DTNS 2689 - Headlines Edition
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| Headlines Edition | |
| Number | 2689 |
| Broadcast Date | FEBRUARY 15, 2016 |
| Episode Length | 10:09 |
| Hosts | Tom Merritt |
It’s Presidents Day in the US so everyone gets the day off but Tom Merritt brings you the headlines.
Headlines
- Mattel showed off a preview of a new View-Master VR headset at the New York Toy Show. It adds a headphone jack, better lenses and focal adjustments. The ViewMaster VR line uses Googles Cardboard design so requires a smartphone. The Viewer DLX will be $40, $10 more than the current Viemaster.
- Mattel also brought back the 1960s-era ThingMaker as a 3D Printer. Using an iOS and Android app, you can design figurines using templated parts with basic ball and socket joints, then print them. It works with any standard filament and make about 20 figurines from a 1 kg spool. The new ThingMaker is for children 13 and older and sells for $299.99 and is available for preorder on Amazon today, shipping this autumn.
- Microsoft has not stopped making Lumia phones despite what you may have heard. The Lumia 650 is the latest. It’s marketed to businesses with a 5-inch AMOLED display, aluminum frame, 8-megapixel rear camera and a Snapdragon 212 processor. Select European markets get it February 18th at $199.
- Music-service Tidal got a boost when Kanye West delayed for a week plans to sell his album on his website and instead give Tidal an exclusive. Tidal’s iOS app reached number 1 on the iOS app store chart and #30 on top grossing. West also said Tidal is funding his scripted content ideas.
- LG announced the X Cam and X Screen phones today. X Cam has dual 13 and 5 megapixel cameras on the rear. The X Screen has a news ticker display above the main 4.93-inch panel. Both have 2 GB of RAM and 16GB onboard storage. The phones will launch in Asia, Europe and Latin America next month in white and pink gold with a silver version of the X Cam available as well. No price yet.
- Japan’s NTT claims it can replace a room full of computers needed to process 8K video with a box the size of an average server module. As Engadget explains it the system divides each frame into four with each piece processed in parallel by 4K-ready hardware. Motion-smoothing is used when the pieces are put back together. NTT will show off the box at its R&D Forum later this week.
- Tech In Asia reports the National Payments Corporation of India ran a hackathon this weekend to increase familiarity with its open source Unified Payments Interface. The UPI allows easier bank-to-bank and bank-to-mobile wallet transfers by combining redundant layers of authentication into a virtual address. This also means any attackers of the UPI database could not see detailed account data. The UPI is set to launch in April.
- Samsung announced Monday it will update the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge phones with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Other Galaxy devices will receive the update gradually as well.
- Amazon announced the first winners of its AWS IoT Mega contest last Thursday. First place went to two projects using sound sensors. Australian Marian Mihailescu used RFID, infrared and other sensors to gather data about a sleeping baby. Texan Chris Synan created a voice-controlled drone by connecting the Amazon Echo to a Raspberry Pi using the Alexa Skills Kit.
- Submitted by Kylde
- Yesterday, Peter Wells told you about the Adobe Creative Cloud update that was deleting some Mac files. Adobe has now pulled the offending update and deployed a new one which addresses the issue.
Pick of the Day
- If you're sick of Adobe's overpriced Creative Cloud subscription, and you use a Mac, a great alternative is Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. Each application is a one time charge of $50, which includes all future updates. They have been adding new features constantly and they're incredibly close to Photoshop and Illustrator now. I tried the free trial and instantly fell in love. It's like finding a $50 bill in my jeans before I wash them, not once, but every single month! They've also said they are working on iOS versions of each.
- Submitted by Adam in Shreveport, Louisiana
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| Preceded by: "Garlic and Lard" |
DTNS 2689 - Headlines Edition |
Followed by: "Twitter Quitter" |