Feb 10
Apple’s long-awaited augmented/virtual reality headset won’t arrive until the end of this year at the earliest, but hints at the operating system it will run on have already been uncovered.
Feb 10
Although yesterday’s announcement that Futurama would be coming back for a highly unlikely eighth season was welcome, the notable absence of John DiMaggio in the list of returning voice actors has gotten much more noticeable after reports that the show has recast the role of Bender in advance of the show’s upcoming…
Feb 10
Logitech isn’t the only one launching a small light for streamers and vloggers. Elgato has introduced a Key Light Mini that promises strong illumination away from your desk or studio. While its 800-lumen output isn’t as powerful as the Corsair brand’s 2,800-lumen regular Key Light, it’s portable — you can run it on battery for up to four hours at half brightness, which should be enough for an on-the-scene YouTube vlog or TikTok clip.
The Key Light Mini offers the same 2,900K to 7,000K color temperature range as its full-size counterpart, and you can control the diffused light with onboard buttons when the WiFi-based computer and mobile apps aren’t an option. A quarter-inch thread lets you mount Elgato’s light on a camera or tripod, and you can bypass the battery entirely if you’re simply using this to augment your livestreams and video calls at home.
Elgato is selling the Key Light Mini for $100 through Amazon and its own website. That’s significantly more than Logitech’s $60 Litra Glow, but you’re also getting a much brighter display you can take with you. The extra outlay might be easy to rationalize if you either prize mobility or just want more flexibility for tricky lighting conditions.
Introducing Key Light Mini.
Look amazing anywhere, anytime.
Available now:https://t.co/v8bU6pSI3Bpic.twitter.com/0xtzvqRCX2
— Elgato (@elgato) February 10, 2022
Feb 10
Superstition schmuperstition. Google is unveiling the first Android 13 developer preview today and it’s clear the company is not going to avoid the “unlucky” number. After all, Apple made a massive amount of money from iPhone 13s. The Android 13 preview is a glimpse of things we can expect from the next generation of Google’s mobile OS, and developers can test their apps using the Android emulator or flashing a system image to the Pixel 4 or newer Pixel phones. Based on today’s announcement, it looks like we can expect the next version of Android to at least offer finer privacy controls and more of Android 12’s Material You design throughout the system.
One of the things this preview brings is a new system photo picker, which can let you share specific local or cloud-based photos more securely. It builds on the existing document picker function with lets you share specific files with an app without having to grant it permission to all media files on your device. The updated photo picker “extends this capability with a dedicated experience for picking photos and videos,” Google’s vice president of engineering Dave Burke wrote in an announcement post. Developers will need to use the photo picker APIs to enable this feature.
Google
Android 13 also adds a “nearby WiFi devices” permission, which will be required for apps that look for the available WiFi devices in your surroundings. This will allow them to “discover and connect to nearby devices over WiFi without needing location permission.” It should let apps that need to find WiFi devices in the area that don’t need to know where you are get connected without asking for access to your GPS, which is better for your privacy.
Google is also expanding the Material You adaptive color palette beyond its own apps to all app icons. You’ll be able to opt in and have the system apply colors it generated from your wallpaper onto your icons. Developers will need to submit monochrome versions of their app icons and tweak some code. This feature will roll out first on Pixels and Burke said “we’re working with our device manufacturer partners to bring them to more devices.”
The developer preview also offers a new tile placement API that lets developers prompt users to add their custom tiles to the Quick Settings panel in the notification shade. With that, users don’t have to hunt for these app-specific shortcuts by editing the Quick Settings shade and won’t have to leave the app
Google
Other features in this developer preview include a way for apps to more easily set a different language from the system default, improved animations and effects, as well as more feature updates through Google Play. That last one will let Google “push new features like photo picker… directly to users on older versions of Android.” Burke also gave a shoutout to Android 12L and devices of varying display sizes and form factors, saying “We’ll also build on some of the newer updates we made in 12L to help you take advantage of the 250+ million large screen Android devices currently running.”
Google also shared a release timeline that shows the first beta release is expected around April, with platform stability targeted for June to July. That’s in line with how previous versions of Android rolled out, and we’re likely to keep hearing about Android 13 in the coming months.
Feb 10
Kristen Bell Said Her Family Farts So Much They Didn’t Smell Rot In Their Home
Posted in: Today's Chili“I’m like, ‘Does anybody else smell this, like … burning garbage smell?’’ the actor said on Dax Shepard’s podcast.
Feb 10
Google released Android 12 in October, and while there are plenty of phones still waiting to receive the big upgrade, the company is already working on Android 13. The first developer preview of the next-gen Android OS is now available to download, with new privacy features and interface improvements that make it a…
Feb 10
The Mars Home mission officially reached its 1st year, having already made history by being the first planetary science mission led by an Arab-Islamic country.
Feb 10
Ryan Reynolds and Younger Ryan Reynolds Make a Power Team in The Adam Project
Posted in: Today's Chili
“After accidentally crash-landing in 2022, time-traveling fighter pilot Adam Reed teams up with his 12-year-old self on a mission to save the future.” That’s the logline on Netflix’s The Adam Project, which doesn’t give you much until you find out that it’s from the same director-star team that made the enormously…
Feb 10
The controversial anti-encryption bill masquerading as a child safety initiative known as the EARN IT Act refuses to die. A new version of the bill recently clawed its way out of a warm, shallow grave and passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a voice vote on Thursday. Now, the reintroduced bill will head to the…
Feb 10
Tesla is once again recalling hundreds of thousands of cars over a technical issue. According to Reuters, he EV producer has recalled 578,607 Model 3, S, X and Y vehicles over concerns the Boombox feature can overpower Pedestrian Warning System sounds. The ability to play external audio while the car is in motion violates a federal safety rule requiring a clearly audible sound when EVs and hybrids are moving at speeds below 18.6MPH.
As with some of its recalls, the company will address the issue with a free over-the-air update. The patch will disable Boombox while cars aren’t parked, Tesla said. The company didn’t provide a timeframe for the update, but noted it would affect 2017 and newer Model 3 sedans as well as 2020 and newer Model S, X and Y vehicles.
Tesla wasn’t available for comment. The company disbanded its communications team years ago.
This latest notice represents Tesla’s fourth announced recall in two weeks. On top of a seat belt chime fault, the brand recently issued recalls over Full Self Driving flaws and slow heating systems. Tesla is fixing all of these problems through software, but they come after recalls in the past year for physical defects like fragile rearview camera systems and loose trim. There have been 15 recalls since the start of 2021. The issues have typically been minor, but they’ve still fuelled broader quality concerns.
This latest recall also reflects more aggressive scrutiny from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agency began investigating Autopilot functions after a string of collisions with emergency vehicles, and Tesla responded to an investigation of its Passenger Play feature by disabling video games while in motion. The NHTSA is clearly determined to keep Tesla in check, particularly for software-driven features that relatively new in the automotive world.
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