Month: October 2021

Virtual mouse app for Linux phones makes desktop apps easier to use

Linux phones are basically just small, low-power Linux computers with touchscreens, and modems. While most mobile Linux distributions designed for phones feature touch-friendly user interfaces and apps, you can also run desktop applications on a Linux phone. But you may have trouble actually using software that obviously weren’t designed for small screens, because it can be […]

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Linux phones are basically just small, low-power Linux computers with touchscreens, and modems. While most mobile Linux distributions designed for phones feature touch-friendly user interfaces and apps, you can also run desktop applications on a Linux phone.

But you may have trouble actually using software that obviously weren’t designed for small screens, because it can be hard to navigate applications designed for keyboard and mouse input when you’re using a fingertip. So developer CalcProgrammer1 built a Touchpad Emulator that lets you use the entire surface of your phone as a trackpad, controlling an on-screen cursor.

Here’s the idea: Install the open source TouchPad Emulator app (available from GitLab or in the Arch user repository), and when you launch it, your screen will act as a virtual touchpad.

Drag your finger across the display and an on-screen cursor will move, allowing you to hit tiny icons, menus, or other targets that might be difficult to tap otherwise. The app also makes it possible to interact with drop-down menus and other items that respond to a hovering cursor, many of which can be difficult to navigate using a touch-only device.

In order to perform other actions you can use:

  • Tap to click
  • 2-finger tap for right-click
  • Swipe with 2 fingers to scroll
  • Tap-and-hold to drag a window or other items
  • Double-tap to click-and-drag for selecting text or other items

You can also switch to Touchpad mode by hitting the volume up key, switch back to touchscreen mode by pressing volume down, and toggle the on-screen keyboard by pressing volume down again.

CalcProgrammer1 released an early version of Touchpad Emulator in April, 2021, but an update released in October is easier to build and install, adds support for automatic screen rotation, and allows you to use your phone’s screen as a mouse/touchpad when connected to an external display.

Initially released as a PinePhone-only utility, newer builds of TouchPad Emulator also work on additional devices including the Google Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S5 running postmarketOS.

via /r/pinephone (1)(2)(3)

This article was first published April 30, 2021 and last updated October 22, 2021.

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SiFive says its next RISC-V processor outperforms ARM Cortex-A78

When RISC-V chip designer SiFive introduced its Performance P550 processor in June, the company said it was the highest-performance processor based on RISC-V architecture to date. Now the company is previewing a new processor that SiFive says is 50% faster, allowing the new chip to outperform an ARM Cortex-A78 processor. SiFive’s announcement is a bit […]

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When RISC-V chip designer SiFive introduced its Performance P550 processor in June, the company said it was the highest-performance processor based on RISC-V architecture to date.

Now the company is previewing a new processor that SiFive says is 50% faster, allowing the new chip to outperform an ARM Cortex-A78 processor.

SiFive’s announcement is a bit light on details at the moment, the company hasn’t even given the new chip a name yet. But the company says more details will be revealed at the RISC-V Summit in December.

So far we know that SiFive’s next chip:

  • Supports up to 16 CPU cores
  • Runs at frequencies up to 3.5 GHz
  • Features 16MB of L3 cache, up to 2MB L2, and

SiFive says the new chips are 64-bit processors with quad-issue out of order processing, which can be scaled to support a wide range of devices including PCs, servers, or mobile and embedded devices.

High-performance versions would likely combine a cluster of chips together, offering up to 128 CPU cores.

via SiFive, The Register, and HardwareLuxx

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Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy on Nov. 11: Cartoonier, flashier, and Game Pass-ier

Transition from PS2 era means top-to-bottom update—plus teases on Xbox Game Pass, PS Now.

Aw, blank, here we go again.

Enlarge / Aw, blank, here we go again. (credit: Rockstar Games)

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy: The Definitive Experience may go down as 2021's worst-kept secret, but how it would actually look remained surprisingly well-protected until the game's Friday reveal went live. The new look is visible in a one-minute trailer, which comes with a release date: November 11 for the Xbox console family, PS4/PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via the Rockstar Games Launcher).

Today's reveal video primarily shows the visual top-to-bottom touch-up applied to all three games in the collection (Grand Theft Auto III, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas), with a few "wipe" transitions comparing a vanilla version of each game to its remastered equivalent. The footage largely consists of cut scenes, as opposed to the behind-the-back view of average gameplay, but we still see enough to get a look at Rockstar Games' bold artistic changes.

  • Remastered GTA San Andreas.

Thanks to the trailer's focus on cinematic scenes, we get a clear view of how Rockstar updated the characters' bulky, Mickey Mouse-like blob hands to ones with details like individual fingers. In order to include the new additions while remaining true to the games' original code and animations, Rockstar has opted for a bulbous, cartoony aesthetic, perhaps most visible in the above after-and-before gallery where a mob boss gestures with his hands while sporting a higher-res, cartoonier face. Each shot also makes clear that Rockstar is employing many higher-res textures, higher shadow resolutions, improved ambient occlusion, increased model geometry, and an entirely new staging of both pre-baked and dynamic lighting. What might look off-putting in screenshots comes together much nicer in the trilogy's full video trailer (embedded at the end of this article).

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Daily Deals (10-22-2021)

Amazon is running 1-day sales on a whole bunch of Samsung products including laptops, tablets, smartphones, and chargers. Among other things, you can save $360 on a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro laptop with a 13.3 inch AMOLED display and an Intel Core i7 Tiger Lake processor, pick up a Samsung EVO Plus SDXC card for […]

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Amazon is running 1-day sales on a whole bunch of Samsung products including laptops, tablets, smartphones, and chargers.

Among other things, you can save $360 on a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro laptop with a 13.3 inch AMOLED display and an Intel Core i7 Tiger Lake processor, pick up a Samsung EVO Plus SDXC card for $15 off the list price, or save up to 30% on Galaxy S21series smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 13 with AMOLED display for $840

Here are some of the day’s best deals.

Laptops

Smartphones & tablets

Storage

Wireless audio

PC Games

Other

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FBI, others crush REvil using ransomware gang’s favorite tactic against it

Multi-nation operation succeeds as gang member makes critical mistake.

FBI, others crush REvil using ransomware gang’s favorite tactic against it

Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)

Four days ago, the REvil ransomware gang’s leak site, known as the “Happy Blog,” went offline. Cybersecurity experts wondered aloud what might have caused the infamous group to go dark once more.

One theory was that it was an inside job pulled by the group’s disaffected former leader. Another was that law enforcement had successfully hacked and dismantled the group. “Normally, I am pretty dismissive of ‘law enforcement’ conspiracy theories, but given that law enforcement was able to pull the keys from the Kaseya attack, it is a real possibility,” Allan Liska, a ransomware expert, told ZDNet at the time.

“Rebranding happens a lot in ransomware after a shutdown,” he said. “But no one brings old infrastructure that was literally being targeted by every law enforcement operation not named Russia in the world back online. That is just dumb.”

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StarLite Mk IV is budget Linux laptop with an 11.6 inch FHD display

Linux laptop maker Star Labs is updating its entry-level StarLite laptop with a new Mk IV model that packs an 11.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, an Intel Pentium Silver N5030 processor, and 8GB of RAM. The new StarLite Mk IV is available for order from Star Labs with prices starting under $500, but […]

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Linux laptop maker Star Labs is updating its entry-level StarLite laptop with a new Mk IV model that packs an 11.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, an Intel Pentium Silver N5030 processor, and 8GB of RAM.

The new StarLite Mk IV is available for order from Star Labs with prices starting under $500, but you’ll probably have to wait until January for the laptop to be delivered because it’s still in production.

Star Labs is offering a 5% discount for folks who orders now though, which effectively brings the starting price down to $455 for a model with a 240GB SSD. You can also pay extra for additional storage or optional accessories.

The StarLite Mk IV is a modest upgrade over last year’s Mk III model in some ways, with only a slightly faster processor and no significant change to the display, memory, or storage. But Star Labs has upgraded the webcam from a 480p model to a 2MP camera, added a redesigned trackpad, and included a contoured heat plate for improved cooling.

The notebook can be configured with one of several different Linux-based operating systems pre-installed, including Ubuntu, Elementary OS, Linux Mint, Manjaro, MX Linux, or Zorin OS and customers can choose between American Megatrends BIOS/firmware or the open source Coreboot.

With a 6-watt, quad-core processor based on Intel Gemini Lake Refresh architecture, the laptop isn’t exactly a speed demon. But it’s a step above some budget Chromebooks or Windows laptops thanks to a 560MB/s SSD, backlit keyboard, glass-covered trackpad, and full HD display.

Unlike most laptop makers, Star Labs also sells spare parts and offers disassembly guides.

Other features include USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Type-A ports, a micro HDMI port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader plus a USB 3.0 Type-C port that can be used for charging, data, and video output. The notebook comes with a 60 watt USB-C power adapter.

via OMG Ubuntu

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Amazon makes it easier to bring different types of silicon to Alexa devices

Greater variety in SoCs may give products more control over things like battery life.

Amazon makes it easier to bring different types of silicon to Alexa devices

Enlarge (credit: Getty)

Alexa gets around. The voice assistant has been in all types of devices, not just Amazon's Echo products. You can talk to Alexa in coffeemakers, take it on the road with you, spend the holidays together, and even make it feed your pet. But inside many of those products—at least ones made from 2019 and on—is the same core hardware and silicon. Through a software development kit (SDK) Amazon announced this week, companies can still use Amazon's cloud services, Alexa apps, and skills, while having greater freedom over the hardware used to deliver those services.

In 2019, Amazon launched Alexa Connect Kit (ACK), which allowed tech brands to use ACK modules, or, as Amazon explains it, "an Amazon-managed system-on-module" integrated into the Alexa device. It runs firmware that enables communication between the product and ACK-managed services, which come courtesy of Amazon Web Services' IoT business.

Before this week's announcement, hardware was either a Mediatek WM-BN-MT-52 chipset with an Arm Cortex-M4 processor and MT7697H SoC or an Espressif ESP32-PICO-V3-ZERO, which uses Espressif’s ESP32-V3 SoC. Either ensures that makers of third-party Alexa products don't have to "write an Alexa skill, manage a cloud service, or develop complex network and security firmware" for the voice assistant to work.

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Cardboard shortages deal another blow to strained supply chains

And just in time for the holiday shopping frenzy.

Cardboard shortages deal another blow to strained supply chains

Enlarge

First it was toilet paper. Then it was processors and other silicon. Now it’s cardboard. (And there’s a whole lot of other stuff in between).

The latest kink in the planet’s ever-gnarled supply chain is one that is sending retailers, shippers, and consumers all scrambling. Cardboard supplies are unreliable, as are those for other packing materials like paper and plastic. And what is available costs more, with loads of companies passing the increased expenses to customers.

Many of the cardboard-producing paper mills around the world shut down at different points during the COVID-19 pandemic. While plants have come back online, they’re still scrambling to fill a backlog of orders.

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How SpaceX ignited a new Raptor engine on Starship without an explosion

So why don’t all rocket engines have giant nozzles?

SpaceX ignites a vacuum-optimized Raptor engine attached to Starship on Thursday, October 21.

Enlarge / SpaceX ignites a vacuum-optimized Raptor engine attached to Starship on Thursday, October 21. (credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX took another step on Thursday evening toward validating the rocket engine technology that will power its Starship rocket. For the first time, engineers at the company ignited a vacuum version of a Raptor rocket engine that had been attached to the Starship upper stage.

The test-firing at sunset in South Texas lasted only a few seconds. But it appears to have been successful, and it checks another box in a series of technical tests SpaceX must complete before launching Starship on a Super Heavy rocket for an orbital test flight. This may happen sometime in early 2022.

SpaceX has test-fired its Starship vehicle with Raptor engines before, of course. In some prototype test flights, the vehicle has ascended up to about 10 km under the power of up to three Raptor "sea level" engines. But it is quite another thing to test a rocket with a version of Raptor optimized to operate in the vacuum of space.

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