I figured this would expand into other areas...but Apple announced iPhone 8 and their new flagship iPhone X today:

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/12/iphone-x/

Apple’s iPhone X, like the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, comes with a brand new design, ditching bezels and opting for a glass front and back. Apple says there is a deeper strengthening layer in the glass that makes it the “most durable in a smartphone.”

Thanks to this new design, the iPhone X is sealed for water and dust resistance.

It’s made from surgical-grade, stainless steel and comes in two finishes: space grey and silver.

Following the current trend in smartphones, Apple has done away with the bezels on the iPhone X, offering an edge-to-edge 5.8-inch display. In fact, Apple is upgrading quite a bit in that department, offering an OLED display for the very first time, calling it the Super Retina Display. This brings with it all the standard benefits of OLED, including more accurate colors, better image uniformity across the screen, etc.

The iPhone X Super Retina display supports 2046×1125 resolution, with 455 PPI, and HDR in both Dolby Vision and HDR.

The company is reportedly paying around $125 per panel, which is part of the reason for the reports of a more expensive iPhone.

This is also the first iPhone that will not have a home button, with the new screen reaching across the entire front of the device. Users can wake up their device by picking it up or swiping across any part of the screen. To close an app, simply swipe up on the screen and throw it away. Users can also reach Siri by simply saying “Hey Siri” or by pressing the side button.

Given that the home button has historically been central to the iPhone’s security, the replacement comes in the form of a depth-sensing front camera which will unlock the phone by detecting the user’s face. Apple is calling it FaceID.

This means that the iPhone will know what your face looks like from all angles and can unlock the phone while it’s, say, lying on a table. It also means that the feature shouldn’t be susceptible to trickery, such as unlocking for a two-dimensional photo of you instead of the real thing. Apple says the chances that someone can trick FaceID and break into your phone are 1 in a million.

“You’re wearing glasses, or wear a hat, or do it up any way you want to do it…” FaceID still works, day or night, according to Phil Schiller.

FaceID is enabled by a True Depth camera system, equipped with an infrared camera, flood illuminator, dot projector and more all packed into the top of your iPhone.

The feature is used for Apple Pay now, as well as a new feature called Animojis for messaging. Animoji’s use FaceID to lay your facial expressions into emojis, giving them your own unique take. You can pick from a dozen different animated emojis.

As far as cameras are concerned, the iPhone X is about as locked and loaded as one can get. The rear camera features a 12-megapixel sensor, with dual-lenses at f1.8 and f2.8 apertures (which is brighter than the 7 Plus telephoto). It comes with dual-image OIS quad-LED TrueTone flash.

Because of the combination of the new A11 Bionic and the enhanced camera, Apple is introducing a new Portrait Lighting, letting users select their lighting effects. These aren’t filters, but rather a real-time analysis of the light hitting the subject’s face, and these lighting effects can be added before and after the photo is taken.

Video is vastly improved as well. Combined with that A11 processor, video can be captured at 60FPS in low-light mode, with faster frame rate support and 4K capture. Slo-mo videos shot in 1080p will have 240 FPS.

The front-facing camera is powered by that True Depth camera system that supports FaceID. But the big news here is that Portrait mode and Portrait lighting is now available on the front-camera.

The iPhone X, as well as the other new iPhones announced today, comes with wireless charging capabilities, thanks to that new glass back. Wireless charging is supported by Qi, which is considered as the standard in the wireless charging industry.

Plus, battery life is two hours longer than the iPhone 7, with most of the improvement coming by way of software enhancements. But because Apple likes to take things to the next level, the wireless charging on the new iPhones is coming with a new accessory called AirPower. It’s a larger mat that lets users charge their iPhones, Apple Watch and AirPods all at the same time.

The iPhone X is packed with the new A11 Bionic processor: 64-bit design, six cores, two high performance processors that are 25 percent faster than the A10 and 4-high efficiency cores (two more than the A10) that are 70 percent faster. The GPU is 30 percent faster.

Part of the bigger news here is improved photographs. As Panzarino noted in the live blog, “The Apple ISP is one of its secret weapons in photography. If you’ve loved an iPhone picture you’ve ever taken then thank the image processor inside the phone for that result.”

The iPhone X starts at $999 for the 64GB model, with a larger 256GB option.

Pre-orders begin on October 27 and regular sales begin November 3, just in time for the Holidays.

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-event-2021-new-apple-tv-4k-purple-iphone-12-apple-airtags-and-more/

 

Looking for webcam for conference room at work. Want to have entire room on camera during calls not just the person at the laptop. Camera will be positioned about 20 feet from laptop. So I guess I would need some sort of WIFI setup. Any suggestions?

13 hours ago, Jpan85 said:

Looking for webcam for conference room at work. Want to have entire room on camera during calls not just the person at the laptop. Camera will be positioned about 20 feet from laptop. So I guess I would need some sort of WIFI setup. Any suggestions?

It all comes down to budget.... most high end systems that I've used at places that I've worked are in the tens of thousands of dollars and are hard wired and come with a standalone system.  

The middle ground I've usually seen rooms that have a podium or else the main table has ports to plug your equipment in and the wiring is ran under the carpet towards all of the equipment.  Usually they also have good microphones which can be daisy chained if the table stretches out really long.  

On the lowest ends I've also seen places that hook up a computer to a tv and a web cam and then use a wireless keyboard and mouse from the table to conference.   

 

 

https://www.displaydaily.com/article/display-daily/hisense-finally-introduces-dual-cell-tv-in-the-us

 

to be fair edge is no better

Edited May 20, 20214 yr by iHeart

1 hour ago, iHeart said:

to be fair edge is no better

I like the Opera browser.

https://openmedia.org/press/item/todays-crtc-ruling-on-wholesale-internet-rates-most-anti-consumer-decision-on-record

Post of the year candidate here!

 

56 minutes ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

Post of the year candidate here!

 

Snu-snu?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/hackers-exploited-0-day-not-2018-bug-to-mass-wipe-my-book-live-devices/

                                                  

Ransomware Attack Before Holiday Leaves Companies Scrambling.  At least 200 U.S. businesses were hit, according to a cybersecurity firm that believes Russians are behind the attack.

Businesses around the world rushed Saturday to contain a ransomware attack that has paralyzed their computer networks, a situation complicated in the U.S. by offices lightly staffed at the start of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

It’s not yet known how many organizations have been hit by demands that they pay a ransom in order to get their systems working again. But some cybersecurity researchers predict the attack targeting customers of software supplier Kaseya could be one of the broadest ransomware attacks on record — even after a scourge of headline-grabbing attacks over recent months.

“The number of victims here is already over a thousand and will likely reach into the tens of thousands,” said cybersecurity expert Dmitri Alperovitch of the Silverado Policy Accelerator think tank. “No other ransomware campaign comes even close in terms of impact.”

The cybersecurity firm ESET says there are victims in least 17 countries, including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, Argentina, Mexico and Spain.

In Sweden, most of the grocery chain Coop’s 800 stores were unable to open because their cash registers weren’t working, according to SVT, the country’s public broadcaster. The Swedish State Railways and a major local pharmacy chain were also affected.

Cybersecurity experts say the REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack that targeted the software company Kaseya, using its network-management package as a conduit to spread the ransomware through cloud-service providers.

Kaseya CEO Fred Voccola said in a statement that the company believes it has identified the source of the vulnerability and will “release that patch as quickly as possible to get our customers back up and running.”

Voccola said fewer than 40 of Kaseya’s customers were known to be affected, but experts said the ransomware could still be affecting hundreds more companies that rely on Kaseya’s clients that provide broader IT services.

John Hammond of the security firm Huntress Labs said he was aware of a number of managed-services providers — companies that host IT infrastructure for multiple customers — being hit by the ransomware, which encrypts networks until the victims pay off attackers.

“It’s reasonable to think this could potentially be impacting thousands of small businesses,” said Hammond, basing his estimate on the service providers reaching out to his company for assistance and comments on Reddit showing how others are responding.

At least some victims appeared to be getting ransoms set at $45,000, considered a small demand but one that could quickly add up when sought from thousands of victims, said Brett Callow, a ransomware expert at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.

Callow said it’s not uncommon for sophisticated ransomware gangs to perform an audit after stealing a victim’s financial records to see what they can really pay, but that won’t be possible at this scale.

“They just pitched the demand amount at a level most companies will be willing to pay,” he said.

Ransomware Attack Before Holiday Leaves Companies Scrambling | HuffPost

https://www.howtogeek.com/739100/how-to-install-windows-31-on-an-ipad/

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-announces-windows-365-version-windows-you-can-stream-cloud

ENGINEER BUILDS VOICE-CONTROLLED EXOSKELETON SO HIS SON COULD WALK
"DAD, YOU'RE A ROBOTICS ENGINEER, WHY DON'T YOU MAKE A ROBOT THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO WALK?"
In order to help his son get around without a wheelchair, a French robotics engineer named Jean-Louis Constanza built a robotic exoskeleton that lets his son stand up and walk around by issuing voice commands.

“My son Oscar, one day he said to me ‘Dad, you’re a robotics engineer, why don’t you make a robot that would allow us to walk?'” Constanza sad in a video interview with the BBC, as translated by the publication.

So he did just that, cofounding the company Wandercraft to develop and manufacture assistive robotic devices that can grant extra mobility to wheelchair users, according to the BBC.

For now, the exoskeleton is too heavy and clunky for consumer use, but the company has sold a few dozen to hospitals in multiple countries at about $178,000 each.

All his son, Oscar, has to do is strap in to the exoskeleton while sitting then say “Robot, stand up” and the machine will help him stand and balance as he walks. While there are plenty of robot exoskeletons out there, the voice input is a useful trick for making sure the machine actually does what it’s supposed to at the right time.

“This is new for me because before to walk, I’ve always had assistance,” Oscar Constanza told the BBC. “And now I no longer need assistance so I feel independent.”

 

 

 

 

                                      

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-pixel-6-launch-date-2744441

good / bad news story

 

https://www.africanews.com/2021/08/31/colrerd-nkosi-the-malawian-self-taught-electrician-who-powered-up-his-village/

we are so spoiled.

3 hours ago, Mark F said:

good / bad news story

 

https://www.africanews.com/2021/08/31/colrerd-nkosi-the-malawian-self-taught-electrician-who-powered-up-his-village/

we are so spoiled.

A friend who retired recently at MB Hydro tells me that the organization has been under orders for the past four years to not upgrade the system or make any substantial equipment purchases, The probable thinking is to cripple the services to the point where there will be so much dissatisfaction by consumers that the PCS can justify selling it off. MLCC is next on the block, though.

38 minutes ago, Tracker said:

A friend who retired recently at MB Hydro tells me that the organization has been under orders for the past four years to not upgrade the system or make any substantial equipment purchases, The probable thinking is to cripple the services to the point where there will be so much dissatisfaction by consumers that the PCS can justify selling it off. MLCC is next on the block, though.

of course.

cons have been drooling over that forever.

 

Edited September 1, 20214 yr by Mark F

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

A friend who retired recently at MB Hydro tells me that the organization has been under orders for the past four years to not upgrade the system or make any substantial equipment purchases, The probable thinking is to cripple the services to the point where there will be so much dissatisfaction by consumers that the PCS can justify selling it off. MLCC is next on the block, though.

And if the NDP gets in and goes ahead with the needed upgrades/purchases, the PC's can criticize the spending increases.  Win-win for them.  Same play book they use for Healthcare.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/spacex-prepares-to-cut-starlink-dish-cost-by-half-later-this-year