January 2022 – Page 99 – news.buyenne.com

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Volvo shows off the Polestar 3’s sweet new Android Automotive interface

Why fight the smartphone revolution? Volvo’s next car goes with ARM and Android.

The full Polestar 3 design isn't revealed yet, but Volvo released this camouflaged photo.

Volvo, Qualcomm, Google are teaming up to make car infotainment even more smartphone-like than ever. If Wintel (Windows plus Intel) is the default software+hardware combo of the PC era, then the smartphone equivalent has got to be Android and Qualcomm (Andcom? Qualdroid?). Volvo is bringing this combo to the upcoming Polestar 3 electric SUV, which is due sometime in 2022. We also got a sneak peek at what the new interface would look like.

Volvo's Polestar 2 was the first to ship Google's Android Automotive OS in a car. Unlike Android Auto or Apple's CarPlay, which run on your smartphone, Android Automotive OS has a custom version of Android preinstalled on the car, as the main car infotainment OS. Even if you have an iPhone, your car still runs Android. The Polestar 2 used an x86 chip (an Intel Atom A3900), but now Volvo is pairing a Qualcomm smartphone chip with its Google smartphone OS. The Polestar 3 will ship with Qualcomm's "Snapdragon Cockpit Platform Gen 3," and while that sounds unique, it is really just a repackaged smartphone chip with a few extra features.

The integration of cars with computer technology is always tough. Car development takes around five years, which can seem almost incompatible with the development pace of smartphones and computers. That's still true of the 2022 Polestar 3. Qualcomm's Gen 3 automotive platform was actually announced back in 2019, but design wins for the platform are just now being announced at CES 2022. Qualcomm says the Gen 3 automotive platform is based on the Snapdragon 820 SoC, an ARM flagship smartphone chip from 2016. You may remember this chip from phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Google Pixel 1. The Polestar 2's Intel Atom was also from 2016.

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Radio astronomers scouring the archives spotted black hole devouring a star

It’s the second such event discovered in radio regime; the first was discovered in 2020.

Artist's conception of a Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) -- a star being shredded by the powerful gravity of a supermassive black hole. Material from the star spirals into a disk rotating around the black hole, and a jet of particles is ejected.

There are decades of radio astronomy data in the archives of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and there are still new discoveries lurking within it. Astronomers have spotted the telltale signature jet from a black hole devouring a star several decades ago in archival data collected by the Very Large Array (VLA) telescope in New Mexico. According to a new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, it's only the second such candidate event discovered in the radio regime; the first was discovered in 2020. The discovery was presented virtually yesterday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

As we've reported previously, it's a popular misconception that black holes behave like cosmic vacuum cleaners, ravenously sucking up any matter in their surroundings. In reality, only stuff that passes beyond the event horizon—including light—is swallowed up and can't escape, although black holes are also messy eaters. That means that part of an object's matter is actually ejected in a powerful jet.

If that object is a star, the process of being shredded (or "spaghettified") by the powerful gravitational forces of a black hole occurs outside the event horizon, and part of the star's original mass is ejected violently outward. This in turn can form a rotating ring of matter (aka an accretion disk) around the black hole that emits powerful X-rays and visible light—and sometimes radio waves. Those jets are one way astronomers can indirectly infer the presence of a black hole. They're known as "tidal disruption events" (TDEs).

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Wie die Energiewende um Faktor drei beschleunigt werden soll

Gleich zwei Gesetzespakete hat Bundeswirtschaftsminister Habeck angekündigt, um Deutschland auf den richtigen Pfad des Klimaschutzes zu bringen

FDA head: Omicron is a “natural disaster… most people are gonna get COVID”

Acting FDA commissioner offers sobering perspective of the next few weeks.

US officials are comparing the ultra-transmissible omicron coronavirus variant to a natural disaster as the country continues to shatter records, logging over 1.4 million new COVID-19 cases Monday and seeing hospitalizations at all-time highs of over 140,000.

Officials are now bracing for the weeks ahead, which are expected to bring yet higher numbers of cases that will hamstring health care systems and other essential services nationwide.

"I think that we're talking about a natural disaster," Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the Food Drug Administration, said in a Senate Health Committee hearing Tuesday. "I think right now, we need to focus on continuity of operations for hospitals and other essential services as this variant sweeps through the population."

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T-Mobile says it isn’t widely blocking iCloud Private Relay, blames iOS bug

T-Mobile says block should only affect customers who enabled content filters.

A person's hand holding a smartphone in front of a screen with T-Mobile logos.

T-Mobile has responded to complaints that it is blocking iCloud Private Relay on iPhones, saying that the block only affects subscribers who enabled parental controls or other types of content filtering. T-Mobile also says it has identified a bug in iOS that may be messing with users' iCloud Private Relay settings, but Apple hasn't confirmed this.

"Customers who chose plans and features with content filtering (e.g. parent controls) do not have access to the iCloud Private Relay to allow these services to work as designed. All other customers have no restrictions," T-Mobile told Ars last night. This also applies to customers who subscribed to Sprint before the companies merged.

Customers affected by iCloud Private Relay blocking get an error message in the iPhone settings app when they try to enable the Apple privacy feature. The message says, "Your cellular plan doesn't support iCloud Private Relay. With Private Relay turned off, this network can monitor your Internet activity, and your IP address is not hidden from known trackers or websites."

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Lilbits: Build an Alder Lake Hackintosh, repair a Surface Laptop SE, and type on a (really) tiny keyboard

Ever wanted a 59-key keyboard small enough for wearables? A developer has created one that’s roughly the size of a Raspberry Pi Pico board, and it’s designed to work with one. Meanwhile Microsoft is following through on its promise to make Surface hardware more repairable… at least for one device. Google is now offering release […]

The post Lilbits: Build an Alder Lake Hackintosh, repair a Surface Laptop SE, and type on a (really) tiny keyboard appeared first on Liliputing.

Ever wanted a 59-key keyboard small enough for wearables? A developer has created one that’s roughly the size of a Raspberry Pi Pico board, and it’s designed to work with one.

Meanwhile Microsoft is following through on its promise to make Surface hardware more repairable… at least for one device. Google is now offering release notes that let you see what’s new in the company’s monthly Google Play System updates for Android. And the developers of OpenCore have improved support for Intel’s 12th-gen Core “Alder Lake” processors, which means Hackintosh builders can run MacOS on computers with Intel’s latest chips even though Apple is moving away from Intel for its own hardware.

Here’s a roundup of recent tech news from around the web.

Raspberry Pi Pico Boasts Tiny DIY Keyboard [Tom’s Hardware]

This tiny keyboard designed for wearables is the size of a Raspberry Pi Pico, has 59 keys, and costs about $10 to manufacture. You can find more details at a HackADay project page.

Now you can learn what’s new in each Google Play system update for Android [9to5Google]

Google has a new support page that explains what’s new in each monthly Google Play System Update for Android devices… although it only includes details for the December and January updates so far and some changes are light on details.

Surface Laptop SE Repair Video [Microsoft / YouTube]

A few months after agreeing to make its hardware easier to repair, Microsoft this week released a teardown/repair video for the new Surface Laptop SE that walks through the process of replacing components of the $250 laptop for the education market.

Apple may be done with Intel Macs, but Hackintoshes can still use the newest CPUs [Ars Technica]

Apple has never officially released a Mac with a 12th-gen Intel processor, but you can build a Hackintosh (non-Apple PC that runs macOS) with one thanks to the latest OpenCore builds. You just won’t be able to leverage the integrated GPU, and probably won’t use the Efficient CPU cores. Is it a good idea to build a Hackintosh using Intel’s latest chips? Probably not. But if it’s what you’ve got, it’s good to know that it’s an option.

Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.

The post Lilbits: Build an Alder Lake Hackintosh, repair a Surface Laptop SE, and type on a (really) tiny keyboard appeared first on Liliputing.

Twitch Streamers Deliberately Get Themselves Banned For Copyright Infringement

One of the more controversial trends to gain traction on Twitch lately is the wholesale streaming of copyrighted TV shows by some of the site’s top streamers. Bizarrely they appear to have understood the consequences in advance and some are currently sitting out suspensions. So why bite the hand that feeds?

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Twitch is best known for its video game live streaming but over time user behavior has taken the platform in new directions.

Of course, variety is great for the community, especially when fresh ideas inspire creativity and push the boundaries to enable progress.

But what happens when some of the platform’s most popular streamers jump onto a trend that most people know is likely to land both them and Twitch in hot water?

TV Show Piracy on Twitch

Since Twitch users are in control of what content they put out, the site’s terms and conditions (and the law) are essentially the only barriers to creativity. Stay within those parameters and all is fine but step outside and trouble can lie ahead. Given these basics, sticking to the rules shouldn’t be particularly difficult for streamers but for reasons best known to them, some are deliberately going rogue.

One of the latest trends on Twitch appears to be an extension of so-called ‘reaction’ videos. In these latest cases, however, it involves the streaming of TV episodes in near full screen alongside little to no reaction, effectively turning some Twitch streams into a pirate streaming service with added ‘watch party’ features.

Given the attention these streams are getting, it’s clear they are popular with users. Whether that is the main motivation behind putting these streams up remains a question but it’s pretty clear that if streamers are looking for negative attention from copyright holders, this is a good way forward.

Twitch Users Are Getting Suspended

With 8.8m subscribers, Pokimane is an extremely successful Twitch streamer. However, after reportedly streaming six hours of Avatar: The Last Airbender to her significant audience, she reported a temporary ban from Twitch on January 8.

“Confirmed 48 hour suspension!” she tweeted in response to the move.

“Just to be clear, I’m not surprised and I don’t think this is unfair. Imo, it was inevitable that publishers would take action, on me or someone else, during this react meta,” she added.

Pokimane is not the only high-profile Twitch casualty. Jeremy “Disguised Toast” Wang also received a suspension after reportedly streaming the anime show Death Note. In his case, however, the suspension appears to be a much more lengthy one.

Disguised Toast’s immediate reaction was that the suspension came too soon since it interrupted an episode while it still had 20 minutes to go. Unrepentant maybe, but certainly not unexpected.

Twitch Users Were Warned About Piracy

According to a Dexerto report, earlier this month streamer Ludwig Ahgren called out several popular Twitch users including xQc, Karl Jacobs, and Mizkif for participating in the so-called ‘TV show meta’, warning that nothing good will come from it.

“Recently there has been a swath of people on Twitch just outright watching TV shows. The biggest creator xQc does this quite often with MasterChef. It’s f**king crazy. They are just straight up watching TV shows on Twitch!” he said.

“Disguised Toast is just straight up watching Naruto. This morning I watched Myth watch Yu-Gi-Oh. Over a million people tuned in to watch Karl Jacobs watch Total Drama Island. And Rich Campbell watching Lord of the Rings on stream. Mizkif with like 41,000 viewers watched Home Alone! This is some pretty dangerous territory we are in!”

xQc Says DMCA Fears Are “Totally Incorrect”

With 9.8 million followers on Twitch, streamer xQc is certainly a fan favorite but despite warnings from his peers about the perils of streaming TV shows on Twitch, he isn’t at all convinced there is a problem.

“I’m going to be honest, I think you’re just totally incorrect,” he said in response to a fan warning.

“People have been doing all this DMCA sh*t for the longest time ever, watching shows included. I don’t think it’s an issue, really. They enforce stuff based on how likely it is to blow up, and then Twitch has to ban you. TV shows don’t really have that. It’s why boxing is, like, extremely DMCA, so it’s insane.”

What is really insane is the prospect of provocative actions like these restricting the freedoms of all Twitch users moving forward.

Actions Have Consequences

Whatever side of the fence one sits on, be that pro-copyright or copyright-skeptic, this take from an influential streamer is pretty bewildering, especially one that was previously suspended from the platform for streaming the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

While people have been doing “all this DMCA shit” for two decades now, there have always been consequences. Not once have copyright holders and governments responded to blatant provocation with a loosening of the law or a reduction in enforcement. It doesn’t work like that.

Instead, they have gone after platforms like YouTube seeking a billion in damages, even ISPs like Cox (again, a billion in damages) RCN, Charter, Bright House, and Grande Communications.

Given its corporate might, Twitch owner Amazon can certainly look after itself on the legal front but if Twitch streamers want their platform to be policed increasingly heavily into the future, restricting their freedoms and their fun, repeatedly poking the bear is the right way to go about it.

As Twitter user Dualmonkey eloquently explains:

That said, if Twitch ‘TV meta’ streamers won’t think of the platform itself or the future freedoms of their peers, perhaps they should consider becoming familiar with the ‘repeat infringer’ aspect of the DMCA.

In order for Twitch to remain eligible for its ‘safe harbor’ protection under copyright law, it needs to show that it takes action against infringers. In the case of repeat infringers it needs to terminate them “in appropriate circumstances.”

The definition of “appropriate” can vary but there is a way to find out how much Twitch is prepared to put up with. But by then it will already be too late.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

$35 Sensor Watch crams a modern microcontroller into a classic Casio wristwatch

Most modern smartwatches have color displays, wireless capabilities, the ability to alert you to notifications, and support for running first-party and third-party apps. Sensor Watch doesn’t do any of that. But it is designed to take a classic Casio F-91W wristwatch and give it a modern upgrade thanks to a tiny circuit board with an […]

The post $35 Sensor Watch crams a modern microcontroller into a classic Casio wristwatch appeared first on Liliputing.

Most modern smartwatches have color displays, wireless capabilities, the ability to alert you to notifications, and support for running first-party and third-party apps.

Sensor Watch doesn’t do any of that. But it is designed to take a classic Casio F-91W wristwatch and give it a modern upgrade thanks to a tiny circuit board with an ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller allowing you to run simple apps. The Sensor Watch is up for pre-order for $35 through a Crowd Supply crowdfunding campaign, and could begin shipping in September.

Note that the $35 price doesn’t include the cost of the Casio watch or shipping, but you should be able to pick one up for around $20 or less from Amazon or eBay if you don’t already have one. And shipping for the Sensor Watch runs $8 for crowdfunding backers in the US or $18 for global backers.

The Sensor Watch itself is a printed circuit board and sensor board. Everything else is repurposed from the Casio watch, so the finished product has the same monochrome 72-segment LCD display and the same water resistant enclosure – it should be waterproof for depths up to 30 meters. And since it lacks wireless capabilities, a 100 mAh coin cell battery should provide up to a year of battery life.

Of course, those limitations mean that you won’t be able to use the Sensor Watch for things like notifications. So what can it do? The clue is in the name.

Thanks to an integrated sensor board, it can be programmed to run applications that show data from the sensor. By default, it will ship with a thermistor sensor board that can be used to show the temperature. But the Sensor Watch is designed to be modular and hackable, so folks who want to design their own sensor boards can swap them out to add other functions. There are already open source designs for motion, light, and other sensor boards.

Initial apps/watch faces will include a Clock, World Clock, Temperature and Temperature Log (with up to 36 hours of timestamped data), and a one-time password app that can be used for multi-factor authentication purposes. But users will be able to develop their own apps as well.

At the heart of the Sensor Watch is a custom printed circuit board with a SAM L22 ARM Cortex-M0+ 32 MHz microcontroller featuring 256KB of flash storage and 32KB of RAM. The board has built-in USB support, which allows you to plug it into a computer like a USB flash drive for programming purposes.

And if you need to know more about how the board is laid out, labels are printed directly on the PCB. If that idea sounds familiar, it may be because the Sensor Watch is the latest device from Oddly Specific Objects, which is run by developer Joey Castillo. Previously Castillo had released the Open Book Project, which includes several open source eReaders that also have incredibly well-labeled printed circuit boards.

The post $35 Sensor Watch crams a modern microcontroller into a classic Casio wristwatch appeared first on Liliputing.

Daily Deals (1-11-2021)

Woot is running a sale on Amazon Fire TV Stick devices, which means you can pick up a 2020 Fire TV Stick (1080p) media streamer or 2018 Fire TV Stick 4K for half price. While the latter model was released in 2018, it’s not only capable of supporting 4K UHD video, but it’s also faster […]

The post Daily Deals (1-11-2021) appeared first on Liliputing.

Of course Amazon’s Fire TV platform isn’t the only game in town. There are also a couple of pretty good deals on Roku media streamers today, and Walmart’s Onn UHD Android TV dongle is on sale for just $20.

Here are some of the day’s best deals.

Media Streamers