May 20, 2016 - The WAN Show Document

LinusTech · May 21, 2016

Soundcloud Link: TBD

Main News Topics

Google I/O 2016: What Has Been Announced

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/597953-google-io-2016-he OP: suicidalfranco

Google Home

Source 1: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/google-home-official/

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/18/11688376/google-home-speaker-announced

Source 3: https://home.google.com/

Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo
- Small speaker that you plug into the wall that will hear you
- Will answer questions
- Play music
- Will have LEDs
- Can customize base with different colored shells to match your decor
- Can communicate with Chromecast
- Won’t support multiple Google accounts at launch
Launching later this year

Google Allo: Messaging App

Source 1: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/google-allo-is-a-new-smart-messaging-app/

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/18/11699122/google-allo-messaging-app-a

New messaging app, mobile only
Meant to be a fresh start for Google’s new communication’s division
- Sign up with a phone number, and you can connect your Google account to it
- Send and receive indicators, emojis, custom stickers
- When you send a photo, shows up full-bleed in the screen and you can doodle on it
- You can shrink or enlarge text before sending messages
- Main feature is that a Google assistant is built right in
  - Will tailor “suggestion chips” powered by a massive and smart learning engine
  - When a friend sends you a message, Allo puts some suggested replied at the bottom
- Conversations are encrypted “on the wire,” which means nobody on the internet can read them as you send your message
Will be available later this summer, for free for both iOS and Android

Google: Project Ara

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/20/11721594/google-project-ara-tea

Video (1:07 Long)

Some modules shown in the video are a loudspeaker, an e-ink screen displaying the weather, microphones, touch-sensitive square, and a camera
Shipping to developers this fall

Google Duo: Video Calling App

Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/google-duo-android-ios/

Video calling app, being released later this summer
Like Allo, Duo is mobile-only
Very simple to use, and quick demonstrated by The Verge
Entire app is approximately 5MB

Android N Open Beta Has Started

Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/android-n-open-beta-program-launches-

Full release this summer!
Can join today
Google warns that devices that opt out of the program while on the beta version of Android will wipe your device
Supported by the Nexus 6, 9, 5X, 6P, PLayer, Pixel C and General Mobile 4G

Google Daydream: Google’s VR Solution

Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/google-daydream-android-virtual-reality/

Google says that Daydream-ready phones, as well as VR viewers and motion controllers, will be available this fall
Meants to be a more advanced successor to Cardboard
Mobile VR system powered by the next wave of Android N devices
Daydream will only work on new phones with specific components like special sensors and screens
- Components aim to offer a smoother, lower-latency experience than you could get by simply adding VR as a software update
For phones that support it, Google is bringing called Android VR Mode into the latest version of its operating system
- Ecosystem that users will be able to navigate in VR
- Special VR versions of YouTube, Street View, the Google Play Store
Google has announced eight hardware partners that will make Daydream ready phones:
- Samsung, HTC, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, ASUS, Alcatel
Phone will provide the screen and computing power, however users will need a version of Google’s new VR headset and controller

Google Android Wear 2.0

Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/android-wear-2-0-is-a-huge-new-update/

Major update
- Lets devs create watch faces that can show information from any Android Wear app
- Includes new smart-reply feature allowing you to respond to incoming notifications quickly by scribbling on the touch screen
- Update to its fitness software, allowing you to leave your phone at home and track your activity automatically using a third-party app on Android wear
- Set to launch this fall

Google Instant Apps

Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/05/18/android-wear-2-0-is-a-huge-new-update/

Users will be able to use apps from a link without having to download anything from the Play Store
Google suggested it would be a good way for people to use single purpose apps, like parking at a museum
Instant apps will be limited to 4MB for now
Expected to roll out later this year

____________________________________________________________________________

NVIDIA Posts GTX 1070 Specifications

Source 1: http://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-posts-gtx-1070-specifications/

Source 2: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/10series/geforce-gtx-1070

NVIDIA has posted full specifications of their upcoming GTX 1070 to GeForce.com

Specifications

English Bank Shocks You If You Spend Too Much Money

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/598168-english-bank-shocks-you OP: PurpleDildo

Source 2: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36301778

One British firm is giving bank customers an electric shock if they overspend
Intelligent Environments has launched a platform which can link the Pavlok wristband, that delivers a 255 volt shock, to a bank account
If the funds in the account go below an agreed limit, the band kicks in
Can work with smart meter Nest to turn down the heating and save energy bills if funds are low
No bank has announced that it will be supporting this
CEO David Webber told BBC the idea was about consumer choice
“Willpower is great if you’ve got it - not everybody has.”

Google’s Tensor Processing Unit Could Advance Moore’s Law 7 Years into the Future

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/598124-googles-tensor-processin OP: CtW

Source 2: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3072256/google-io/googles-tensor-processing-unit-

Source 3: https://cloudplatform.googleblog.com/2016/05/Google-supercharges-machine-le

Google unveils a custom chip, which it says advances computing performance by three generations
“TPUs deliver an order of magnitude higher performance per watt than all commercially available GPUs and FPGA,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the company’s I/O developer conference on Wednesday
“We’ve been running TPUs inside our data centers for more than a year”
“We have “found them to deliver an order of magnitude better-optimized performance per watt for machine learning.”
“TPU is tailored to machine learning applications, allowing the chip to be more tolerant of reduced computational precision, which means it requires fewer transistors per operation.”
Can fit into a hard drive slot within a data center rack
- Has already been powering RankBrain and Street View
Goal is to lead industry and make this innovation available to customers
Powers AlphaGo, AI that beat Lee Se-dol to win Go series

NERD SPORTS SHOUT OUT, LINK WILL BE IN THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION

Volleyball, Lacrosse, Dodgeball, Hockey & Curling are all available now - go check them out!

Rapid Fire

UBER Joins Race for Driverless Cars

Source 1: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-36339340

Source 2: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/19/11711890/uber-first-image-self-driving-car-pitt

UBER has confirmed it has a testing vehicle on the streets of Pittsburgh
Has a Ford Fusion with radar, laser scanners and cameras
Project being carried out in partnership with Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University
Uber’s ultimate goal is complete end to car ownership
Wants you to be able to summon a car in less than five minutes, and have it take you where you need to go
Uber said in a statement that real-world testing was “critical to our efforts to develop self-driving technology”
- Explaining a trained driver was monitoring operations at all times

Picture of the car, FROM The Verge

Chinese Tech Firm Baidu Unveiled Plan to let Driverless Vehicles Range Freely Around an Entire City

Source 1: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36301911

Five year plan will see autonomous cars, vans and buses slowly introduced to the eastern city of Wuhu, China
Initially no passengers will be carried by the vehicles
Tech will be refined by journeys along designated test zones
“They want to be the first city in the world to embrace autonomous driving,” said Wang Jing, Head of Driverless Cars, Baidu
First phase would last about three years
- Will involve restricted areas in the city where buses, mid-size vans and cars would be tested
After three years, the areas of the city will be expanded and the service will be commercialized to allow inhabitants to use it
After five years, whole city will be open to driverless vehicles
- Will mix with human driven cars, trucks and buses
“We hope it will be a starting point that lets us take it to other countries.”

California Dad Accidently Livestreams Birth of his Son for World to See

Source 1: http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/baby-live-stream-1.3584699

Source 2: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/facebook-live-periscope-birth-oversharing-cu

Source 3: http://www.people.com/article/facebook-live-birth-dad-who-streamed-s

- Video was shown through facebook live, has now been viewed over 300,000 times

NASA Builds Valkyrie Robots to get Mars Ready for Humans

Source 1: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/valkyrie-mars-robots-1.3589117

Source 2: http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/Valkyrie-Robots-Pave-Way-for-M

6-foot-tall, 300lb robot
Could be vanguard for colonization of Mars by helping to set up a habitat for future human explorers
Four sister robots built by NASA
- Part of an advance constructions team that sets up a habitat for more fragile human explorers
NASA has kept on Valkyrie at the Johnson Space Center in Houston
- Three others loaned to universities in Massachusetts and Scotland so professors and students can tinker with them
- Hopefully to help make them more autonomous

Tech Helping to Prevent Shark Attacks on Australian Beaches

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/598242-tech-helping-to-p OP: JohnnyCorporalTech

Source 2: http://eftm.com.au/2016/05/clever-tech-helping-to-prevent-shark-attacks-at-ou

Team at “Shark Mitigation Systems” have made a “Clever Buoy”
Have just completed a full scale trial of the device off Sydney’s Bondi Beach
Trial took place between mid-February and mid-April
Clever Buoy floats on the surface with a cable dangling below to a complex bit of kit that can detect sharks
- Uses state of the art sonar to interrogate the object’s swimming pattern to determine probability of a shark occurrence
  - If it is a shark, lifeguards on shore are notified
- System links back to shore via mobile signal, allowing early warnings of possible shark movement in the area
“Following this successful trial, beachgoers in many parts of Australia and indeed in other countries can now look forward to safer beaches as we move to deploy this technology in response to growing demand”

Oculus DRM Kills Hack that Ports Games to Competing Headsets

Source 1: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/new-oculus-drm-cross-platform

User back in April created a piece of software called “Revive”
- Could run Oculus only games on competing headsets
Has been patched in latest update
Oculus said it didn’t target the specific hack, but that added security improvements were designed to curb piracy and protect content and developers over the long term

Nokia Will Return to Mobile with Android Phones and Tablets

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/597822-nokia-will-return-to- OP: V151ON

Source 2: http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/18/nokia-hmd-global-fih-mobile-smartph

Source 3: http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/18/11699660/microsoft-foxconn-feature-phone-sale

Microsoft announced it’s offloading Nokia’s old d HMD Global Oyfeature phone business to a Foxconn subsidiary and company calle for $350 million
Nokia has revealed that HMD is also acquiring rights to use the Nokia name on smartphones and tablets for the next ten years
Arto Nummela is leaving Microsoft to join HMD as their CEO when the deal closes
- Prior to Microsoft, Arto Nummela worked at Nokia for over a decade
HMD says it’ll invest $500 million over the next three years to develop and promote products
- Money will come from investors and from profits for the newly-acquired feature phone business
Nokia’s involvement in the new devices will be very limited
Deals expected to close before the end of the year