Tripping over cords and cables is one of those things that can ruin a virtual reality experience. Mobile VR setups may offer inferior graphical…
Tripping over cords and cables is one of those things that can ruin a virtual reality experience. Mobile VR setups may offer inferior graphical quality compared to the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, but they also have the cabling situation mostly sorted out. AMD has now acquired intellectual property and engineering staff from Austin-based wireless specialist Nitero , in a presumed effort to untangle users of PC VR systems from their mess of cables.
Nitero’s website doesn’t mention specific products, but the company apparently has specialized expertise in multi-gigabit wireless communication over a 60 GHz band. According to AMD, millimeter-wave wireless systems are often limited to line-of-sight applications, but Nitero’s phased array beamforming technology can reportedly make 60 GHz wireless comms flexible enough for use with moving VR headsets.
AMD didn’t disclose the terms of the deal. The company’s press release does note that Nitero co-founder and CEO Pat Kelly has now assumed the title of corporate vice-president of Wireless IP at AMD.
This acquisition furthers AMD’s long bet on VR. The promise of VR gaming has played a large role in the marketing of the company’s recent graphics products. In particular, the company repeatedly mentioned the reduction of the cost of a VR-capable system when it launched its Radeon RX 480 graphics card last summer.

© Source: http://techreport.com/news/31720/amd-looks-to-cut-the-vr-cord-with-nitero-tech
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The 2013 plan to debate the idea of allowing passengers to make cell phone calls while up in the air should be taken “off the table permanently,” Ajit Pai says.
Ajit Pai testifies at a Senate hearing in 2016. On Monday, Pai circulated an order that would end the FCC plan to consider letting airline passengers talk on their phones while flying.
Can you hear that? It’s the sound of an FCC plan to let airplane passengers make phone calls fizzling out.
On Monday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai circulated an order that would end the agency’s 2013 plan to decide whether to change its recommendation that cell phones not be used on airplanes. The plan opened the issue for public comment and possible revision.
FCC commissioners must now vote on Pai’s order to decide whether to permanently ax the plan.
“I do not believe that moving forward with this plan is in the public interest,” Pai said in a statement. “Taking it off the table permanently will be a victory for Americans across the country who, like me, value a moment of quiet at 30,000 feet. ”
This is a turnaround from former Chairman Tom Wheeler’s perspective. In 2013, Wheeler emphasized that the ban on phone calls was based on whether cell phones would cause technical disruptions on flights.
If the FCC did end up changing its rule, the final determination would have been left up to the US Department of Transportation — and then to individual airlines — on whether to allow phone calls. Airlines would have needed to install special technology to give their passengers a cell signal while flying much higher than any of the planet’s cell towers.
“The FCC is the expert agency when it comes to technical communications issues,” Wheeler said in 2013. “We are not the Federal Courtesy Commission. ”
As a commissioner in 2013, Pai voted against Wheeler’s plan. In his dissenting opinion , Pai cited emails he received from concerned airline passengers, one of whom said if the rule changed and a fellow passenger talked on the phone during a flight, “I fear what I’d do with my cutlery!!! ”
“Although I’m pretty sure that I could resist the urge to stab a fellow passenger, I understand these sentiments and share these concerns,” Pai wrote.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/fcc-chairman-lets-kill-plan-to-allow-in-flight-cell-phone-calls/
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It feels like it’s been years in the making, but that’s because it has.
It feels like it’s been about half a decade since GM announced its semiautonomous Super Cruise system. The wait is almost over, because it’s arriving later this year.
Cadillac points to two specific parts of Super Cruise that help separate it from the rest — a driver attention system and lidar map data.
If the driver stops paying attention, Super Cruise will start throwing up warnings on the steering wheel, through the seat’s haptic feedback and in the gauge cluster.
The driver attention system relies on a single camera atop the steering column. In conjunction with infrared lights, this camera is capable of tracking a driver’s head position, keeping Super Cruise engaged only as long as a driver is paying attention to the road.
If the system detects that a driver’s attention has drifted, it will give a warning prompt. If the driver continues to ignore the warnings, an additional light bar in the steering wheel will light up. Ignoring further warnings, which may include seat vibrations and gauge-cluster warnings, will cause the car to come to a stop and, if needed, inform emergency services.
Super Cruise-equipped CT6s won’t have a lidar emitter, but rather, its system will pull from a database of lidar-scanned maps, which it put together by mapping “every mile” of divided highway with proper on- and off-ramps.
While that does confer some real precision to the system, it has the downside of limiting Super Cruise’s use to only this kind of road — divided highways with defined on- and off-ramps.
It’s a bit of a bummer that it’s limited to such specific use, but Cadillac wants to make sure that it can be used in the safest manner possible. Removing potential variables from the equation can help with that, and by so closely monitoring a driver’s attention, it should hopefully keep Super Cruise’s name out of the evening news when it finally comes to market.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/cadillacs-super-cruise-will-finally-arrive-with-2018-ct6/
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If you have a bad hair day, you won’t be forced to show your face on a call.
Toggle the top switch to start audio chatting.
Google ‘s simple video calling app Duo just got a little more advanced. Google announced that it will bring audio-only calling to Duo users worldwide, after first introducing the feature in Brazil in March.
Up until now, Duo was a one-trick pony that let you launch a video chat only. Now, being able to chat without video means you won’t be forced to use up extra data or battery making a video call — and neither will you if you’re having a bad hair day and would rather be heard and not seen.
To use the new audio feature, open the Google Duo app and toggle the top switch from video to audio. We tried it, and it works.
Duo uses either Wi-Fi or cellular data to make calls, which makes it a good option for calling someone when you have internet, but no cell service. Although the audio-only option gives Duo a greater overlap with Google Hangouts , another messaging app that also includes audio/video calls over the internet, Duo is still a more focused, mobile-first option.
The addition of audio-only calls makes us wonder if Google will continue building out Duo, and which features might come next.
No FaceTime? No problem. With Google’s Duo app, video calling between Android phones, and from Android phones to iPhones, just got way simpler.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-duo-audio-calling-feature-global-rollout/
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The Chinese mega-company had agreed to buy the US TV maker in July. The deal is called off amid reports of a cash squeeze.
Jia Yueting, LeEco CEO, introduces new smartphone last year in Beijing. The company announced Monday that its deal to buy US TV maker Vizio won’t go forward.
Chinese tech company LeEco won’t go through with a deal announced in July to buy US TV manufacturer Vizio for $2 billion.
Citing “regulatory headwinds,” the companies said in a joint statement that they’d still be looking for ways to partner with each other. “We continue to believe that there is great synergy between the two companies,” the statement said.
LeEco has tried make a big splash with its debut in the US. It announced its deal to buy Vizio in July , and in October, the company debuted a smart TV, phone, and self-driving car , as well as services to run on and connect its devices.
But by November, reports surfaced the company was tightening its belt. What’s more, at the end of November, Chinese regulators announced there would be heightened scrutiny of Chinese capital leaving the country for foreign investments.
Earlier in April, LeEco employees told Bloomberg the company was five days late paying its US employees and that the Vizio deal was stalled.
A LeEco spokeswoman declined to comment on “rumors or speculation” when asked about the report on payroll and tightening cash reserves at the company.

© Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/leeco-deal-to-buy-vizio-for-2-billion-falls-through/
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