Month: December 2016

Enlarge / The Nexus 5X and 6P. (credit: Ron Amadeo)

Today, Google released a new minor version of Android: 7.1.1 Nougat. The new release means different things to different Google devices. The Pixel and Pixel XL move from Android 7.1 to 7.1.1, bringing the December security update and some bugfixes. It's a bigger deal for Nexus devices, however, as the update marks the move from Android 7.0 to 7.1.1 and the end of the "Android 7.1 Developer Preview" for Nexus devices.

For now, 7.1.1 is out for the Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, and the Nexus 6P, 5X, 9, 9 LTE as well as the Nexus Player. Interestingly, the Nexus 6 also received a December security release today, but it's based on Android 7.0. It seems like the Nexus 6 won't get an Android 7.1 update this month.

Android 7.1 exclusively launched on Google's new flagship device, the Google Pixel, in October. Nexus devices—a brand which Google seems to be done with—were instead relegated to a "developer preview" release of Android 7.1 (along with the Pixel C), which ends with this update. Android 7.1 was developed alongside the Pixel devices, and Google chose to make many features exclusive to the Pixel line. For instance, Nexus devices still won't get the Google Assistant, new navigation bar, or the Pixel Launcher, but they should see better touch input latency and a F.lux-style "night mode."

Enlarge / Edgar Maddison Welch, 28, arrested outside the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, DC. (credit: ABC News/YouTube)

A rifle-wielding North Carolina man was arrested Sunday in Washington, DC for carrying his weapon into a pizzeria that sits at the center of the fake news conspiracy theory known as "Pizzagate," authorities said Monday.

DC's Metropolitan Police Department said it had arrested 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch on allegations of assault with a dangerous weapon. "During a post arrest interview this evening, the suspect revealed that he came to the establishment to self-investigate 'Pizza Gate' (a fictitious online conspiracy theory)," the agency said in a statement.

Welch was arrested without incident.

(credit: Mike Mozart)

The two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission criticized the FCC for investigating AT&T and Verizon in a net neutrality case centering on data cap exemptions. Any action taken now will be overturned under President Donald Trump, they promised.

The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau last week said it reached a preliminary conclusion that AT&T is violating net neutrality rules by using data cap exemptions (or "zero-rating") to favor DirecTV video on its mobile network. The FCC also kicked off a similar examination of Verizon's data cap exemptions. AT&T and Verizon are exempting their own video services from mobile data caps while charging other companies for the same zero-rating treatment.

But Republicans, who opposed the net neutrality rules and will gain the FCC majority from Democrats after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, are trying to protect AT&T and Verizon from FCC action.

Enlarge / Gran Turismo Sport in VR, presented in a custom virtual racing cockpit. (credit: Sam Machkovech)

ANAHEIM, Calilfornia—HDR, or high dynamic range, has finally begun rolling out in a major way this year, thanks to compatible hardware, games, and videos also rolling out in droves. But how long ago did HDR content really start to come down the pipeline?

On Saturday, one of Sony's most esteemed game producers, Gran Turismo series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, told reporters that his team at Polyphony Digital was the first to lead the charge for HDR content within Sony. Surprisingly, Yamauchi-san also said that his team, the designers of the 2017 racer Gran Turismo Sport, made those plans before the PlayStation 4 Pro even existed, in the middle of 2013.

Today Google launched a "personal safety app" for Android called "Trusted Contacts." The new app offers another location-sharing service from the company, one that Google envisions for use in emergency situations.

After installing the app, you can flag some of your contacts as "trusted." Then you'll be able to send your location to a trusted contact or ask for their location. The whole app is built around the "emergency" use case, complete with a dead man's switch for location requests. When someone asks for your location, you'll get a full screen pop up allowing you to approve or deny the request. You only have five minutes to do this, though—after five minutes, your location will be shared automatically. The idea is that if you're unable to use your phone, your trusted contacts will still be able to find you.

Enlarge / Newt Scamander with an endangered bird he's hoping to release back into its native habitat in Arizona. (credit: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

The animals in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them are so compelling that it’s easy to ignore the movie’s otherwise mediocre plot. That’s because the magizoologist character Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is a science hero who has somehow found himself in a fantasy movie. Sure, he's a wizard who carries a massive lab around with him in a cunning suitcase that’s a lot bigger on the inside. But despite all the spell-casting, this Harry Potter prequel offers some of the most realistic representations of environmental research field work you’re likely to see in a movie this decade.

Some spoilers ahead. C’mon people, you’ve had weeks to see this movie.

Not everything about Fantastic Beasts is worthwhile, so let’s ignore the incoherent plot about temperance politics and the Magical Congress of the USA and Johnny Depp’s hair and anti-magical repression something something. None of it made any more sense than a standard episode of True Blood. Luckily, it felt like a backdrop to the real story of this film, which is about Newt coming to the United States so that he can release a giant, Cretaceous-looking magical bird back into its natural habitat.

We're dealing with better tech these days—embrace it. (credit: Tony Young)

Ever since the HDTV standard emerged in the mid-'00s, screen producers have struggled to come up with new standards that feel anywhere as impressive. That's been a tough sell, as no baseline image standard has yet surpassed the quality jump from CRT sets to clearer panels with 1080p resolution support.

3D content came and went, with its unpopularity owing to a few factors (aversion to glasses, hard-to-find content). The higher-res 4K standard is holding up a little better, but its jump in quality just doesn't move the needle for average viewers—and certainly not those sticking to modestly sized screens.

But there's another standard that you may have heard about—high dynamic range, or HDR. It's a weird one. HDTV, 3D, and 4K have all been easy to quickly and accurately describe for newcomers ("more pixels," "one image per eye," etc.), but HDR's different. Ask an average TV salesperson what HDR is, and you'll usually get a vague response with adjectives like "brighter" and "more colorful." Brighter and more colorful than what, exactly?