LG is bringing a Levitating Portable speaker to CES

LG is bringing a Levitating Portable speaker to CES

LG’s new Bluetooth speaker is actually a 2-part speaker. There’s a subwoofer in the base (to provide bass), and a separate, smaller speaker for highs and mids. That section doesn’t just rest on top of the base though… it floats above it.

Thanks to magnets, the 360-degree speaker doesn’t actually touch the base station while it’s in use.

LG isn’t the first company to introduce a levitating speaker, but this model does have at least one interesting feature to help it stand out (or maybe float out).

Continue reading LG is bringing a Levitating Portable speaker to CES at Liliputing.

LG is bringing a Levitating Portable speaker to CES

LG’s new Bluetooth speaker is actually a 2-part speaker. There’s a subwoofer in the base (to provide bass), and a separate, smaller speaker for highs and mids. That section doesn’t just rest on top of the base though… it floats above it.

Thanks to magnets, the 360-degree speaker doesn’t actually touch the base station while it’s in use.

LG isn’t the first company to introduce a levitating speaker, but this model does have at least one interesting feature to help it stand out (or maybe float out).

Continue reading LG is bringing a Levitating Portable speaker to CES at Liliputing.

Carrie Fisher, 1956-2016

Beloved actress succumbs after cardiac arrest on a plane four days earlier.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images / Jeff Spicer)

Carrie Fisher, the actress who brought Princess Leia to life and reprised the role in last year's The Force Awakens, has died at the age of 60.

The sad news follows word that Fisher suffered cardiac arrest while flying to Los Angeles on Friday. After landing and being rushed to a hospital, her brother issued a statement indicating that Fisher was "stable."

Fisher's Hollywood career skyrocketed after her first young portrayal of Leia. She was 19 during the filming, though her Hollywood acting debut actually came in 1975's Shampoo—and her Hollywood indoctrination began even before that, thanks to a tumultuous LA childhood that she wrote and spoke about at length in the form of memoirs and one-woman shows.

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Four things SpaceX can do in 2017 to get its groove back

After a disastrous fueling incident in September, here’s how SpaceX can soar again.

Enlarge / Here's how SpaceX can land on its feet in 2017. (credit: SpaceX)

For rocket company SpaceX, 2016 was both the best of times and the worst of times. The company landed its orbital Falcon 9 rocket in April on an autonomous drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean—a captivating, unprecedented spectacle that promised a bright future for the trailblazing company.

But in September, during fueling for a pre-launch engine test, a problem with the fueling process led to an explosion of the rocket's second stage. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle and its satellite payload were destroyed, and the company's Florida-based launch facilities sustained major damage. This second loss of a Falcon 9 rocket and payload in 15 months raised questions about the viability of SpaceX's "fast" and lean" rocket business. It also prompted concerns about the company's profitability.

Yet all is far from lost for SpaceX. The company remains a disruptive force that has radically remade the global launch industry over the last five years, threatening major aerospace companies and government launch services from the USA to France to Russia. And with the possibility of a major bounce-back year in 2017, here are four ways SpaceX can come roaring back to the top.

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US-Drohnenkrieg: Sehr viel Personal für “unbemannte” Drohnen

Der US-amerikanische Drohnenkrieg basiert auf einer ausgeklügelten weltweiten Logistik und Kommunikation. Ein früherer Techniker des US-Militär bezeichnet Deutschland dabei als Komplizen der USA und warnt vor dem Einsatz von “Killerrobotern”. (NSA, Datenschutz)

Der US-amerikanische Drohnenkrieg basiert auf einer ausgeklügelten weltweiten Logistik und Kommunikation. Ein früherer Techniker des US-Militär bezeichnet Deutschland dabei als Komplizen der USA und warnt vor dem Einsatz von "Killerrobotern". (NSA, Datenschutz)

Cyanogen Inc. shuts down CyanogenMod in Christmas bloodbath

Open source Android ROM project dies, developers launch fork.

The new home of the former CyanogenMod community.

Cyanogen Inc., the company built around the CyanogenMod open source Android OS ROM project, declined a acquisition offer by Google two years ago as it sought a $1 billion valuation. Now, the company has shut down its namesake open source development project and all its related services. Defiant CyanogenMod developers have now seized the project and relaunched it under the name LineageOS.

On December 23, a Cyanogen Inc. spokesperson posted a notice on the company’s blog:

As part of the ongoing consolidation of Cyanogen, all services and Cyanogen-supported nightly builds will be discontinued no later than 12/31/16. The open source project and source code will remain available for anyone who wants to build CyanogenMod personally.

The move came just a week after the CyanogenMod development community released the final versions of CyanogenMod 13.0 and on the heels of the departure of Cyanogen Inc. co-founder and the founder of the development project itself, Steve “cyanogen” Kondik. The shutdown is essentially a death sentence for the CyanogenMod project, since the project’s infrastructure was supported by the services being shut down.

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Deals of the Day (12-27-2016)

Deals of the Day (12-27-2016)

So you’ve returned the ugly sweater you got for the holidays… now you’re looking for something cheap, but useful to get with the cash you’ve just made.

How about a Bluetooth speaker or some Bluetooth headphones? Maybe a portable battery for charging your phone and other gadgets on the go? Have a little more spending cash? There are also some great deals on higher-quality wired headphones today.

Here’s a particularly thrifty edition of some of the day’s best deals.

Continue reading Deals of the Day (12-27-2016) at Liliputing.

Deals of the Day (12-27-2016)

So you’ve returned the ugly sweater you got for the holidays… now you’re looking for something cheap, but useful to get with the cash you’ve just made.

How about a Bluetooth speaker or some Bluetooth headphones? Maybe a portable battery for charging your phone and other gadgets on the go? Have a little more spending cash? There are also some great deals on higher-quality wired headphones today.

Here’s a particularly thrifty edition of some of the day’s best deals.

Continue reading Deals of the Day (12-27-2016) at Liliputing.

GoPano 360-degree Panoramic Camera Lens – Available Now For iPhone and DSLR Camera

If you follow our newsletter, you might have seen the first iPhone lens concept developed by Michael that allow user to enjoy panoramic video or photo capturing by using their default iPhone’s camera. This iPhone camera lens is called GoPano Micro when he started his Kickstarter project. This project has been successfully fund a year […]

If you follow our newsletter, you might have seen the first iPhone lens concept developed by Michael that allow user to enjoy panoramic video or photo capturing by using their default iPhone’s camera. This iPhone camera lens is called GoPano Micro when he started his Kickstarter project. This project has been successfully fund a year […]

Leading Kodi Addon Repository TV Addons Reveals Plans for 2017

One of the world’s leading repositories for third-party Kodi addons has revealed some of its plans for 2017. TV Addons says it will streamline the entire Kodi addon experience, making the process easier for all. Greater emphasis will be placed on ‘legitimate’ addons too, alongside calls for people to stop selling ready-configured hardware devices that attract negative attention.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

By now, most readers will understand how the Kodi experience operates. The software itself is an entirely legal media player but one which can be augmented with various addons.

For millions of users, it is these addons that really give Kodi its spice. Created by third-party developers, these add-ons allow Kodi to serve a massive range of often pirated content, including movies, TV shows (both live and on demand), plus sports and PPVs.

TV Addons is one of the world’s largest repositories of Kodi addons. It is not affiliated with the creators of Kodi but has become host to some of the software’s most-used tools. As such, its popularity has soared in recent months.

With Kodi add-ons now a major talking point around the world, TF caught up with Eleazar from TV Addons to get his thoughts for 2017.

“We never intended our community to be considered to be a source for sketchy content. There are many popular addons that have been developed as a more convenient way to access legitimately licensed content,” he explains.

“Some of the best and most popular addons include USTVnow, FilmOn, BBC iPlayer and EarthCam. We make open source addons to make the viewing of online content feel more natural when you’re watching on your living room TV.”

While there doesn’t appear to be any intention of reducing the availability of the most popular and controversial addons, Eleazar says a greater emphasis will be placed on tools that don’t fall into potential legal gray areas. Accessibility will also be improved.

“In the New Year, we hope to boost the more legitimate type of addons, from both the development perspective and end user point of view. We’re also in the process of streamlining the entire Kodi addon experience, making it easier for everyone, with our new website design coming very, very soon,” he adds.

In addition to all the excitement over Kodi and its addons in 2016, there have been considerable amounts of bad news for people who have tried to monetize the experience. Hundreds of sellers of pre-configured Android devices have popped up on eBay, Amazon, and other marketplaces, promising free media for all. Some have been arrested, particularly in the UK where there have been quite a few raids. Eleazar hopes there will be less of this in 2017.

“We really hope that people stop selling cheap pre-programmed Android TV devices. The main reason for our concern is the recent media attention these people have been getting. They are bundling Kodi addons with paid IPTV (something we are strongly against) and then getting busted for it and bringing negative attention to everyone,” he says.

“Secondly, in most cases, the kind of people who sell these devices aren’t the type of people who care about their reputations and thus end up making ridiculous promises to their customers, promises they will never be able to keep. People are maintaining addons for free, and profiteers are ruining it for everyone.”

Eleazar also has harsh words for the much of the hardware these suppliers sell to the public. Often of poor quality from the Far East, these devices can fail to live up to their billing. Better options are available for people to buy themselves, he says.

“If anyone is wondering what the best Kodi devices are, I’ll make it very clear. There’s no point in buying some cheap Chinese-manufactured no name device when you can buy much better devices manufactured by big electronics brands,” he advises.

“If you have no budget, the NVIDIA Shield TV is definitely the top choice. The second best choice would be the Xiaomi Mi Box, which sells for a mere $69 at Wal-Mart, and the third choice would be the Amazon Fire TV. Kodi can be installed to the first two in a few clicks through the Google Play Store, while it would need to be sideloaded to the Amazon Fire TV due to the lack of Android app store support.”

2017 is likely to be another big year for Kodi, its addons, and the streaming services that underpin them. As previously reported, the relationship between all three is somewhat uneasy, with the makers of Kodi and the operators of streaming sites both annoyed (1,2) at the creators of many addons.

Nevertheless, it seems the platform is here to stay – at least until the next big thing comes along.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.

Frog Fractions 2: the jig is up, and the game is here

But can you reach the end? And what mysteries lie in store?

Enlarge / Frog Fractions 2 in all its froggy fractional glory.

Disclosure: This author donated to the Frog Fractions 2 crowdfunding campaign in 2014 and he also really likes the games, so any overly enthusiastic language below is likely due to his desire to get more people converted to the cult of Frog Fractions. It's fun! We have donuts at every cult meeting!

The original Frog Fractions swept through Ars Technica a few years ago like a productivity-destroying storm. Someone—probably Andrew Cunningham—dropped the link into staff chat, and one by one everyone was sucked into playing the weird, crazy fractions-tutor-gone-wild "game," meeting Draggy Ceilingeater and journeying to Bug Mars to become a Bug Porn mogul.

Re-reading those sentences makes me feel weird—but nonetheless, that's what happened. The Flash-based game starts out simply enough, but once the player realizes how they can break the rules of the initial "level," it quickly transforms into a series of nearly incomprehensible (but fun!) scenes and events. It's a surreal, rewarding trip—but unfortunately, you can only play through for the very first time once. Replays are fun and you can keep an eye out for details you missed, but overall, Frog Fractions is a relatively linear experience.

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Gigabyte launches compact BRIX gaming PC with GeForce 1070, Core i7-6700K

Gigabyte launches compact BRIX gaming PC with GeForce 1070, Core i7-6700K

Gigabyte has been selling small desktop computers under its BRIX brand for a few years. Some models are tiny, low-power, and cheap, while others are compact desktop gaming rigs.

But the newest Gigabyte BRIX breaks the mold. It’s a powerful gaming machine with an Intel Core i7-6700K quad-core processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics, and a distinctive new design that makes the computer’s cooling system look intentional rather than just necessary.

The computer has an exhaust system that draws in air from the bottom of the computer and pushes it out through vents in the top.

Continue reading Gigabyte launches compact BRIX gaming PC with GeForce 1070, Core i7-6700K at Liliputing.

Gigabyte launches compact BRIX gaming PC with GeForce 1070, Core i7-6700K

Gigabyte has been selling small desktop computers under its BRIX brand for a few years. Some models are tiny, low-power, and cheap, while others are compact desktop gaming rigs.

But the newest Gigabyte BRIX breaks the mold. It’s a powerful gaming machine with an Intel Core i7-6700K quad-core processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics, and a distinctive new design that makes the computer’s cooling system look intentional rather than just necessary.

The computer has an exhaust system that draws in air from the bottom of the computer and pushes it out through vents in the top.

Continue reading Gigabyte launches compact BRIX gaming PC with GeForce 1070, Core i7-6700K at Liliputing.