USE is an experimental furniture piece built from plastic waste for the small town of Lucca to operate as a second skin for New Jersey concrete barriers as well as a city bench.
R3direct uses innovative 3D technologies to produce a collection of different items, like furniture and public infrastructure, from waste. Currently, 55% of the plastic coming from urban waste is destined for thermo-valorization or dumped in landfills. R3direct gathers plastic waste from that portion of the main supply to use for their 3D-printed products.
Using large-format 3D printers, R3direct is dedicated to high commercial value applications like sculptures, functional prototypes, and public or private furniture objects. Their latest experimental furniture piece is dubbed USE, which stands for ‘Urban Safety Every day.’ USE primarily functions as a ‘second skin’ for New Jersey barriers and takes the shape of a city bench for residents and tourists to enjoy.
Made from post-consumer plastics, R3direct remains committed to printing durable and bespoke objects for private and public purposes. Using innovative 3D and parametric technologies, “The recycled plastic necessary for the realization of USE,” the R3direct team explains, “comes entirely from the recycling of polylaminate beverage cartons carried out by the company Lucart, [a] world leader in the production of paper and tissue.”
Dotting the streets of the small city of Lucca, while Lucart carried out the recycling and processing of the plastic, R3direct collected the plastic waste from the re-use of about 3,300 TetraPak® cartons. The final compositional makeup of USE is 75% of FiberPack®, a material obtained from recycled cellulose fibers used in beverage cartons, and the remaining 25% is made of polyethylene and aluminum, two components used as raw, secondary materials to produce the module.
Working closely with Giulia del Grande, the USE project originates from the designer’s thesis, which explores, “the issue linked to the design of spaces to prevent the sense of fear in people who live in cities.” Calming the chaos and busy nature of cities, public furniture like benches and water fountains are incorporated into the fabric of the city to function as aesthetically pleasing home bases for urban residents and tourists.
Speaking to this, the team at R3direct notes, “Urban furniture intends to transform the concrete barriers commonly used during events or in a fixed manner to protect strategic places in the city, making them aesthetically pleasing and equipping them with various functions useful to the citizen.”
Last year’s OnePlus 9 Pro was one of the best phones of 2021 – which surprised some of us. The company substantially improved the cameras and packaged a high-spec phone in a premium body. Now, after several other OnePlus phones have launched with lower prices (and lesser specs), the $899 OnePlus 10 Pro, is finally here. The phone has long been available in China and the company has been teasing its new flagship since January.
With a cheaper price, a 6.7-inch 120Hz AMOLED screen, Snapdragon’s latest processor, a bigger battery and a gorgeous new green color option, the OnePlus 10 Pro sounds like it has everything it needs to repeat the success of its predecessor, but I’m left feeling underwhelmed.
Hardware
Mat Smith/Engadget
The camera unit, which includes three sensors and a flash, is surrounded by metal which bleeds over the edge to the frame of the 10 Pro. It’s an understated design touch, but I’m glad it looks different from older OnePlus models, its Oppo stepsiblings and other phones doing the same old camera sensor layout. Different is good.
The rest of the phone’s back is covered in a translucent finish that reminds me of the back of the iPhone 13 Pro. The OnePlus logo seems to be etched into this; I actually thought it was a sticker at first. There’s still some Hasselblad branding, too, along the side of the camera unit, but thankfully it's a little subtler than previous designs.
OnePlus’s Alert Slider has clung on for its eighth year. Once again, it’s located above the power button and switches between silent, vibrate and full volume modes, each of which can be manually adjusted to your preferred levels. There’s a USB-C port, supporting 80W SuperVOOC charging and stereo speaker grilles along the bottom edge. Finally, as usual, there’s a volume rocker on the left edge.
OnePlus has upgraded the selfie camera to a 32-megapixel sensor, but it’s still a pinhole camera set in the top left corner of the display. The front-facing camera works with face unlock, while there’s also an in-screen fingerprint scanner. Both seem faster than OnePlus’ last-gen phone, and the fingerprint sensor has been shifted higher up the phone panel, making it easier to access.
While the OnePlus 10 Pro looks different from last year’s 9 Pro, there’s an awful lot of spec overlap. Both models have the same size screen and run at 1,440 x 3,216 resolution, with adaptive refresh rates of up to 120Hz. This year’s phone does have an upgraded LTPO display, however, which OnePlus says is better optimized for dynamic changes in refresh rates. But you’d be hard-pressed to notice any difference between the 10 Pro and 9 Pro's screens; both are crisp, bright and colorful. While more and more phones are beginning to arrive with adaptive refresh rates, OnePlus does it better than most, dipping as low as 1Hz for static content on your phone screen, meaning less power drain. According to OnePlus, the upgraded screen should translate to 1.5 hours of additional use versus last year’s OnePlus 9 Pro.
Cameras
Comparisons with last year’s OnePlus 9 Pro come up yet again with the cameras. The company heralds this as its second-generation Hasselblad camera, with improvements to the OnePlus Billion Color Solution (which still struggles to sell itself as a compelling feature) and an updated Hasselblad Pro mode, which I’ll explain later.
Glancing at the spec sheet, even if the camera array itself looks notably different, the OnePlus 10 Pro has very similar camera sensors – and in fact there’s actually one less than last year’s OnePlus 9 Pro. Yes, we’ve lost the monochrome sensor, which shouldn’t be a big deal. It was a low two-megapixel sensor and I didn’t miss it at all. Otherwise, all the numbers match: a 48-megapixel primary sensor, a 50-MP ultra-wide lens – this time capturing across 150-degree views, and – like the OnePlus 9 Pro – a middling 8-megapixel telephoto option that tops out at 3.3x optical zoom.
My experience matches what Chris Velazco said last year in his review of the 9 Pro. The primary sensor captures detailed images, especially in well-lit surroundings. OnePlus has further refined the sensor to improve dynamic range and noise reduction in images, and you’ll still get the best shots from the pixel-binned 12-megapixel mode. If you do want to capture all the detail you can, however, there’s a high-res shooting mode that’s easily accessible through most of the camera app’s modes.
The new ultrawide camera gets a few tricks, too, including a new fish-eye capture mode that’s a bit of a gimmick, but it’s fun nonetheless. You can switch between a mild and strong fish-eye effect. I’m not going to win photography awards but the results are clean and it’s a harmless addition.
Mat Smith/Engadget
The telephoto camera remains the weakest part of the OnePlus camera setup. Given the 8MP resolution, shots seem blurry and low on detail. Sometimes my photos just lacked color and vitality, which is a shame because I use the telephoto cameras on phones a lot as it offers some degree of compositional freedom when framing my shots. (I can’t believe I just wrote the phrase “compositional freedom.”)
OnePlus’ flagship held its own against an iPhone 13 Pro and Pixel 6 Pro, but it wasn't the best. The cameras occasionally struggled with scenes with high dynamic range.
When shooting this scene, with a plant in front of an open fire and a bright neon sign in the background, the 10 Pro couldn’t quite tame the aggressive lighting, blowing out the neon light a little too much. The iPhone captured the scene in slightly warmer tones, while the Pixel seemed cooler. When I compared the photos, however, it was the OnePlus 10 Pro, even if it lacked the detail and dynamic range, that had nailed the colors of the room. Perhaps that Hasselblad partnership is actually working? Even then, would I prefer a more accurately colored shot or a wider dynamic range? The latter.
I had to see if anything had truly changed between the two OnePlus flagships, so I compared a few sample photos. While many were indistinguishable from each other, the 10 Pro edged out last year’s 9 Pro when it came to nighttime photography, which could be due to computational improvements and a faster chip – or OnePlus’ own internal calibrations and tweaks. Having said that, OnePlus’ night photography and AI assistance are a little too heavy-handed for my liking; they made some low-light scenes look artificially bright.
Software-wise, the new Hasselblad Pro mode works across all three camera sensors, adding fine control like ISO levels as well as 12-bit RAW capture for those willing to dive deep into image editing. OnePlus’ RAW+ image format is also here, which attempts to combine all the information of a photo, but it’s augmented by the computational image capture we’ve seen in most phones over the last few years. Was I using RAW+ capture over the stripped-down auto mode? Most of the time, no. But it’s more flexible for users willing to push the 10 Pro’s cameras to their limit.
Performance and software
Mat Smith/Engadget
OnePlus has long been able to balance a streamlined Android experience close to stock while adding its own tweaks and features. The OnePlus 10 Pro continues that approach despite the closer collaboration with Oppo and a shared codebase. In fact, the latest version of OnePlus’ OxygenOS, version 12, was apparently one of the reasons that the 10 Pro took so long to arrive after its debut, with more time needed to tweak the software for regions beyond China.
I still appreciate the ability to easily switch off OS additions I don’t need. The OnePlus Shelf is a pop-up menu that can be pulled down from the top right corner of the phone. It groups together several adjustable tiles – like those widgets you’ve been able to add to your homescreen on Android phones for about a decade.
In short, I don’t need it and would get frustrated when it pops up instead of the standard Android drop-down menu containing setting toggles and my notifications. Thankfully, I can just tap the settings cog inside the Shelf, and turn the entire feature off.
One addition I won’t be disabling is a new AI adaptive brightness feature. The OnePlus 10 Pro can learn your display brightness preferences and make adjustments, hopefully before you do. Artificial intelligence features inside smartphones are often hard to notice in day-to-day use (think: battery optimization features that are meant to adapt to how you use your phone and reduce power consumption). But OnePlus’ adaptive brightness soon appeared when I would check the 10 Pro in the early hours of the morning, helping to shield me from an unnecessarily bright screen before I’d even had my coffe
There are also a few gaming improvements to make the most of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip. The HyperBoost game engine, courtesy of Oppo, tries to stabilize frame rates during gaming sessions, while also increasing the responsiveness of the touchscreen through a new feature called O-Sync. Both suffer from my issues with behind-the-scenes AI optimizations. It’s also not compatible with streaming games from Xbox Cloud Gaming or Stadia, which is how I game on smartphones most of the time.
The OnePlus 10 Pro wasn’t fazed by anything I threw at it – which has been true for most phones powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. When playing a video on repeat, the 5,000mAh battery took over 14 hours to run down – which isn’t great compared to roughly 17 hours from Samsung’s Galaxy S22+.
Benefiting from Oppo’s R&D, the OnePlus 10 Pro supports 80W SUPERVOOC charging. Yes, fast charging isn’t anything new for OnePlus, but damn, this is genuinely fast. With the appropriate charger (don’t worry, there’s one included with the phone), the 10 Pro can be fully charged in a mere 32 minutes. If you want even faster charging, OnePlus says 80W SUPERVOOC can charge the phone from 0 to 61 percent in just 15 minutes; I got around the same figures when recharging the phone myself. It’s a strong feature, and importantly, something that the OnePlus 9 Pro doesn’t have.
Unfortunately, US owners won't get an identical experience. In a forum discussion on the OnePlus site, the company clarified: “In North America, the OnePlus 10 Pro supports 65W SUPERVOOC – this is because 80W SUPERVOOC does not currently support 110 or 120-volt AC power – the typical standard for power outlets in the region." A 65W charging speed would still be the fastest phone charging standard in the US, but it's hard not to feel a bit short-changed compared to other regions.
Wrap-up
Mat Smith/Engadget
OnePlus was on a roll. Last year, it proved it could deliver a true high-end smartphone rival to the likes of the iPhone and the Galaxy S series with the OnePlus 9 Pro. But with the OnePlus 10 Pro, the company has struggled to push the envelope further.
The OnePlus 10 Pro has impressive fast-charge capabilities, a gorgeous screen that’s incrementally better than last year’s model, while OxygenOS continues to add more to the Android experience without derailing it. I especially like how the green version looks, but at the same time, the smartphone competition moves fast.
(In the US, OnePlus is selling the black and green models with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $899 in the US. The company says the versions with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will arrive later, though the price is still TBC.)
OnePlus might have nailed its cameras last year, but it’s not at the same level of the best phone cameras in 2022. Its computational photography seems overly aggressive and the telephoto camera, again, disappoints compared to the competition. When the Pixel 6 Pro costs the same, the OnePlus 10 Pro is hard to recommend over Google’s own flagship, even to die-hard OnePlus fans looking to upgrade from the OnePlus 9 Pro. At least it’s slightly cheaper.
Correction, 3/31/22 10:50AM ET: Clarified that the US version of the OnePlus 10 Pro will only support 65W SuperVOOC charging. Also updated this article to clarify that both the green and black models with 8GB of RAM will be available in the US.
I’m not much of a cook but the few times that I did find myself in the kitchen, it’s to try and follow a recipe to the letter. Most of the time that involves using timers aka my smartphone. But a lot of times also, my hands are dirty or preoccupied so it’s a hassle to have to use a device. Either my phone gets dirty or if I’m more careful, I have to go and wash my hands every once in a while and that may lead to a few missed seconds or minutes. A new product concept will help solve that problem.
Designer: Rory Wen and -1Pt
The device is simply named Timer Bob and is described as a “sleepy kitchen timer”. The designers wanted to put a personality to the timer since it will probably be one of your best friends in the kitchen. The device is something that you will be able to use without needing to touch it which can be convenient for the cook with the messy hands. There is also some sort of interactivity between the user and the timer, hence the need to add a “personality”.
In fact, the designers had some prototypes for other interactive kitchen products like a monster-like toaster or a man head blender, which they got as a result from some small market research. They decided on further developing the sleepy timer as it’s the most interesting among the other ideas that they had. They have since then created a prototype for it, plus a storyboard on how it would actually work.
Basically, all you have to do is put your hand in front of the screen and it will set up your timer. You nudge it first to wake it up so it will start to work. The distance between your hand and the LED screen will determine how long the timer will be set. As time goes by, it starts to get sleepy until it starts sleeping and snoring. What they didn’t include in the storyboard and explanation is how the alarm works. In any case, if you need to restart the timer, you have to turn it to another side which can happen by nudging.
In terms of functionality, this would be helpful for those in the kitchen who need timers for their recipes and would rather not get their smartphones messy. The character of a sleepy timer also seems pretty cute so this is something that may actually work in the market.
Tech companies don't always disclose security flaws in a timely fashion, but Wyze apparently didn't disclose one at all. As Bleeping Computer and The Verge explain, Bitdefender has revealed that it informed Wyze of a major security vulnerability in the Wyze Cam v1 in March 2019, but that the device maker didn't inform customers, recall the product or fully patch the problem in the three years since. In fact, Wyze couldn't completely fix the issue — while it did mitigate the problem with patches, it's now clear the company discontinued the camera in January as "hardware limitations" prevented a proper update.
The vulnerability let attackers remotely control the camera without knowing the value normally needed to authenticate. While they couldn't watch live video as it was encrypted, they could steer the camera, switch it off and access videos saved on the SD card. Wyze patched the bug for its v2 and v3 cameras in late January.
Wyze was slow to respond and didn't fully share the nature of the security hole. Bitdefender noted that Wyze only acknowledged reception of the warning in November 2020, a year and a half after it was delivered. And while it did tell customers that it discontinued the Wyze Cam v1 due to incompatibility with a security update, it didn't tell users this was a known three-year-old flaw. It Wyze spokesperson Kyle Christensen told The Verge that the company had been transparent and "fully corrected" the problem, but in practice the firm only told owners that using the v1 camera after February 1st carried "increased risk."
It's not clear if any hackers took advantage of the flaw, but the potential consequences were serious. An intruder could have looked at past activity in the home or disabled the camera ahead of a burglary.
There are also questions surrounding Bitdefender's very late disclosure. The company's PR director Steve Fiore told The Verge that it delays publishing reports when it's not clear a vendor can properly address an issue. It didn't want to expose "potentially millions" of Wyze Cam users by sharing details of the exploit to with the public. However, security researchers typically disclose flaws within weeks, not years — even Google's more cautious Project Zero shares technical details within 90 days. While it's not always easy for tech firms to address vulnerabilities quickly, disclosures can help pressure companies into fixing security issues that might otherwise go unresolved.
Those who live in relatively small houses or apartments (like me) are always looking for furniture and appliances that are meant for spaces like that. And while a lot of the products we do find are just concepts or prototypes, it’s nice to dream of getting things like these in my place. Well, if they ever get made into actual products of course. But a seat that can double as storage that can be turned into a shelf? I’m all for this.
Designers: Jeonghwan Shin and Hyunbin Yang
When you hear the word Rubik, it brings to mind something that can be turned whatever which way and can still be functional. Well, the Rubik Stool is somewhat like that as it can be “turned, flipped, and combined” so you can use it for whatever purpose you may have in your house. The furniture is specifically designed for spaces that cannot accommodate a sofa or shelves to store books, magazines, and other smaller knick-knacks.
If what you need is somewhere to sit, you can have it upright with the seat on top. But you can also use the underlying part as storage for things like shoes, magazines, or whatever it is that you don’t mind being under your seat. If you want it to become a mini shelf, you just flip it over and now you have two layers where you can place books, toys, plants, or even some decorations. It’s not exactly modular but it can serve multiple purposes.
The prototype they made was made from banded plywood with a patterned wood film finish. Hopefully, this is sturdy enough to hold an actual grown human being who will sit on it, maybe even for a prolonged time, although it doesn’t seem to be made for long sitting. The Rubik Stool does look pretty decorative and should fit in with your wood aesthetic, if and when it gets made into something you can actually buy.
If you have not yet mastered using the virtual Google assistant on your phone or smart devices around your home. You might be interested in this quick guide, which shows you how to set up OK Google on a variety of different devices as well as providing a list of some useful commands to help […]
The US Space Force needs to prepare for calamities, but how can it do that when it can't practice using real satellites in orbit? It's going to use a digital twin, apparently. Slingshot Aerospace says it's developing a "Digital Space Twin" that will combine physics-based modelling with real-time object mapping to help the Space Force simulate various situations and plan responses well in advance.
The twin will help mission teams decide how to react to a potential collision, for instance. The Space Force could also use the simulation to design safer and more efficient satellite constellations. And yes, the military branch will also use the digital environment to ready itself for "nefarious acts" from countries with a less-than-peaceful approach to space.
Slingshot is building the Digital Space Twin thanks to a 39-month, $25.2 million contract. The funding will also help Slingshot conduct a pilot program that brings a Laboratory simulation platform (shown above) to Space Force educational and training outfits, including Basic Military Training, the National Security Space Institute and two training squadrons.
Any practical proof of effectiveness is likely years away. With that said, digital twins like this might be crucial for the Space Force and other beyond-Earth agencies. They could not only trim costs and speed up development, but help avoid disasters that ruin costly spacecraft or spark international incidents.
IWC Schaffhausen has announced the launch of two new Top Gun watches, the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Ceratanium and the Black Ceramic. The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Ceratanium comes with a 41mm case and the Big Pilot’s Watch 43 TOP GUN has a 43mm case. Ceratanium® debuted in the IWC Pilot’s […]
You'll most likely never buy a GoPro camera for its battery life. As we mentioned in our review of the Hero 10, it has never been the brand's strong suit — in fact, the Hero 9 outlasted the Hero 10 by almost half an hour when we tested out the new model. Now, the company has launched a new grip called Volta that could extend a GoPro camera's battery life by up to three times. Combined with the GoPro's own battery, the Volta grip can deliver up to 4 hours of 5.3K recording at 30 fps. When we took the the Hero 10 for a spin, it only lasted for an hour and 15 minutes.
In addition to its built-in 4900 mAh battery, Volta also comes with integrated camera buttons to give you access to one-handed controls while the GoPro is mounted. You can even use it as a remote control for up to 98 feet away. And if you need a tripod for your shoot, you can flip out its built-in legs anytime. Volta is compatible with both Hero 10 and Hero 9, but it will also charge any USB-C device, including the GoPro MAX and older models.
Alone, the Volta grip will set you back $130, or $91 if you're a GoPro subscriber. However, it also comes bundled with the new GoPro Hero 10 Black Creator Edition. The company has put together a neat package for creators to make it easy to grab everything they need in one go. In addition to the camera itself and a Volta battery grip, the bundle comes with GoPro's Media Mod and Light Mod. Those modifications add a built-in directional microphone, 3.5mm mic and HDMI-out ports, as well LED lighting with four level of brightness up to 200 lumens to the camera.
As you can guess, the bundle is cheaper for subscribers that pay the company $50 a year. New members will even be able to get the package for $532, which represents quite a substantial discount from the $760-or-so total price of the items when purchased individually.
Google is starting "origin trials" for the Chrome Privacy Sandbox, its new system for serving targeted ads without using cookies, the company announced. The initial aim is to test ad relevance via its new Topics API, along with FLEDGE and Attribution Reporting that allows remarketing and ad click measurement without tracking behavior across sites.
Origin trials will let Google test experimental Chrome technology with a limited number of people to make sure it's ready for general use. Starting today, developers can begin testing code for Topics, FLEDGE and Attribution Reporting in the Canary Chrome beta "and we'll progress to origin trials with a limited number of Chrome Beta users as soon as possible," it wrote. Eventually, the company will expand trials to a stable version of Chrome to access a larger user subset. All the trials will be available globally, with updates available here.
Google
Google will be testing updated settings that allow you to control your participation in the origin trials. For example, under the "Browser-based ad personalization" section, you'll be able to remove various interests estimated by Chrome, or remove specific sites that "define your interests." You'll also be able to control how ads are measured and choose how to participate in spam and fraud reduction that helps advertisers detect bots.
Privacy Sandbox has met with significant criticism, particularly from EU and UK advertisers that claim removing cookies will hurt their ad businesses. Government also has concern that the new system will only serve to strengthen Google's stranglehold on the online ad marketplace, while putting consumer privacy at risk. Last month, however, Google agreed to a legally binding set of commitments with UK regulators to address those issues.
