tenuous plasma that lies between stars to the evolution of entire galaxies. By observing the formation of stars in nearby galaxies, astronomers hope to kick-start major scientific advances with some of the first available data from Webb. The second reason is that Webb’s observations build on other studies using telescopes including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and some of the world’s most capable ground-based observatories. Webb collected images of 19 nearby star-forming galaxies which astronomers could then combine with catalogues from Hubble of 10 000 star clusters, spectroscopic mapping of 20 000 star-forming emission nebulae from the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and observations of 12 000 dark, dense molecular clouds identified by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). These observations span the electromagnetic spectrum and give astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to piece together the minutiae of star formation. This near-infrared image of the galaxy is filled by the enormous gathering of older stars which make up the core of NGC 5068. The keen vision of NIRCam allows astronomers to peer through the galaxy’s gas and dust to closely examine its stars. Dense and bright clouds of dust lie along the path of the spiral arms: these are H II regions, collections of hydrogen gas where new stars are forming. The young, energetic stars ionise the hydrogen around them which, when combined with hot dust emission, creates this reddish glow. H II regions form a fascinating target for astronomers, and Webb’s instruments are the perfect tools to examine them, resulting in this image. [Image Description: A close-in image of a spiral galaxy, showing its core and part of a spiral arm. At this distance thousands upon thousands of tiny stars that make up the galaxy can be seen. The stars are most dense in a whitish bar that forms the core, and less dense out from that towards the arm. Bright red gas clouds follow the twist of the galaxy and the spiral arm.] Links  NGC 5068 (NIRCam+MIRI Image) NGC 5068 (MIRI Image) Slider Tool (MIRI and NIRCam images) Video: Pan of NGC 5068 Video: Webb's views of NGC 5068 (MIRI and NIRCam images) Video: Zoom into NGC 5068
ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and

There isn't one specific breakthrough finding in this image; instead, NASA notes that this is part of a wider effort to collect as many images of star formation from nearby galaxies as it can. (No, 20 million light-years doesn't exactly feel nearby to me, either, but that's how things go in space.) NASA pointed to another few images as other "gems" from its collection of star births, including this impressive "Phantom Galaxy" that was shown off last summer. As for what the agency hopes to learn? Simply that star formation "underpins so many fields in astronomy, from the physics of the tenuous plasma that lies between stars to the evolution of entire galaxies." NASA goes on to say that it hopes the data being gathered of galaxies like NGC 5068 can help to "kick-start" major scientific advances, though what those might be remains a mystery.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/latest-webb-telescope-images-gives-a-look-at-stars-being-born-in-the-virgo-constellation-120044569.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Look out, Twitter Circle is exposing private tweets

Twitter Circle, a feature that lets you tweet to select users, has been hit by a privacy scare as some of the tweets are gaining wider exposure on the platform.
Digital Trends

A first look at Withings’ toilet bowl urine analyzer

There are certain things you can’t really demonstrate in the same way as other pieces of consumer electronics. A WiFi-connected urine analyzer that sits in your toilet and samples your pee for analysis is one such gadget. That’s why I had to go to a behind-closed-doors event in a private suite here at CES in Las Vegas to test out this prototype version of Withings’ U-Scan.

U-Scan is Withings first attempt at a body fluid-analysis device, albeit one with the weight of such a well-regarded brand in the health tech space. The shell-shaped hardware sits on the edge of your bowl like a scent block, and catches a small sample of fluid while you’re micturating. After around a minute, users will find conclusions about their menstrual cycle or nutrition, depending on what cartridge is installed, pushed to their phone.

Regardless of biology, you’ll need to sit down on the toilet to use this thing, and that it’s a little surprising when the hardware lights up when it starts working. You’ll certainly know when it is as well, since it makes a fairly noticeable whirring noise while your sample is processed. At this early stage, I was able to receive information about two stats: The pH of my urine as well as its specific gravity.

Now, I could reveal what my stats were, but I’d much rather not spoil the video where you can learn a little bit more about how it all works.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Xiaomi’s 13 Pro is an early look at 2023’s flagship phones

Xiaomi's 13 series flagship smartphones are here, and as usual, they're loaded with the latest technology and features. With the 13 and 13 Pro, Xiaomi is the second manufacturer to use Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform, following Vivo with the X90 Pro and IQOO 11 series. They also have new camera modules with improved image quality, ultra-fast charging and more. 

As with the previous models, the Xiaomi 13 and 13 Pro have separate designs. The 13 Pro uses a wrap-around 6.73-inch 2K+ AMOLED screen (3,200 x 1,400) with vegan leather or ceramic back versions. Meanwhile, the 13 has a flat 6.36-inch 2,400 x 1,080 AMOLED display, iPhone-like aluminum sides and either glass or leather back options. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform offers hardware accelerated ray-tracing and improved gaming performance, so both phones have 120Hz displays to keep up.

Xiaomi's 13 Pro packs a 1-inch camera sensor and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
Xiaomi

The Xiaomi 13 Pro has top-flight camera specs, too. It packs a 50-megapixel (MP) f/1.9 main camera with a Type 1-inch sensor (like other Type 1-inch sensors it's really only 8.8 x 13.2mm, but still significantly larger than with most smartphones). It also includes a 50MP 3.2 zoom camera (75mm equivalent) with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a floating lens, as pictured above. Finally, it has a 50MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (14mm equivalent), and 32MP punch-hole selfie cam. 

The Xiaomi 13 (below), meanwhile, has the same selfie camera, a 50MP f/1.8 OIS main camera with a smaller sensor, a 10MP 3.2x zoom OIS zoom camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide (15mm equivalent) camera.

Xiaomi's 13 Pro packs a 1-inch camera sensor and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor
Xiaomi 13
Xiaomi

The 13 Pro offers impressive 120W charging (more than many laptops), bringing the 4,820mAh battery from zero to a 100 percent charge in just 19 minutes. That's fast, but still significantly slower than Redmi's Note 12 Discovery Edition. Wireless charging happens at "just" 50 watts, or 36 minutes to a full charge. The Xiaomi 13, has a slightly smaller 4,500 mAh battery and is limited to 67W wired charging (38 minutes to 100 percent) and 50W wireless charging (48 minutes to a full charge). 

Other features include LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage on both models (8GB and 128GB up to 12GB and 512GB on both models), Dolby Atmos on the Pro model and Leica camera tech. For the latter, Xiaomi and Leica built a color model based on 4,700 scenes, presumably allowing for improved accuracy. Prices start at 4,999 yuan ($ 720) for the Xiaomi 13 Pro and 3,999 yuan ($ 570) for the Xiaomi 13. Those are seriously good prices for such high spec phones, but as usual, you likely won't be able to buy them in North America. 

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Android 13 Go Edition brings the Material You look to entry-level phones

Google’s Material You design language has been available since Android 12, but you wouldn’t know it if you bought an entry Go Edition phone stuck with the old look. Thankfully, Google is finally bringing that aesthetic to lower-cost handset. The newly announced Android 13 Go Edition brings Material You to these basic devices for the first time, giving you color themes that reflect your wallpaper as well as an overall more stylish appearance.

It should also be easier to keep your phone up to date. Android 13 Go Edition adds Google Play System Updates that, like on the ‘full’ platform, ensure you get critical patches without waiting for your manufacturer to push the new code. This could help fix security flaws in a hurry, of course, but it will also keep your device current without chewing up the frequently limited storage on budget phones.

The new Go version adds Discover to help browse a curated list of news stories and other content. Some of Android 13’s subtler improvements are available here, including notification permissions and per-app language preferences.

The first Android 13 Go Edition phones won’t be available until sometime in 2023. With that said, Google notes the release is as much a symbol of Go’s expansion as it is a technical improvement. There are now more than 250 million monthly active Android Go devices. While that pales in comparison to the 3 billion total active devices reported at I/O 2022, it suggests the concept of a highly-optimized, more accessible Android OS is here to stay.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Here’s our first look at Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra

We’ve already seen the rather bland renders of the Galaxy S23+ but now we have our first look at the flagship of the S series, the Galaxy S23 Ultra which continues where the S22 Ultra left off in terms of design. Likely to be officially announced during Q1 of 2023, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is […]

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Hey look, the iPhone’s Dynamic Island has come to … Android?!?

Apple recently caused a lot of excitement when it unveiled the Dynamic Island feature for its iPhone 14 Pro devices. And now it’s come to Android (sort of).
Android | Digital Trends

How to wear the Apple Watch Ultra and not look like a tool

The Apple Watch Ultra is a capable smartwatch for divers and adventurers, but so-called tool watches need justification to wear. Here’s how to pull it off.
Wearables | Digital Trends

iPhone 14 Pro’s two hole-punch cutouts may look like a single ‘wide pill’

Apple's big annual iPhone event is only a few days away and we'll soon find out exactly what the company has up its sleeve. In the meantime, the rumor mill is still churning away. The latest word on the street concerns the dual hole-punch cutouts that the iPhone 14 Pro is expected to have.

According to 9to5Mac and MacRumors (with corroboration from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman), Apple will fill the gap between the cutouts with a blacked-out area of the screen, making it appear to be a single "wide pill-shaped cutout." Also interesting is what Apple seemingly plans to do with that section of the display.

The reports suggest iPhone 14 Pro will move the privacy indicators for the camera and microphone to that gap. Instead of showing a small orange dot in the top-right corner when the microphone is in use and a green dot when the camera is active, these indicators will apparently have more prominence between the cutouts.

Per 9to5Mac, Apple's thinking is to make the indicators look more like they do on MacBook, which shows a green indicator whenever an app is using the camera. On top of that, the iPhone 14 Pro would be able to show privacy indicators for the camera and microphone simultaneously — on current models, if both are in use, only a green dot is displayed. Additionally, it seems you'll be able to tap on the privacy indicators to see which apps are using the mic and camera.

Meanwhile, Apple may be redesigning the Camera app to position more controls at the top of the screen — namely the flash and Live Photo buttons. More photo and video settings might appear below the hole-punch cutouts. These changes aren't set in stone, according to 9to5Mac, which may be a good thing, as folks may not want to cover most of the display with their hand while they adjust photo and video settings.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Google Pixel 7 duo pops up on video, gives a close look at the size difference

Ahead of a fall debut, alleged prototype units of the Pixel 7 and its Pro version have appeared on video. This time, the vanilla model is noticeably smaller.
Mobile | Digital Trends

OnePlus gives us our first look at OxygenOS 13, and the phones getting it

OnePlus has revealed the first details about OxygenOS 13, its new software based on Android 13, and the phones that will work with it.
Android | Digital Trends

There’s Nothing to look at in this latest high-quality leak

If you thought that the leaks would stop now that we are just a few days away from the launch of Nothing’s first smartphone on Prime Day July 12th, the Phone (1), you are sadly mistaken. Or happily, in case you live in Europe or the UK. While we’ve already seen renders (both official and […]

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The wearable tech revolution won’t look like the Apple Watch

Smart ring maker Movano sees wearable tech entering a period of evolution, and we spoke to the firm’s VP of Strategy to understand what’s coming next.
Wearables | Digital Trends

Lastar LED lamp quick look: an affordable and modern step up for your room

Need to spruce up a dark room? It’s easy to overthink the kind of light you’re tossing in the corner, and with the sheer volume of options on Amazon it can be tough to sort out what’s worth your time and what you should pass on. We’re taking a break from anything too techy today […]

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Mother’s Day is coming up fast – here are some deals to make you look good this year

If you want to avoid stopping off at the gas station shop to hastily pick up some chocolates and flowers for your Mom this coming Mother’s Day (May 8th), we’ve got some deals for you after the break that will help make her life easier and make you look good too. Whether it’s a new […]

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3D CT scans make even ketchup caps look cool

See that picture up there? It may look like something out of Tron or Blade Runner, but it's actually a CT scan — of a Heinz ketchup cap. A group of "deeply curious engineers" is scanning different types of items every month to give us a deeper appreciation of various engineering marvels surrounding us in every day life. The latest batch of scans includes a Heinz squeeze-bottle cap that took its inventor 185,000 hours and 45 prototypes to finalize. It's quite a complex assembly, which allows for the ketchup to be stored upside-down without leaking — the design was even licensed to NASA to create leak-proof containers for its astronauts.

In addition to the Heinz bottle cap, the team also scanned a Sriracha nozzle that had such a distinctive design, the family behind the hot sauce chose to trademark it. The engineers scanned a Vita Coco bottle cap, as well, confirming that the foil inside does indeed remain intact until the cap's miniature saw does its job when you open it for the first time. Who knew food packaging could be this fascinating?

Back in December, the team scanned three different AirPods to show how Apple's wireless earbuds have evolved. You'll see how the tech giant kept rearranging the earbuds' internal components over the years, giving each generation a complete redesign. A month later, the team uploaded scans of Nintendo's handheld consoles from the Game Boy to the Switch. Seeing the original Game Boy's processor, which was apparently slower than a TI-83 calculator's, will give you a new appreciation of how far handheld gaming has come. Finally, in February, the team scanned a handful of Polaroid and Fujifilm instant cameras, showcasing their complex internal components and how the small devices can print on pretty large films.

 You can see all all team's 3D scans on their website, where all future projects will most likely be uploaded. 

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Poco’s X4 Pro will look familiar to fans of another phone

The Poco X4 Pro has a 108-megapixel camera and a striking design, but the specifications are otherwise identical to a different phone.
Android | Digital Trends

SpaceX shows what a Starship launch would look like

Elon Musk has given SpaceX's first huge Starship update in years, and during his presentation, the company showed off what a launch with the massive launch system would look like. The Starship system is composed of the Starship spacecraft itself on top of a Super Heavy booster. SpaceX is working towards making it rapidly and fully reusable so as to make launches to the Moon and to Mars feasible. After making its way outside our planet, the booster will break off and return to its launch tower, where it will ideally be caught by the tower arms. As for the spacecraft, it will proceed to its destination before making its way back to Earth. 

Musk said the booster will spend six minutes in the air over all, two upon ascent and four for its return trip. In the future, the system could be reused every six to eight hours for three launches a day. SpaceX says achieving a fully and rapidly reusable system is "key to a future in which humanity is out exploring the stars." Musk also talked about how in-orbit refilling — not "refueling," since the vehicle's Raptor engines use more liquid oxygen than fuel — is essential for long-duration flights. 

The Super Heavy booster, Musk said, has more than twice the thrust of a Saturn V, the largest rocket to ever head to space so far. In its current iteration, it has 29 Raptor engines, but it could eventually have 33. Speaking of those engines, Raptor version 2 is a complete redesign of the first, costs half as much and needs fewer parts. The company is capable of manufacturing five to six a week at the moment, but it could apparently be capable of producing as many as seven by next month. 

Aside from being able to carry hundreds of tons, the Starship could revolutionize space travel if SpaceX can truly make launches as affordable as Musk said it could. He revealed during the event that a Starship launch could cost les than $ 10 million per flight, all in, within two to three years. That's significantly less than a Falcon 9 launch that costs around $ 60 million. 

SpaceX wants to launch the Starship from its Boca Chica, Texas facility called Starbase, where it's been building the rocket's prototype. It has yet to secure approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to do so, and Musk said the company doesn't know where things stand with the agency exactly. However, there's apparently a rough indication that the FAA will be come with its environmental assessment in March. SpaceX also expects the rocket to be ready by then, which means Starship's first orbital test flight could be on the horizon. 

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

The future of sustainability: A look at the next evolution of environmental tech

Sustainable energy tech has come a long way in the past decade, but we’ve still got a long road ahead if we hope to slow climate change. Here’s what’s next
Emerging Tech | Digital Trends

The future of manufacturing: A look ahead to the next era of making things

The way we make things — from cars to shoes to dental floss — has changed dramatically over the past few generations. Here’s what could change next.
Emerging Tech | Digital Trends

Fox Sports used a Sony A7R IV to give NFL broadcasts a cinematic look

Fox Sports used a Sony A7R IV during a broadcast to give NFL fans a more intimate and cinematic experience, according to a tweet from NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo and article by Sports Video Group (SVG). The relatively inexpensive rig was deplo…
Engadget

Is Samsung teasing what its next folding phones will look like?

Samsung is no stranger to staying at the forefront of technology, and they’ve long been a leader in display manufacturing. That paid off with the recent launch of foldable phones, which has seen Samsung take the crown from, well, pretty much everyone. They’re really one of the only manufacturers consistently making good foldable phones early […]

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ICYMI: An in-depth look at Apple’s MacBook Air M1

Although there weren’t quite as many new products to review this week as there were in the previous couple of weeks, the devices we did get our hands on were impressive. We put Apple’s new MacBook Air with M1 system-on-chip to the test, as well as AM…
Engadget

Renault’s Mégane eVision concept offers a look at its future EV lineup

Renault has unveiled the Mégane eVision, a key concept car that previews not just the future Megane hatchback, but its entire EV lineup and others in the Renault/Nissan/Mitsubishi alliance. The styling is based on the Renault Morphoz concept along wi…
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Android 11 is official and these are the features you can look forward to

The stable build of Android 11 has just begun rolling out to Pixel handsets via OTA and as we wait for OEMs to launch public betas of this newest version of Android, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. This is entirely understandable because the world’s most popular mobile OS has reached […]

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TalkAndroid

Take an early 360° look at Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20

With under a month to go until Samsung finally takes the wraps off of its brand new Galaxy Note 20 series of smartphones on August 5th, a chronic leaker has given us our first 360° look at the base model. Showing off its curves in a grey finish with what seems to be a chunky […]

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TalkAndroid

The Morning After: A look at Dyson’s canceled electric car

The hopes and dreams of companies don’t always come true. The Nintendo PlayStation, that undersea electric railway, sometimes things just don’t work out. It’s always intriguing to see how far companies take research and prototypes before canning thei…
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OnePlus going all-in on 5G means fans can look forward to faster speeds and another price bump

5G was already the carrier’s favorite buzzword in 2019 and as coverage is slowly improving, it’s finally beginning to mean something to consumers. 2020 is going to be the year that smartphone manufacturers include 5G connectivity on all models in their flagship ranges, as we’ve already seen with OPPO’s X2 and X2 Pro that launched […]

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TalkAndroid

Get an early look at the Huawei P40 Pro and its new design

Huawei has already confirmed the existence of the P40 and P40 Pro, although I don’t think anyone seriously expected those phones to not be made, with or without Google apps. But so far, that’s all Huawei has said. We’re still rolling on leaks and rumors ahead of its March 2020 unveiling, but some new renders […]

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TalkAndroid

Introducing a fresh new look for YouTube on desktop and tablets

Starting today, we’re bringing you the new YouTube homepage — a design that brings more features to the viewing experience on Home to help you find the next great video to watch. The updated design will begin rolling out today across desktops and YouTube apps on Android and iOS tablets, and will be available to everyone soon. Here’s what you can expect to see:

More easily find the next great video to watch

This new look includes longer video titles and larger, richer thumbnails to give you clearer information about the video at a glance, plus higher resolution video previews. As part of this cleaner design, you’ll notice we’ve also removed some content shelves. You can still find rows of videos for breaking news, music mixes, and more.

When browsing on Home, you’ll also see channel icons below each video making it easier to recognize your favorite creators and content you love.

Customize what to watch next with your queue

You’ve told us you want a better way to queue up the next video to watch, so we’re introducing the option to add to queue on desktop. You can select a handful of videos to watch next without interrupting the video you’re currently watching. Videos in your queue won’t save after you’ve closed your browser, but you can always save videos to your permanent “Watch Later” playlist, too.

Remove suggestions from channels you don’t want to watch

We launched a feature on mobile earlier this year to make it even simpler for you to tell us to stop suggesting videos from a particular channel, and today we’re bringing this to desktop. Just select the three-dot menu next to a video on the homepage, then select “Don’t recommend channel.” After that, you should no longer see videos from that channel suggested to you on the YouTube homepage. You may still be able to find these videos if you search for them, or visit the channel page or Trending tab.

Coming soon: select topics to refine your Homepage and Up Next videos

Earlier this year, we added a new feature to the YouTube Android app that lets you select your favorite topics and customize your Home feed with related videos. We’ll be releasing it on desktop and tablets soon!

We’ve been experimenting with this updated design for a few months and — based on your input — have made dozens of improvements to the layout, most notably adjusting the thumbnail sizes and showing more videos on larger screens. We’re excited to roll this out to everyone, and we hope you’ll find the updated design and new features helpful as you navigate the incredible breadth of content available on YouTube.

Posted by Essam El-Dardiry, Senior Product Manager


YouTube Blog

A first look at Disney+

Disney isn't holding anything back at its D23 Expo. The company kicked off the event on Thursday with a couple of major reveals, including that of its new Avenger Campus theme park and a Disney+ docu-series that will focus on the people behind its mo…
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Plex’s new desktop app packs a fresh look, streamlined downloads

Plex has a brand new app for Windows and Mac that offers a streamlined way to download the things you want to watch and listen to offline. The feature was previously called Sync, but it's now called Downloads — a much clearer term. Your downloads sh…
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Sling TV gets a new look on Apple TV and Roku

Sling TV has made some tweaks to its interface on Apple TV and Roku devices that should make for a better viewing experience. The company says the updates are in response to customer feedback, and should make it easier to sift through shows and movie…
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Taking a harder look at harassment

There have been a lot of questions over the last few days about our policies on harassment, particularly around two YouTube creators: Carlos Maza and Steven Crowder. These are important issues and we’d like to provide more details and context than is possible in any one string of tweets.

Since YouTube started 14 years ago, we have focused on providing a platform where anyone can broadcast themselves, connect with people, and share their voices and their experiences with the world. This has brought a lot of good — like Jouelzy, who founded the #smartbrowngirl movement to empower women of color, or MatPat, a gaming creator — who, along with his fans and other creators — raised over $ 200,000 to combat mental illness. But it has also created many challenges. One of the most important issues we face is around harassment. We enforce our policies here rigorously and regardless of the creator in question: In the first quarter of 2019, we removed tens of thousands of videos and accounts for violation of our policies on cyberbullying and harassment. We also removed hundreds of millions of comments, many of which were flagged and removed due to harassment.

That said, policies need to keep up with current problems. One particular challenge we face more and more these days is creator-on-creator harassment. It’s an issue that Susan addressed in her latest creator letter. We update our policies on an ongoing basis to make sure they’re current. Just today, we took another step in our fight against hate speech and our responsibility to reduce the spread of harmful borderline content. As mentioned, one of our upcoming projects will reexamine our harassment policy, as well.

As an open platform, we sometimes host opinions and views that many, ourselves included, may find offensive. These could include edgy stand-up comedy routines, a chart-topping song, or a charged political rant — and more. Short moments from these videos spliced together paint a troubling picture. But, individually, they don’t always cross the line.

There are two key policies at play here: harassment and hate speech. For harassment, we look at whether the purpose of the video is to incite harassment, threaten or humiliate an individual; or whether personal information is revealed. We consider the entire video: For example, is it a two-minute video dedicated to going after an individual? A 30-minute video of political speech where different individuals are called out a handful of times? Is it focused on a public or private figure? For hate speech, we look at whether the primary purpose of the video is to incite hatred toward or promote supremacism over a protected group; or whether it seeks to incite violence. To be clear, using racial, homophobic, or sexist epithets on their own would not necessarily violate either of these policies. For example, as noted above, lewd or offensive language is often used in songs and comedic routines. It’s when the primary purpose of the video is hate or harassment. And when videos violate these policies, we remove them.

Not everyone will agree with the calls we make — some will say we haven’t done enough; others will say we’ve gone too far. And, sometimes, a decision to leave an offensive video on the site will look like us defending people who have used their platforms and audiences to bully, demean, marginalize or ignore others. If we were to take all potentially offensive content down, we’d be losing valuable speech — speech that allows people everywhere to raise their voices, tell their stories, question those in power, and participate in the critical cultural and political conversations of our day.

Even if a creator’s content doesn’t violate our community guidelines, we will take a look at the broader context and impact, and if their behavior is egregious and harms the broader community, we may take action. In the case of Crowder’s channel, a thorough review over the weekend found that individually, the flagged videos did not violate our Community Guidelines. However, in the subsequent days, we saw the widespread harm to the YouTube community resulting from the ongoing pattern of egregious behavior, took a deeper look, and made the decision to suspend monetization. In order to be considered for reinstatement, all relevant issues with the channel need to be addressed, including any videos that violate our policies, as well as things like offensive merchandise.

In the coming months, we will be taking a hard look at our harassment policies with an aim to update them — just as we have to so many policies over the years — in consultation with experts, creators, journalists and those who have, themselves, been victims of harassment. We are determined to evolve our policies, and continue to hold our creators and ourselves to a higher standard.

—Chris Dale, YouTube


YouTube Blog

A closer look at the Bose 700 noise-cancelling headphones

As great as the Bose QuietComfort 35 II headphones sound, let's be real: they look like they were designed for dads on a business trip. And listen, as someone who's into the whole chunky, dad-shoe trend, I'm not here to judge if you're into their des…
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Get an up-close look at SpaceX’s latest Starhopper test

Now that SpaceX started test firings and short "hop" tests on the launch pad at its Boca Chica, Texas site, it's apparently comfortable enough to show off the results. Tonight Elon Musk — apparently unbothered by an internal investigation or ongoing…
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Take a look inside our YouTube House

It’s morning here at the YouTube House in New York City, and we’re getting ready for a packed day inside our first-ever experiential house.

It’s a pop-up, and since we know most of you are tuning in from far away, we wanted to give you a behind-the-scenes tour of our temporary digs. In the video below, you’ll see how YouTube isn’t just a place for watching random videos, but a community where people congregate for music, fitness, food, culture, and so much more.

See if you can spot some guest appearances from The Fitness Marshall and Laura in the Kitchen, too!

— The YouTube Team


YouTube Blog

A closer look at Vivo’s all-glass, port-free concept 5G phone

Picture this: you're holding two glossy all-glass concept phones for a photo, then one slips off and shatters another unit on the table. The room goes quiet. Everyone looks on in awe. You are left red-faced not because you broke a phone, but because…
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How Aardman made a WWI game look like an oil painting

Most video games set in the First or Second World War shoot for gritty realism. In Battlefield 1, for instance, there's an extraordinary amount of detail in every uniform, firearm and mud-filled trench. It's the visual fidelity, paired with addictive…
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iOS icon provides clearest look yet at iPad Pro with Face ID

You don't have to rely on tiny icons or word-of-mouth leaks to know what the next iPad Pro will look like — Apple has provided a good clue all on its own. The 9to5Mac team has discovered an iOS icon that shows the 2018 iPad Pro in much clearer deta…
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AI-altered video makes it look like you can dance

Can't pop-lock or Lindy Hop to save your life? Don't worry — AI could soon make it look like you're a dance superstar. UC Berkeley researchers have developed a deep learning system that translates dance moves from a source video to less-than-experie…
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A closer look at Sonos Beam: Smaller, smarter and more connected

Sonos just announced the Beam, a smaller, smarter Playbar. It's all good and well to see it on stage, but what does it sound like? Luckily I just got to spend some time with it to find out — and on first pass it feels like a winner. Not just for the…
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Netflix offers a first look at Michelle Wolf’s weekly talk show

Netflix sure has a knack for timing — while Michelle Wolf was busy running the show at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the streaming service posted the first trailer for her weekly talk show The Break. The clip (which has Wolf fighting rele…
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