It’s a good thing Apple discontinued its MagSafe Battery Pack, because frankly, it sucked. With an abysmal 1,460mAh capacity, it’s really no match for the one from TORRAS. Armed with a whopping 10,000mAh internal battery that can wirelessly charge at speeds of 15W, the TORRAS MagSafe Battery Pack knocks pretty much any competition out of the park. It also packs a fold-out stand for good measure, allowing you to prop up your device while it’s charging.
Designer: TORRAS
Click Here to Buy Now: $47.99$79.99 (40% off, use coupon code “TORRAS214” at checkout). Hurry, offer ends in 48 hours!
The TORRAS MagSafe Battery Pack is a relatively slick snap-on gadget that attaches onto your iPhone or any MagSafe-ready smartphone. With a sizeable 10,000mAh battery, it can juice your entire smartphone four full times before it needs to be recharged, making it quite the lifesaver (especially if you’re the kind of person to forget charging their power bank). With that kind of capacity, you can charge multiple devices together (thanks to the USB-C port on the base), allowing you to share power with a buddy, or even charge an extra gadget you have on hand. The MagSafe Battery Pack will output 20W of power through its USB-C, while supplying 15W through the wireless charging coil, giving you the ability to rather rapidly charge your devices regardless of how you connect them. For smaller devices like TWS earbuds, the MagSafe Battery Pack even has a ‘trickle charge’ mode that reduces the power output, which can be activated simply by holding the power button for 2 seconds.
Each MagSafe Power Bank comes with a distinct metallic outer shell that feels vastly more premium than Apple’s own plastic battery pack. The metallic exterior is also furnished with one of TORRAS’ O-ring pop-out stands, which can even rotate, letting you prop your phone vertically or horizontally during charging. The latter activates your iPhone’s ‘StandBy’ mode, which is quite useful to see the date/time or the Superbowl score in realtime as your smartphone charges!
Handling a whopping 10,000mAh battery (with simultaneous device charging) obviously is no joke, but that’s a domain where TORRAS was built to shine. Having developed some industry-leading neck-worn cooling wearables, the cooling technology developed for TORRAS’ Coolify product line ended up translating rather well to its MagSafe Battery Pack. Charging can sometimes cause components to heat up, reducing the charge-efficiency… but TORRAS’ patented heat dissipation tech helps retain that high-efficiency at all times. The sleek kickstand holds a patent too, for its ability to fold flat into the power bank when not in use, and open out into a 360° rotating stand when you need.
The TORRAS MagSafe Battery Pack is available in white and black variants, with a titanium version releasing in the near future. About the same width and length as a credit card, and weighing just 206 grams (7.2 ounces), the MagSafe Battery Pack is perfectly pocket-sized, allowing you to carry it along with your phone without really feeling too much bulk. The fact that it securely snaps onto the back of your phone definitely helps too. The TORRAS MagSafe Battery pack starts at $79.99, although it’s available for a 40% discounted price of $47.99 for a limited time.
Click Here to Buy Now: $47.99$79.99 (40% off, use coupon code “TORRAS214” at checkout). Hurry, offer ends in 48 hours!
The parents of a teenager who was killed in Florida’s Parkland school shooting in 2018 have started a bold new project called The Shotline to lobby for stricter gun laws in the country. The Shotline uses AI to recreate the voices of children killed by gun violence and send recordings through automated calls to lawmakers, The Wall Street Journalreported.
The project launched on Wednesday, six years after a gunman killed 17 people and injured more than a dozen at a high school in Parkland, Florida. It features the voice of six children, some as young as ten, and young adults, who have lost their lives in incidents of gun violence across the US. Once you type in your zip code, The Shotline finds your local representative and lets you place an automated call from one of the six dead people in their own voice, urging for stronger gun control laws. “I’m back today because my parents used AI to recreate my voice to call you,” says the AI-generated voice of Joaquin Oliver, one of the teenagers killed in the Parkland shooting. “Other victims like me will be calling too.” At the time of publishing, more than 8,000 AI calls had been submitted to lawmakers through the website.
“This is a United States problem and we have not been able to fix it,” Oliver’s father Manuel, who started the project along with his wife Patricia, told the Journal. “If we need to use creepy stuff to fix it, welcome to the creepy.”
To recreate the voices, the Olivers used a voice cloning service from ElevenLabs, a two-year-old startup that recently raised $80 million in a round of funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. Using just a few minutes of vocal samples, the software is able to recreate voices in more than two dozen languages. The Olivers reportedly used their son’s social media posts for his voice samples. Parents and legal guardians of gun violence victims can fill up a form to submit their voices to The Shotline to be added its repository of AI-generated voices.
The project raises ethical questions about using AI to generate deepfakes of voices belonging to dead people. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission declared that robocalls made using AI-generated voices were illegal, a decision that came weeks after voters in New Hampshire received calls impersonating President Joe Biden telling them to not vote in their state’s primary. An analysis by security company called Pindrop revealed that Biden’s audio deepfake was created using software from ElevenLabs.
The company’s co-founder Mati Staniszewski told the Journal that ElevenLabs allows people to recreate the voices of dead relatives if they have the rights and permissions. But so far, it's not clear whether parents of minors had the rights to their children's likenesses.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/their-children-were-shot-so-they-used-ai-to-recreate-their-voices-and-call-lawmakers-003832488.html?src=rss
Everyone has a beverage of choice that they need in the morning to wake them up – usually, it is coffee or tea. For me personally it is coffee! I love coffee, I need it to start my day, or else I simply refuse to start my day! It’s the boost of energy, dose of motivation, and rush of serotonin that I need every morning. And, I’m pretty sure that’s the case for most of us. We all need our cup of tea or coffee. There is a different satisfaction and pleasure in sipping caffeine that you know is the result of your hard work, something precariously prepared with your personal touch to it. And if you’re someone who’s chasing that feeling, then a unique, innovative, and interactive coffee machine or tea brewer is all you need, and ninety-five percent of the battle is won (the other five percent is you setting aside your laziness and operating the machine)! From a smart teapot to the Tesla of coffee machines – this collection of super cool and easy-to-use tools will start you off on your coffee/tea brewing journey. Cheers!
1. xBloom
Meet the futuristic xBloom – the Tesla of Coffee Machines. It is the first coffee machine with an Autopilot feature, making it quite an innovative and unique one. This makes preparing coffee super easy and efficient, almost transforming it into an art. The coffee machine is quite sleek and pristine, and looks like it jumped straight out of a sci-fi movie!
Why is it noteworthy?
The xBloom was designed by ex-Apple employees, and it identifies, grinds, dispenses, brews, and pours your coffee for you. The machine uses the finest beans sourced from the top roasters worldwide, offering you the finest cup of coffee to enjoy!
What we like
With the xBloom, it feels as if a professional barista is making you a cup of coffee, creating an elevated coffee-drinking experience
Features the power of NFC technology
What we dislike
It does not accommodate instant coffee, which can be a hassle for some coffee drinkers
2. Smart Tea Pot
If you prefer tea over coffee, then you need to get your hands on the Smart Tea Pot. This connected teapot lets you brew yourself a cup of tea with the help of technology, creating the perfect brew for you. You can prepare a delicious brew based on the kind of tea you like, depending on your mood and needs.
The Smart Tea Pot features advanced brewing adjustments that are influenced by the kind of tea you need, and your tea-drinking requirements. It has a “Golden Drop” rotating infuser, which is a perfect example of Japanese minimalism, and it merges technology with simplicity.
What we like
Has a compact size, and clean minimal aesthetics allowing it to perfectly fuse with your kitchen and dining space
What we dislike
The Smart Tea Pot employs technology for brewing customizations, which can be complicated for those who prefer traditional, simple tea-making processes
3. Ceramic Cup
This minimalist-looking mug is finely crafted, and is a true meeting of the earth and wood in a unique and subtle symphony of texture. It is designed to be a lovely treat for your sensitive lips as well as your fingers. As you drink from it, you are invited into a sensory experience where you can truly enjoy sipping your tea.
When we’re sipping a drink, our lips come into contact with the surface of a glass or mug, and this impression sets the mood for the entire experience. This beautiful mug intends to create that kind of engagement in the form of a design with intriguing contrasts.
What we like
Crafted from quality Japanese ceramic
What we dislike
You cannot put the mug into a microwave
The aesthetics can be considered a bit simple and boring
4. Brewster
This battery-powered coffee machine is called the Brewster, and it is designed for the future. It will satisfy your random coffee cravings with complete convenience and precision, allowing you to enjoy the perfect cup of joe everywhere you like. It is a portable design providing you with coffee anytime, anywhere.
Why is it noteworthy?
Brewster is more than just a coffee machine, it is a lifestyle innovation designed for the future. It features a convenient compact design, that makes it super easy to carry around.
What we like
Features a battery-powered design that doesn’t really need to be tethered to a chord
It has an intuitive design that offers a hassle-free coffee-making experience
What we dislike
It’s a conceptual design, so we’re not sure how functional and practical it will be as a real product
5. Earth-friendly Stacking Cup
Enjoy your favorite beverage with this Earth-friendly stacking cup. It is a stylish and minimal stacking cup that helps you save the environment. It is built from eco-friendly synthetic materials and has a unique texture which contributes to a distinctive and sensory tea-drinking experience.
The texture of the stacking cup is unique and resembles ceramic and wood. It provides a distinctive sensory experience to your mouth and lips, while also embodying minimal aesthetics and eco-friendly practices, forming a soul-enriching drinking experience that you won’t forget.
What we like
Made from plant-derived biodegradable resin
The material biodegrades into water and carbon dioxide through natural microbial action
What we dislike
Aesthetically quite common to other cups on the market, nothing to set it apart
6. Earth-friendly Tumbler
Have you ever heard of PAPLUS? It is a new kind of thermoplastic resin that can be mixed with biodegradable paper to add durability, heat resistance, and moldability which normal PLA often tacks. This unique earth-friendly tumbler is made using PAPLUS, making it a sustainable and stylish drinking tumbler for your coffee or tea.
The earth-friendly tumbler is made using an eco-friendly material to add a unique texture that is similar to the surface of ceramic or wooden cups. As you take a sip from this tumbler, a wonderful flavor is brought to your tongue, which creates an engaging sensation for your lips.
What we like
Uplifts the act of drinking beverages to a new sensory experience for your tongue and lips
Has a heat resistance of 120°, allowing you to enjoy piping hot as well as ice-cold drinks
What we dislike
The natural color of the tumbler can fade or become uneven with use, which may not be appreciated by users
7. F1 Coffee Grinder
Dubbed the F1, this portable and sleek wireless coffee grinder works automatically and manually. It features industrial-grade conical burrs, and a motor that provides 100 grind settings, allowing you to prepare fresh coffee when you’re at home or even out camping!
Why is it noteworthy?
Features a built-in fold-out collection tray, and allows you to hot-swap for one-button electric grinding or a hank-crank for a more hands-on grinding experience. The grinder is the size of a small thermos, and can easily fit into bags and suitcases.
What we like
Travel-friendly grinder with Scandinavian minimalism
What we dislike
You need to remove the motor, before washing it in the dishwasher
8. Slim Fold Dish Rack
This unique and innovative dish rack can be carried anywhere with you. It has a patent pending spring mechanism, that you can adjust and shrink from 14″ to 1.2″ within seconds. Deployment of the dish rack is also just as fast, making it quite easy to set up and use.
Called the Slim Fold Dish Rack, this product has a minimalist yet durable design, which ensures adequate ventilation, and has plenty of space for plates, utensils, and cookware of any size. It is an excellent design for your kitchen or for camping outdoors.
What we like
Flexible collapsible form that will clean and dry your utensils in no time
Easy to clean and dishwasher-friendly
What we dislike
The slim wires will find it difficult to hold heavy utensils (pots and pans)
9. Steampunk Espresso Machine
Called the Steampunk Espresso Machine, this unique espresso machine was designed by Ahmet Kemal Daşhan for Steam Espresso. It is adorned with brass fittings that take you on an exciting and surreal journey through time. It has a distinctive appearance, that makes it stand apart from boxy and typical coffee machines on the market.
Why is it noteworthy?
The espresso machine features exposed gears that are reminiscent of a bygone era’ mechanical marvels, which besides serving a functional purpose, also add a touch of authenticity to the entire espresso-making experience. The machine features vintage aesthetics which take you back in time.
What we like
Helps you embark on a visual journey through time
What we dislike
It’s a concept, so we are unsure how it will translate into a tangible product
10. DOTS
Called DOTS, this portable coffee machine is an excellent fit for automated vehicles, but it can also be used for other on-the-go scenarios as well. It is a great option for those long car journeys, where you need to get somewhere in a jiffy, and cannot stop for a much-needed coffee break.
Why is it noteworthy?
The DOTS coffee machine has a removable bottom, so it can be adapted for whatever use you have for it. It utilizes coffee capsules instead of the usual brewing method to make it easier to use.
What we like
A control or lever lets you adjust the intensity of the extraction method from the capsule
What we dislike
It has a lid to place a straw on it, but sipping hot coffee with a straw seems weird and uncomfortable
Seoul-based studio AOA architects designed ‘Hoji Gangneung’ – a series of distinctive and unique-looking concrete dwellings that are connected via a raised and circular path. Nestled in the South Korean countryside, in Gangwon-do, the Hoji Gangneung is made up of a family house for the owner, as well as three guesthouses, and a communal building. The property highlights how innovatively community living can be elevated and planned.
Designer: AOA Architects
One of the four homes is called the Round House, and it has quite an interesting semi-circular end. Another one of the houses has an octagonal shape and a central courtyard. The other two homes and the communal building feature rectangular floor plans, and have different roof shapes. The communal building is equipped with a mono-pitch roof, and one of the rectangular houses has an adorable but ordinary gable roof. The last home on the site is called the Long House, and it features a gable roof with a raised central section and a lovely skylight, which forms an elongated light well. “Every building has its own shape, size, and character, allowing guests to enjoy each space distinctly through shadow play,” said AOA Architects principal Jaewon Suh.
While designing the various buildings, AOA Architects were inspired by countryside structures like warehouses and cabins. They wanted to create a space that is influenced by its surroundings, while also creating something new and innovative “The main concept and goal of the design is to build something familiar and also unfamiliar in a rural area,” said Suh. “For some, the Octagonal House looks like a nomadic tent and feels like an octagonal pavilion, the Long House looks like a milk carton or a grain warehouse, and the Round House looks like a slender piece of wood or a face with a hat, but these associations do not matter.”
All the buildings have been built from textured concrete, and are topped by corrugated metal roofs. The communal building has an exposed concrete structure, and massive glass doors that occupy one wall, which lead to the concrete walkway and offer expansive views of the various houses.
As multiple users are pointing out on internet forums, the vastly popular pickup truck from Tesla has seemingly met its one foe. While the car can apparently beat pretty much any odds, deflecting bullets and being able to overtake a Porsche 911 while towing another Porsche 911, it does have one rather unfortunate flaw. It catches rust.
Users have begun pointing out that the Cybertruck’s ultra-powerful exterior (which can take on a Tommy gun) can’t withstand inclement weather, causing spots of rust on the surface. Images circulating on the CybertruckOwnersClub website show the exterior exhibiting signs of rust spotting after just 2 days of driving in the rain. California has been experiencing record-breaking torrential rainfall over the past few weeks, and apparently, the bulletproof exterior of the EV wasn’t up to the task. The images show spotting on Sacramento-based truck-owner Max’s Cybertruck.
Image Credits: CybertruckOwnersClub Forum
There is, however, a lot of speculation of whether this is rust, or ‘rail dust’. A lot of cars experience a similar spotting phenomenon when transported by trains. Metal specks from the train wheels fly off while the train’s in motion, landing on horizontal surfaces of the car. These specks then begin rusting, causing a similar spotting on cars.
The problem lies with inconsistency, as not everyone seems to be facing the same problem immediately (given that everyone’s also experiencing different weather). If indeed this is a sign of rusting, only time will tell if that may prove to be a problem for all Cybertrucks in the future. Specifically, it is essential to promptly remove contaminants like oil and acidic substances, including tar and bird droppings, using a solvent that contains alcohol. Following this initial cleaning step, it is advisable to wash the area with either pure water or soap that has been balanced for pH levels. Such cleansing practices are recommended after every long ride (which not many people are keen about since the Cybertruck was touted as an incredibly robust vehicle). Users, however, are recommending NOT using Windex to clean the car, since it contains ammonia that may actually cause or accelerate rusting. Some users have reported signs of success using Bar Keepers Friend.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more information.
Sony may shrink the gap between the launches of its PlayStation exclusives and PC ports. Company president Hiroki Totoki suggested in a post-earnings call Q&A session Wednesday (viaVGC) that he wants PlayStation to go “aggressive on improving our margin performance,” with “multi-platform” games playing a significant role. He clarified in the talk that, by multi-platform, he meant on PlayStation and PC — not Xbox or Switch.
When asked about Sony’s profits not keeping up with increasing gross income, he said hardware and first-party games were two areas of focus. He noted that hardware cost reduction this console cycle was “difficult to come by,” suggesting we won’t see any permanent console price drops.
“I personally think there are opportunities out there for improvement of margin, so I would like to go aggressive on improving our margin performance,” he continued. Totoki hinted one way to get there is to cash in more on its (often critically acclaimed and commercially successful) PlayStation Studios titles, like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and God of War: Ragnarok.
“In the past, we wanted to popularize consoles, and a first-party title’s main purpose was to make the console popular,” Totoki said in the Q&A. “This is true, but there’s a synergy to it, so if you have strong first-party content — not only on our console but also other platforms, like computers — a first-party [game] can be grown with multi-platform, and that can help operating profit to improve, so that’s another one we want to proactively work on.”
The Last of Us Part I
Naughty Dog / Sony
That’s a clear shift from PlayStation Studios head Herman Hulst’s thoughts in 2022. He said then that PC gamers would have to wait “at least a year” before seeing first-party PlayStation games (minus live service titles) on their computers. God of War (2018) and the first Marvel’s Spider-Man had about a four-year gap between their PS4 and PC launches. The latter’s Miles Morales spin-off saw about a two-year turnaround.
On February 8, Sony launched Helldivers 2 on PS5 and Windows simultaneously. VGCnotes the game led to PlayStation Studios’ highest concurrent Steam player count — beating God of War (2018), The Last of Us Part I and Horizon Zero Dawn. Helldivers 2 was developed by Arrowhead Games with Sony Interactive Entertainment publishing.
It isn’t clear if Totoki meant we can expect future PlayStation tentpoles like the upcoming Wolverine game or the ever-popular Spider-Man, God of War or various Naughty Dog franchises to appear on PC on the same day as console. But a strategy shift is underway regardless, and Totoki will have the leverage to put the plan into action: He takes over for Jim Ryan as interim CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment in April.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-wants-its-playstation-exclusives-to-come-to-pc-earlier-212001939.html?src=rss
Baseball fans who've had to stay glued to their computer to watch several MLB games simultaneously will soon be able to kick back in front of their TV and do the same thing. The league has announced several updates for MLB.TV for this upcoming season. For one thing, the MLB apps on supported Apple TV, Fire TV and Google TV devices will let you watch up to four games simultaneously in Multiview.
Until now, Apple TV users, for instance, were restricted to watching a maximum of two games at once through picture-in-picture. The upgrade should become especially useful later in the season as the race for playoff spots comes down to the wire and fans can watch multiple teams play for a post-season slot simultaneously with more ease. You'll also be able to stream more than 7,000 Minor League Baseball games, featuring affiliates from all 30 MLB teams.
In addition, MLB.TV is bringing Catchup Mode to certain streaming platforms this season, but did not specify which. This mode will feature in-game highlights for key moments and plays you might have missed, so if you missed the first few innings of a game that's in progress, you can quickly get up to speed.
Fans can expect new episodes of original shows such as Carded and Inside Stitch, along with more documentaries and live programming. Select teams will provide local pregame and postgame coverage, while MLB Big Inning will deliver the top action from around the league with highlights and live look-ins. Those who authenticate subscriptions through TV providers will be able to stream every post-season game, as well as the 2024 All-Star Game.
The MLB All Teams Yearly subscription is the same price as last year at $150. It includes access to every out-of-market regular season game and some Spring Training games with no blackout restrictions, both live and on-demand. A monthly subscription is also available for $30.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mlbtvs-four-game-multiview-feature-is-coming-to-apple-amazon-and-google-tv-devices-210523812.html?src=rss
While all furniture needs to be stable, chairs and other seating furniture need to meet two requirements. They have to be stable enough to hold the weight of the person sitting on them, but they also have to be comfortable to encourage or even tempt those people to use them. Then again, there are some seats that seem to actually discourage lounging around, adopting a design that’s purely utilitarian and sufficient for a brief rest of a few minutes. However, there are chairs that were designed with comfort in mind but fall slightly short of that goal. This stool, for example, is undoubtedly quite useful, space-efficient, and probably even sustainable, but it might have slightly missed the mark in one of its core use cases.
The stool looks simple enough at first glance, with a tall box for a base and two plain boards forming the actual seat as well as a backrest. The latter element puts this design somewhere in between a typical stool and a chair, though the narrow area and absence of arms put it more in the category of a stool. Either way, it’s clearly designed for sitting, but it also does more than that.
The base of the stool has a rack for holding reading materials, either magazines or a few books. This small detail makes the design better suited for places where such an activity is conducive, such as a library, a lobby, or a common area in offices or schools. Of course, you can also place it around your home and it won’t even take up too much space because of its tall and narrow structure.
The Chair 025 design concept, however, has one trick up its sleeve. The seat can rotate 360 degrees, allowing you to actually face any direction you prefer without having to move the chair itself. That said, you might not be able to swing around so easily because your legs will hit the corners of the “stall” or base. Instead, you will just be swiveling back and forth, which could be the goal to induce a little blood circulation even while you’re sitting, although that still runs the risk of injuring your legs if you’re not careful.
The design’s low backrest can also be a point of contention, given it doesn’t exactly provide enough support and could even lead to injury or accidents if you forget that it doesn’t completely go all the way up. For a stool that seems to encourage sitting for long periods of time to read, the potential discomfort is a little counterintuitive. The economy of design and potential for using sustainable materials, however, do make the Chair 025 concept a candidate for cramped spaces and budget-constrained owners.
X has allowed dozens of sanctioned individuals and groups to pay for its premium service, according to a new report from the Tech Transparency Project (TTP). The report raises questions about whether X is running afoul of US sanctions.
The report found 28 verified accounts belonging to people and groups the US government considers to be a national security threat. The group includes two leaders of Hezbollah, accounts associated with Houthis in Yemen and state-run media accounts from Iran and Russia. Of those, 18 of the accounts were verified after X began charging for verification last spring.
“The fact that X requires users to pay a monthly or annual fee for premium service suggests that X is engaging in financial transactions with these accounts, a potential violation of U.S. sanctions,” the report says. As the TTP points out, X’s own policies state that sanctioned individuals are prohibited from paying for premium services. Some of the accounts identified by the TTP also had ads in their replies, according to the group, “raising the possibility that they could be profiting from X’s revenue-sharing program.”
Changing up Twitter’s verification policy was one of the most significant changes implemented by Elon Musk after he took over the company. Under the new rules, anyone can pay for a blue checkmark if they subscribe to X Premium. X doesn’t require users to submit identification, and the company has at times scrambled to shut down impersonators.
X also offers gold checkmarks to advertisers as part of its “verified organizations” tier, which starts at $200 a month. The TTP report found that accounts belonging to Iran’s Press TV and Russia’s Tinkoff Bank — both sanctioned entities — had gold checks. X has also given away gold checks to at least 10,000 companies. As the report points out, even giving away the gold badge to sanctioned groups could violate US government policies.
X didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but it appears that the company has removed verification from some of the accounts named in the TTP’s report. “X, formerly known as Twitter, has removed the blue check and suspended the paid subscriptions of several Iranian outlets,” Press TV tweeted from its account, which still has a gold check. The Hezbollah leaders’ accounts are also no longer verified.
In a statement shared by the company's @Safety account, X said that it was reviewing the TTP report and would "take action if necessary."
"X has a robust and secure approach in place for our monetization features, adhering to legal obligations, along with independent screening by our payments providers," the company wrote. "Several of the accounts listed in the Tech Transparency Report are not directly named on sanction lists, while some others may have visible account check marks without receiving any services that would be subject to sanctions."
Update February 14, 2024, 4:52 PM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from X.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/x-let-terrorist-groups-pay-for-verification-report-says-201254824.html?src=rss
