The powerful, hammer-like rounded claws of the mantis shrimp are incredibly strong, making them ideal for cracking open the hard shells of clams and crabs (its favored prey), and for warding off predators. Now those claws are also inspiring scientists keen on building super-strong materials to make tougher body armor and football helmets.
A massive ten million pounds of flour have been recalled in the United States, and is the result of a long and ongoing investigation by the Centers for Disease Control to track down the source of an E. Coli outbreak that spanned 20 states. Mind you, there are no known E. coli cases resulting from the recalled flour. Rather, the … Continue reading
Airbnb says most of its users are “respectful travelers,” but just in case an issue does come up, it’s giving those who live near a rental a place to voice concerns. The company’s new initiative, Airbnb Neighbors, gives folks a tool for voicing conce…
The Sony Xperia E5, a mid-range device that has seen its fair share of leaks in the past, and also known by its model number as the Sony F3311, has just been made official as it comes with a 5″ 720p display alongside Mediatek’s MTK6735 chipset running the show from underneath the hood with its quartet of 1.3GHz Cortex-A53 cores.
Accompanying the Sony Xperia E5 would be the rather strange figure of 1.5GB of RAM, in addition to 16GB of internal memory, a microSD memory card slot for expansion purposes, 2,700mAh of battery life that Sony claims to be able to last for a couple of days, although we do have our reservations with such a claim. At the back lies a 13MP shooter with a single LED flash, while there is a 5MP camera in front if you love to snap photos of yourself, and the front-facing camera even comes with its own flash so that you can snap better selfies in low light conditions. NFC support is also thrown into the mix in addition to the ability to juggle a couple of SIM cards.
All of the above are crammed into a chassis that measures 144mm x 69mm x 8.2mm, where it tips the scales at 147 grams. Expect to pick it up for €199 in black or white colors. [Product Page]
Sony Xperia E5 Is Now Official , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
The ZUK Z2 has already been teased just a few days ago, having picked up its TENAA certification this month as well as part of its “growing up” process before being considered to be ready to hit the market. Having said that, it looks like the ZUK Z2 is now official, and this Lenovo-backed device will not be a shrinking violet either, as it sports a very capable Snapdragon 820 processor as well as 4GB of RAM, all for an asking price that does not surpass the $280 price point, now how about that?
The standard ZUK Z2 will be able to pack quite a punch and the sweet, sweet price tag attached to it should see it be a popular favorite in the markets in which it will arrive One would be able to enjoy a 2.5D glass finish over a rather generic look, and your eyes will definitely appreciate the 5” Full HD display, with other hardware specifications such as 64GB of internal memory, a pair of nano SIM slots, a 13-megapixel camera at the back that boasts of dual-mode focus and f/2.2 aperture, while the front carries a wide-angle lens that is ideal for group selfies.
Expect the ZUK Z2 to arrive in the China market this 7th of June onward. [Press Release]
ZUK Z2 Is Now Official , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
It seems that wildlife officials now would like to have a say in the connected age where snapping selfies with animals is not the greatest idea in the world. After all, having such concern is pretty valid, taking into consideration how there have been reports of fatal accidents that involve the snapping of selfies in the presence of wild animals – and the most recent one would involve that of a man being killed by a walrus after snapping a selfie with it.
USA’s NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) is currently advising folks not to snap selfies with seal pups – not because you are going to get mauled by a very angry mother seal, but rather, seals do happen to have powerful jaws even when they are pups, and snapping selfies could stress them up, and they might just actually make a (literal) meal out of your limb in the process.
Not only that, should you be snapping a selfie with a seal pup and its mother returns, chances are the mother seal will abandon its pup for good by fleeing because it fears humans, and that would in turn leave the pup as helpless, and it would not stand a very good chance at reaching adulthood.
It Is Advisable To Avoid Selfies With Seal Pups , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Word on the street – or rather, as claimed by The Wall Street Journal, it does seem as though the Samsung Smart TV Interface is all set to be on the receiving end of additional tile ads. Does this mean that the South Korean conglomerate is moving more in the direction of being just a hardware company where consumer electronics are concerned?
Perhaps the inclusion of more ads in its Smart TV interface could be part of the plan to strengthen its connection with the ad business, which is one way to help the company earn a profit in the dog-eat-dog world of TV sales. By increasing the number of tile ads which it shows off in the menu bar of its smart TVs, theoretically speaking, more revenues can be brought into the company’s coffers as advertising space is bought up.
Such tiny squares will remain available in the US only at the moment, although there is reason to believe that Europe too, will be part of the program down the road. Apart from that older models will be able to receive those ads on the home screen via a future software update. I am quite sure that we are all not exactly looking forward to having ads bombard us the moment the TV is turned on.
Samsung Smart TV Interface Set To Include More Ads? , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
While the Star Wars franchise kind of went a bit quiet after the prequels, it seems that in the next few years we should expect the opposite. Last year we got Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and this year we will be getting Rogue One. However if that isn’t enough, how about a standalone Han Solo movie?
Fans have probably heard that such a movie is in the works, but now according to a report from Star Wars News, it seems that the movie will begin filming in January 2017. This was revealed by one of the movie’s writers, Lawrence Kasdan (who also wrote Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, for those wondering).
Naturally details and the title of the movie are not known at this point in time, but for those who can’t get enough of Star Wars, we guess this is worth looking forward to. The movie is currently scheduled to be released in May of 2018 which means that we still have quite a bit of waiting to do, but like we said, Rogue One is coming out later this year.
Also let’s not forget Star Wars Episode 8 is also released next year, so we guess fans will have their fill of Star Wars movies and content before then.
Standalone Han Solo Movie Will Begin Filming In January 2017 , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Overwatch has been released and so far it seems that many reviews are singing the game’s praises. However no game can be perfect as there are aspects that could always be improved upon, and one of those aspects of Overwatch would be the “Play of the Game” moment, which basically highlights the best moments from the game.
It was originally intended to be a feature where it would show moments that are cool/awesome that might have been missed the first time round, but unfortunately the algorithm that Blizzard implemented seems to favor more “traditional” moments like kill streaks, which according to the game’s lead software engineer Rowan Hamilton, is something they want to improve upon.
In an interview with GameSpot, Hamilton acknowledges that this is something they get a lot of comments on. “From a technical standpoint, it’s a really hard problem to have a computer figure out what is cool. They’re not very smart. They take some numbers in, they put some numbers out. It’s hard to figure out what is cool there.”
However he adds that they’ve been making improvements. “We’ve added some stuff recently, such as determining how hard a shot was to hit based on how fast the target was moving, how far away the target was moving. So a snipe of someone half a screen away who was just chilling out and waiting to be headshot won’t be weighted as heavily as a Tracer zipping across, barely in sight that you manage to pick off. We’re constantly looking at different things we can add to that.”
Hopefully Blizzard manages to get this right and for those of you unfamiliar with the feature because you’ve yet to play the game, you can check it out in the video above.
Blizzard Looking To Improve Overwatch’s ‘Play Of The Game’ Moments , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Earlier in the day, we did bring you word on how the Sony Xperia X Performance is set to debut in the US later this 17th of July, with a rather high asking price of $700 a pop. Well, if you are unable to wait that long, perhaps you are willing to settle for something lesser? We are looking at pre-orders opening up for the Sony Xperia X over in the US.
In a nutshell, if you would like to pick up the Sony Xperia X, then you will be able to place your orders with the likes of Best Buy, Amazon, B&H, and Reagan Wireless. As for the other trio of Xperia devices , pre-orders for them can be placed this coming 17th of June.
There are goodies in store as well for those who would like to place a pre-order – basically if you want to pick up the $550 Xperia X or the $700 Xperia X Performance, you would be on the receiving end of a free 128GB micro SD card, now how about that as an incentive? As for those who decided to settle for the $370 Xperia XA Ultra, then you too, would receive a 64GB micro SD memory card for free.
Not only that, anyone who decides to place a pre-order for any of these devices, then you will be on the receiving end of three free Sony Pictures movie downloads to boot, and those who want either the Xperia X Performance or Xperia X will be able to reap the benefits of a Sony-branded (UCH10) Quick Charge 2.0 wall adapter. Are these enough to help you make a purchase decision if you have been tottering on the fence all this while? [Press Release]
Sony Xperia X Pre-Orders In The US Go Live , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
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