If you’re looking for new devices to add to your smart home setup, you can get a few Nest gadgets for less right now. Amazon, Adorama and B&H Photo have discounted a handful of Google smart home gadgets, including the Nest Cam Indoor, which is $20 off and down to $80. The Nest Cam Outdoor and the Video Doorbell Battery are both $30 off and down to $150, too.
The Nest Cams on sale are quite similar, but the Nest Cam Outdoor has a weatherproof design so you can place it anywhere outside your home, plus expanded Night Vision and an internal battery. The latter means you don’t have to place the camera near an outlet, instead, you can snap it into place on its base and leave it be. Google estimates you’ll get up to seven months of battery life, depending on how much activity the camera records regularly, before you’ll need to recharge it.
Both the Indoor and Outdoor cams record at 1080p and they’ll send alerts to your phone when motion is detected in their line of site. Both also have built in speakers and microphones, so you can hear what’s going on and speak to people on the other end of the camera.
As for the Video Doorbell, it lets you keep an eye on what’s going on outside any door. Since the model on sale runs on a rechargeable battery, installation is pretty easy and you can use it with any door — not just your front door. As with the security cameras, the Nest Video Doorbell will send you alerts when you have a visitor and you can chat with them through your phone and the device’s built-in speaker and microphone. Google’s “intelligent alerts” can also differentiate between a visitor, a package being delivered, an animal sighting and more, so you’ll always know what’s happening and if it requires your immediate attention.
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Lego’s Ultimate Collector Series of Star Wars sets has grown again today with the launch of a new ultimate version of Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder. The new set offers an extremely-detailed version of the Tatooine hot-rod, with the set clocking in at a …
The plans for an It Takes Two movie appear to be solidifying. Deadline and Variety sources claim Amazon Studios and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Seven Bucks Productions have taken up the game-to-movie adaptation alongside Sonic the Hedgehog production company dj2 Entertainment. There’s even a chance Johnson could star in the movie, the insiders said.
We’ve asked Amazon for comment. The Prime Video operator’s involvement would make sense when dj2 has a “first look” deal with Amazon, as do the movie’s executive producers (and writers) Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It Takes Two developer Hazelight Studios’ Josef Fares and Oskar Wolontis will also executive produce.
It’s still not certain when a movie might launch. The project might stand a better chance of succeeding than some big-screen game adaptations, though. Casey and Miller are widely credited with the success of the two Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Moreover, It Takes Two‘s plot could be well-suited to a movie format — it sees a couple on the brink of divorce embark on a fantastical journey that helps them rediscover each other. It’s just a question of whether or not Amazon, dj2 and Seven Bucks can translate the co-op game’s concept to a passive entertainment format.
Update 4/21 12:25PM ET: Amazon has confirmed the production details, although it’s still not clear if Johnson will act in the movie.
For humans, identifying items in a scene — whether that’s an avocado or an Aventador, a pile of mashed potatoes or an alien mothership — is as simple as looking at them. But for artificial intelligence and computer vision systems, developing a high-fidelity understanding of their surroundings takes a bit more effort. Well, a lot more effort. Around 800 hours of hand-labeling training images effort, if we’re being specific. To help machines better see the way people do, a team of researchers at MIT CSAIL in collaboration with Cornell University and Microsoft have developed STEGO, an algorithm able to identify images down to the individual pixel.
MIT CSAIL
Normally, creating CV training data involves a human drawing boxes around specific objects within an image — say, a box around the dog sitting in a field of grass — and labeling those boxes with what’s inside (“dog”), so that the AI trained on it will be able to tell the dog from the grass. STEGO (Self-supervised Transformer with Energy-based Graph Optimization), conversely, uses a technique known as semantic segmentation, which applies a class label to each pixel in the image to give the AI a more accurate view of the world around it.
Whereas a labeled box would have the object plus other items in the surrounding pixels within the boxed-in boundary, semantic segmentation labels every pixel in the object, but only the pixels that comprise the object — you get just dog pixels, not dog pixels plus some grass too. It’s the machine learning equivalent of using the Smart Lasso in Photoshop versus the Rectangular Marquee tool.
The problem with this technique is one of scope. Conventional multi-shot supervised systems often demand thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of labeled images with which to train the algorithm. Multiply that by the 65,536 individual pixels that make up even a single 256×256 image, all of which now need to be individually labeled as well, and the workload required quickly spirals into impossibility.
Instead, “STEGO looks for similar objects that appear throughout a dataset,” the CSAIL team wrote in a press release Thursday. “It then associates these similar objects together to construct a consistent view of the world across all of the images it learns from.”
“If you’re looking at oncological scans, the surface of planets, or high-resolution biological images, it’s hard to know what objects to look for without expert knowledge. In emerging domains, sometimes even human experts don’t know what the right objects should be,” MIT CSAIL PhD student, Microsoft Software Engineer, and the paper’s lead author Mark Hamilton said. “In these types of situations where you want to design a method to operate at the boundaries of science, you can’t rely on humans to figure it out before machines do.”
Trained on a wide variety of image domains — from home interiors to high altitude aerial shots — STEGO doubled the performance of previous semantic segmentation schemes, closely aligning with the image appraisals of the human control. What’s more, “when applied to driverless car datasets, STEGO successfully segmented out roads, people, and street signs with much higher resolution and granularity than previous systems. On images from space, the system broke down every single square foot of the surface of the Earth into roads, vegetation, and buildings,” the MIT CSAIL team wrote.
MIT CSAIL
“In making a general tool for understanding potentially complicated data sets, we hope that this type of an algorithm can automate the scientific process of object discovery from images,” Hamilton said. “There’s a lot of different domains where human labeling would be prohibitively expensive, or humans simply don’t even know the specific structure, like in certain biological and astrophysical domains. We hope that future work enables application to a very broad scope of data sets. Since you don’t need any human labels, we can now start to apply ML tools more broadly.”
Despite its superior performance to the systems that came before it, STEGO does have limitations. For example, it can identify both pasta and grits as “food-stuffs” but doesn’t differentiate between them very well. It also gets confused by nonsensical images, such as a banana sitting on a phone receiver. Is this a food-stuff? Is this a pigeon? STEGO can’t tell. The team hopes to build a bit more flexibility into future iterations, allowing the system to identify objects under multiple classes.
Motorola has launched two new 5G phones as part of its Moto G line in North America, and one of them comes with a built-in stylus. The Moto G Stylus 5G has a 6.8-inch Max Vision FHD+ display that stretches edge to edge, as well as a 120Hz refresh rate that’s a first for the line. It also comes with a 50-megapixel camera system that’s comprised of a Macro Vision lens and a 118-degree ultra-wide angle lens. For selfies, the device has a 16-megapixel front camera that has improved light sensitivity over its predecessors. The device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor and is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery.
Its stylus, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note’s and S22 Ultra’s, is closely integrated with the phone. Apps that support it show up the moment you pop out the stylus, and you can start writing on the screen without unlocking the device. The phone has up to 8GB in memory and 256GB of storage with the option to expand it with a microSD card that’s up to 1TB in size.
The other new entry to the product line is the Moto G 5G, which has a 6.5-inch HD+ display that has a 20:9 aspect ratio and a 90Hz refresh rate. It has a 50-megapixel main camera and a 13-megapixel front cam, and it’s powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor. The phone comes in variants with up to 6GB in RAM and up to 256GB in storage, though you can expand it with a microSD card that’s up to 1TB in size. Both phones also have 3.5mm jacks, so you can still use wired earphones with them.
Motorola has yet to announce the phones’ prices and availability, but we’ll keep you posted when we hear more. It’s worth noting that Moto G phones are historically mid-range in pricing, though the Stylus 5G will most likely be a bit more expensive based on its specs.
Elon Musk’s The Boring Company (TBC) is now worth up to $5.7 billion after a funding round that saw it raise $675 million, TechCrunch reported. The company plans to use the funds to “significantly increase hiring across engineering, operations and production to build and scale Loop projects,” it wrote in a press release.
TBC believes it could mine 600 miles of tunnels per year in the near term using its current Prufrock-2 machines that can dig up to a mile of tunnels per week. That would increase significantly with Prufrock-3, a next-gen machine that will supposedly be able to handle 7 miles per day. “As a point of reference, less than 20 miles of underground subway tunnel has been constructed in the United States in the last 20 years,” the company noted.
The Boring Company
It will also use the money to “build and scale Loop projects, including Vegas Loop and others,” though it didn’t list any other projects by name. The company is targeting “throughput of up to 57,000 passengers per hour” on the 29-mile, 51 station Vegas Loop, calling it the “largest subsurface transportation project in the United States.”
That’s still far in the future, though, and TBC has a list of announced projects that never went anywhere. In 2017, Elon Musk tweeted that the company had a permit in Washington DC, but officials said no such thing had been issued. A preliminary digging permit was issued later, but the Boring Company no longer lists the project on its website. Others in Chicago and Los Angeles were quietly cancelled or also removed from TBC’s website.
NASA has pickedSpaceX, Amazon and four other American companies to develop the next generation of near-Earth space communication services meant to support its future missions. The agency started looking for partners under the Communication Services Project (CSP) in mid-2021, explaining that the use of commercially provided SATCOM will reduce costs and allow it to focus its efforts on deep space exploration and science missions.
“Adopting commercial SATCOM capabilities will empower missions to leverage private sector investment that far exceeds what government can do,” NASA wrote in the official project page. By using technology developed by commercial companies, the agency will have continued access to any innovation they incorporate into the system. At the moment, NASA relies on its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system for near-Earth space communications. Many of its satellites were launched in the 80’s and 90’s, though, and it’s set to be decommissioned in the coming years.
The funded agreements under NASA’s Communication Services Project has a combined value of $278.5 million, with SpaceX getting the highest cut. NASA expects the companies to match and exceed its contribution during the five-year development period. SpaceX, which proposed a “commercial optical low-Earth orbiting relay network for high-rate SATCOM services,” has been awarded $69.95 million. Amazon’s Project Kuiper is getting the second-highest cut and has been awarded $67 million, while Viasat Incorporated has been awarded $53.3 million. The other three awardees are Telesat US Services ($30.65 million), SES Government Solutions ($28.96 million) and Inmarsat Government Inc. ($28.6 million).
All the participants are expected to be able to conduct in-space demonstrations by 2025 and show that their technology is capable of “new high-rate and high-capacity two-way communications.” NASA will sign multiple long-term contracts with the companies that succeed in developing effective communication technologies for near-Earth operations by 2030.
Netflix might offer cheaper, ad-supported plans in the coming years. In the company’s most recent earnings call, co-CEO Reed Hastings said the company is working on the offering, and it’ll finalize details for those plans “over the next year or two.”
The service lost around 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, a development it blamed on stiffer competition, inability to expand in some territories due to technological limitations and pesky account sharing. It also lost 700,000 subscribers in early March after its decision to suspend service in Russia.
To tackle account sharing, Netflix has tested a feature in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru that allowed subscribers to add two “sub-members,” who’ll get their own log-ins and profiles, for $3 — much less than the typical subscription cost. Netflix executives noted on its earning call that this model could expand to other countries. We’ve put our account-sharing parents and children on notice.
Revenue rose to $18.76 billion in the face of rising inflation.
Tesla built 305,000 vehicles in the first “exceptionally difficult” quarter of this year, delivered 310,000 vehicles to customers and opened new factories in Berlin and Austin — all while CEO Elon Musk sought a highly publicized hostile takeover of Twitter. And just generally made headlines.
Like many companies, Tesla faces an increasingly tight supply of critical semiconductors and rising prices spurred by inflation brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It’s also currently navigating the shuttering of its Gigafactory in Shanghai, which closed due to COVID outbreaks in the region.
Glorious PC Gaming Race, the maker of the Model O gaming mouse, the GMMK Pro mechanical keyboard and other popular peripherals, is changing its name. In rebranding as Glorious, the company is hoping to leave behind a name tinged with racial overtones. “While we remain committed to serving PC gamers and not taking ourselves too seriously, we have also grown and matured significantly as a brand,” Shazim Mohammad, the founder and CEO of Glorious, said in a statement.
SpaceX has wanted to put Starlink internet on planes for quite some time.
Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian has revealed in an interview that the airline held talks with SpaceX and conducted “exploratory tests” of Starlink’s internet technology for its planes. According to The Wall Street Journal, Bastian declined to divulge specifics about the test, but SpaceX’s Jonathan Hofeller mentioned the company’s discussions with several airlines back in mid-2021.
‘Sonic Origins’ includes the first four Sonic games.
Sega
Sega has announced its Sonic Origins collection will debut June 23rd on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Switch. The $40 (£33) standard version will include remasters of Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD, while a $45 (£37) Digital Deluxe edition adds difficult missions, exclusive music and cosmetics. Because it’s 2022.
‘AMP harms users’ privacy, security and internet experience.’
Brave is bypassing any pages rendered with AMP and taking users directly to the original website. “Where possible, De-AMP will rewrite links and URLs to prevent users from visiting AMP pages altogether,” the company wrote in a blog post.
The faster load times you might experience with Google’s AMP pages — hard to complain about that — are undercut by the way they offer Google a much tighter grip on advertising, hosting content on its servers. A group of publishers recently announced it was moving away from AMP, and a lawsuit filed by several US states accuses Google of running a monopoly that harmed both advertising rivals and publishers.
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