Dominique Luchart's Blog, page 620
May 18, 2021
Spotify and YouTube Music will bring much needed offline tunes to Google’s Wear watches,
Spotify’s product lead for cars and wearables teased an exciting new feature coming to Wear devices during Google’s Developer Keynote on Tuesday: the ability for the streaming services’ 356 million users to download music directly to their watch, and listen to it at times when they don’t want to carry their phone (via XDA Developers). The feature isn’t included in the redesign that was just released, but Spotify says that it’s currently in the works.
The announcement came alongside Google’s reveal that it would be merging Wear OS with Samsung’s Tizen. During Tuesday’s I/O keynote, Google promised that the updated OS would bring faster performance and longer battery life, which are currently still issues for Wear OS watches.
Spotify: pic.twitter.com/wpZFJh8hVN
— Kirubhas Shankar (@KirubhasWasHere)
The YouTube Music app is also getting an update, which will similarly add the ability to download music directly to Wear devices, allowing users to listen without a phone nearby.
YouTube Music will also support downloads. Image: GoogleGoogle’s smartwatch OS has lagged behind Apple’s in many ways, including offline music listening. The Apple Watch has been able to play songs downloaded through Apple Music when away from a phone for years, and it got to the point where Google decided to release its YouTube Music app for the Apple Watch before its own Wear OS. When Gizmodo put out an article last November on how listen to music phone-free on smartwatches, its Wear OS recommendation was more or less an app that acted as an MP3 player, requiring the transfer of local files that you already own.
Since the shutdown of Google Play Music, Wear OS users haven’t had many options for offline music. But now, Google’s Wear watches could potentially even leapfrog the Apple Watch when it comes to offline Spotify playback — to get your Spotify on an Apple Watch without carrying around your phone, you currently need an active internet connection to stream it to one of Apple’s pricier cellular Apple Watch models, a feature added late last year. Some other watches have had offline Spotify playback in the past, though, like Garmin’s flagship Forerunner sports watches and some Samsung Galaxy wearables.
You can check out the Spotify and YouTube Music app reveals for yourself in Google’s Wear-specific session from I/O. The YouTube Music announcement starts at 2:38, and the Spotify demo starts at 12:50 in the video below.
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Spotify and YouTube Music will bring much needed offline tunes to Google’s Wear watches, Mitchell Clark
Image: GoogleSpotify’s product lead for cars and wearables teased an exciting new feature coming to Wear devices during Google’s Developer Keynote on Tuesday: the ability for the streaming services’ 356 million users to download music directly to their watch, and listen to it at times when they don’t want to carry their phone (via XDA Developers). The feature isn’t included in the redesign that was just released, but Spotify says that it’s currently in the works.
The announcement came alongside Google’s reveal that it would be merging Wear OS with Samsung’s Tizen. During Tuesday’s I/O keynote, Google promised that the updated OS would bring faster performance and longer battery life, which are currently still issues for Wear OS watches.
Spotify: p…
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White House details $20B fund to ‘cyber modernize’ energy infrastructure – CNET,Corinne Reichert
It follows the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline earlier this month.
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White House details $20B fund to ‘cyber modernize’ energy infrastructure – CNET, Corinne Reichert
It follows the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline earlier this month.
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Gogoro is joining the battery swapping revolution in China, Sean O’Kane
Electric scooter company Gogoro continues to expand outside its home country of Taiwan in a big way, as it just announced new partnerships with a pair of China’s leading two-wheel manufacturers.
DCJ, the top gas-powered motorcycle company in China, and Yadea, one of the biggest makers of electric scooters, motorcycles, bikes and mopeds, have each agreed to develop new two-wheelers that will use Gogoro’s swappable batteries and electric drivetrains.
Gogoro CEO Horace Luke tells The Verge the deals with DCJ and Yadea have been in the works for around two years and that the Chinese companies dug deep into Gogoro’s technology before deciding to partner up. The three companies are announcing the deals just as the Chinese government has begun…
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Who needs Super Nintendo World when an English town looks like this?, Jon Porter
Image: Anita Maric / SWNSIn March this year, Nintendo opened its Super Nintendo World theme park in Osaka, Japan. Now, just a few short months later, the Birmingham Mail reports that over a dozen giant green plant pots have been installed in Walsall, UK’s town center, prompting immediate comparisons to the Super Mario franchise. I’m not saying the two events are related, but the dots connect themselves.
“It makes the place [look] more like something from Super Mario Brothers,” florist Andrea Loveridge told the Mail. “They look like those warp pipes Mario jumps down.” This is apparently a bad thing.
According to local councillor Adrian Andrew, the pots are part of improvement works designed to “promote a feeling of wellbeing and safety and enhance the town centre…
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Lamborghini will debut its first all-electric supercar after 2025,
The first all-electric Lamborghini is on the horizon.
The Italian automaker finally unveiled its electrification plans, which will proceed in two distinct phases over the next decade. By the end of 2024, the company plans to roll out gas-electric hybrid versions of its entire lineup. Following that, Lamborghini will debut its first all-electric model sometime before the end of the decade.
That means plug-in hybrid versions of Aventador, Huracan, and Urus models will be arriving within the next three years, as well as limited production Sian roadsters. And sometime before 2030, Lamborghini will unveil a completely new all-electric fourth model.
Like other sports car companies, Lamborghini has been slow to embrace electric drivetrains, fearful of ostracizing its loyal customers who crave loud V8 and V12 engines and neck-snapping speed. But with emissions regulations tightening around the world and electric motors able to deliver 0-60 mph times that rival some of the fastest gas-powered supercars in the world, Lamborghini finally appears ready to change direction.
“For sure, it’s the torque and the acceleration,” Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann said when asked what his customers will find appealing about an electric supercar. “And also to fill the gaps now when you shift the gears and helping you to have a constant curve, which is, in my opinion, the things that they are going to appreciate the most.”
But it’s not just about the driving experience. Competition is heating up, with Ferrari announcing that its first electric model will debut by 2025. Other companies, like Drako, Aston Martin, and Rimac have all been working on electric supercars with varying degrees of success. Lamborghini’s parent company, Volkswagen Group, has said it would spend 16 billion euros ($19 billion) and cease production of new internal combustion engines in favor of shifting toward electric vehicle production.
Lamborghini hasn’t said whether it plans to completely phase out production of its gas-powered vehicles, but Winkelmann said the company is targeting a 50 percent “or more” reduction of its CO2 emissions by the beginning of 2025. The company plans to spend 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) on the hybrid and electrification transformation.
The Terzo Millennio is a “technological demonstrator” of what an electric Lamborghini could look like.Photo: Lamborghini“We are speaking about the biggest investment ever done in Lamborghini,” he added. “[It is] very important to keep a growth which is sustainable, to have a growth which is taking into consideration the needs of the planet, but also keeping this in line with the dream of our customers to have a super sports car which is excellent.”
Lamborghini’s sudden interest in electrification isn’t coming completely out of the blue. In 2017, the company unveiled its Terzo Millennio concept. Designed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the static concept car was a treasure chest of wild, futuristic ideas, including the idea of using supercapacitors to replace standard lithium-ion batteries and a self-repairing process to help prevent cracks in the body.
It’s not clear whether Lamborghini plans to apply anything from the Terzo Millennio, which Winkelmann called a “technological demonstrator” to its new hybrid and electric models. “The technology is very fast moving,” he said. “So we will have to adapt everything to what needs to be valid a decade from now.”
That said, Lamborghini said it will spend the next two years “celebrating the combustion engine,” which it says has contributed to the company’s recent financial success. The Italian automaker had arguably one of its best years in 2020, despite even a mandatory two-month factory shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It delivered 7,430 cars during the year, down only 9 percent from the record high in 2019. Sales topped 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion), down 11 percent from 2019, but the company said profits increased to a record high as customers ordered more pricey, highly customized cars.
Whether Lamborghini’s “celebration” of its classic gas-powered vehicles will mean the introduction of new one-offs or special models, Winkelmann wouldn’t confirm. “Wait a few weeks and then we will have some nice things to show for sure,” he said.
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May 17, 2021
Amazon is in talks to buy MGM for $9 billion, Sean Hollister
James Bond, The Handmaid’s Tale, Rocky, Stargate, Robocop, Legally Blonde, Vikings, a historic catalog of films dating back many decades, an array of production and distribution companies, and the content network Epix — these are the things that Amazon might own if it buys storied film giant MGM for billions of dollars in the very near future.
Amazon has reportedly offered $9 billion for the company, according to Variety, following a scoop from The Information earlier in the day that suggested a range of $7-10 billion for a potential deal, and Variety suggests that $9 billion was also the amount that MGM was reportedly hoping to get.
Between those factors, the fact that MGM has been up for sale since December 2020, and the sudden…
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Amazon is in talks to buy MGM for $9 billion,
James Bond, The Handmaid’s Tale, Rocky, Stargate, Robocop, Legally Blonde, Vikings, a historic catalog of films dating back many decades, an array of production and distribution companies, and the content network Epix — these are the things that Amazon might own if it buys storied film giant MGM for billions of dollars in the very near future.
Amazon has reportedly offered $9 billion for the company, according to Variety, following a scoop from The Information earlier in the day that suggested a range of $7-10 billion for a potential deal, and Variety suggests that $9 billion was also the amount that MGM was reportedly hoping to get.
Between those factors, the fact that MGM has been up for sale since December 2020, and the jealousy that comes with the sudden impending existence of a new media giant earlier today as AT&T spins off WarnerMedia and combines it with Discovery, it wouldn’t be very surprising if Amazon and MGM made a deal. The Information was slightly less bullish in its report today, though, writing that “The status of Amazon’s discussions with MGM is unclear and it’s possible no deal will result.”
In December, The Guardian reported that MGM has a library of 4,000 films and 17,000 hours of TV. James Bond in particular is one of the most valuable film franchises ever made — a list that’s only growing smaller as the Disney umbrella and Marvel Cinematic Universe swallow as many rivals as it can.
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Here are the best Kindle deals right now,
When it comes to finding a device to use to read your ebooks, you have a few options to choose from. You can always buy a tablet or simply use your smartphone, but those devices are multipurpose and can be used for a ton of things, like surfing the web or doom-scrolling through Twitter. If you are looking for something to strictly read books, e-readers, while a niche piece of tech, are designed to store all of your books in a virtual library with no other functionality.
Amazon has dominated the space for years with its Kindle products. Right now, there are three Kindle models you can choose from, each with pros and cons.
Below, we’ve listed each of the current Kindles available for purchase. Sometimes, there isn’t a deal for one or, in some instances, all of the products. In that case, we’ve mentioned the most recent sale price so you know when is a good time to buy the e-reader at a discounted rate. But most of the time, there’s some deal going on. Whether you’re looking for a new model or to grab a bundle that includes a few extras, these are the best Kindle deals right now.
What does it mean when a Kindle is “ad-supported”?Amazon Kindle e-readers come in different storage configurations, but there is also an additional option that allows you to buy the e-reader with or without ads. Ad-supported Kindles will display personalized advertisements on the lock screen when it is in sleep mode or at the bottom of the home screen when the device is connected to Wi-Fi. Typically, you save about $20 by buying the ad-supported version, but if you decide to remove ads later, you can make a one-time payment to cover the difference and remove the ads.
This is Amazon’s most affordable e-reader, usually costing $90. Released in 2019, this base Kindle model includes a front light, comes in one storage configuration of 8GB, and comes with or without ad support. Despite including the same 167ppi resolution as its predecessors, this model has slightly higher contrast than earlier models.
Right now, you can buy a 10th-gen Kindle with lockscreen ads for $90, which is its usual price. If you want one without ads, you can grab it for the usual price of $110. Both Kindle models also have a promotion where you can receive three months of Kindle Unlimited at no additional cost.
If you want to save some money on additional accessories for the e-reader, Amazon’s Kindle Essentials Bundle is $120 ($15 off its usual price); it includes one of three printed covers and a power adapter.
Prices taken at time of publishing.
Amazon’s most affordable e-reader that now includes a front light for the display.
$90
at Amazon (with ads)
$110
at Amazon (without ads)
$120
at Amazon (Kindle Essentials Bundle)
The entry-level Kindle and Oasis models were not the only ones that received a refresh in 2019, Amazon also announced and released a Kindle Kids Edition Bundle, which provides age-appropriate content for younger readers who prefer digital books for $110 ($20 more than the base Kindle).
The Kindle Kids Edition consists of five items: the device, a case, a two-year extended replacement guarantee (in the event the device breaks), and one year of Amazon’s FreeTime Unlimited service. The latter is the biggest selling point of the device aside from the kid-friendly patterns, as it allows parents to grant their kids access to a digital library of kid-friendly books like Percy Jackson and The Hobbit at no additional cost. You can grab one for its normal price of $110.
Right now, Amazon is also offering the Kindle Kids Edition Essentials Bundle, which is $128 and includes all of the things previously mentioned above, plus a screen protector and power adapter.
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The kid-friendly bundle, which includes a one-year membership to FreeTime Unlimited.
$110
at Amazon
$128
at Amazon (Kids Edition Essentials Bundle)
Amazon released the fourth-generation Kindle Paperwhite in 2018. Starting at $130, the Paperwhite comes in three different configurations: 8GB Wi-Fi, 32GB Wi-Fi, and a second 32GB model that drops the ads from the lock screen.
The Paperwhite features a six-inch, pin-sharp backlit display, which is the main reason to get one over the base Kindle. The 2018 model added a few useful features normally found on Amazon’s flagship reader, the Oasis, such as water resistance and Audible audiobook support.
No deals are currently available, but if you want to buy one in the near future, the Kindle Paperwhite is on sale for the price it usually tends to sell for; you can buy an 8GB Kindle Paperwhite with ad support for $130 or for $150 without ads. If you need more space, Amazon is selling the 32GB Paperwhite with ads for $160; if you want an ad-free model, you can buy this configuration for $180. Just like the base Kindle, Amazon currently running a promotion where you can grab the e-reader plus three months of Kindle Unlimited at no additional cost.
Amazon also discounted its Kindle Paperwhite Essentials Bundle, which includes either an 8GB e-reader bundle for $170 or $200 if you buy the 32GB (with ads). If you’re a fan of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, Amazon also offers a bundle that includes a Kindle Paperwhite, a power adapter, and a Mockingjay-emblazoned cover. It’s currently available in two ad-supported configurations and colors: an 8GB version for $160 and 32GB variant for $190, both of which save you $20.
Kindle Paperwhite (8GB, Ad-supported)
Prices taken at time of publishing.
The fourth generation of the Paperwhite e-reader, which is waterproof and includes a better display and improved battery life than the previous iteration.
$130
at Amazon
$130
at Best Buy
The Kindle Oasis is the most expensive of the lineup, starting at $250. The device comes in two storage configurations, 8GB or 32GB, and like the other models, you can get the product with or without ads on the lockscreen.
The Kindle Oasis 2019 model looks very similar to its previous model. It still maintains its waterproof, seven-inch, 300ppi E Ink display and supports Audible audiobooks by connecting to Bluetooth. Yet, the biggest change to the Kindle Oasis 2019 is that it can adjust the color temperature to a yellow-toned display, making it easier to read at night.
In the past, we have seen the Kindle Oasis go down to as low as $200 if you get the 32GB model, which is the lowest it has ever been for that configuration to date. While there are currently no deals on just the Oasis itself, you can grab one of the many configurations plus three free months of Kindle Unlimited for the normal price starting at $250. The ad-supported 8GB Oasis is $250 and the one without ads is $270. If you need more storage, the 32GB version is $280 with ads or $300 without.
Amazon is currently offering an Essentials Bundle for $30 off its normal list price. You can get either the 8GB, ad-support configuration for $290 or the 32GB variant for $320, both of which come with a leather cover, a power adapter, and three months of Kindle Unlimited.
Kindle Oasis Essentials Bundle
$290 $320 10% offPrices taken at time of publishing.
Amazon’s flagship e-reader that now includes a warmer display, making it easier to read at night or in various lighting conditions. It’s also IPX8 waterproof, like the Paperwhite.
$290
at Amazon (8GB with ads)
$320
at Amazon (32GB with ads)
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