Google could launch the purported Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL phones at Google I/O event on May 7th, 2019. Indian eComm giant Flipkart has also teased the anticipated arrival set for the next day, i.e. May 8th as per India time. Just days ahead of the launch, we have the expected specs, features, pricing, […]
The post Pixel 3a Pricing and Packaging pops up, launch date teased, and more details appeared first on Smartprix Bytes.
Quentin Tarantino has brought an “extended version” of his controversial roadshow western The Hateful Eight to Netflix, but not the way you’d think. It’s a miniseries composed of four 50-minute episodes, and reactions have been confused, to say the least. Why would a cohesive movie, one which already had six “chapters,” be broken up into four?
Now, Tarantino himself has spoken — and he tells Slashfilm that it’s the experiment Netflix wanted him to produce:
So Netflix came to us and said, “Hey, look, if you’d be interested–if there’s even more footage, [and] if you’d be interested in putting it together in a way that we could show it as three or four episodes, depending on how much extra footage you have, we’d be willing to do that.”
T...
The future of Amazon’s logistics network will undoubtedly involve artificial intelligence and robotics, but it’s an open question at what point AI-powered machines will be doing a majority of the work. According to Scott Anderson, the company’s director of robotics fulfillment, the point at which an Amazon warehouse is fully, end-to-end automated is at least 10 years away. Anderson’s comments, reported today by Reuters, highlight the current pace of automation, even in environments that are ripe for robotic labor, like an Amazon warehouse.
As it stands today, robots in the workforce are proficient mostly at specific, repeatable tasks for which they are precisely programmed. To get the robot to do something else takes expensive,...
How much is an apology worth? Well, if you’re Apple, it turns out the number is at least $4.5 billion, which is the amount that Qualcomm revealed in its Q2 earnings it will get from the settlement agreement between the companies, which had previously been embroiled in an ugly patent dispute for the past few years.
The Apple / Qualcomm settlement was an unexpected shift that came early in the trial between the two companies. According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple had decided that Intel’s modems (which Apple had been exclusively using in the interim due to its fight with Qualcomm) wouldn’t be ready in time for a 5G iPhone, leading Apple to pony up the newly revealed sum of between $4.5 to $4.7 billion to make up with Qualcomm. That...
Apple physically makes its products hard to repair in a wide array of ways, and this week may have brought proof that Apple is also fighting to keep pesky laws from challenging the status quo. It seems an Apple lobbyist has quietly managed to get California to postpone its right-to-repair bill until 2020 at the earliest, partly by stoking fears of exploding batteries should consumers attempt to repair their iPhones.
As Motherboard first reported yesterday and The Verge’s sources can corroborate, a lobbyist who works directly for Apple recently met with members of the California state Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, which was considering the bill. The lobbyist argued that consumers might hurt themselves if they...
Late last year, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr got an “earful” from remote Alaskan residents who were concerned with how poor their access to the internet is — and they weren’t wrong. Alaska has, on average, some of the slowest internet connections in the country, primarily due to its distance from the rest of the continental United States.
But remote Alaskans may see faster speeds soon. MTA Fiber Holdings announced today that it would build the “first and only all-terrestrial” fiber optic network running from Alaska and into the Lower 48. The line will begin in North Pole, Alaska and will travel through Canada, connecting with Canadian carriers, where it will finally connect with “any major hub” in the US. A vast majority of...
Beleaguered electric vehicle startup Faraday Future is restructuring in order to survive. The company announced a new deal on Monday that could chart a path forward. The startup has been without a main financial backer for months, is unable to bring back hundreds of employees still on unpaid leave, and recently sold its own headquarters to generate cash. But its new path, financial experts tell The Verge, resembles an out-of-court bankruptcy.
The would-be automaker announced that Chicago-based Birch Lake Associates will provide the startup with bridge financing, or a short-term loan, of “up to $225 million.” Of that potential total, $75 million will come in the form of “senior secured” debt financing, meaning the loan from Birch Lake...
Fortnite creator Epic Games announced today that it’s acquired the independent game development studio Psyonix, makers of the massively popular vehicular soccer game Rocket League.
As a result of the deal, Psyonix says it will have access to more resources to support Rocket League’s competitive e-sports league and, by late 2019, will bring the game to Epic’s PC storefront.
After that, it sounds like Rocket League will no longer be available on Valve’s competing Steam store, though buyers of the Steam version can continue to play their existing copy of the game indefinitely and continue to receive support, which Variety is reporting includes downloadable content, patches, and all other future content.
Here’s the bit that makes it sound...
Spotify is spending millions to become a major player in podcasting, and today we got a look at how it might begin promoting shows: by placing suggested episodes into algorithmically generated playlists. A test seen by The Verge shows several short podcast episodes placed alongside personalized music suggestions in a playlist meant for the drive to work. Spotify doesn’t have a widely available podcast recommendation tool or offer curated podcast playlists right now, so this appears to be a look at what’s to come.
This year, Spotify plans to spend $500 million on acquisitions related to the podcast industry, and so far, it’s bought podcast networks Gimlet Media and Parcast, as well as podcaster-oriented creation and hosting platform...
Quentin Tarantino has brought an “extended version” of his controversial roadshow western The Hateful Eight to Netflix, but not the way you’d think. It’s a miniseries composed of four 50-minute episodes, and reactions have been confused, to say the least. Why would a cohesive movie, one which already had six “chapters,” be broken up into four?
Now, Tarantino himself has spoken — and he tells Slashfilm that it’s the experiment Netflix wanted him to produce:
So Netflix came to us and said, “Hey, look, if you’d be interested–if there’s even more footage, [and] if you’d be interested in putting it together in a way that we could show it as three or four episodes, depending on how much extra footage you have, we’d be willing to do that.”
T...
The future of Amazon’s logistics network will undoubtedly involve artificial intelligence and robotics, but it’s an open question at what point AI-powered machines will be doing a majority of the work. According to Scott Anderson, the company’s director of robotics fulfillment, the point at which an Amazon warehouse is fully, end-to-end automated is at least 10 years away. Anderson’s comments, reported today by Reuters, highlight the current pace of automation, even in environments that are ripe for robotic labor, like an Amazon warehouse.
As it stands today, robots in the workforce are proficient mostly at specific, repeatable tasks for which they are precisely programmed. To get the robot to do something else takes expensive,...
How much is an apology worth? Well, if you’re Apple, it turns out the number is at least $4.5 billion, which is the amount that Qualcomm revealed in its Q2 earnings it will get from the settlement agreement between the companies, which had previously been embroiled in an ugly patent dispute for the past few years.
The Apple / Qualcomm settlement was an unexpected shift that came early in the trial between the two companies. According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple had decided that Intel’s modems (which Apple had been exclusively using in the interim due to its fight with Qualcomm) wouldn’t be ready in time for a 5G iPhone, leading Apple to pony up the newly revealed sum of between $4.5 to $4.7 billion to make up with Qualcomm. That...
Apple physically makes its products hard to repair in a wide array of ways, and this week may have brought proof that Apple is also fighting to keep pesky laws from challenging the status quo. It seems an Apple lobbyist has quietly managed to get California to postpone its right-to-repair bill until 2020 at the earliest, partly by stoking fears of exploding batteries should consumers attempt to repair their iPhones.
As Motherboard first reported yesterday and The Verge’s sources can corroborate, a lobbyist who works directly for Apple recently met with members of the California state Assembly’s Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee, which was considering the bill. The lobbyist argued that consumers might hurt themselves if they...
Late last year, Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr got an “earful” from remote Alaskan residents who were concerned with how poor their access to the internet is — and they weren’t wrong. Alaska has, on average, some of the slowest internet connections in the country, primarily due to its distance from the rest of the continental United States.
But remote Alaskans may see faster speeds soon. MTA Fiber Holdings announced today that it would build the “first and only all-terrestrial” fiber optic network running from Alaska and into the Lower 48. The line will begin in North Pole, Alaska and will travel through Canada, connecting with Canadian carriers, where it will finally connect with “any major hub” in the US. A vast majority of...
Beleaguered electric vehicle startup Faraday Future is restructuring in order to survive. The company announced a new deal on Monday that could chart a path forward. The startup has been without a main financial backer for months, is unable to bring back hundreds of employees still on unpaid leave, and recently sold its own headquarters to generate cash. But its new path, financial experts tell The Verge, resembles an out-of-court bankruptcy.
The would-be automaker announced that Chicago-based Birch Lake Associates will provide the startup with bridge financing, or a short-term loan, of “up to $225 million.” Of that potential total, $75 million will come in the form of “senior secured” debt financing, meaning the loan from Birch Lake...
Fortnite creator Epic Games announced today that it’s acquired the independent game development studio Psyonix, makers of the massively popular vehicular soccer game Rocket League.
As a result of the deal, Psyonix says it will have access to more resources to support Rocket League’s competitive e-sports league and, by late 2019, will bring the game to Epic’s PC storefront.
After that, it sounds like Rocket League will no longer be available on Valve’s competing Steam store, though buyers of the Steam version can continue to play their existing copy of the game indefinitely and continue to receive support, which Variety is reporting includes downloadable content, patches, and all other future content.
Here’s the bit that makes it sound...
Spotify is spending millions to become a major player in podcasting, and today we got a look at how it might begin promoting shows: by placing suggested episodes into algorithmically generated playlists. A test seen by The Verge shows several short podcast episodes placed alongside personalized music suggestions in a playlist meant for the drive to work. Spotify doesn’t have a widely available podcast recommendation tool or offer curated podcast playlists right now, so this appears to be a look at what’s to come.
This year, Spotify plans to spend $500 million on acquisitions related to the podcast industry, and so far, it’s bought podcast networks Gimlet Media and Parcast, as well as podcaster-oriented creation and hosting platform...
OnePlus is all set to launch the big ticket 7 Pro and 7 on May 14. But before that happens, we can count on OnePlus to let slip a few interesting tidbits at regular intervals – just as it always does. The strategy keeps the fans on their edges and helps exponentially build up the […]
The post OnePlus 7 Pro features that we know so far: Here’s what to expect appeared first on Smartprix Bytes.
In a pursuit to churn out the maximum speed and performance out of the phones, Smartphone brands decided to take the 12GB RAM route. However, we all know more RAM doesn’t necessarily guarantee better performance. So, why are the phones launching with such a preposterous amount of RAM? Or is it just a marketing tactic […]
The post 10 Best 12GB RAM Phones to buy in 2019 appeared first on Smartprix Bytes.
Moment has updated its iOS and Android camera apps with a swathe of new features to give you both more control and more information about your photos and videos. What started as little more than a software companion to Moment’s range of smartphone lenses has since evolved into a capable camera app in its own right. With today’s update, Moment has gained more of the features of other advanced camera apps like the iOS-exclusive Halide and Filmic Pro.
Both the iOS and Android versions of the Moment app are getting new visual cues designed to show you which areas of your image are correctly exposed and in focus. Zebra stripes show any under or over-exposed parts of an image, while focus peaking shows which areas of the image are sharp.
On...
Caavo is making several software improvements today to its Control Center, a voice-driven box that acts as a universal remote for all of your home theater devices. Before I get to those, it’s worth highlighting that the company is also changing up the product’s pricing structure. The Control Center device will now cost $59.95 (down from $99.95). But the mandatory service plans are going up in price: paying monthly will now be $3.99 / month (previously $1.99), the annual plan jumps to $39.99 (from $19.99), and lifetime service will now run $129.99, whereas it was previously $59.99.
These subscriptions are required for the Caavo’s core features like voice commands and universal search to work. You can buy the Control Center and ignore the...
Huawei is planning to release an 8K 5G TV by the end of this year, a new report from Nikkei claims. According to sources familiar with the company’s plans, the set would include a 5G modem to allow it to stream remote content directly without the need for a cable box or fixed-line internet connection, and it could even act as a router for other internet-connected devices in your home.
Pairing a fast 5G connection with an 8K display could theoretically be a way of overcoming the difficulties of streaming data-heavy 8K content without requiring a high-speed fixed-line internet connection at home. Along with 8K, Nikkei speculates that the TV’s 5G connection could also let them stream 360-degree videos, although that sounds like an...
Huawei is planning to release an 8K 5G TV by the end of this year, a new report from Nikkei claims. According to sources familiar with the company’s plans, the set would include a 5G modem to allow it to stream remote content directly without the need for a cable box or fixed-line internet connection, and it could even act as a router for other internet-connected devices in your home.
Pairing a fast 5G connection with an 8K display could theoretically be a way of overcoming the difficulties of streaming data-heavy 8K content without requiring a high-speed fixed-line internet connection at home. Along with 8K, Nikkei speculates that the TV’s 5G connection could also let them stream 360-degree videos, although that sounds like an...
Online advertising has never been more invasive or more inescapable. A single site or app might carry dozens of trackers, building a detailed profile of who you are and what you do online. After Cambridge Analytica and countless other data privacy scandals, the danger of those profiles is clear — but no one in the tech industry or in government seems to know what to about it.
Now, an old answer to that problem is making a surprise comeback, drawing on years of nearly discarded work. Today, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg is mounting a new campaign to revive the Do Not Track standard, a privacy system first introduced ten years ago and largely abandoned by the industry in the years since. Weinberg has developed a draft bill titled “The...
A luxury price demands luxury build quality and performance, and MrSpeakers delivers on all fronts
Online advertising has never been more invasive or more inescapable. A single site or app might carry dozens of trackers, building a detailed profile of who you are and what you do online. After Cambridge Analytica and countless other data privacy scandals, the danger of those profiles is clear — but no one in the tech industry or in government seems to know what to about it.
Now, an old answer to that problem is making a surprise comeback, drawing on years of nearly discarded work. Today, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg is mounting a new campaign to revive the Do Not Track standard, a privacy system first introduced ten years ago and largely abandoned by the industry in the years since. Weinberg has developed a draft bill titled “The...
A luxury price demands luxury build quality and performance, and MrSpeakers delivers on all fronts
Overwhelmed by the good response to its recent launched P30 Pro (review), Huawei is going to offer VIP treatment to its customers. What’s interesting is that the offer extends to its Mate 20 Pro (review) customers as well. India is a very important market for Huawei and such services are the perfect embodiment of our […]
The post Huawei India declares VIP services for Huawei P30 Pro and Mate 20 Pro customers appeared first on Smartprix Bytes.
HMD Global’s Nokia 4.2, which the company announced back in February, is available to pre-order now in the US for $189, and will start shipping in mid-May. Beyond its mid-range specs and Android One software, the Nokia 4.2 features an interesting take on a dedicated voice assistant button. Pressing it once will wake Google Assistant like you’d expect it to, but you also have the option of pressing it twice to bring up Google’s visual snapshot, or holding it to have the voice assistant listen to your voice command indefinitely.
Considering the budget price tag, the Nokia 4.2’s specs are modest. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, and it’s got a 3,000 mAh battery. On the back is a...
F8 is a conference where Facebook executives talk about the future — and at Facebook, the future is flexible. In 2015, the future was video. The next year, the future was bots. The year after that, the future was augmented reality — and also a project to let you hear with your skin. All of those technologies eventually found their way into Facebook’s products, in some form — well, all except the skin hearing thing. But none really shifted the company away from its core product: an infinitely scrolling feed of updates interrupted with highly targeted advertising.
This year, the company sought to break with that tradition. Nearly every speaker at today’s F8 keynote, starting with Mark Zuckerberg, repeated a version of the phrase “the...
Asus has been really active in the laptop space this year. It has been announcing new machines in different segments ranging from affordable to Ultrabooks and high-end gaming ROG laptops. More recently, it tried to strike the balance of affordability and gaming with two AMD Ryzen 5-powered mid-range gaming laptops. These two new laptops are […]
The post Asus TUF Gaming FX705DY Review appeared first on Smartprix Bytes.
HMD Global’s Nokia 4.2, which the company announced back in February, is available to pre-order now in the US for $189, and will start shipping in mid-May. Beyond its mid-range specs and Android One software, the Nokia 4.2 features an interesting take on a dedicated voice assistant button. Pressing it once will wake Google Assistant like you’d expect it to, but you also have the option of pressing it twice to bring up Google’s visual snapshot, or holding it to have the voice assistant listen to your voice command indefinitely.
Considering the budget price tag, the Nokia 4.2’s specs are modest. It’s powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 paired with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, and it’s got a 3,000 mAh battery. On the back is a...
F8 is a conference where Facebook executives talk about the future — and at Facebook, the future is flexible. In 2015, the future was video. The next year, the future was bots. The year after that, the future was augmented reality — and also a project to let you hear with your skin. All of those technologies eventually found their way into Facebook’s products, in some form — well, all except the skin hearing thing. But none really shifted the company away from its core product: an infinitely scrolling feed of updates interrupted with highly targeted advertising.
This year, the company sought to break with that tradition. Nearly every speaker at today’s F8 keynote, starting with Mark Zuckerberg, repeated a version of the phrase “the...
Adding time travel into the equation always complicates things, and that’s definitely true of Avengers: Endgame. In the Marvel blockbuster’s case, it’s especially tricky, as the film outlines its own take on time travel rules that differ from those that sci-fi fans have got used to from classic movies in the genre. In many ways, this helps the sequel avoid plot holes, but there are still a few times throughout that the rules get tangled.
Endgame establishes that every change to the past results in the creation of a different branch of the timeline and does not simply alter the present. To navigate through these various pathways, then, the Avengers need Stark’s Quantum GPS plus Pym Particles to enter the Quantum Realm in the first place. This is why it doesn’t make much sense when the 2014 era Thanos travels to New York in 2023 to battle the heroes as he has neither of these key items.
The obvious rebuttal to this is that 2014 Nebula has already infiltrated this timeline by stealing the prime Nebula’s GPS and particles and guides the Mad Titan to this time with Hulk’s machine. However, Thanos would still need the same sort of tech that the Avengers needed in order to traverse the timelines in the first place.
The only explanation is if Thanos has created his own alternate takes on the GPS and the Pym Particles. Though Endgame seems to depict his assault on the Avengers HQ as happening immediately, perhaps the villain actually spent a long while working on his own time travel inventions based on Stark and Pym’s methods. A certain amount of time has definitely passed, as Thanos has managed to gather an enormous army of Chitauri and Outriders and taken them with him.
Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have cleared up a similar dangling plot thread involving Captain America, so hopefully they’ll soon explain this puzzling aspect of the narrative. In the meantime, though, tell us, does this Avengers: Endgame plot hole bother you? And do you have another explanation for it? Let us know in the comments section down below.
