Facebook has owned Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app, for a few years now.  Until recently, the app remained independent from Facebook. However, the company has now decided to integrate it with their main platform by adding a unified inbox on Facebook for both Instagram and Messenger.

Both Instagram and Messenger are incredibly popular apps, which are used by both individual users and businesses alike. The social media giant has announced on Tuesday that it is in the process of updating their Pages Manager app on phones. The update will include a unified inbox which allows page administrators to access Facebook, Instagram as well as Messenger interactions from one location.

Basically, the unified inbox will allow admins to check their activity and notifications across all three services. They will be able to also reply to both Facebook and Instagram comments, write posts and messages. All these functions will be available from the Pages Manager app.

Facebook has been careful not to overly complicate the app. To get started on multitasking your accounts you have to connect the Instagram and Facebook accounts by simply tapping on the messaging icon found at the bottom of the Page from the manager app. Doing so will automatically transfer to the Instagram account where you have to enter your log-in information if the account wasn’t already connected through Instagram adverts.

Admins of Pages will now be able to see their customer’s public Instagram accounts as well as their Facebook profiles only by tapping their name into the corresponding tab for each service. The app also keeps track of all your previous conversations with a certain user. Admins will even be able to label the conversations depending on the frequency of the interactions with a specific user.

The new unified inbox feature is mainly designed to facilitate the social media outreach of a company by keeping in contact with customers across the various services. However, admins won’t be able to post videos or photos on Instagram directly from Pages. The feature is set to benefit small and medium-sized businesses who don’t exactly have the resources for extensive social media strategies.

Facebook will gradually release the update in the coming weeks on even more devices.

Image source: Flickr

The Phantom 4 Drone produced by the Chinese company DJI, is one of the best performing drones on the market. Just eight months after its initial release, the company has unveiled the upcoming Phantom 4 Drone Pro edition. Their announcement puts a lot of pressure on their competitors who are already struggle keeping up.

The Phantom 4 Drone Pro has been made available for pre-order starting today on the DJI website or in their stores in Asia. The company hopes that the Pro version of the Phantom 4 drone provides potential customers with enough incentives to move away from cheaper models such as the Mavic Pro.

According to the release technical specs, the Pro edition features an improved camera, greater battery life, and several more intelligent flight modes such as advanced obstacle avoidance. More specifically, the camera found under the drone features a 1-inch CMOS sensor with 20 megapixels. It has 11.6 stops of dynamic range which allows for clearer images by resolving differences between light and dark. It addresses of the biggest problems in drone photography where you have a bright sky and a dark terrain below.

Additionally, in order to better appeal to professional and amateur photographers the Phantom 4 Drone Pro’s camera has an adjustable lens aperture. This means that the users have greater control of the depth of field in their photos. It can also shoot 14 images per second when in burst mode and even record slow-motion video at 60 frames per second.

One of the best new features of the Pro version is that you can buy a specialized remote with a built-in display. Previously, DJI drones require a mobile device for a screen besides getting the simple remote. However, the new screen is a great addition being brighter than a smartphone and you can fly a drone without using the battery life of your phone.

The Phantom 4 Pro will cost those interested $1, 499 and up to $1,799 if they opt in for the special controller. The company has also released another new drone, the Inspire 2. This makes it DJI’s fourth announced product in two months. It remains to be seen how their sales numbers are affected seeing that some of their drones have overlapping appeal.

Image source: DJI

If you’re familiar with electric cars, then you should know that they don’t produce much sound. This can be either a positive aspect or negative one depending on your perspective. However, regulators think that electric cars need to make some noise in order to alert pedestrians that a car is near them.

Besides looking both ways before we cross the street, people also use the sound current cars that run on gasoline make in order to avoid them on the road. This safety measure cannot be applied to electric cars since the engine of the current models barely make any noise at all.

So besides asking EV drivers to turn up their speakers or scream at any nearby pedestrians, regulators have imposed on manufacturers a new rule.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires that all hybrid and electric cars make alert beeps when traveling at speeds slower than 18.6 miles per hour.

The rule applies to four-wheeled hybrids and EV’s that weigh below 10,000 pounds. However, the alert beeps won’t be required at speeds above 19 mph, since the tires and the wind friction provide enough sound to alert the nearby pedestrians about the presence of a vehicle.

The rule comes in effect only on September 1^st, 2019. However, the regulators have stated that at least half of the newly produced electric cars and hybrids must comply with the rule and produce an alert by at least September 1^st, 2018.

The new regulations are the direct result of the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act which gave the NHSTA the mandate to implement a noisemaking solution for quiet cars by 2014. Unfortunately, the government has kept pushing the initial date back until now.

The new rule will lead to 2,400 fewer injuries, according to an NHSTA projection. It will also cost automakers around $39 million annually to implement such a safety measure which requires an external, waterproof speaker. However, the costs are significantly lower than the $250 to $320 million reduced costs of healthcare thanks to injury prevention.

Car companies part of the Auto Alliance have expressed their support for the new safety measure.

Do you have an electric car? Do you think the new measure will be effective in alerting pedestrians?

Image source: Wikipedia

In a bid to satisfy the fans of Back to the Future by developing the technologies we saw in the movie, Nike has developed self-lacing sneakers. They initially gave the special edition Nike Mag shoes to a raffle contest for Michael J. Fox’s foundation which fights against Parkinson’s disease.

Now, the company has announced that it will publicly release a new edition of the much sought after self-lacing sneakers called the HyperAdapt. It was initially reported that will cost you around $1,000. However, a company spokesperson clarified the report by stating the actual price of $720 as well confirming December 1^st as the official release date of the new shoes.

Although the actual price is somewhat cheaper, the shoes are still the most expensive sneakers that Nike has ever released. The company is confident that the self-lacing technology will attract the attention of many people, despite the design being relatively common.

The new Nike HyperAdapt will include cable as well as pressure sensors meant to adjust its laces depending on the wearer’s feet. You can always adjust the tightness of the laces by pressing integrated button near the tongue of the shoe. Besides its characteristic laces or lack thereof, the HyperAdapt will also feature several LED lights. They can be found on the back-end and on the sole of the shoe. The lights will be powered by a lithium-ion battery that lasts around two weeks and can be fully charged in three hours. Besides looking cool, they light also serves as battery indicators. The lights are blue on a full charge and gradually become yellow as the battery depletes, with red indicating that they need to be charged immediately.

The only pair revealed as of yet are black with white accents on Nike’s logo and the sides of the sole. The HyperAdapt is similar to a low-top, cross training type of sneaker. Its self-lacing function and LED lights can be charged through a wireless charging dock found in the sole.

It remains to be seen how many people are actually willing to spend that much cash on sneakers. Also, Nike has not yet released any details regarding the regions where the shoes will be available in. You can at least expect them in the US.

Image source: Nike

The founder of the antivirus developer company Kaspersky Lab, Eugene Kaspersky has complained about Microsoft’s Windows 10 anticompetitive bundling of the Defender antivirus with their OS. This led Kaspersky to file a complaint with competition authorities in both Russia and the EU.

Most industry experts speculated that the regulators won’t act soon enough to make a difference in Microsoft’s policy or that their action won’t compel any considerable changes. However, it seems that the Russian antitrust authority known as the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has opened an investigation last Thursday into Microsoft’s policy.

More specifically, the institution is trying to determine if Microsoft’s actions in bundling Windows 10 with Defender and making the installation of third-party antivirus software harder, was a violation of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition.” More specifically, the Part 1 Article 10 of the law which forbids companies which have a dominant position in the market to engage in activities that prevent, restrict or eliminates competition as well as infringing on the interests of other actors, be it companies or consumers.

Kaspersky apparently issued the complaint with the anticompetition authority after he spent several months in talks with Microsoft, attempting to address the issue directly with the company. Unfortunately, all his effort proved exhausting and fruitless.

Kaspersky made his frustration public in a blog post, in which he also stated the main issues he has with Windows 10 and how it treats third-party security software developers. First, when a user upgrades to Windows 10, other antivirus software is recommended to be uninstalled as part of the process. The program won’t be spared even if you select it to be kept.

Second, Kaspersky criticizes the fact that Microsoft allows third-party developers only a period of six days to adapt their software to new Windows 10 versions compared to the two months they had on previous operating systems. This isn’t anywhere close to sufficient time for Kaspersky to provide their quality service and they risk losing customers to Defender.

Finally, Kaspersky also claims that Windows 10 conceals when a license expired or its signatures are out-of-date in order to automatically switch back to Defender. Additionally, the Kaspersky complaint also mentions the below average quality of Defender as a security system.

What do you make of the Kaspersky complaint?

Image source: Wikimedia

An affidavit from the FBI was recently acquired by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The report reveals that the bureau deployed 23 child porn sites in an attempt to ensnare users.

In 2015 a report surfaced that showed how the FBI seized a website called Playpen which used the tor anonym network. However, before shutting down completely, the FBI reportedly maintained for 13 days and attempted to infest the computers of any visitors with malware. The software was designed to allow the agency to learn the users’ identity so that they can apprehend them.

The new ACLU report reveals that the FBI sting operation was, in fact, much broader than initially thought. In fact, the FBI reportedly maintained 23 child porn sites which advertised the obscene types of videos, various matters related to child sexual abuse and other tactics and methods used to abuse the children. Additionally, there were even discussions on how to avoid law enforcement detection.

According to Sarah Jamie Lewis, a security researcher, the FBI most likely ran around half of the known child porn sites on the darknet. Although the affidavit doesn’t directly specify that the FBI is maintaining all these sites, but it is heavily implied that the FBI had control over the servers and access to them from a government facility.

The FBI managed to identify and apprehend around 200 child porn suspects from the Playpen operation alone. This number is only 20 percent of all the 1,000 IP addresses which were revealed to the FBI using the malware known as NIT.

The operation of child porn sites was signed off by judges in Virginia and Maryland. FBI was able to obtain this type of warrant thanks to what’s known as Rule 41. An anti-hacking measure developed by the Department of Justice, which has been scrutinized by lawmakers. Basically, it allowed the FBI to search multiple computers in different jurisdictions while using only one warrant.

 However, when the cases against the offenders went to trial, judges in Oklahoma, Massachusetts, and Iowa ruled that this type of search violated the laws regarding federal procedure. Some judges requested the evidence being thrown out while others rebuked the persecutors but accepted the evidence.

Image source: Wikimedia

Apple on Thursday has launched a new Apple TV application called iBooks StoryTime. It brings children’s books to the big screen. Kids can go through the pages of various books on their own, or even switch on Read-Aloud narration. The feature will sync the audio to the on-screen text and change pages for you.

The app is free to download and works on the 4th generation Apple TV devices that have access to tvOS App Store. However, the books are not free. There’s a giveaway at launch so you can test the app and its functions. The available content is a Read-Aloud book titled Dora’s Big Buddy Race Read-Along.

A wide variety of books are available to purchase from the StoryTime app itself, as well as on the iBookstore on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. All compatible content that has been purchased previously will be available in the iBooks StoryTime.

Despite the app’s great functionality for kids, it does not have a lot of supported titles at the moment. The available books include certain classic titles like “The Little Red Hen,” “Goodnight Moon,” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” and more. Several popular characters such as Grover, Sophia the First and Cookie Monster are also present in various titles, among others.

In case you’re wondering if the content is appropriate for the age of your child, then it’s important to know that the app is aimed at preschoolers that have started to learn how to read. The app deviates from the standard reading apps currently available on mobile and tablets by using the Apple TV. It offers a great balance and educational experience to the hours spent by kids in front of the TV for entertainment purposes.

Reading apps can be useful but also inefficient in captivating a child’s attention. The digital medium allows them to easily switch to other, more entertaining apps. This is one reason why physical books for children won’t be replaced anytime soon.

Other companies have also started to thinking about more innovative ways to attract and maintain a child’s attention. Amazon’s Rapids reading app builds on how already kids use messaging apps to chat with their friends and family. As such, it uses an interactive messaging-like interface to tell a story.

Image source: Apple

Researchers have developed a new type of materials that will allow the creation of semiconductor-free microelectronics. This means that electronic devices, from phones, computer to solar panels will be more efficient in handling their power.

Silicon semiconductors have revolutionized technology by allowing manufacturers to install billions of transistors in chips the size of a few square inches. As great as they are, the technology does have some limits. For example, the velocity of electrons in the electric current that pass through them is limited by the resistance of the materials from which the semiconductors are made of. This requires a boost of energy to allow the electrons to cross the gap, which is created by silicon’s insulating properties.

However, the new metamaterials invented by researchers at UC San Diego, are similar to old-school vacuum tubes because they use free electrons. The team of researchers solved the problem of electrons which require high voltage and high temperatures or a laser to release the electrons. They built a nanostructure from gold with additional gold strips parallel to it. It combines a low amount of voltage of only 10 volts with a low-powered laser to free the electrons from the gold.

Scientists discovered that this method led to 1000 percent increase in the conductivity of the entire system the metamaterial was used in. The change is high enough that it even allows the structure to maintain on and off states like an optical switch. The whole device can act as a transistor, power amplified or even a photodetector thanks to the metamaterials. The most amazing feature of this new invention is that it works with less resistance and even handle a much higher amount of power.

The research is still very much in its early stages. However, their findings, which were published in the journal Nature, represent a proof-of-concept. It can be used by the researchers to attract more research funds and further develop and improve their invention. Their next step is to determine how much can the metamaterials can be scaled without affecting their performance.

Its applications will lead to semiconductor-free microelectronics as well as photovoltaics, possibly weaponry and environmental applications. The research was funded by DARPA.

What do you think about the new discovery of metamaterials and semiconductor-free microelectronics?

Image credit: UC San Diego Applied Electromagnetics Group

Vespa is probably the most well-known scooter manufacturer in the world. The company also enjoys a great reputation for its premium scooter with great design and functionality. Now, they have released the first images of their upcoming electric scooter. It is designed to the upcoming age of electric transportation.

Vespa is trying to once again propel itself at the top of the scooter market with their new electric scooter. Unfortunately, at the current moment has only developed a prototype which they recently made public. The actual electric scooter will go into production in early 2017 and will be available to purchase in the latter half of the same year.

The official announcement of the electric scooter was made on Tuesday by Vespa’s parent company, Piaggio. Strangely enough, it was made two days ahead of the Milan Motorcycle Show known as Esposizione Internazionale Ciclo e Motociclo (EICMA).

The official name of the new scooter is Vespa Elettrica and the only details about it are only those that we can discern from the released images. It features a full silver colored metal body with blue accents on the sides and on the rims of the wheels. Although previous Vespas were made out of steel, it is unclear if the company will go in the same direction this time.

There has been no information released regarding pricing or specs. However, Piaggio has stated that they will reveal more after the show starts. However, they also issued a statement saying that they plan to build on the success of the original Vespa Scooter. The only main difference will be the new electric system. It will retain all of the features that brought acclaim to the Vespa scooter.

Electric vehicles is a gradually increasing market. It has evolved from being just a niche product to a more mainstream one. Automakers around the world have released or plan to release an electric vehicle. With this announcement, Vespa is trying to be part of the upcoming age of the auto industry.

However, it remains to be seen how successful the Vespa Elettrica will actually be. Most of its appeal to potential customers will depend on its technical specs, more specifically its autonomy on a single charge. This feature will most likely be revealed in the next few days.

Image source: Piaggio

General Motors has announced that they will finally begin the mass production of the Chevy Bolt, an affordable yet very practical electric car. The assembly takes place in Michigan, in Orion Township, north of the city of Detroit.

General Motors has stated the Chevy bolt will first go on sale in California and Oregon before the end of the year, at the price of $37,495 without including a $7,500 federal tax credit which brings it down to around $30,000. After the initial launch in these two states, the car will see a gradual expansion in all of the United States.

In regards to its technical capacity, the EV Chevy Bolt will have a range of 238 miles per charge, coupled with its affordable price, will make it an attractive vehicle for many customers. However, although GM managed to beat Tesla’s Model 3 to production, the company estimates that it will sell only around 30,000 units in the first year of availability. This is less than the 10 percent of the pre-orders Tesla has for their upcoming and more affordable Model 3. Their car will only begin production in 2017.

Currently, analysts estimate that there are around 235,000 electric cars in the US. The competition for affordable EV will tighten as more companies want a share of the market. Nonetheless, the number will only increase year over year, though the current low cost of gas won’t push anyone away for standard cars. Last year around 100,00 electric cars were sold in the US, and IHS Markit industry analyst company predicts that by 2020, EVs will reach 300,000 annual sales, gradually increasing to 400,00 by 2025.

GM hopes that the affordable Chevy Bolt will become one of the main choices of the American consumer in regards to electric cars. The company did not say when the first consumer will be able to get their hands on the vehicle. GM has also stated that although they did not take online reservations as Tesla did, these has been strong interest about the car at their dealerships. In this regard, GM is better positioned to distribute the car to a wider audience thanks to vast infrastructure spread across the country.

Are you considering buying an electric car? If so, what do you think about the Chevy Bolt?

Image source: Chevrolet