Google has started — just as OnePlus has — to unbundle many of its core apps and make them available through the Play Store. The latest candidate to be stripped out of Android and give a Store release is its battery app.
Google has started — just as OnePlus has — to unbundle many of its core apps and make them available through the Play Store. The latest candidate to be stripped out of Android and give a Store release is its battery app.
Many people have been pleased to see such unbundling, as it makes it far easier for Google to release updates for individual components without having to wait for the next big Android update to roll out. But while many Android users will be happy to see the arrival of Device Health Services (as the battery app is named), it’s not good news for everyone.
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The app itself is fairly simple, but nonetheless impressive and useful. It provides you with general information about your battery and how you are using it. It’s handy to be able to see your usage habits, and the app gives you easy access to battery-optimizing settings such as switching adaptive brightness and sleep options.
If you were hoping to be able to run the app on your phone or tablet, however, the chances are that you’re out of luck. The battery app has only been included on Google’s Nexus and Pixel devices, and support has not been widened with this standalone release. If you have a Nexus 5 or newer device, however, you’ll be able to grab it.
Maybe.
If you’re outside of the US, you’re also going to miss out — for the time being, at least.
Should you live in the right part of the world, and own a qualifying device, you can download Device Health Services from Google Play.
Image credit: PATHOMRAT PRAERIN / Shutterstock

Sentiment rank: 1.6

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A team from the University of Lancaster has developed a system which makes it possible to make any object into a remote controller for your television. Even things like a mug or your head.
A team from Lancaster University has managed to develop a system for his TV which makes it possible for anything to become a remote.
One of the students explained that modern control systems for TVs assumes the user has hands, but this system doesn’t make such assumptions meaning its a far more open and accessible means by which anyone can now decide how to control their TV.
The system uses a webcam, and all that is required is for the user to make a circular motion with the object of their choice to begin the allocation of the new object into one of the control widgets. With the new controller a user can adjust the volume, pause, play, rewind and probably almost all of the functions of a normal remote, because the object of choice can also be used like a pointer or mouse meaning that the user can then select any function of the TV.
The student even had multiple objects allocated to different control tasks; he used a mug as a scroller to select between options of different titles in a library, a toy policeman that is in control of play, rewind, and pause, and assumedly a toy SUV for volume control.
This innovation for the TV makes it possible to control it with our bodies, so it seems apt that it comes at time when digital assistants like the Google Home Mini speaker are making inroads into peoples homes and making it possible to control many other things at home with simply our voices.
This innovation theoretically might give two weeks of life back to the average TV watcher over their lifetime, because even if someone removes your regular controller mug then your hand, head or anything can quickly be turned into the new control.
Source: BBC News

Sentiment rank: 1.6

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With Game 5 hanging in the balance in the eighth inning, the Cubs felt there was no reason not to challenge a tag play at first base, which turned out to be a critical decision in their 9-8 win over the Nationals on Thursday.
WASHINGTON — Even Anthony Rizzo wasn’t sure he had gotten the tag.
With two outs and two on in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Washington Nationals trailing 9-8 to the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the National League Division Series, catcher Willson Contreras fired a snap throw to Rizzo at first base, who slapped the tag on a sliding Jose Lobaton. First base umpire Will Little called Lobaton safe, but Cubs manager Joe Maddon challenged the call.
After a replay review, the ruling was reversed and Lobaton was called out to end the inning. Washington went on to lose by that same 9-8 score, ending the season for the NL East champs and sending the 2016 World Series champion Cubs to the NLCS for a third straight year.
«I didn’t think I had him initially,» Rizzo said. «But on those bang-bang plays, you never know. It’s one of those you have to take a peek.»
The Cubs did just that.
«We saw the foot come off then looked at another angle and figured it was worth the challenge,» said Nate Halm, the Cubs’ advance scouting coordinator. «Rizzo held the tag, so it worked out.»
The outcome was a surprise to Lobaton.
Editor’s Picks Cubs survive strangest elimination game ever played
A bizarre four-run fifth inning and an overturned call on a pickoff that thwarted a Nats rally in the eighth lifted Chicago to its third straight NLCS.
«I thought I was safe,» said the Washington catcher, who was on first after lining a single to center off Cubs closer Wade Davis . «I didn’t know my foot came off. You see in the replay that it was just my foot just came off just a little bit. That was enough for the replay to show I was out. What can I say? It’s part of the rules right now. We have to take it.»
And Maddon knew he had to challenge it.
«You’ve just got to,» Maddon said. «You’ve got to. I looked for Anthony all the time. You have to trust your guys on the field, but there’s no reason to not. We have two challenges. It’s that part of the game. There’s no reason to not challenge right there.»
Although the move paid off for Maddon and the Cubs, it was a killer for the Nationals and manager Dusty Baker.
«It really hurts,» Baker said. «To lose like that, especially after what we went through all year long, that was tough.»
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.

Similarity rank: 14

Sentiment rank: -0.4

© Source: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21007104/anthony-rizzo-chicago-cubs-sure-got-tag-initially-nationals-jose-lobaton
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: Humanity will use AI positively if access to artificial intelligence is ‘democratised’
Like Alibaba’s Jack Ma, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang believes that artificial intelligence will have a positive impact on humanity, and that it will ultimately be put to good — rather than evil — use.
That was the message from Huang in a one-to-one interview with V3 during Nvidia’s GPU conference in Munich this week.
«I think the open dialogue [about artificial intelligence] is great. There are a lot of people thinking about [AI] and thinking about how we advance the technology in good ways,» said Huang.
«AI is one of the most important inventions in the history of humanity. Its potential to bring joy, productivity is surely unquestionable, but you could also imagine these powerful technologies used in improper ways
«We at Nvidia believe that the best way to keep the tech in good hands is to democratise it. That’s why Nvidia’s GPU technology, and CUDA, are open. It’s in every single cloud, it’s in every single computer and we make it available to anybody who wants to use it.
«The benefit is that there are more good-hearted people than there are less good-hearted people, and if you simply give them access, they will keep it out of harm’s way. The collective good nature of humanity will keep it out of harm’s way.»
It’s a good job, too, as Huang believes that robo-taxis — fully automated vehicles aimed at the ride-haling economy — could arrive on roads within the next two years, even before Level 4 self-driving vehicles — those that require a human to be present for safety reasons — are given the green light.
«Although on one hand, the process is more complex, it’s also much more simple because it’s a service. You can limit the range of your service, and you can geofence it,» he said.
«Yes, technology is much more complex because there’s no driver in the car. Nonetheless, I believe robotaxi services will arrive in the next couple of years.»
Eventually, Huang expects AI-powered self-driving vehicles to account for 100 per cent of the automotive industry.
«I believe 100 per cent, there’s not a bone in my body that doesn’t believe this, that 100 per cent of the $100tn dollar automotive industry will be autonomous. Everything with wheels will be autonomous.»
But does that mean humans will eventually forget how to drive, and what driving was?
«I think it’s a bit like horseback riding and bicycles. There are people who do it for sport. I do believe that someday cars will become the same because the need to drive goes away but the desire to drive does not.»
«Our approach is going to help us become one of the key players in the automotive industry, and I think that the revolution will be gigantic.»
Nvidia is doing a number of big things in the world of artificial intelligence at the moment, based or branching off from its GPU technology.
This week, the company announced Pegasus, the ‘world’s first’ AI supercomputer designed to power future ‘robotaxis’ , and it gave developers access to Holodeck, a virtual design lab intended to bring AI to a physically-simulated virtual reality environment.

Sentiment rank: 1.3

© Source: https://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/3019106/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-humanity-will-use-ai-positively-if-access-to-artificial-intelligence-is-democratised
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US President Donald Trump plans to deliver a broad and harsh critique of Iran in a speech declaring that the landmark Iran nuclear deal is not in America’s national security interests,
US President Donald Trump plans to deliver a broad and harsh critique of Iran in a speech declaring that the landmark Iran nuclear deal is not in America’s national security interests, according to US officials and outside advisers to the administration.
Mr Trump’s speech from the White House on Friday will outline specific faults he finds in the 2015 accord but will also focus on an array of Iran’s troubling non-nuclear activities, four officials and advisers said.
Those include Tehran’s ballistic missile program, support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and other groups that destabilise the region.
Under US law, Mr Trump faces a Sunday deadline to notify Congress whether Iran is complying with the accord that was painstakingly negotiated over 18 months by the Obama administration and determine if it remains a national security priority.
Although Mr Trump intends to say Iran is living up to the letter of the agreement, he will make the case that the deal is fatally flawed and that its non-nuclear behaviour violates the spirit of the regional stability it was intended to encourage, the officials and advisers said.
The officials and advisers, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly preview the speech, said Trump will not call for a re-imposition of nuclear sanctions on Tehran.
He will urge lawmakers to codify tough new requirements for Tehran to continue to benefit from the sanctions relief that it won in exchange for curbing its atomic program.
And he will announce his long-anticipated intent to impose sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps by designating it a terrorist organisation under an existing executive order, according to the officials and advisers.
In addition, Mr Trump will ask Congress to amend or replace outright the legislation that currently requires him to certify Iranian compliance every 90 days.
Officials have said that Mr Trump hates the requirement more than the nuclear deal itself because it forces him to take a position every three months on what he has denounced as the worst deal in American history.
That frequency has also irritated aides who have complained that they are spending inordinate amounts of time on certification at the expense of other issues.
At the White House, Mr Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, confirmed the president would announce the results of his Iran policy review on Friday but declined to offer any detail.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was calling foreign minister colleagues from the other parties to the deal to brief them on what to expect, the State Department said.
But in a possible preview of Trump’s announcement, CIA Director Mike Pompeo blasted Iran during a speech at the University of Texas, calling Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Revolutionary Guard «cudgels of a despotic theocracy.»
American allies, who have pressed the White House to remain in the nuclear accord, will be closely watching the president’s address.
Trump wants to impress on the European parties to the accord — Germany, France and Britain — the importance of fixing what he sees as flaws in the nuclear accord and addressing malign behaviour not covered in the agreement.
The Europeans, along with the other parties, Iran, Russia and China, have ruled out reopening the deal.
But some, notably France, have signalled a willingness to tackle unresolved issues in supplementary negotiations.

Similarity rank: 11

Sentiment rank: 0.2

© Source: http://www.independent.ie/world-news/north-america/trump-to-declare-iran-nuclear-deal-is-not-in-americas-national-security-interests-36223368.html
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