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Wednesday, 17 April 2019

Talk all things robotics and AI with TechCrunch writers

This Thursday, we’ll be hosting our third annual Robotics + AI TechCrunch Sessions event at UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. The day is packed start-to-finish with intimate discussions on the state of robotics and deep learning with key founders, investors, researchers and technologists.

The event will dig into recent developments in robotics and AI, which startups and companies are driving the market’s growth and how the evolution of these technologies may ultimately play out. In preparation for our event, TechCrunch’s Brian Heater spent time over the last several months visiting some of the top robotics companies in the country. Brian will be on the ground at the event, alongside Lucas Matney, who will also be on the scene. Friday at 11:00 am PT, Brian and Lucas will be sharing with Extra Crunch members (on a conference call) what they saw and what excited them most.

Tune in to find out about what you might have missed and to ask Brian and Lucas anything else robotics, AI or hardware. And want to attend the event in Berkeley this week? It’s not too late to get tickets.

To listen to this and all future conference calls, become a member of Extra Crunch. Learn more and try it for free.



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David Copperfield’s secret magic techniques crash-landed on the Moon

The loss of Israel’s Beresheet lander during its descent to the lunar surface was unfortunate, but the mission was still largely a success — and has certainly created an interesting cultural artifact on the Moon where it impacted. Perhaps more interesting than we could have known: It turns out David Copperfield stashed the secrets to his illusions onboard, and they may have survived the crash.

The data was kept on one of the Arch Mission Foundation’s tiny, high-capacity, high-endurance archival devices, meant to act as libraries or time capsules in a variety of sci-fi-sounding scenarios, like extraterrestrial visits or the near-extinction of humans. They’re “nearly indestructible,” and one was on Beresheet.

In a plot twist no one could have seen coming, among the data encoded on the DVD-sized (but much more sophisticated) storage medium are the famous magician’s “secret technological innovations.” Yes, David Copperfield shot his tricks to the Moon, and no, it doesn’t sound like it’s just some old ones or previously published information (I asked).

Why?

“When I was introduced to the Arch Mission Foundation, I was immediately enamored with the mission to preserve our civilization, and the possibilities of what we might do together,” Copperfield said in a press release. “One of my heroes is George Méliès, one of the fathers of modern cinema and also a great magician. His most famous movie was ‘A Trip to the Moon,’ which in 1902 visualized people landing on the Moon. It inspired a generation of scientists to actually achieve it, and 70 years later we actually landed on the Moon. Now 50 years later, we’re landing magic on the Moon. We’re bringing it full circle and I find that kind of poetic.”

There you have it. Quite absurd, but why not?

As for the device, AMF has put together a small team (including Stephen Wolfram) to look into what may have happened to it on impact.

“We have either installed the first library on the moon, or we have installed the first archaeological ruins of early human attempts to build a library on the moon,” read a preliminary document by the team containing various figures relating the crash and potential survival of the device.

Although AMF co-founder Nova Spivack said in the press release that “every indication thus far suggests that the Lunar Library is intact on the Moon,” the truth is there aren’t that many positive indications just yet.

Mission control lost contact with Beresheet when it was only 150 meters from the surface; it would have impacted about a second later with about 956 m/s of horizontal velocity, which translates to more than 2,000 miles per hour. So this thing was going faster than a bullet and was considerably less durable. The wreckage is likely strewn over kilometers of the lunar surface.

“We think it is highly unlikely that the Lunar Library was atomized in the impact,” writes the team. “Without knowing the impact energy directed at the library, it’s hard to know how the stack fared. But taking the construction of the Lunar Library into account, we believe it has a high chance of being intact.”

It isn’t just an archival-quality disc or something. It’s a special 25-layer sandwich of nickel and epoxy, the bottom 21 layers of which are filled with digital data. This is the information most at risk, since, like snapping a DVD in half, you can’t just put the pieces back together and hope the 0s and 1s align again.

But the top four layers are essentially a form of high-durability microfiche, etched with tiny letters that could be read with a basic microscope. These you really could just piece back together. The 60,000 pages of analog data include “the Arch Mission Primer, selections from Wikipedia, The Wearable Rosetta, The Israeli Time Capsule, a selection of books — and potentially all or some of the not-yet-announced secret Vaults of content.”

Among those “not-yet-announced secret Vaults” in the analog layers is in fact the collection of Copperfield’s illusions. Lucky, that!

Unfortunately, even if the device does theoretically survive, it may never be found: at those speeds the debris from the landing would have spread over a large area and perhaps buried itself in dust and regolith. So even if it were completely intact, it might be invisible even to the high-resolution cameras on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which AMF has requested to take a few images of the crash site (it was probably already going to, given the interest in the Beresheet mission).

“We think it is highly unlikely that the Lunar Library was atomized in the impact, given what we currently know. Therefore either the Lunar library remains entirely intact or it remains in a partially intact state — somewhere within a few kilometers of the landing zone,” writes the team. However, “This may not be verifiable without investigating the scene firsthand, on the ground at the crash site.”

So a trip to the Moon, Méliès-style, might be necessary after all.

The idea of a treasure hunt for a famous magician’s secrets in a Moon landing gone wrong really sounds more like science fiction than everyday news, but the two things have been growing closer and closer to one another for a while now, so I guess none of us should be surprised.



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iOS 13 could feature dark mode and interface updates

According to a report from 9to5mac’s Guilherme Rambo, the next major version of iOS for the iPhone and iPad will present many new features, such as universal dark mode, new gestures, visual changes for the volume popup and more.

Dark mode should work more or less like dark mode on macOS Mojave. You’ll be able to turn on a system-wide option in Settings. Apps that support it will automatically switch to dark mode the next time you launch them. Let’s hope that third-party developers will support that feature. Otherwise, it would be a bit useless if Facebook, Instagram, Gmail or Amazon still feature blindingly white backgrounds.

The other big change is that you’ll be able to open multiple windows of the same app on the iPad. You can already open two Safari tabs side by side, but it sounds like Apple plans to expand that feature beyond Safari with a card metaphor. Each window will be represented as a card that you can move, stack or dismiss.

Other iOS 13 features sound like minor improvements that should make iOS less frustrating. And it starts with new gestures. Instead of shaking your device to undo an action, users will be able to swipe with three fingers on the virtual keyboard to undo and redo a text insertion.

Similarly, Apple could be working on a new way to select multiple items in a table view or grid view. You could just drag a rectangle around multiple items to select them. Once again, Apple is reusing a classic macOS feature on iOS.

Some apps will receive updates, such as Mail and Reminders. The default email client will sort your emails in multiple categories (marketing, travel, etc.) just like in Gmail.

Finally, that annoying volume popup could be on the way out. Apple could replace that popup with a more subtle volume indicator.

Overall, the most exciting change is probably the ability to launch multiple windows of the same app. It’ll be interesting to see how Apple plans to implement that feature and what you’ll be able to do with that. Moving away from the traditional “one app = one document” metaphor could open up a lot of different workflows.



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Disc-free Xbox One S could land on May 7th

Microsoft is about to launch an even cheaper Xbox One S. In order to cut costs, the company is removing the Blu-ray disc drive altogether. According to leaked marketing images spotted by WinFuture (via Thurrott), the console could launch on May 7th for €229 in Germany.

Given that the launch is just a few weeks away and that those marketing images line up perfectly with previous rumors, chances are this is the real deal.

As you can see on WinFuture’s images, it looks exactly like an Xbox One S without the disc slot. The console is called Xbox One S All Digital and comes with a 1TB hard drive — most standard Xbox One S consoles currently also feature a 1TB hard drive.

Microsoft states clearly that this console is only for digital games. If you already have physical Xbox One games, you won’t be able to insert them in the console.

Customers get three games for free with the console through download codes — Minecraft, Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 3. You can then buy more games in the online store or subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass to access a library of games.

This model should cost €229 in Germany, but you might be able to buy it for less. For instance, an Xbox One S officially costs €299 on Microsoft’s website, but you can easily buy it for €200 on Amazon and through other retailers.

Microsoft usually uses the same price points in USD, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Xbox One S All Digital officially costs $229 in the U.S.

It’s clear that Microsoft is testing the market with this console. The company has been pivoting to a subscription model. The Xbox brand is evolving from a gaming console brand to a service brand. This should be Microsoft’s key differentiating factor with the next generation of consoles.



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Intel abandons 5G iPhone plans following Apple's Qualcomm settlement


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2 More New iPhones?


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What Apple and Qualcomm's settlement means for the 5G iPhone


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Google Pay can import airline miles, reward points, and more from Gmail now


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Facebook is getting rid of its Facebook Watch show pages


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Charging the new Apple Pencil may mess with your car key fob


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Listen to 40 robot-dog legs marching in unison, and know the sound of death


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Twitter is now able to detect harassment without user reports


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Facebook claimed it was protecting privacy. Leaked documents paint another picture.


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Apple and Qualcomm just settled their massive legal battle


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Apple and Qualcomm surprisingly settle their legal differences, and it’s pretty clear who won

Vivint's Outdoor Camera Pro can detect someone casing your home

The AI-powered Vivint Outdoor Camera Pro has a 4K image sensor and issues warnings to anyone lurking around your property.

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This $59 training bundle will help you ace the CompTIA exams (90% Off)

Identify weaknesses In your Wi-Fi network With NetSpot Home, only $19

Watch The Full Nerd talk Core i9-9990XE and Ryzen market share live!

Best smart bulbs for your connected home

Today’s smart bulbs are brighter and easier to control than ever, but choosing the right one for your environment remains a challenge.

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Best universal remote control

Which remote control is the best companion for your smart TV and the rest of your entertainment system.

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HP's EliteBook 800 G6 notebook series adds convenience, privacy features

6 things the Pixel 3a and 3a XL need to become Google's hero phones

Amazon is selling an Anker USB-C car charger that can power your laptop for just $17 today

Why Sony's PlayStation 5 specs matter to PC gamers: Ryzen, Radeon, SSDs, and ray tracing

The supremely comfortable Corsair K70 MK.2 keyboard with Cherry MX Brown switches is $60 off

Intel announces 8th-gen vPro processors for business notebooks with advanced security

Razer's Core X Chroma eGPU cabinet features RGB and Intel's latest Thunderbolt 3 controller

Logitech Harmony Express universal remote control review: Practical, but not perfect

It's not the be-all, end-all of universal remote controls, but it's plenty powerful for most people's needs—and Alexa is onboard.

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How Apple’s iCloud authentication system fails to protect your account when using a browser

Apple’s 2FA iCloud system is generally very diligent about securing your account, especially when you have two devices, but it has one key flaw.

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Hackers reportedly abused Microsoft's customer support to read Hotmail, Outlook.com email

Sophos, Avast warn of Windows machines failing to boot after latest Microsoft patch

First looks at the Samsung Galaxy Fold are equal parts awe, surprise, and crease concerns

Microsoft could challenge Apple's AirPods with wireless Surface earbuds

Snag a four-pack of our favorite Philips Hue white smart bulbs for their cheapest price yet

Anno 1800 review: An Industrial Revolution but not a design revolution

Amazon's storage sale brings deep discounts on external drives, SSDs, and microSD cards

Killer's AX 1650 network card taps Wi-Fi 6 for wireless gaming that doesn't suck

Best Bluetooth trackers: These tiny gadgets help find your lost stuff

WiSA, the low-latency, wireless multi-channel audio standard is ready for take-off

WiSA is a wireless audio standard that promises hassle-free setup for up to 7.1-channel surround with latency as low as 2.6 millisecond, lag that's barely perceptible to humans.

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Fingerprint scanner face-off: Samsung Galaxy S10+ vs OnePlus 6T vs Galaxy S9 vs Apple's iPhone

TP-Link Kasa Smart KL-series Wi-Fi light bulb review: Three new smart bulbs offer mostly great results

This trio of smart bulbs offer a little light for any type of user.

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order revealed at Star Wars Celebration with a story-centric trailer

PCWorld's April Digital Magazine: Samsung Galaxy S10+ reviewed

11 Marvel Characters That Deserve Their Own Streaming Shows


With Disney going whole hog on their new streaming service, smart money’s on the end of Marvel characters anywhere else in the digital ecosystem. We already saw Netflix’s gritty street-level Defenders suite put […]

The post 11 Marvel Characters That Deserve Their Own Streaming Shows appeared first on Geek.com.



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Help NASA Measure Trees With Your Smartphone


Between capturing Instagram-worthy images of blooming cherry blossoms, why not snap a few photos for NASA? Citizens scientists can help investigate how carbon moves through ecosystems by using your smartphone to measure tree […]

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NASA’s Cassini Reveals Disappearing Lakes on Saturn’s Titan Moon


Fresh findings from NASA’s Cassini mission shed light on the bizarre “water cycle” of Saturn’s largest moon. The only planetary body known to have stable liquid on its surface (aside from Earth), Titan’s […]

The post NASA’s Cassini Reveals Disappearing Lakes on Saturn’s Titan Moon appeared first on Geek.com.



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Apple and Qualcomm End Their Legal Beef and Drop Lawsuits

The two industry giants had just begun a trial in a convoluted dispute related to the way Qualcomm charges others to use its technology.

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A New PlayStation, Facebook's Fresh Hell, and More News

Catch up on the most important news today in 2 minutes or less.

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TED 2019: Jack Dorsey Is Captain of the Twittanic

Twitter’s CEO continues his mea culpa tour as the company announces it has finally started blocking abuse with AI.

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Boeing 737 Crashes May Make It Harder for Air Taxis to Take Off

Observers expect the FAA to slow approval of new technologies in the wake of two fatal crashes. That could affect development of nascent "air taxis."

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The FBI Wanted a Backdoor to the iPhone. Tim Cook Said No

The agency wanted to crack the iPhone of Syed Farook, a suspect in the 2015 San Bernardino shooting. The Apple CEO took a stand.

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The Stunning Loneliness of Megacities at Night

Photographer Aristotle Roufanis' large-scale images are made using thousands of photographs of metropolises after dark.

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The Odd Physics of Rey's Backflip in *Star Wars: Episode IX*

The trailer for *Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker* didn't disappoint: The universe's physics remain as quirky as ever.

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Lil Nas X's 'Old Town Road' Already Encapsulates 2019

The song belongs to a species of rare musical supernovae that have the power to bring the internet together around one anthem.

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Exclusive: What to Expect From Sony's Next-Gen PlayStation

Don't expect it anytime in 2019, but the next PlayStation console is well on its way—and it's packing ray-tracing support and a loadtime-killing solid-state hard drive.

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Zojirushi Multicooker EL-CAC60 Review: A Great Instant Pot-Alternative

The company famous for its rice cookers introduces a 6-quart multicooker to take on the Instant Pots of the world. And it's pretty great.

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Colorado Tried a New Way to Vote: Make People Pay—Quadratically

The state legislature used a method that's designed to capture the intensity of a voter's preference as a way to fix some of traditional voting's big problems.

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Google’s AI Experts Try to Automate Themselves

Google's AutoML software uses machine learning to generate better machine learning. It competed last week against high-powered data scientists.

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15 Months of Fresh Hell Inside Facebook

Scandals. Backstabbing. Resignations. Record profits. Time Bombs. In early 2018, Mark Zuckerberg set out to fix Facebook. Here's how that turned out.

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Samsung's Foldable Phone, A Microsoft Email Hack, And More News

Catch up on the most important news today in 2 minutes or less.

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The Notre Dame Fire and the Future of History

The fire turned the thousand-year-old roof to ash. But a digital replica of the cathedral could help make its restoration all the more complete.

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Microsoft Email Hack Shows the Lurking Danger of Customer Support

Hackers spent months with full access to Outlook, Hotmail, and MSN email accounts—and got in through Microsoft's customer support platform.

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Game of Thrones Recap, Season 8 Episode 1: Jon Snow Still Knows Nothing

The one-time King in the North still sees the world not as it is, but as he is.

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First Big Survey of Births Finds Millions of Missing Women

A massive effort to catalog the number of male-female births shows that 23 million women were never born who should have been, according to the natural sex ratio.

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TED 2019: I Promise Not to Roll My Eyes at Your TED Talk

When cynicism and ironic detachment are the dominant modes of social discourse, it can feel frankly transgressive to earnestly celebrate passionate people who are trying to change the world.

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Phoebe Waller-Bridge Is Working on the Next James Bond Movie

The voice of L3-37 is punching up the script. Also, 'Big Little Lies' has a new trailer.

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Paul Revere

Paul Revere (1735 – 1818) was an American patriot best known for riding on a borrowed horse from Boston to Lexington on April 18, 1775 to warn the colonists of approaching British troops. The next day, when the British arrived […]

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The Nikola Wav is an electric watercraft with a 4K display and cruise control

Electric trucking company Nikola Motors just announced an all-electric sit-down personal watercraft called the Wav (pronounced “wave”). Inspired by the design of superbikes, the Wav is a wild looking jet-ski style vehicle that Nikola Motors CEO Trevor Milton called the “future of watercraft.” It features a waterproof 12-inch, 4K display in the dashboard, LED lights in the front and back, and even has cruise control. Milton debuted the Wav alongside an all-electric off-roader and the company’s two flagship electric big rigs at an event in Arizona Tuesday night.

“This watercraft defies the norm and creates a new standard,” Jordan Darling, the vice president of Nikola’s powersports division, said on stage. The Wav will be powered by a...

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Google takes a tiny step toward fixing AMP’s URL problem

When you click a link on your phone with a little lightning bolt next to it in Google search, you’re getting something in the AMP format. AMP stands for “Accelerated Mobile Pages,” and you’ve probably noticed that those pages load super quickly and usually look much simpler than regular webpages. You may have also noticed that the URL at the top of your browser started with “www.google.com/somethingorother” instead of with the webpage you thought you were visiting.

Google is trying to fix that today by announcing support for something called “Signed Exchanges.” What it should mean is that when you click on one of those links, your URL will be the original, correct URL for the story. Cloudflare is joining Google in supporting the standard...

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The artificial intelligence field is too white and too male, researchers say

The artificial intelligence industry is facing a “diversity crisis,” researchers from the AI Now Institute said in a report released today, raising key questions about the direction of the field.

Women and people of color are deeply underrepresented, the report found, noting studies finding that about 80 percent of AI professors are men, while just 15 percent of AI research staff at Facebook and 10 percent at Google are women. People of color are also sidelined, making up only a fraction of staff at major tech companies. The result is a workforce frequently driven by white and male perspectives, building tools that often affect other groups of people. “This is not the diversity of people that are being affected by these systems,” AI Now...

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Intel says it will exit the 5G phone business as Apple and Qualcomm strike multiyear deal

Intel this evening says it has decided to leave the 5G mobile modem market to focus its efforts more on 4G and 5G modems for PCs and smart home devices, as well as its broader 5G infrastructure business. The announcement comes just hours after Apple and Qualcomm struck a surprise settlement in the two companies’ ongoing patent infringement and royalties dispute related to Apple’s use of Qualcomm modems in the iPhone.

It’s likely Intel’s decision here was what prompted Apple and Qualcomm’s decision to settle — which came as quite a surprise since it happened just as lawyers were presenting opening arguments at the latest courtroom trial that began yesterday in Southern California. But it’s unclear when Intel came to this decision, or...

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Verizon will now charge more money for in-store activations of new phones

Verizon is altering its activation fee structure to incentivize customers to buy new phones online, according to CNET. Prior to this week, the standard activation fee, both for an in-store activation and when purchasing a new phone online, was $30. Now, Verizon says you can save $10 by buying a new phone online, paying only $20 to activate it, while doing so via a Verizon brick-and-mortar retail store will now cost you $40. The changes go into effect on Thursday, CNET reports.

Typically, these activation fees tend to increase or decrease depending on a number of conditions, like whether you’re on a prepaid plan or a monthly one, and whether you’re buying a new phone on a new line of service or just upgrading a device on an existing line...

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Netflix will start testing a top 10 list of its most popular content

Netflix plans to begin testing a top 10 list for streaming customers in the UK. It will allow them to see which shows and movies are currently the most popular across the service. The top 10 will be updated weekly, and each genre / category will get its own list.

“For those who want to watch what others are watching, this may make choosing titles even easier,” CEO Reed Hastings wrote in this quarter’s letter to investors. “After a few months we’ll decide whether to end or expand the test.” The test will begin later this quarter.

The move is a small but notable step for Netflix, which has always been cagey about viewership data and reluctant to share solid streaming metrics. That’s still true: you won’t be able to see how many people...

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Electric sedans are winning the Shanghai Auto Show

Sedan sales may be collapsing in the United States, but some of China’s highest-profile automakers have announced all-electric cars — not SUVs — at this week’s Shanghai Auto Show. At least three were unveiled on Tuesday alone, including two by EV startups NIO and XPeng, and one by Geely, which owns Volvo.

Add to that Aston Martin’s first all-electric car, the Rapide E, and the return of Lotus as an all-electric hypercar maker (both of which were also announced on Tuesday), and it’s clear that sedans are becoming the standout trend of the show. With Ford and General Motors recently killing off nearly all sedans in the United States following the downward sales trend, it feels like an almost unfathomable development to watch happen from...

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GameStop will let you trade in a game for full credit if returned within 48 hours

GameStop is launching a new promotion that will allow customers to return a game for full store credit within 48 hours of purchase. The program, as circulated today by Cheap Ass Gamer and verified by The Verge, is called “Guarantee to Love It,” and will launch next week with the debut of Days Gone.

The promotion window will apply only in the first week of a game’s arrival, and GameStop will specify during various times which titles are eligible. Days Gone officially lands on April 26th, and customers will only be able to claim a full credit refund if they purchase the game between April 25th–28th. If they don’t “love it,” they can trade the open item back to the store for the full price of $59.99. Tax is not refundable, and the deal only...

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Microsoft unveils disc-less Xbox One S All-Digital Edition for $249

Microsoft is making its disc-less Xbox One S official today. After weeks of leaks, the software maker is unveiling the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which is priced at $249 and will be available on May 7th. This is a new model that will be sold alongside the original Xbox One S, and the more powerful Xbox One X. The big selling point here is that this All-Digital Edition will not ship with the Blu-ray drive, cutting the price slightly by $50 (recommended retail price).

Microsoft is including a 1TB HDD on this new digital model alongside digital versions of Forza Horizon 3, Sea of Thieves, and Minecraft in the box. The hardware is exactly the same as existing Xbox One S consoles, just without the 4K Blu-ray drive.

“The Xbox One S...

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T-Mobile and Sprint’s wireless merger may have just been doomed by US regulators

The colossal, industry-changing merger between US mobile providers T-Mobile and Sprint is running into significant resistance from regulators. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Justice has warned both companies that their merger is unlikely to be approved as currently proposed. Antitrust concerns are said to be at the top of the DOJ’s qualms with the deal: regulators are worried that the deal could harm wireless competition despite insistence from the two carriers that it would be a boost to job creation and network evolution.

In its own corroborating report, Reuters says the DoJ has told both parties that it opposes the merger under its current structure, but that it’s “unclear” whether regulators are seeking to...

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Two reports describe major new iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 features

Report: Microsoft is jumping onto the wireless earbud bandwagon

Apple will dramatically expand iPhone production in India

Google won’t build that flagship retail store in Chicago after all

Logitech’s latest universal remote gives Alexa the keys to your home theater

Logitech on Tuesday announced the Harmony Express, a new universal remote that features the Alexa voice assistant.

Amazon’s increasingly ubiquitous helper comes built into the device and is accessible via a large circular button at the top of the remote. The idea with the Harmony Express is to use Alexa to control the various devices in your home theater. Past Logitech Harmony remotes have been usable with an associated Alexa skill for those with separate Echo devices, but here the voice controls are baked in.

The Harmony Express costs $250 and is available starting Tuesday.

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iPad Air and iPad mini 2019 review: Apple’s tablets strike an ideal balance

Apple's iPad lineup has had a gap in it lately.

At the top end, you had the 2018 refresh of the iPad Pro—an immensely powerful, envelope-pushing tablet priced and positioned as a laptop replacement. At the bottom, you had the entry-level iPad, which lacked many of the best features in newer Apple products and shipped with a CPU much slower than what's in the latest iPhones.

You were either buying a monster of a tablet for a monster price, or you were getting a tablet that compromised a lot to compete with Chromebooks at the low end. Apple was still making an iPad mini last year, but it was woefully outdated.

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Google teases a cheaper Pixel 3 unveiling on May 7

A few years have gone by since we've seen hardware at Google I/O, but it looks like this year that will change. Today, a teaser on the Google Store promises "something is coming to the Pixel universe" on May 7, the first day of Google I/O. Considering that we've been expecting the Pixel 3a and 3a XL—cheaper versions of Google's Pixel 3 flagship—to be released sometime this summer, it's a good bet this is referring to these devices.

Google's teaser page is extremely vague. It's mostly an ad for the Avengers: Endgame movie due out April 26, complete with an Avengers-themed Google logo and a crossover video ad for the existing Pixel 3 and the new movie. Just like with Stadia, though, we'll remind you that the Google Store is for hardware, not software, and it's hard to imagine teases like "something big is coming to the Pixel universe" and "meet a new hero" are not referring to a new phone. Stephen Hall of 9to5Google even claimed he heard whispers of a May 7 release date for the Pixel 3a a few days before this teaser.

The "Pixel 3a" and "Pixel 3a XL" are supposedly stripped-down versions of Google's existing flagship smartphone. We've seen reports of a "mid-range" Pixel going all the way back to last summer, and pictures of a real device first started popping up about five months ago. We've seen a few spec lists reported, but the latest claims that the devices will have OLED displays, a Snapdragon 670, and 4GB of RAM. According to reports, part of the cost cutting involves swapping out the glass back of the Pixel 3 for plastic. Two big things to note: the mid-range Pixels will reportedly have the same amazing camera as the more expensive Pixel 3s, and the mid-range devices improve on the flagships with the addition of a headphone jack.

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OpenAI bot crushes Dota 2 champions, and now anyone can play against it

Hackers could read non-corporate Outlook.com, Hotmail for six months

El comportamiento de ratones de laboratorio en la Estación Espacial Internacional

Este curioso vídeo muestra cómo es el día a día en la adaptación de 20 ejemplares de ratones hembra al ambiente de la Estación Espacial Internacional. Se enviaron allá arriba en 2014; las imágenes están grabadas en el interior de sus jaulitas, donde viven, se alimentan y juegan.

Los primeros dos días parece reinar un poco la confusión, porque las condiciones de caída libre (microgravedad) las mantienen un tanto aturdidas, y se quedan agarradas a las paredes de la jaula. Poco a poco se van adaptando, acicalándose y caminando con las patas traseras. A los pocos días ya saben cómo «volar» para desplazarse de un lugar a otro.

Al cabo de una semana empiezan a mostrar un comportamiento curioso, que es que se ponen a correr dando vueltas a la jaula. Los científicos dicen que puede ser simplemente porque les gusta el ejercicio o porque encuentren placentero «simular» un poco de gravedad al dar vueltas rápidamente. Además de eso aprenden a orientar su cuerpo y usar la cola para colocarse en posición y «comer» correctamente.

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Play.GL: un jueguecito tan simple como adictivo

Play GL

En las Galerías Lafayette tienen este juego online tan tontorrón como viciante: pasto ideal para las vacaciones mientras se está cómodamente tumbado en el sofá: Play.GL. Despeja la mente y la deja muy blanca, ¿qué más se puede pedir?

El juego consiste en ir haciendo saltar la pelota de una columna a otra mantiendo pulsado con el dedo para calcular la fuerza con que hay que impulsarla. Según parece representan fibras y todo el proceso de la reutilización y le ciclaje.

Al principio parece fácil, pero la cosa se complica en cuanto la ayuda desaparece. Además los distintos materiales se comportan de maneras diferentes y si se quieren capturar todos los bonus que aparecen hay que hacer unas pocas cabriolas.

(Vía Boing Boing.)

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